Five things you need to know today

Munster coach Anthony Foley remembered, gardaí strike and Irish women seeking abortion pill online

1. Anthony Foley

After the sad and sudden death of Anthony Foley, Gerry Thornley writes about the rugby legend from Paris.

What do you say about Anthony Foley? "That he was loved and he was a legend," was how two of the hundreds of shocked Munster supporters congregated outside the Stade Yves du Manoir put it. And that will do for starters.

Their sense of grief was very tangible and very real, and not just because Axel was far too young to no longer be with us. He was the very soul of Munster, to the forefront of the golden generation which was honed in Shannon's all-conquering AIL-winning sides and made the transition from amateurism to professionalism, and eventually led them all the way to their Holy Grail of a first Heineken Cup triumph in Cardiff in 2006.

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2. Gardaí are expected to strike

Garda sergeants and inspectors are expected to significantly increase industrial relations pressure on the Government today and vote in favour of joining their rank-and-file colleagues in four days of strike action next month.

As the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (Agsi) holds a special delegate meeting in Athlone, Co Westmeath, increased militancy in the force over pay and conditions looks set to result in the first policing strike in the history of the State.

Sources told The Irish Times that while there were "mixed views" within Agsi about joining the strike by the Garda Representative Association (GRA) on the four Friday's of November, delegates were expected to support that course of action.

3. What the sterling slide means to Irish shoppers?

Consumer correspondant Conor Pope examines the good and the bad news for Irish consumers and businesses

On the day after British people voted to leave the EU, the Asos website nearly collapsed under the weight of thousands of euro zone shoppers racing to take advantage of suddenly weaker sterling to get some bargain-basement clothes.

The savings of 5 per cent available on that day are starting to look just a little insignificant now, and those early shoppers – just like all those British people with Irish grannies who queued up at our embassy in London during the summer looking for Irish passports – were a bit ahead of themselves.

4. Irish women seeking abortion pill online

More than 5,600 women in Ireland tried to buy abortion pills online over a five-year period using a leading web supplier based in the Netherlands, according to a new study.

Pills were shipped by the Women on Web (WoW) site to 1,642 women in Ireland between 2010 and 2012, the research indicates.

The sale of prescription only medicines by mail order is prohibited in Ireland, including supply via the internet.

5. Give me back my deported husband, woman urges MinisterA Co Galway woman is calling on the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Frances Fitzgerald, to give her back her husband, who was deported to Brazil in July. Harriet Bruce says Kleber Medeiros, whom she married last December in St Michael's Catholic Church in Ballinasloe, was deported in error.