December 20: Today’s top stories in 60 seconds

Garda Commissioner says perpetrators of Galway hotel attack ‘most probably’ local to the area
Garda commissioner Drew Harris has said he believes the perpetrators of a suspected arson attack at a Galway hotel set to house asylum seekers are “most probably” local to the area. Harris told a meeting of the Policing Authority that he has seen “no evidence” to suggest that there’s “some invisible hand” guiding attacks against accommodation for international protection applicants, such as that seen at the Ross Lake Hotel in Rosscahill last Saturday night.
The Journal

At least €20m worth of cocaine seized on cargo ship in Limerick
Customs officers have seized a significant quantity of drugs in Co Limerick estimated to be worth at least €20 million. At least 300kg of cocaine was discovered on a bulk carrier ship which had docked in Foynes. The drugs were concealed in a bale which had a buoyancy aid and a beacon attached, which indicates it may have been intended to be thrown overboard and collected by a ‘daughtership’. The cargo ship is being detained pending a full search to see if there are more drugs onboard, which could take a number of days.
RTÉ

Met Éireann issue early warning to Christmas sea swimmers due to ‘dangerous sea conditions’ as Yellow wind warning issued
Christmas Day sea swimmers are being advised to take precaution when out in the water for their morning dip due to “potentially dangerous sea conditions” along the Atlantic coast. Met Éireann is warning those on Christmas Day of the potential danger caused by high winds along the Atlantic coast on what will be a mostly dry and sunny day following early morning showers. The Irish Meteorological Service has also fully ruled out any possibility of a white Christmas. Meanwhile, a Status Yellow wind warning has been issued for Donegal on Thursday as well as high winds for the rest of the country.
Independent.ie

Mary Lou McDonald: Average house prices in Dublin should fall to ‘the €300,000 mark’
House prices have to fall substantially, the Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has said, adding that the objective of Sinn Féin in government would be to “get prices as low as we feasibly can”. In an interview with The Irish Times, Ms McDonald dismissed suggestions that seeking a slump in home values was politically dangerous, saying, “the far greater political danger is that we have still an entire generation for whom home ownership is a dim and distant fantasy”. She said that average house prices in Dublin should fall to “the €300,000 mark”. Figures from the Central Statistics Office suggest that the average house price in Dublin is about €430,000 at present.
The Irish Times

More Fianna Fáil councillors breaking ranks over government immigration and refugee policies
More Fianna Fáil councillors are breaking ranks over government immigration and refugee policies as leader Micheál Martin vows to crack down on incendiary language used by party representatives. Fianna Fáil Cork County Councillor William O’Leary has slammed people who buy and rent buildings for refugee accommodation as “worse than the English landlords of decades ago” and “as bad as any drug cartel”. “They are the biggest traitors out of everyone,” Cllr O’Leary said to loud applause at a protest against 56 asylum seekers moving into a former B&B in Fermoy, Co Cork, on Monday night.
The Irish Examiner

Hamas leader in Cairo for talks as pressure for Gaza truce mounts
The leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, arrives in Cairo for talks on a fresh ceasefire in Gaza. Israeli President Isaac Herzog has said his country was ready for another humanitarian pause. Efforts to get a United Nations Security Council ceasefire motion are set to resume after Tuesday’s vote was delayed. The US says it is working with other members on the text, but it has vetoed previous resolutions. Aid agencies have voiced anger and frustration over the continued plight of civilians in Gaza ahead of the vote. Hamas broke through Israel’s heavily guarded perimeter on 7 October, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 hostages – some of whom were released during a brief truce. Nearly 20,000 people are now reported to have been killed and more than 52,000 injured in Gaza since the start of the war.
BBC News

Donald Trump ineligible for the US presidency under constitution’s insurrection clause, Colorado Supreme Court rules
Donald Trump is ineligible for the US presidency under the constitution’s insurrection clause, the Colorado Supreme Court has ruled. The ruling comes as the former US leader prepares to run for the presidency in 2024. Trump is accused of inciting riots at the US Capitol Building in an effort to overturn the result after he lost the US election in 2020. The ruling in Colorado sets up a likely showdown in the US Supreme Court, which has the final say on constitutional matters, to decide whether the frontrunner for the Republican nomination can remain in the race for the White House. The Trump campaign has already said it will appeal to the US Supreme Court.
Sky News

China earthquake: death toll rises to 131 as freezing weather hinders rescue efforts
The death toll from China’s earthquake has risen to 131, with almost 1,000 people injured, as rescuers dig through rubble in below freezing conditions. The magnitude-6.2 earthquake struck just before midnight on Monday, in Jishishan county near the border of Gansu and Qinghai provinces, destroying or damaging more than 150,000 homes, according to state media. The quake, which was followed by several strong aftershocks, caused mud and landslides, and damaged power lines and other local infrastructure “to varying degrees”. On Wednesday morning authorities said the official death toll had risen to 131 in Gansu with 782 injured, and 18 dead and 198 injured in Qinghai. Amid a days-long cold wave sweeping across most of China, the high-altitude area in China’s north-west reported temperatures as low as -16C, hampering rescue efforts.
The Guardian

Today’s forecast
Cloudy and breezy today with scattered outbreaks light rain and drizzle at times. The rain will be most persistent in north and northwest, a little heavier at times there, with long dry spells elsewhere. Mild too with highest temperatures of 9 to 11 degrees in mostly fresh and gusty northwest winds, strong at times in the northwest. Becoming windy tonight, indeed very windy in the north, with west to northwest winds increasing strong to near gale force and gusty, reaching gale force in northern and some western coastal parts. The winds will be strongest in the north and northwest. It will be mostly cloudy with some scattered outbreaks of mostly light rain and drizzle. Mild with lowest temperatures of 7 to 10 degrees.
Met Éireann