Category Archives: Ireland

US-EU trade war could cost Ireland more than €18bn, says report

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Report co-authored by Irish government also finds tariffs could cause job losses and relocation of US multinationals

A trade war between the US and the EU could cost Ireland more than €18bn (£15bn), trigger waves of job losses and cause US multinationals to relocate, according to a report co-authored by the Irish government.

Ireland’s GDP could shrink by 3.7% over the next five to seven years under the worst-case scenario, in which Donald Trump imposed 25% tariffs on all exports on the EU and the EU retaliated with counter-tariffs, the study carried by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) found.

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Conor McGregor anti-immigration rant in White House condemned by Irish PM

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Micheál Martin says MMA fighter’s comments before Trump meeting ‘do not reflect spirit of St Patrick’s Day’

Ireland’s taoiseach has denounced anti-immigration comments made by Conor McGregor as the MMA fighter visited the White House before a St Patrick’s Day meeting with Donald Trump.

McGregor said “Ireland is on the cusp of losing its Irishness” and that an “illegal immigration racket” was “running ravage on the country”.

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Trump accuses Ireland of stealing US companies in meeting with taoiseach

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US president claims Dublin ‘took’ pharma industry as he holds White House press conference with Micheál Martin

Donald Trump has accused Ireland of stealing the US pharmaceutical industry and the tax revenue that should have been paid to the US treasury, in a blow to the Irish premier, Micheál Martin, who had hoped to emerge unscathed from a visit to the White House marking St Patrick’s Day.

The US president showed grudging respect for Martin, alternately ribbing and complimenting him, while also launching several broadsides against the EU.

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Taoiseach must tread carefully amid tensions before Trump meeting

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Defence, the Palestinians and Irish-American trade will all be on the agenda as Micheál Martin heads to Washington

St Patrick’s Day has long been one of the sacred moments of the Irish-American calendar with more than 200 years of parades in New York and a shamrock reception at the White House launched by Dwight Eisenhower in 1953 to cement political ties between the two nations.

But this year’s annual meeting between the taoiseach and the US president, a week early because of a congressional recess on 17 March, is laden with anxiety over the future of Ireland’s economy, which is heavily reliant on US multinationals Donald Trump wants to repatriate.

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Mental health crisis ‘means youth is no longer one of happiest times of life’

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UN-commissioned study in UK, US, Ireland, Australia, Canada and New Zealand finds satisfaction rises with age

For more than half a century, the midlife crisis has been a feature of western society. Fast cars, impulsive decisions, and peak misery between the age of 40 and 50. But all that is changing, according to experts.

In a new paper commissioned by the UN, the leading academics Jean Twenge and David Blanchflower warn that a burgeoning youth mental health crisis in six English-speaking countries worldwide is upending the traditional pattern of happiness across our lifetimes.

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Goa man found guilty of rape and murder of Irish backpacker eight years ago

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Family of Danielle McLaughlin say justice has finally been achieved after Vikat Bhagat convicted in India

The family of a young Irish woman raped and murdered in India eight years ago have said justice has finally been achieved after a man was convicted in Goa.

Danielle McLaughlin, from Buncrana in County Donegal, was found dead in a field in Canacona, an area of Goa popular with holidaymakers, in March 2017.

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Man arrested after three people injured in suspected knife attack in Dublin

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Three men taken to hospital, two with serious injuries, after incident in Stoneybatter neighbourhood

A man has been arrested after three people were injured in a suspected knife attack that has left a Dublin neighbourhood in “a state of shock”.

Irish police said they were responding to a serious incident after about 3pm on Sunday.

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Trump will not be ‘meteor’ blow to Irish economy, says employers’ group

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Businesses should avoid panic amid fears US will attempt to repatriate jobs and taxes, says Danny McCoy

Donald Trump will not be a knockout “meteor” to Ireland’s economy despite its heavy reliance on US multinationals, the head of the country’s business trade organisation has said.

While the US president told world leaders gathered at Davos last week that “Europe treats us very, very unfairly” there is a heightened sense of nervousness in Ireland that this could translate to an attempt to repatriate jobs and taxes from the 950 US companies there.

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UK weather warnings remain in place as man killed by falling tree in Ireland named – live

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The young man who died in Ireland after a tree fell during Storm Eowyn has been named as Kacper Dudek

Irish premier Micheál Martin said every effort is being made to restore power and water supplies following Storm Eowyn.

He described the destruction caused by some of the strongest winds on record as “unprecedented”.

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Calls for Ireland to boost defence of subsea internet cables

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Some say recent suspected sabotage of transatlantic cables serving Europe and UK means Ireland must be able to defend itself

They are the bedrock of the internet, keeping everything from TikTok to emergency services, business, banking systems and political and military communications running smoothly.

But deep under the sea, the network of cables around British and Irish shores are being considered as increasingly attractive targets for military, terrorist or criminal actors after several incidents in the Baltics where internet cables were severed and internet communications were disrupted.

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Scientists of potato blight pathogen?

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Researchers say study may help global efforts in controlling disease that still destroys crops today

It was a disaster that killed about 1 million people, devastating 19th century Ireland, but while the potato disease linked to the Irish famine is well known, a battle has raged over where it originated.

Scientists have long been divided over whether the fungus-like pathogen Phtytophthora infestans cropped up in the Andes or originated in Mexico.

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Storm Éowyn: man killed and 725,000 properties without power in Ireland

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Record gusts of 113mph recorded, with ‘unprecedented’ power cuts, fallen trees and 130,000 homes without water

A man has been killed and more than 725,000 homes and businesses have been left without power in Ireland after Storm Éowyn battered the country, leaving a trail of destruction.

More than 500,000 homes were at risk of disruption to water supplies, and boil-water notices were issued in several counties. Authorities said it would take more than a week to restore power to all premises.

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Micheál Martin vows to protect Ireland ‘at moment of real threat’

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Fianna Fáil leader officially elected PM a day after chaotic scenes in Dáil, as thoughts turn to future and Trump

Ireland’s newly appointed prime minister, Micheál Martin, has vowed to protect the country “at a moment of real threat” just days after Donald Trump threatened to wipe out its tax advantage and repatriate American jobs.

He was speaking moments as he was officially appointed as prime minister, but 24 hours after chaotic scenes in the Dáil caused the cancellation of his formal appointment.

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Micheál Martin furious at ‘subversion of Irish constitution’ amid chaos in Dáil

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Martin’s formal appointment as taoiseach blocked after day of ‘utter disgrace’ in Irish parliament

Ireland’s incoming prime minister, Micheál Martin, has accused opponents of a “subversion of the Irish constitution” after formal election to the role was cancelled amid chaotic scenes in the Irish parliament.

The outgoing taoiseach, Martin’s coalition partner, Simon Harris, called Wednesday’s events in Dáil an “utter disgrace [with] so many pressing issues” facing the country, as a spiralling row over the speaking rights of independent TDs torpedoed the first day of Martin’s new term in office.

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Ireland’s two main centre-right parties to form coalition government

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Fianna Fáil’s Micheál Martin will be taoiseach for first three years with Fine Gael’s Simon Harris taking over in November 2027

Ireland’s two main centre-right parties have clinched a deal with a group of independent lawmakers to form a coalition government, six weeks after an election that wiped out the Greens as a political force.

In the deal, sealed on Wednesday, Fianna Fáil’s leader, Micheál Martin, will become taoiseach, or prime minister, for the first three years of the five-year government, with the incumbent Fine Gael leader, Simon Harris, taking over in November 2027.

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Intoxicated ‘nervous flyer’ caused New York flight to divert to Dublin

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American Zachary Greear, 34, receives suspended sentence after unruly behaviour on United Airlines plane

A “nervous flyer” whose unruly behaviour caused his transatlantic flight to be diverted to Dublin has been given a two-month suspended sentence.

Dublin district court heard that the 34-year-old American had mixed the tranquilliser Xanax with alcohol to combat his anxiety before becoming disruptive on the United Airlines flight on Monday.

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How Elon Musk has meddled in European affairs

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From bashing Keir Starmer to promoting the AfD, the X owner is not shy about intervening

A limited – at best – understanding of the continent of Europe and its component countries has not prevented the world’s richest man from intervening in the domestic politics of several of them, as well as attacking the EU itself.

Here we take a brief look at some of the occasions on which X owner Elon Musk has used his position as proprietor of one of the world’s largest social media platforms to meddle in the internal affairs of sovereign democratic states outside the US.

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Visa-waiver system could overwhelm UK immigration services, law firm warns

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There are also fears electronic travel authorisation will threaten post-peace tourism sector in Northern Ireland

The UK Home Office’s already burdened immigration services could be overwhelmed this summer when a new visa-waiver system comes into force for European business travellers and tourists in April, a leading law firm has said.

There have also been fresh warnings that the electronic travel authorisation (ETA) requirements could threaten the post-peace tourism sector in Northern Ireland, with Americans and Europeans travelling to Dublin and beyond deciding not to bother crossing the border because of the red tape.

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