Users of disability and community services are set to be hit by rolling strike action in Cork, Kerry, Galway, Mayo and Donegal.
Workers in community and so-called 'section 39' organisations are staging the three day action in a dispute over pay.
Unions say the health and social-care workers in the agencies which are funded by the HSE, are paid considerably less than those employed directly by the HSE and other state bodies.
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A date for the retrial in the Jason Corbett murder case in the US, is due to be set today.
The Limerick man was beaten to death at his home in North Carolina by his wife, Molly, and his father-in-law, Tom Martens, in August 2015.
They claim they were acting in self-defence - but a jury convicted them of second degree murder in 2017.
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Taoiseach Micheál Martin will travel to attend the UN General Assembly this evening.
The meeting in New York has been overshadowed by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and food shortages in Africa.
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Russia's president could be on the verge of escalating the war in Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin was due to make a public address last night - however it's been postponed until today.
He's understood to be planning to annexe occupied areas of Ukraine by holding referendums within days.
