Category Archives: Ireland

M&S chair attacks ‘pointless’ post-Brexit rules for Northern Ireland

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Archie Norman backs UK plans to scrap parts of protocol, saying lorries require ‘700 pages of documents’

The chairman of Marks & Spencer has backed government plans to override parts of the Northern Ireland protocol, saying that some food exported south of the border now requires 700 pages of customs documents, partly written in Latin.

Archie Norman, a former Conservative MP, called on the UK government and EU to come to an agreement, saying the rules for sending food between them were “highly bureaucratic and pretty pointless” given that British food standards were in line with or higher than those of Brussels.

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Boris Johnson claims planned Northern Ireland protocol law is ‘insurance’ in case talks fail – live

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Latest updates: UK prime minister meets Sinn Féin and DUP as Mary Lou McDonald suggests forming Stormont assembly is not UK government priority

This is from my colleague Jennifer Rankin in Brussels on the UK government’s mixed messaging over the Northern Ireland protocol.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Sinn Féin’s leader in Northern Ireland, Michelle O’Neill, have said they recognise there are “serious issues” in relation to the implementation of the Brexit protocol that Boris Johnson is planning to override in part.

They expressed serious concern about possible unilateral moves on the protocol by the British government, which would have a destabilising impact on Northern Ireland.

They recognised that there are genuine issues regarding aspects of the implementation of the protocol but these can be taken forward in the context of EU-UK discussions.

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Ireland says UK risks sending message it will break treaties in Brexit row

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Foreign minister criticises ‘sabre-rattling’ from UK amid signs British rhetoric is softening over Northern Ireland protocol

Plans to shred parts of the Northern Ireland protocol “would send headlines around the world” that the UK is prepared to break treaties, Ireland’s foreign minister has said, as a British cabinet minister insisted the UK did not intend to break the law.

The business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, said the UK had “the right to act in a sovereign way” and to “reopen or re-examine the protocol” but denied the actions would constitute a breach of international law.

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The Northern Ireland protocol is said to be a blight on regional economy. That’s just not true

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After an initial shock to businesses, manufacturing jobs are growing four times faster here than the UK average

Whenever Boris Johnson’s government wades into battle over the Northern Ireland protocol, it wields one assertion like a broadsword: that the protocol is ruining the region’s economy. Checks on goods entering Northern Ireland are disrupting trade, increasing prices and bankrupting businesses, and the damage will worsen unless the protocol is changed, goes the argument.

The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), a rightwing thinktank, joined the fray last week with a report that estimated the annual cost of the agreement at £850m.

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Tory MP says no massive need for food banks in UK and real problem is people’s cooking skills – live

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Latest updates: Conservative Lee Anderson says people just need to be shown how to cook nutritious meals that cost less

Michelle O’Neill, Sinn Féin’s leader in Northern Ireland, has criticised the DUP for refusing to commit to backing the election of a speaker for the Northern Ireland assembly. (See 11.25am.) She said:

What we need to see is the positions filled - first minister, deputy first minister, all the ministerial positions filled, and let’s get down to doing business.

I don’t think it is good enough. It is not good enough for the people here that the DUP is holding society to ransom, punishing society, preventing the establishment of a speaker and an executive to actually respond to the things people are worried about.

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Sinn Féin celebrates victory but DUP warns over Northern Ireland protocol

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DUP will refuse to join new administration until UK government addresses post-Brexit trade border deal

Sinn Féin was celebrating a historic victory in the Stormont assembly election on Saturday despite warnings from the Democratic Unionist party that it would block the formation of a new power-sharing executive until the Northern Ireland protocol was changed.

As counting resumed ahead of the allocation of final seats, it was clear that Sinn Féin, with 29% first preference votes, had overtaken the DUP, which won 21.3%. It meant the all-Ireland republican party would be entitled to nominate its deputy leader, Michelle O’Neill, as the Northern Ireland’s first nationalist first minister.

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From grief to paw prints, people share Ireland census ‘time capsule’ messages

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People could write a message in a blank space on the census, to be read by future generations in 100 years

Some were funny, some were angry, some were utterly heartbreaking and all were written in the same blank space of Ireland’s census form, a “time capsule” section.

In what Ireland’s Central Statistics Office says is a world first, the official census left a blank space for people to leave messages for future generations. The voluntary section of the 27-page form is to be made public in 100 years but many people have shared their messages on social media.

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Irish foreign minister abandons stage mid-speech after Belfast security alert

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Simon Coveney evacuated after suspect device driven to venue in hijacked van

Ireland’s foreign minister, Simon Coveney, has been evacuated mid-speech from an event in Belfast after a suspect device was discovered in a hijacked van driven to the venue.

A controlled explosion was carried out in the car park of the Houben Centre venue, next to Holy Cross church.

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US ‘will not entertain’ UK trade deal that risks Good Friday agreement

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US congressman Richard Neal says peace deal must not be held ‘hostage over domestic politics’

A bilateral trade deal between the US and the UK is “desirable” but will not progress while the Northern Ireland peace deal is being used for domestic political purposes, one of the most powerful American congressmen has warned.

Richard Neal, the chairman of the ways and means committee, has told the Guardian: “We will not entertain a trade agreement if there is any jeopardy to the Good Friday agreement.

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Dublin welcomes dazed Ukrainian arrivals with food, buggies and toys

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An airport building is turned into one-stop shop for life essentials and legal support

“Thank you very much Ireland,” said Kate Kolva, waving a little blue and yellow flag in the arrivals hall at Dublin Airport.

As she waited to collect her best friend’s mother, Ukrainians with no family connections with the country were all too easy to identify.

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‘Significant changes’ needed to NI protocol, Johnson tells Irish premier

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Taoiseach Micheál Martin says there is an increasing view in Northern Ireland that agreement is working

Boris Johnson has told the Irish premier that “significant changes” are still needed with the controversial Northern Ireland protocol – after the taoiseach said there is an increasing view that it is working.

The prime minister met taoiseach Micheál Martin in London where the pair discussed Ukraine and the protocol before watching Ireland beat England in the Six Nations at Twickenham.

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Hailed as heroes – Scottish gardeners who rescued trio from Ukraine

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Joe McCarthy and Gary Taylor were held at gunpoint by Russians before successfully evacuating Irish woman and Nigerian men

Two Scottish gardeners have rescued three students – one Irish and two Nigerian – who were trapped in the wartorn city of Sumy in the north-east of Ukraine.

Along the way, the men were held at gunpoint by Russian soldiers – but were then rescued themselves by locals.

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Acclaimed foreign correspondent Hugh O’Shaughnessy dies aged 87

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Former Observer journalist was perhaps best known for his courageous coverage of Pinochet’s brutal coup in Chile in 1973

Hugh O’Shaughnessy, the admired journalist known for his reporting on Latin America, has died aged 87.

The former Observer correspondent won a series of awards during an illustrious career largely spent covering the rapidly changing social and political landscape of South America.

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International students trapped in Ukraine appeal for urgent evacuation

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At least 1,200 foreign students are thought to be stranded in Sumy, with some running out of food and water

International students trapped in a Ukrainian town near the Russian border have made desperate appeals for evacuation, as the number thought to be stranded in Sumy has risen to between 1,200 and 1,500, and they are running out of basic supplies.

Jana Kalaaji, a Syrian-Lebanese student who has been at the city’s university for a year, said: “There’s no electricity now. There is no water. There is no tapwater. There are no supplies. There is no heat because the heat comes with electricity.”

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Irish homeowners hit by mica building scandal welcome report

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Figures better reflect cost of repairing houses made using defective blocks, say campaigners

Figures showing the true cost of rebuilding houses built with defective blocks that “crumble like Weetabix” could end the “torture” for thousands of homeowners hit by the Mica building scandal in Ireland, campaigners have said.

They have given a cautious welcome to a government-commissioned report that they say more accurately reflects rebuilding costs. If adopted by the government as expected, it would significantly increase the €2.2bn (£1.8bn) compensation scheme unveiled last December.

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Dublin city council takes street artists to court over murals

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Subset collective to enter proceedings after 10 year ‘game of cat and mouse’ over murals including one of Sir David Attenborough

Across the world, public murals have given bursts of cultural and political expression to cityscapes. Some of their creators, such as Banksy, have even become millionaires in the process.

But in Ireland, a collective of street artists known as Subset are about to enter a court battle as part of a 10-year “game of cat and mouse” with Dublin city council over three murals, including one celebrating the life of Sir David Attenborough.

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Brexit: huge jump in trade between Ireland and Northern Ireland

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Official Irish data suggests boost in trade on island of Ireland, but imports from Great Britain fell €2.3bn

The impact of the first year of Brexit on Ireland has been revealed after official data showed cross-border trade between Ireland and Northern Ireland jumped by €2.8bn (£2.3bn) in 2021.

Full-year figures from Ireland’s Central Statistics Office show that imports to Ireland from Northern Ireland were up 65% to €3.9bn, a rise of €1.5bn compared with 2020.

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Halt to Northern Ireland Brexit checks ‘a breach of international law’

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Ireland’s European commissioner criticises decision by DUP minister affecting food and animal imports

A decision by a Democratic Unionist minister to halt all Brexit checks on food and animals entering Northern Ireland has been described by Ireland’s European commissioner as “an absolute breach of international law”.

The move announced by the devolved administration’s agriculture minister, Edwin Poots, on Wednesday has been branded an electioneering stunt by opposition parties in Northern Ireland and has set the UK on a collision course with the EU.

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Former Irish soldier was prepared to die for Islamic State, court hears

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Lisa Smith ‘enveloped’ herself in the ‘black flag of IS’ in Syria, prosecutor says

A former Irish soldier accused of joining Islamic State was prepared to die a martyr, a court in Dublin has heard.

Lisa Smith, 39, from Dundalk, County Louth, has pleaded not guilty to being a member of the terrorist organisation between October 2015 and December 2019.

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Irish police rule out foul play over death in post office pension incident

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Gardaí attempting to establish at what point 66-year-old man died before alarm was raised at shop in Carlow

Police suspect that a dead man who was brought to a post office in Ireland by two men trying to claim his pension had died just hours before the incident.

Gardaí have ruled out foul play, with a postmortem revealing he had died not long before the alarm was raised at Hosey’s shop and post office in the town of Carlow, in County Carlow.

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