The INMO is set to announce the date of their first 24 hour strike today. The dispute is over staff shortages and pay, however the Taoiseach has warned that any extra funds available would be used to protect jobs that are most vulnerable if the UK crashes out of the EU in March - not wage hikes.

In other health news, hundreds of hospital patients suffered a last-minute cancellation of surgery yesterday amid warnings the trolley crisis is set to worsen. The INMO has said that 541 patients are on trolleys in emergency departments and on wards waiting admission to a hospital bed.

The Examiner carries a story on its front page about property owners with illegal water connections, which are responsible for the loss of almost 80m litres a day, could soon be outed as Irish Water deploys a new high-tech leaks detection system.

The latest in Ryanair; Unions representing the airline's roughly 1,800 cabin crew in Spain have called off a 24-hour strike planned for Tuesday, but said they will go ahead with other work stoppages. Strike action planned for Thursday 10th January and Sunday 13th January will still go ahead.

And finally, the latest on Brexit. The Taoiseach has said the European Union is willing to give fresh, written assurances about the nature of the Northern Ireland backstop ahead of next week’s key vote at Westminster on the Brexit deal.

If you're not all TV'd out from the Christmas break, here's a list of the must-see shows for 2019 as your Zen this morning.