Category Archives: Ireland

May’s pledge on Irish border threatens to reopen Tory rift

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Brexiters fear PM’s Belfast speech steps back from previous assurances

Theresa May fired a warning shot at Brexit supporters on Tuesday, insisting there was “no suggestion” Britain would leave the EU without an insurance provision to protect against a hard border in Northern Ireland.

At a speech in Belfast, May would only accept that technology could “play a part” in any alternative arrangements and that she would not countenance anything that would disrupt the lives of border communities.

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May to promise Brexit deal that Northern Ireland can support

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Prime minister’s speech in Belfast to underscore pledge to avoid hard border

Theresa May will attempt to reassure businesses and Northern Irish politicians by insisting during a visit to Belfast that she can find a way to deliver a Brexit deal MPs can support.

The prime minister is due to chair a cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning before departing for a two-day visit to Northern Ireland to underscore her commitment to avoiding a hard border with Ireland.

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The backstop isn’t just about trade. Is that so hard to understand, Britain? | Dearbhail McDonald

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The Good Friday agreement allows people to identify as Irish, British or both. We’re being forced, once again, to choose sides

One of my earliest childhood memories is of a circling red light motioning cars to stop near the border, silencing all who encountered its fiery glare. That red light filled my young heart with fear. I didn’t know if the gloved hand holding the torch was that of the RUC, the British army, the IRA or the UVF.

I grew up during the Troubles in the shadow of Cloghogue, one of the largest British army bases in Northern Ireland. Having to make detours to avoid customs and security checks along “bomb alley” – an atrocity-laden eight-mile stretch of road between Newry and Dundalk – was as frightening as it was familiar.

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Juncker warns May: permanent customs union is price for revisiting backstop

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Deputy Frans Timmermans accuses Tory Brexiters of a ‘cavalier’ approach to peace

Jean-Claude Juncker has told Theresa May in a private phone call that shifting her red lines in favour of a permanent customs union is the price she will need to pay for the EU revising the Irish backstop.

Without a major shift in the prime minister’s position, the European commission president told May that the current terms of the withdrawal agreement were non-negotiable.

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Ireland’s calling: a journey to the heart of a rugby powerhouse | Donald McRae

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Ireland are favourites for the Six Nations and are serious contenders for the World Cup this year, with a spirit that transcends national boundaries. How have they done it?

“It just wouldn’t happen today,” Willie John McBride says on a rainy morning at home in Ballyclare as he explains the vast differences between the gleaming powerhouse of Irish rugby today and a ramshackle sport which he only began playing at the age of 17. Four years later, in 1962, as McBride remembers, “I was in the Lions Test team. Remarkably, I survived.”

McBride not only survived. At 78 he remains the godfather of Irish rugby and a lock forward who won 63 caps for Ireland and played a record 17 Lions Tests. He also provides a perfect starting point for a journey through Irish rugby as McBride’s story shows how much Ireland and the game have changed. Despite past sectarian conflicts and multiple identities, there is a new cohesion among the four rugby provinces and the national team.

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No-deal Brexit would mean hard Irish border, EU confirms

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Spokesman says it is ‘pretty obvious’ border controls would be needed under no deal

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The EU has confirmed it will enforce a hard border on the island of Ireland in the event of a no-deal Brexit, despite the risk it would pose to peace.

In comments that will be highly uncomfortable for Dublin, Jean-Claude Juncker’s chief spokesman told reporters it was “pretty obvious” that border infrastructure would be necessary if the UK were to leave without deal.

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May claims EU second referendum would threaten ‘social cohesion’

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PM faces a looming revolt over a no-deal Brexit as Corbyn criticises her talks as ‘PR sham’

Theresa May doubled down on her opposition to a second Brexit referendum on Monday night, claiming it would threaten Britain’s “social cohesion” and insisting the centrepiece of her strategy remained negotiating changes to the Irish backstop.

With just 67 days to go until Britain is due by law to leave the European Union, May exasperated MPs and business groups by offering scant evidence that she was willing to change course.

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‘No solutions’ to Irish backstop in May’s Brexit call with cabinet

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Statement on Monday expected to focus on finding a remedy to issue that threatens to split Tory party

Theresa May is expected to reject calls to forge a cross-party consensus on Brexit when she lays out her plan B to parliament on Monday, choosing instead to back new diplomatic efforts in Brussels to renegotiate the Irish backstop.

The prime minister held a conference call with her bitterly divided cabinet from the country retreat of Chequers on Sunday evening.

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McDonald’s loses Big Mac trademark after legal battle with Irish chain

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Supermac strips US food giant of trademark across Europe after landmark EU ruling

Pat McDonagh earned the nickname Supermac as an Irish teenager after a barnstorming performance in a Gaelic football match in the late 1960s.

The centre half-back guided his school, Carmelite college of Moate, County Westmeath, to victory over St Gerald’s, a more fancied team.

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Do you think the Irish citizens’ assembly on abortion was a good idea?

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If you live in Ireland, tell us about the assembly and its findings – did it help resolve a complex issue, might it help with Brexit?

In 2018, Ireland voted in a referendum to legalise abortion. Irish politics had been debating this divisive and emotive issue for decades, however the Irish citizens’ assembly, which deliberated on the matter prior to the referendum, was cited as a successful process in helping people understand the complex issues.

The citizens’ assembly was established in 2016 by parliament and its purpose was to deliberate on a number of issues, including the eighth amendment that outlawed abortion. The 99 citizen members of the assembly were selected to be electorally representative and included those in favour of the change, those against and those undecideds. Over the course of five weekends, between the end of 2016 and early 2017, the assembly listened to people on all sides of the abortion debate, including experts and those sharing their personal experiences.

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Ireland’s national theatre accused of deserting Irish talent

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More than 300 actors, directors and designers accuse Abbey of wreaking ‘devastation’

The Abbey theatre in Dublin has staged some of Ireland’s greatest plays but it is now at the centre of an unwanted drama after it was accused of wreaking artistic “devastation” on the country’s theatrical community.

In an open letter published on Monday, a roll-call of Irish talent including the actors Aidan Gillen and Ruth Negga said the country’s national theatre had gutted its domestic industry by scaling back in-house productions in order to buy in and co-produce shows.

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Two Irish nationals facing murder charges over Sydney death

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Man allegedly assaulted in inner west on 29 December died in hospital on Monday night

Two Irish nationals are facing murder charges after a man assaulted in Sydney’s inner west died in hospital.

Christopher McLaughlin, 24, and Nathan Kelly 21, were charged with reckless grievous bodily harm in company and affray after emergency services found the 66-year-old injured on the side of the road at Summer Hill on 29 December.

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Activists protest against Ireland’s new abortion services

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Pro-choice groups condemn picket of clinic as health service warns of fake websites

Anti-abortion activists have struck back against Ireland’s introduction of abortion services by picketing a clinic and by launching potentially misleading websites that mimic the state’s support service for unplanned pregnancies.

A group holding placards protested outside a doctor’s office in Galway on Thursday in an effort to deter women from seeking abortion pills just three days after abortion services became legal.

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Vote points to big win for abortion rights groups in Ireland

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A woman places flowers by a mural showing Savita Halappanavar, a 31-year-old Indian dentist who had sought and been denied an abortion before she died after a miscarriage in a Galway hospital, with the word YES over it, in Dub... . A woman leaves a polling station after casting her vote in the referendum on the 8th Amendment of the Irish Constitution, in Dublin, Ireland, Friday May 25, 2018.

Happy St Patrick’s Day – here are 10 great things the Irish have done for us

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It's that time of year again when we celebrate all things Irish but there is a lot more to Irish achievement than shamrocks, Guinness and Jedward. Ireland has been making a positive impact around the globe for centuries and there's no better time to celebrate some of those real Irish accomplishments than just ahead of St Patrick's Day.

Early Saturday morning the Senate narrowly approved the Republican tax bill with a vote of 51-49

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Vice President Mike Pence announcing the final vote, which was mostly along party lines, 51 to 49, with only one Republican voting against the bill, Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee. And while Republicans have touted it as a victory for the middle class, several independent analyses found it's skewed toward corporations and the wealthy, according to the Tax Policy Center.