Category Archives: Ireland

Man found guilty of murdering Ashling Murphy in case that shocked Ireland

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Jozef Puska faces mandatory life sentence over January 2022 killing of 23-year-old teacher

A man has been found guilty in Dublin of the murder of Ashling Murphy while she was out jogging in broad daylight, in a case that sent shockwaves across Ireland.

Murphy, 23, a teacher and musician, was killed on a canal towpath near Tullamore in County Offaly in the Irish midlands in January last year after being set upon and stabbed 11 times in the neck and left to die in a deep ditch.

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Eurozone economy shrinks by 0.1%, putting it at brink of recession

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Ireland and Austria post biggest declines, while Germany contracts by 0.1% and France grows by 0.1%

The eurozone is teetering on the brink of a winter recession after the latest official figures showed its economy contracted by 0.1% in the third quarter of 2023.

In a worse than forecast performance, the 20-nation single currency zone has now failed to grow in three of the past four quarters, leaving its economy only 0.1% higher than it was a year earlier.

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‘Pervasive and relentless’ racism on the rise in Europe, survey finds

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Poll of 6,752 people of African descent in 13 countries finds almost half have experienced discrimination

Racism is “pervasive and relentless” and on the rise in Europe, with nearly half of black people in member states surveyed by the EU reporting discrimination, from the verbal abuse of their children to being blocked by landlords from renting homes.

In every walk of life, from schools to the job market, housing and health, a survey by the EU’s rights agency of people of African descent found high levels of discrimination, with some of the worst results recorded in Austria and Germany, where far-right parties have been on the rise.

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‘It was a plague’: Killarney becomes first Irish town to ban single-use coffee cups

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A blanket ‘bring or buy’ reusable scheme has been introduced in the town, which was getting through 23,000 cups a week

Killarney used to accept it as a price of being a tourist town: ubiquitous disposable coffee cups spilling from bins, littering roads and blighting the area’s national park.

The County Kerry town went through about 23,000 cups a week – more than a million a year – adding up to 18.5 tonnes of waste.

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Ireland’s embrace of Zombie song at Rugby World Cup stirs debate over lyrics

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Fans seen singing the Cranberries’ hit in stadiums but some Irish republicans are unhappy at revival

Twenty years after a lethal IRA bomb inspired its stark, chilling lyrics, the Cranberries’ song Zombie has experienced an unlikely rebirth as a Rugby World Cup anthem.

Ireland fans have belted out its chorus in stadiums across France and hope to do so again on Saturday after a quarter-final tie against New Zealand at the Stade de France in Paris.

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EU appears to backpedal on freezing of Palestinian aid payments

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Earlier announcement by Olivér Várhelyi had prompted surprise from member states including Ireland and Spain

The EU has been plunged into a diplomatic row after an announcement that it was to suspend “all payments” to Palestinians as a result of Hamas’s attacks on Israel led to clashes with several member states including Ireland, Spain and the Netherlands.

After six hours scrambling for an explanation, the European Commission appeared to backpedal on an announcement made by the commissioner for neighbourhood and enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, saying: “There will be no suspension of payments.” But it muddied the waters by saying there were “no payments foreseen”.

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Goalkeepers perceive the world differently, study suggests

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Goalies’ brains appear able to merge signals from different senses more quickly, say researchers

The former Premier League goalkeeper Brad Friedel once said that to be able to work well in the box, you have to be able to think outside the box.

Now scientific data supports the idea that goalies’ brains really do perceive the world differently – their brains appear able to merge signals from the different senses more quickly, possibly underpinning their unique abilities on the football pitch.

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Former pupils demand apology from Irish school over Nazi teacher’s bullying

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Louis Feutren joined a nationalist group in occupied France and went on to teach at a prestigious Dublin school

There was never any mystery about the fact that Louis Feutren, a French teacher at St Conleth’s school in south Dublin, was a Nazi collaborator.

He had a taste for violent punishments and bizarre humiliations that terrorised pupils. He liked to reminisce about the second world war, when he had joined a Breton nationalist group that fought on the side of Germany. And he showed pictures of himself in uniform.

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Storm Agnes brings 70mph gusts and heavy rain to Britain and Ireland

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Danger-to-life warning issued as first named storm of autumn damages buildings and disrupts travel

Gusts of 70mph were recorded as the first named storm of the autumn, Agnes, swept across Britain and Ireland, damaging buildings, causing travel delays and leaving homes without power.

The Met Office issued severe weather warnings covering much of the UK, where strong winds and heavy rain were expected on Wednesday evening and into Thursday.

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Gymnastics Ireland fails to apologise despite row over medal snub for black girl

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Governing body suppressed personal apology from judge in question following incident 18 months ago

Gymnastics Ireland suppressed a personal apology letter to a young gymnast whose treatment at a medal ceremony sparked international outrage, and have refused to acknowledge or tackle systemic racism in the sport, her family say.

Video of the event in March 2022 shows a judge handing out participation medals to a line of young gymnasts, but ignoring the only black girl. A photographer, coach and other officials look on without intervening, with an audience of hundreds in the stands.

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Scandal grows over children’s spinal surgery in Ireland

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After focus on work of one Dublin surgeon, expert report sparks wider review of paediatric orthopaedics

Paediatricians and health executives in Dublin were aware that a leading children’s hospital in the city was using “unauthorised, uncertified” medical implants in surgery, a top health official has said.

Ireland is facing a growing scandal over paediatric spinal surgery. An independent investigation found that 19 children with spina bifida suffered serious complications after they were operated on by one surgeon at Temple Street hospital. One child was readmitted to the operating theatre 33 times after her initial operation.

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Alarm over ‘fascist-like’ protest at Ireland’s seat of government

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Mock gallows erected covered in pictures of politicians in ugly scenes in Dublin

Ireland is reviewing security around the seat of government after aggressive protests in Dublin that trapped lawmakers, ended with 13 arrests and were condemned by the country’s leadership as “wrong” and “fascist-like”.

The Oireachtas, Ireland’s legislature, was put into a virtual lockdown for hours on Wednesday by a small but abusive group of about 200 people.

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Animal welfare groups criticise American XL bullies ban, saying they’re ‘deeply concerned’ about lack of evidence – UK politics live

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PM says breed, responsible for series of attacks, will be banned once it has been properly defined

Here is the full text of what Rishi Sunak said in his video statement about banning American XL bully dogs. (See 11.50am.)

The American XL bully dog is a danger to our communities, particularly our children.

I share the nation’s horror at the recent videos we’ve all seen. Yesterday we saw another suspected XL bully dog attack, which has tragically led to a fatality.

It’s clear the American XL Bully dog is a danger to our communities.

I’ve ordered urgent work to define and ban this breed so we can end these violent attacks and keep people safe.

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TikTok fined €345m for breaking EU data law on children’s accounts

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Irish data regulator says platform put 13- to 17-year-old users’ accounts on default public setting, among other breaches

TikTok has been fined €345m (£296m) for breaking EU data law in its handling of children’s accounts, including failing to shield underage users’ content from public view.

The Irish data watchdog, which regulates TikTok across the EU, said the Chinese-owned video app had committed multiple breaches of GDPR rules.

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Costa Coffee recalls sandwiches and wraps amid fears they contain stones

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Retailer warns there may be ‘small stones’ in four products from its range and urges customers to return them for refund

Costa Coffee has recalled some of its range of sandwiches and wraps after it emerged that they could contain small stones.

The chain warned customers that four of its products could be affected, and that they could pose a choking hazard if they were eaten.

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Four young people killed in car crash in County Tipperary

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Taoiseach says ‘whole nation mourns’ after three teenagers and 24-year-old die on exam results night

Four young people who died in a crash in County Tipperary while on the way to exam results celebrations have been named.

Luke McSweeney, 24, his sister Grace McSweeney, 18, Nicole Murphy, 18, and Zoey Coffey, 18, died at the scene after the car they were travelling in struck a wall on Friday, Gardaí said.

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Ironman swimming race in Ireland in which two died did not have approval

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Ivan van Chittenden and Brendan Wall were competing in event that Triathlon Ireland did not sanction owing to bad weather

An Ironman swimming race in which two competitors died was not sanctioned by the governing body for triathlons in Ireland due to concerns about “adverse conditions”.

Triathlon Ireland said it had not sanctioned the Ironman Cork event in Youghal because of the weather.

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RTÉ’s axing of Ryan Tubridy divides public opinion in Ireland

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Sacking of star presenter over pay scandal stirs debate about his treatment by Irish broadcaster

Ireland’s national broadcaster faces an uncertain future after axing its star presenter, Ryan Tubridy, in a scandal over under-declared payments.

RTÉ surprised the public and divided opinion by announcing Tubridy would not return to the airwaves, capping two months of turmoil over accounting and governance practices that has cast doubt on the organisation’s future funding.

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RTÉ says Ryan Tubridy will not return to radio show after salary controversy

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National broadcaster’s director-general says negotiations for star presenter’s return ended after breakdown of trust

The Irish national broadcaster, RTÉ, has announced Ryan Tubridy will not be returning to his presenting role after a controversy over the under-declaration of his salary.

The RTÉ director-general, Kevin Bakhurst, said negotiations with the 50-year-old about returning to his radio show had concluded, after stating that trust between the parties had “broken down”.

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