O’Rahilly, who also managed pop stars and James Bond actor George Lazenby, was diagnosed with dementia in 2013
Ronan O’Rahilly, the Irish founder of the notorious Radio Caroline that popularised pop music on British radio, has died aged 79.
His death was announced by the radio station that is still broadcasting, who said: “In a pastime populated by unusual people, Ronan was more unusual than all of them combined.” He had been diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2013.
Continue reading...Drone footage from Ireland shows the streets of Dublin eerily empty after the taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, announced coronavirus lockdown restrictions would be extended for another three weeks. The measures, which prevent people from leaving home in all but limited circumstances, were due to expire on Easter Sunday
Continue reading...Party leaders agree to seek ‘full and equal partnership’ for five years and rotate taoiseach role
Ireland’s ruling Fine Gael party and its longtime rival Fianna Fáil have moved closer to forming an unprecedented coalition government.
Leo Varadkar, the taoiseach and Fine Gael leader, and Micheál Martin, the Fianna Fáil leader, agreed on Tuesday to seek a “full and equal partnership” for five years, during which they would rotate the position of taoiseach. The pair will brief their parties on the details on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Figures from Italy, Spain, France, Ireland and Belgium suggest UK may be underestimating care sector deaths
About half of all Covid-19 deaths appear to be happening in care homes in some European countries, according to early figures gathered by UK-based academics who are warning that the same effort must be put into fighting the virus in care homes as in the NHS.
Snapshot data from varying official sources shows that in Italy, Spain, France, Ireland and Belgium between 42% and 57% of deaths from the virus have been happening in homes, according to the report by academics based at the London School of Economics (LSE).
Continue reading...Taoiseach has announced Ireland will extend its coronavirus lockdown for at least three more weeks, until 5 May. He said the decision was taken on expert advice. 'We cannot be complacent. What we're doing is difficult, but it is making a difference'
Fatal shooting of Dublin criminal is latest incident in saga of vicious score-settling
It started with taunts about stolen flip-flops, veered into a litany of horrors – abduction, murder, dismemberment, betrayal, vengeance – and ended with a party.
The gangland feud propelling such violence and depravity has played out in Ireland and now moved to the UK.
Continue reading...Authorities have announced measures ranging from the draconian to the quixotic
Authorities around the world are preparing to use curfews, roadblocks, travel bans, surveillance technology and threats of fines and arrests to deter people from travelling and congregating over Easter.
Many governments have already announced tighter restrictions and increased police enforcement in an effort to sustain lockdowns during a holiday period traditionally associated with trips and socialising.
Continue reading...Growers from Ireland to Spain says coronavirus lockdown has stopped migrant workers from arriving
At this time of year John Greene is usually preparing to welcome dozens of Slovakian strawberry pickers for another harvest at his farm in County Wexford in south-east Ireland.
The work is arduous and repetitive and he relies on their experience and stamina to get the fruit picked, packed and sold.
Continue reading...Video by activists appears to show cruel treatment of weeks-old cattle transported on long journeys to Europe for veal
Footage which appears to show Irish calves being beaten and kicked at a French feeding station has been published by animal campaign groups.
The video, published by Eyes on Animals (EoA) and French welfare organisation L214, appears to show workers repeatedly beating calves that are a few weeks old with sticks. One is kicked and another is dragged away, unable to stand. The calf was euthanised by a vet, said an EoA observer.
Continue reading...Coronavirus crisis spurs Fine Gael-Fianna Fáil government formation talks
The coronavirus crisis has spurred government formation talks in Ireland between Leo Varadkar’s ruling Fine Gael party and its old rival, Fianna Fáil.
Both parties lost seats in a general election last month that marked a revolt against the political establishment, but parliamentary arithmetic and the coronavirus pandemic have prodded them towards an unprecedented coalition.
Continue reading...Officials say proposed 38,000-tonne sea barrier could damage sand dunes at Doonbeg resort
The climate crisis just became more personal for Donald Trump, after authorities in Ireland rejected an attempt by his Doonbeg golf resort to build a wall to combat rising sea levels.
The planning agency An Bord Pleanála said on Wednesday that the proposed 38,000-tonne rock barrier at Doughmore Bay could damage dunes that straddle the golf course in County Clare, on the Atlantic coast.
Continue reading...Ireland's prime minister, Leo Varadkar, delivers stark warnings and calls for unity in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. Speaking on St Patrick's Day, Varadkar called for citizens to isolate, for pubs and restaurants to close and social gatherings to be cancelled. Varadkar also said the most vulnerable would be looked after, insisting banks, government and utilities were there to help
On the day after 54 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Ireland, deserted streets and shuttered pubs stripped of cheers, speeches and marching bands marked a St Patrick’s day like no other.
Continue reading...Aviation consultancy warns that international industry could collapse within months
Major airlines including British Airways, Ryanair, easyJet and Virgin Atlantic announced a dramatic scaling-back of their operations on Monday, including plans to cancel the majority of their flights and ground thousands of planes, with experts and industry executives calling for government bailouts to avoid bankruptcies.
The moves came as an aviation consultancy warned that the international airline industry will collapse within months, with the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs, unless states worldwide inject billions of dollars of emergency funding to see it through the coronavirus “catastrophe”.
Continue reading...A summary of the biggest developments in the global coronavirus outbreak
Key developments in the global coronavirus outbreak today include:
Continue reading...All travel between the United States and the UK and Ireland will be suspended from midnight EST on Monday. Vice-president Mike Pence announced the new measure at a coronavirus task force news briefing on Saturday.
A top medical official Anthony Fauci said the move could change the course of coronavirus's spread across the country, which he said 'has not yet reached its peak'.
Continue reading...Republic of Ireland’s caretaker taoiseach and Northern Ireland’s first minister meet in Armagh
Leo Varadkar and Arlene Foster are meet to discuss a cross-border approach to combatting coronavirus.
With mass gatherings including sporting events and concerts to be banned across the UK from next weekend, pressure was growing on Northern Irish leaders to close schools in line with the move south of the border.
Continue reading...Critics of UK coronavirus measures call for joint strategy on island of Ireland
Ireland is shutting schools, colleges and childcare facilities to delay the spread of coronavirus in contrast to the UK which is keeping education institutions open, exposing a stark divergence in response to the crisis.
Irish authorities said the shutdown would begin at 6pm on Thursday and last at least until 29 March as part of a series of restrictions, including a ban on mass gatherings, that will be kept under review.
Continue reading...Sinn Féin won the popular vote in Ireland’s recent elections shaking up a two-party system that has been dominated by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael for decades. The success was described as a youthquake but was that really the case? We meet some of the activists, politicians and voters to ask them what the result says about Ireland and about their hopes for a government as coalition talks continue
Sioned Jones convicted of stealing logs after 20 years of felling non-native trees in Cork
Sioned Jones used to adore the landscape and wildlife of her adopted home in Bantry, a bucolic region in west Cork on Ireland’s Atlantic coast. She planted vegetables and herbs, foraged for nuts and berries and observed birds, insects, frogs and lizards.
Then, on land above her house, the state-owned forestry company Coillte planted a forest of Sitka spruce, a non-native species that Jones considered a dark, dank threat to biodiversity.
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