The first baby of 2018 in Ireland was welcomed a mere seven seconds after the clock struck midnight at University Maternity Hospital Limerick.
The baby boy, whose parents have not yet been identified, weighed 3.26kg.
“We’ve had a good year, we had the New Year and the Christmas baby,” a spokeswoman for the hospital said.
Baby Lully Siobhan Duggan was born in the hospital at 12.27am on Christmas morning.
Ireland’s birth rate has declined in recent years, with 63,897 births in 2016, which is down from nearly 66,000 in 2015.
Figures for the first half of 2017 indicate the country is on course to record more than 60,000 births for the year.
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