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”.
Continue reading...Police are said to be investigating former martial arts star’s social media posts before and during violence
The former mixed martial arts star Conor McGregor has accused Irish authorities of making him a “scapegoat” for the riot in Dublin last week amid reports police are investigating his social media posts before and during the violence.
McGregor on Wednesday accused the government of trying to deflect attention from a stabbing attack on children that triggered anti-immigrant protests and anarchy in Ireland’s capital on 23 November.
Continue reading...Eli Cohen criticised Leo Varadkar’s description of nine-year-old Emily Hand as being ‘lost’, not ‘kidnapped’
The Israeli government has accused Ireland’s taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, of legitimising terror and losing his moral compass by saying a freed Irish-Israeli hostage had been “lost” as opposed to kidnapped.
Eli Cohen, Israel’s foreign minister, on Sunday summoned the Irish ambassador to the foreign ministry in Jerusalem for a formal reprimand over Varadkar’s response to the release of nine-year-old Emily Hand, who was reunited with her family after 50 days as a hostage in Gaza.
Continue reading...Brazilian Deliveroo worker Caio Benicio used motorbike helmet to hit assailant who was attacking children outside a school
Almost £300,000 has been raised for a delivery driver who intervened in an attack by a man suspected of attacking children outside a school in Dublin.
Caio Benicio was on his motorbike in Dublin city centre when he spotted the attack on Thursday. He said he used his helmet to hit the assailant “with all my power”.
Continue reading...Drew Harris says radicalised people exploited ‘terrible crime’ of knife attack to unleash mayhem on streets
Ireland’s police chief has warned that far-right radicalisation will continue to disrupt the country after a night of arson, rioting and looting left parts of Dublin resembling a war zone.
The capital was tense on Friday as significant numbers of police remained on the streets and Dublin counted the cost of an anti-immigrant protest that turned into anarchy, leaving the political establishment shocked.
Continue reading...Crowd chanting anti-immigrant slogans clashes with police hours after stabbing incident outside school
Buses and trams have been torched and a shop looted during riots in Dublin city centre after a stabbing attack outside a school left three children injured.
Police and politicians called for calm amid warnings against misinformation as violence escalated from a demonstration that began on Thursday afternoon at the scene of the incident.
Continue reading...The Irish PM has accused the party of trying to take away democracy through threats as press freedom organisations raise concerns
In Ireland, Mary Lou McDonald, the leader of Sinn Féin, is suing the national broadcaster RTÉ for defamation, while her husband, Martin Lanigan, is suing the author of a biography of McDonald. Chris Andrews, a Sinn Féin member of Ireland’s parliament, is suing the Irish Times and one of its reporters.
In Northern Ireland, Gerry Kelly, a Sinn Féin member of the Stormont assembly, is suing two media commentators. John Finucane, a Sinn Féin MP, is suing a unionist councillor over Twitter claims. Michelle O’Neill, the party’s deputy leader, recently sued another unionist councillor over a Facebook post.
Continue reading...Jozef Puska, 33, stabbed 23-year-old as she jogged along a canal last year in a case that shocked Ireland
A man has received a life sentence for stabbing to death a primary school teacher last year in a case that shocked Ireland.
Ashling Murphy, a 23-year-old teacher and musician, was murdered as she jogged along a canal near Tullamore, County Offaly, in January 2022.
Continue reading...Species populations falling, with some decreasing due to loss of habitat and less food availability
More than half the seabird species breeding on British and Irish coasts have declined over the last 20 years, according to the most comprehensive census to date.
Eleven of 21 nesting seabirds species have fallen, five species have remained stable and five have increased, some because of targeted conservation work, according to the Seabirds Count survey.
Continue reading...Forecasters issue yellow warnings for entire island and stronger warning of ‘severe and damaging gusts’ for 18 Irish counties
Weather warnings have been issued for the entire island of Ireland as forecasters said Storm Debi would bring a new spell of heavy rain and strong winds. Parts of the island are still recovering from
floods during intense spells of rain in the preceding storms, Babet and Ciarán.
Continue reading...Isabella Walsh has contacted embassies and consulates to repatriate 10 objects that her father wanted to be returned
An Irish woman has been inspired by the Guardian to return her late father’s collection of 19th-century African and Aboriginal objects to their countries of origin.
Isabella Walsh, 39, from Limerick, has contacted embassies and consulates in Dublin and London to repatriate 10 objects, including spears, harpoon heads and a shield, after she read about other cases in the newspaper.
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