Irish state’s founding fathers killed and disappeared five times more people than Provisional IRA would do over 30 years
The Irish Republican Army’s executioners shot and secretly buried their victims in fields and bogs, leaving them to decay and enter the ranks of Ireland’s “disappeared”.
Some were British soldiers, others were suspected informers or turncoats. Uncertainty about their fate and the location of their remains added a cruel twist to a brutal conflict.
Continue reading...Leaders pay respects to former taoiseach of 1990s ‘rainbow coalition’ as he is laid to rest in Dunboyne
The former Irish taoiseach John Bruton has been described as a “humbling and unassuming” man at his state funeral, attended by senior political figures including the president, Michael D Higgins, and the taoiseach, Leo Varadkar.
Ministers, TDs and parliamentary ushers were among those who attended the service at Saints Peter and Paul’s church in Bruton’s home town of Dunboyne, County Meath.
Continue reading...She’s pledged to be first minister ‘for all’ and her ability to navigate political tensions will shape her Stormont tenure
When Michelle O’Neill is sworn in as Northern Ireland’s first minister, it will be a moment of personal triumph steeped in irony.
As a teenage mother, she was treated as if she had the “plague”, and wept, yet went on to ascend the ranks of Sinn Féin and is now poised to make history as the first nationalist to lead Northern Ireland – a state that, in theory, she wishes to eradicate.
Continue reading...Michelle O’Neill has taken the top job but Irish unity is unlikely to be ‘within touching distance’
The elevation of Michelle O’Neill as Northern Ireland’s first minister is a historic moment that breathes new life into the republican slogan “tiocfaidh ár lá” – “our day will come”.
The Sinn Féin deputy leader, a working-class republican, has taken charge of a state that was designed in 1921 to enshrine a unionist majority in perpetuity, and that the IRA vowed to destroy.
Continue reading...Irish foreign minister says he does ‘not anticipate any particular difficulties in respect of the EU side’
Back at the home affairs committee James Daly (Con) asks why so few police investigations end up in people being charged.
James Cleverly, the home secretary, says the Crown Prosecution Service is independent. He wants to make sure investigations are as professional as possible.
Continue reading...The DUP has endorsed a deal with the UK government to restore power sharing in NI, paving an end to two years of political deadlock
This is from Michelle O’Neill, the Sinn Féin leader in Northern Ireland and first minister designate in the power sharing executive.
I welcome the public declaration by DUP Leader Jeffrey Donaldson that power-sharing will now be restored.
The parties will come together later today. We have much to do to confront the challenges facing our public services, workers and families which require urgent action.
Former journalist had lived in public eye for almost 30 years as prime suspect in 1996 murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier
Ian Bailey, an English former journalist who was the prime suspect in one of Ireland’s most notorious murders, has died near his home in Bantry, County Cork, at the age of 66. He suffered a heart attack on Sunday.
Bailey had lived in the public eye for almost three decades as the main suspect in the 1996 murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier, a French filmmaker who was battered to death near her holiday home in West Cork.
Continue reading...Altóir na Gréine stood for approximately 4,000 years on Dingle peninsula before vanishing in 19th century
The remnants of a bronze age tomb once thought to have been destroyed and lost to history have been discovered in County Kerry on the Atlantic coast of Ireland.
The tomb, known locally as Altóir na Gréine – the sun altar – stood for approximately 4,000 years on a hill outside the village of Ballyferriter on the Dingle peninsula before vanishing in the mid-19th century.
Continue reading...Protesters also call for UK to stop arms sales to Israel and end to Israeli occupation of Palestine
Hundreds of protesters in London have staged a sit-in on Westminster Bridge, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza in the first big demonstration of the year.
Elsewhere on Saturday, there were protests in Belfast and Dublin.
Continue reading...Carrier says such sites only account for ‘small fraction’ of its bookings but move has affected load factor
Ryanair has said that it has seen a drop in the number of tickets it has been able to sell after a number of major online booking websites stripped the budget carrier’s flights from their listings.
Europe’s largest airline said that in early December “most” of the larger online travel agent sites – including Booking.com, Kiwi and Kayak – “suddenly removed Ryanair’s flights from sale on their websites”.
Continue reading...Blaze in Dublin comes less than fortnight after suspected arson attack on vacant Galway hotel earmarked for asylum seekers
Irish police have been investigating a second fire in less than a fortnight at a building local people reportedly believed would be used to accommodate asylum seekers.
The emergency services were called to the scene at the Ringsend area of Dublin in the early hours of New Year’s Eve.
Continue reading...Newly released 1999 briefing by Irish civil servant reveals lack of trust during tense peace negotiations
David Trimble was “extraordinarily rude” to Tony Blair during tense negotiations about the implementation of the Good Friday agreement, accusing the then prime minister of laying a “crude trap” for unionists, one Irish official wrote of the encounter in 1999.
The meeting between Blair and Trimble, the leader of the Ulster Unionist party, took place in Belfast as the British prime minister and Ireland’s taoiseach Bertie Ahern met all the Northern Ireland parties to discuss the steps that needed to be taken to implement the peace accord.
Continue reading...Man in his 20s died and man in his 40s remains in serious condition after attack at Browne’s Steakhouse
Police have stepped up uniformed patrols in Dublin after a shooting incident at a restaurant on Christmas Eve.
A man in his 20s died and a man in his 40s is receiving treatment for gunshot wounds after the incident at 8pm on Sunday. He remains in a serious condition in Connolly hospital.
Continue reading...Suspected arson attack at Ross Lake House hotel in Galway called a sinister attempt at intimidation
A suspected arson attack has wrecked a hotel in County Galway that was being prepared to host 70 asylum seekers, in the latest sign of a backlash against refugees in Ireland.
The Irish government on Monday condemned the burning of the Ross Lake House hotel in Rosscahill as a sinister attempt at intimidation.
Continue reading...Dozens of flood warnings in place as Britain and Ireland hit by fifth named storm since September
The Met Office has issued yellow alerts for rain and wind across large swathes of the UK and the Republic of Ireland on Saturday, with dozens of flood warnings in place as the countries are battered by the fifth named storm since September.
As Storm Elin hits the UK and the Republic of Ireland, there are yellow alerts for wind covering Wales, the Midlands and parts of Northern Ireland and the north-west and south-west of England. Yellow alerts for rain are in place in the north-west of England and parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Continue reading...Tears and applause as band plays Fairytale of New York and people recall memories of pubs, squats, youth, dreams and loss
They followed the horse-drawn carriage singing songs that were written as raucous ballads. But on this day, the crowds of mourners sung softly, their voices floating into a grey Dublin day in farewell to Shane MacGowan.
The Pogues singer was dead but for mourners his lyrics seldom felt so alive as his funeral cortege wound through the heart of Ireland’s capital on Friday.
Continue reading...Former Ireland leader issues firm response in row over comments made to her by Cop28 president
Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland, has called for a rapid phase-out of fossil fuels, in a diplomatic but firm response to the row over comments made to her by the Cop28 president, which were revealed by the Guardian this week.
In a live online event, Sultan Al Jaber had told Robinson there was “no science out there, or no scenario out there, that says that the phase-out of fossil fuel is what’s going to achieve 1.5C”, a view strongly rejected by many scientists. As well as running the Cop28 UN climate summit in Dubai, Al Jaber is the chief executive of the United Arab Emirates’ state oil company, Adnoc.
Continue reading...Countries at loggerheads over access to fishing grounds in north Atlantic since Brexit referendum in 2016
Irish fisheries leaders have warned of fresh conflicts with Scotland over fishing rights around the north Atlantic islet of Rockall as evidence emerged about the roots of the long-running sovereignty dispute.
Scotland and Ireland have been at loggerheads over access to fishing grounds within 12 nautical miles of Rockall since the Brexit referendum in 2016, which signalled an end to the UK’s membership of the common fisheries policy.
Continue reading...Book claims it is ‘hard to find another currently existing society’ better than that in Skerries, near Dublin
Philosophers have long debated the concept of the good life and whether such an exalted state exists but the reality turns out to be not so elusive: you drive north from Dublin on the M1, turn right onto the R132, take another right at Blake’s Cross and keep going until you reach the sea. Then, if you have any sense, you stay put for ever because you are in Skerries.
This town of 11,000 people on Ireland’s east coast does not look remarkable. There is a high street, a harbour, a library, a community centre, a SuperValu supermarket, cafes, pubs, sports pitches. Residents walk their dogs, play bingo, sit on benches. Yet amid the ordinariness there is, apparently, an answer to a riddle pondered by Aristotle, Kant and Hegel: the good life? It’s right here. Or at least the good enough life.
Continue reading...Michael D Higgins compares Pogues frontman’s songs with ‘perfectly crafted poems’
The Irish president, Michael D Higgins, has led Ireland’s tributes to Shane MacGowan, describing the Pogues frontman as one of “music’s greatest lyricists”.
After the singer’s death at the age of 65, Higgins compared MacGowan’s songs with “perfectly crafted poems” that captured “the measure of our dreams”.
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