Household bills could now rise by as much as €2,000 a year and over €3,500 when the cost of filling your car is included. A new report by the ESRI has suggested the possibility of a Christmas bonus-style double welfare payment to offset rising energy bills after finding that the weekly cost of household energy consumption rose by more than €21 a week in the first four months of this year and could rise by over €36 a week if energy prices go up by another 25pc. 

The report also found that nearly a third of households in the State are now living in energy poverty, defined as spending more than a tenth of their income on energy, as a result of the recent surge in gas and electricity prices.

There is concern in Europe of the possibility of a summer wave of Covid driven by two new strains. Germany has reintroduced the requirement to wear face masks while the number of patients with Covid in Irish hospitals has begun to grow again.

An estimated 2,000 of Ryanair’s cabin crew staff could go out on strike across Europe at some stage this summer as the aviation sector in general heads into a season of discontent over working conditions and pay.

Several former Fine Gael members of the Cabinet, including Enda Kenny and Phil Hogan, failed to show up for a private dinner hosted by Tánaiste Leo Varadkar last night to mark a decade of the party in power.

French president Emmanuel Macron, German chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian prime minister Mario Draghi arrived in Kiyv on Thursday with France saying they want a 'military Ukrainian victory against Russia that reestablishes the territorial integrity of the country, including Crimea that was seized by Russia in 2014.'

In some good news there's a one day heat wave on the way! Some parts of Ireland will enjoy temperatures which could peak to 24C for the hottest day of the year so far.

ZEN

Here's a look at Rory McIlroy's final round at last weeks Canadian Open illustrating why he's a lot of people's pick for the US Open.