Europe live: Irish parliament tries to confirm Micheál Martin as prime minister after rows in chamber

One of France’s most wanted suspected drug traffickers was due in court in Marseille after his extradition from Morocco amid a broader crackdown on drug-related crime.

Our Paris correspondent Kim Willsher has the latest.

We will be also talking about Ukraine today as many senior European politicians have already or will speak on this topic in Davos today.

To catch up on the latest from the frontline, see our explainer below.

There is a storm brewing in Ireland. In both the literal and figurative sense.

Large parts of the country are covered by Met Éireann’s Status Red weather warnings for Thursday night and Friday as Storm Éowyn threatens widespread disruption. Authorities have described it as potentially “among the severest storms that Ireland has ever seen.”

But before then, the country’s parliament, the Dáil, will face Day 2 of its own political storm after parliamentarians could not agree a way forward on Wednesday and failed to confirm the next prime minister, Micheál Martin.

After chaotic scenes in the chamber – best captured in the official transcript as near constant (Interruptions.) as individual lawmakers raged about “not acceptable,” “unbelievable,” and “outrageous” events – the Irish press this morning reports on “frantic efforts” overnight to avoid a second day of disorder.

But you know things are somewhat unusual when the Irish Times’s political podcast seeks to explain the situation with a quote from a famous boxer turned philosopher Mike Tyson: “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”

I will guide you through today’s events in Ireland and elsewhere, including Davos, where we hope to hear from US president Donald Trump. He is not there and will speak via a video link, but his presence in the White House has dominated the discussions so far, so it’s just as well that we will hear from the man himself now.

I am sure this will calm our nerves, without (Interruptions.), right?

It’s Thursday, 23 January 2025, and this is Europe Live. It’s Jakub Krupa here.

Good morning.

If you have any comments or suggestions, email me at [email protected]. I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.