Newsround: what Monday's papers say

The top stories in Monday's newspapers:

THE IRISH TIMES

- Fianna Fáil is to publish a 12-point plan within months to strengthen economic, political and educational links between the Republic and Northern Ireland which could help prepare the way for unification of the island, the paper reports.

- A referendum on granting Irish citizens abroad the right to vote in presidential elections may be held as early as next year, Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said during his visit to the US. He also played down concerns that Britain could exit the European Union without a trade deal.

- Possible interference with birth and death certificates at mother and baby homes in Tuam, Co Galway and in Cork was highlighted as requiring further investigation in official HSE correspondence over four years ago.

- British MPs will vote today on two amendments to a bill authorising the start of formal Brexit negotiations, a move that would clear the way for Theresa May to trigger article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty as early as tomorrow.

FINANCIAL TIMES

- The FT leads with Brexit, reporting that Theresa May is on the brink of formally launching Britain's departure from the EU after rebel Tory MPs admitted they were unlikely to have the numbers to block the prime minister in the House of Commons today.

- Janet Yellen, the US Federal Reserve chair, is likely to set in train an acceleration in the pace of interest rate increases on Wednesday as the US central bank responds to an economy hitting maximum employment and inflation nearing its target.

- Turkish president Recip Tayyip Erdogan yesterday accused the Dutch government of behaving like Nazis, capping a weekend of high drama that began when the Netherlands refused to let his foreign minister's plane land for a rally in the Turkish referendum campaign.

In its Companies & Markets section, the paper reports that the going looks good for the bookmakers at the Cheltenham Festival once again. Gambling companies are expecting strong profits from the annual horse racing competition, which begins tomorrow, after the previous two events left them paying out more than £100 million to punters.

IRISH INDEPENDENT

- Credit unions are turning away cash and asking members to reduce their savings balances to as low as €25,000 as high numbers of members save with credit unions rather than banks but not enough take out loans.

- Fianna Fáil's most influential TDs have rowed in behind Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe's plans to slash tax as part of Ireland's response to Brexit as his call for a reduced tax burden for workers kicked off the negotiations ahead of Budget 2018.

- The appointment of two of Garda Commissioner Nóirín O'Sullivan's close associates to a powerful internal Garda unit took place without the prior knowledge of senior government ministers, the paper reports.

- In its business section, the paper reports that internet giant Amazon is to launch what will be a hotly-contested competition this year to supply power to its energy-hungry data centres in Ireland and the UK in a deal certain to be worth tens of millions of euro.

IRISH EXAMINER

- The government is on a collision course with the Vatican over the funding of redress payments to sex abuse victims, saying it wants to seize lands owned by the Church.

- The Taoiseach has put his cabinet and junior ministers on '24 hours' notice' to return to Ireland from their St. Patrick's Day trips in the event of Brexit being triggered during their absence. The paper reports that there is considerable anger within government over the likely triggering of article 50 this week when Irish ministers are scattered all over the globe.

- Critics of Cork's €140 million flood defence plan, the largest in the history of the state, have been urged to work with the Office of Public Works (OPW) to secure changes and allow the scheme to advance.

- Just one of 35 primary health care centres announced by the government to great fanfare almost five years ago is operational, the paper says. All of the other locations are still in the development process and many are not due to open until after 2018 at the earliest.