The computer system of the Republic's Health Service Executive (their equivalent of the NHS) has been infiltrated by ransomeware.

Few patient records are now available and all non-urgent medical procedures have been cancelled indefinitely. A $20 million reported demand has been refused.

All services have ground to a halt and patient records have been published on the dark net - allowing international medical organisations to approach Irish patients, offering their services.

It's the worst hack in the history of the State and there seems to be no indication of the perpetrators' identity. But it seems the hack is highly sophisticated, and extremely difficult to purge.