1. Schools close indefinitely for 200,000 students
In excess of 200,000 students will be affected by the indefinite closure of hundreds of secondary schools from Monday as talks between teachers and the Government ended without any sign of progress.
The disruption comes as tensions rise within Government over whether to accept in full a Labour Court recommendation to give special pay increases to gardaí.
A number of Ministers have declared they will resist any attempt to cut spending programmes agreed for next year in order to fund pay increases for gardaí over and above the Lansdowne Road Agreement.
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2. FBI stands by decision not to charge Hillary Clinton
The FBI has found no evidence of criminality by Hillary Clinton in a new batch of emails discovered last month, its director James Comey has said.
In a letter to members of Congress, Mr Comey said the agency had completed its review of the emails and concluded there was no basis for bringing charges against the Democratic nominee for president.
Mr Comey's announcement last month that the FBI was reviewing newly-discovered emails potentially relevant to its investigation into Mrs Clinton's use of a private email server as secretary of state caused a sensation and gave Republican candidate Donald Trump a boost as the campaign entered its final stretch.
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3. Longford locals shocked 'Khalid' Kelly lived in their midst
The Dubliner reportedly killed on Friday while driving a vehicle loaded with bombs towards the forces attacking the Islamic State-held city of Mosul, lived recently in a small cottage down a quiet road beside Ardagh, Co Longford.
Terence “Khalid” Kelly (50), from the Liberties in Dublin, rented the house from early 2013 until late 2015, according to one local.
The small house in a farmyard was down a lane off a byroad in the middle of Ardagh, one of Co Longford’s most picturesque villages.
“He was a quiet guy who sometimes came into the local shop. No one knew him at all. He never came into the pub,” said one local.
The news that an Isis jihadist who had died in a suicide bombing in Iraq had been living in their village was a major topic of conversation in the village yesterday. "It's a bit of a shock to everyone, to be honest," said one local.
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4. Brexit effect expected to shrink economy by nearly 4%
The long-term impact of Brexit on Ireland is likely to be "severe" with the economy shrinking by up to 4 per cent, a study by the Department of Finance and the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has warned.
The paper, which focuses on the period after Britain’s planned departure from the EU in 2019, also warns of negative consequences for employment, wages and the public finances lasting for at least 10 years.
The study says the initial shock to the Irish economy will be transmitted via the trade sector in the form of a drop in export demand from the UK. This will stem from lower economic growth in the UK itself and the potentially damaging effects of a new tariff regime.
Under a “hard Brexit” scenario, with the UK leaving the single market altogether, Irish gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to be 3.5 per cent lower than it might have been within five years, equating to nearly €10 billion in lost output. Over a ten-year period, the potential contraction in GDP is projected to be 3.8 per cent.
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5. Ireland knew path to victory was to keep attacking All Blacks
Gerry Thornley
When Ireland went in at half-time with a 25-8 lead, it equalled the biggest half-time deficit the All Blacks had ever known. The vast majority of a largely green-clad 62,300 capacity crowd roared its approval as Ireland marched confidently off the pitch, having thoroughly outplayed the almighty All Blacks. And yet.
Not an Irish man or woman alive would have contemplated counting even one chicken. History had taught us that much.
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Also...see our Autumn Colour gallery here (http://iti.ms/2eev27b).