1 The Irish Times car buyer’s guide for 2022: Electric cars, hybrids, crossovers and SUVs

2 Omicron variant is spreading at unprecedented rate, WHO chief says

3 Róisín Ingle: My tragedy is that I’ll never become my mother

4 Rush to add hundreds of GPs and pharmacists to Covid booster programme in race against Omicron

5 Miriam Lord: When it comes to Christmas craic, Sinn Féin is an absolute hoot

6 ‘After 45 years I have realised that my husband is a terrible bore’

7 Michael McDowell: Adams lets the mask slip

8 How big a threat is Omicron to Ireland?

9 Call for Covid-19 subsidy ban for firms paying dividends

10 Gordon D’Arcy: Irish provinces adapting and excelling in chaotic Champions Cup

11 Johann van Graan activated release clause in two-year contract to leave Munster job

12 Kathy Sheridan: Finland’s clubbing PM would not last long in Ireland

13 Google employees flouting vaccination rules will eventually be fired, say reports

14 McDonald remains silent on controversial Adams video

15 Taste test: The best – and worst – supermarket finger food we’ve tried this holiday season

16 Billie Eilish says watching porn from age 11 ‘destroyed my brain’

17 Poll shows public divided down the middle on additional restrictions

18 Group behind Mercedes in Ireland paid €1.8m dividend after getting Covid subsidy

19 Mission accomplished: Woman swaps hairpin for dream home after mastering ‘trading up’

20 I never told my UCD classmates I lived in direct provision ... They wouldn’t understand

21 Luke O’Neill says booster helped to ensure he only got ‘mild’ Covid

22 Johnson suffers huge rebellion as over 100 Tory MPs reject Covid pass

23 What poor sleep can do to your health – and how to get a better night’s rest

24 Solar flair: Nasa probe makes historic pass through Sun’s atmosphere

25 Brother on disability allowance fears financial cost of inheritance

26 IDA in talks with Vertical Aerospace on setting up facility to make electric aircraft

27 Quality of drinking water for one million people needs improvement – EPA

28 Omicron surge in Denmark and UK sends warning to Ireland and rest of Europe

29 A guide to Dublin city’s modern architectural treasures – ‘finally’

30 DCC acquires US appliance distributor Almo in $610m deal

31 Irish chef sues Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck restaurant for €235,000 over RSI claims

32 Uncertainty surrounds Leinster’s trip to Montpellier due to Covid cases

33 No Child 2020: The project and its five policies

34 Don’t shut down building sites again, warns industry chief

35 Sinn Féin TDs differ over whether Gerry Adams should apologise for Christmas sketch

36 Taoiseach does not rule out more Covid restrictions but says we must ‘hold our nerve’

37 Five reasons to keep running (or walking) through the Christmas holidays

38 Covid: Nine in 10 vaccinated ICU patients had underlying condition, CSO finds

39 Figures show 29 people have died in direct provision since 2016

40 Nothing says ‘Christmas’ like the festive buzz of a holiday job