LAST UPDATE | 16 hrs ago

GOOD MORNING. Here’s all the news to know as you start your day.

1.  Garda search

Gardaí are searching for the driver involved in a fatal hit-and-run in Dublin yesterday.

2. Security hut

The controversial security hut at Government Buildings cost 28% more than originally estimated.

Figures released under Freedom of Information show the original budget costs in May 2022 came to €1,138,904, including VAT. TDs and Senators were told last September that the final costings came to €1,429,000 – a difference of €291,096.

3. EstLink2 

Estonia and Finland are investigating the failure of an undersea electricity transmission cable.

EstLink 2 failed suddenly at around 12pm local time on Christmas Day, although there was no interruption of supply between the two countries.

4. Northern Ireland

Nuala O’Loan, then-Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, said her family members may have needed increased security after her teenage son was beaten up in 2002, newly released documents show.

State records released this month show that O’Loan raised concerns about her family’s safety during a meeting with British and Irish officials in February 2002.

5. Tony Blair

5. Then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair wanted to “race through” meetings with unionist politicians in 2004 but his office conceded he would have to listen to their “whinges”.

State records released this month show that, at a meeting in London in March 2004, Blair expressed a desire to rush through upcoming meetings with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP).

6. Ukraine

South Korea’s spy agency says it has confirmed that a North Korean soldier sent to fight in Russia’s war against Ukraine has been captured by Ukrainian forces.

7. Gift cards

More than half of Irish consumers report negative experiences with gift cards and vouchers, with over a third saying that the cards had expired before they could use them, according to new research released today.

8. Boris Yeltsin at Shannon

Irish officials believed the Russian ambassador to Ireland, Nikolai Kozyrev, was “exquisitely embarrassed” by the failure of then-Russian president Boris Yeltsin to emerge from a plane to meet then-Taoiseach Albert Reynolds during a planned stopover at Shannon Airport 30 years ago.

9. Fota Island

One of the world’s rarest tigers has arrived in Cork as part of a breeding programme. Dao, a two-year-old Sumatran tiger, is taking up residence in Fota Wildlife Park.