It comes following President Michael D Higgins' approval of legislation which will enable the new Minister of State to take up office from next Tuesday.

Tipperary TD Mattie McGrath thinks it's "very very strange" Mary Lou McDonald and Michelle O'Neill won't travel to the US for the annual St. Patrick's Day celebrations.

Sinn Féin's Sorca Clarke was speaking following the release of figures by the Minister of Justice following a parliamentary question.

The storm, which hit the country in the final week of January, flattened 11,750 hectares of forestry in the Shannonside region.

Gardaí from the Divisional Drugs Unit were alerted to a vehicle in the Ballybride area and conducted a search for its owner.

It's considering the proposal - but over 100 people attended a public meeting last night to voice their concerns.

The seat in the Athlone Local Electoral Area had been vacant since John Naughten's death in October of last year.

It comes as the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste are set to travel to the White House for St. Patrick's Day.