Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Catherine Martin said “we have lost a giant of the national cultural landscape” in a statement about the musician on Twitter.

“But I’d say there’s ongoing concern that, if this persists, it’s going to cause continued damage from a tourism and economic perspective.”US president Joe Biden will need to give a series of strong interviews and public appearances to undo the damage from last week's underwhelming debate performance against Donald Trump, according to Ireland's former ambassador to the US.

The 90-million CNN debate was watched by over 50 million Americans, and it has sent shockwaves through the Democratic Party.AdvertisementMr Biden appeared confused at times as he struggled to get his point across, and while his predecessor uttered plenty of exaggerations and falsehoods, Mr Biden didn't have the energy to counter them.Daniel Mulhall was the Irish Ambassador to the US from September 2017 to August 2022, for the majority of Mr Trump's presidency and a large portion of Mr Biden's term.

In an interview with BreakingNews.ie, Mr Mulhall said Mr Biden's debate performance will not do him any favours with people who argue he is too old for the presidency at 81."If you look at the two candidates, they're only three years apart in age, but Biden just looked older and, in a way, the debate appeared to confirm the fears that people have about Biden's age, which are widely held across the United States according to opinion polls."

AdvertisementMr Mulhall pointed out that replacing a candidate, especially an incumbent president, just four months out from a presidential election would be very difficult.

The decision would more than likely have to come from Mr Biden, he added.The report said officials largely relied on people’s declarations that they had lost their job due to Covid-19, and that they resided in the State, when processing claims.

Ireland Family businesses 'competing against PUP' for empl... Read More “The department did not attempt to verify the ‘genuinely seeking work’ aspect of PUP eligibility criteria in 2020 other than to establish a dedicated telephone line for reporting of such cases by employers,” the report said.This tip line resulted in 2,500 reports from employers, which led to 400 claims being stopped.

The report said the department had identified €14.5 million in PUP overpayments by the end of August 2021, related to 4,300 claims.The C&AG recommended the department should review PUP cases as people moved into employment, or onto other welfare schemes, “to ensure all overpayments are captured”.