Category Archives: Ireland

European elections live: Hungary poll puts Orbán’s Fidesz on 50% with Magyar’s Tisza on 27%

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Party of far-right populist predicted to take 11 seats against six for challenger who is building a centrist movement

Céline, a civil servant and administrator in several French government ministries, used to keep quiet about the fact that she voted for the far-right, anti-immigration party of Marine Le Pen. “I couldn’t talk about it at work; people would say: ‘You’re a fascist.’ It was frowned upon – it was almost a sackable offence,” said the 68-year-old, who retired three years ago.

But today, even in her hometown of Boulogne-Billancourt, west of Paris, where the largely well-off residents have been historically closed to the far right, and voted 83% for the centrist Emmanuel Macron in the 2022 presidential final round, Céline has noticed a shift in the public mood.

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Big Mac v Supermac’s: McDonald’s loses EU trademark fight

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Ruling by European court of justice ends 17-year legal tussle between Irish chain and global rival

The small Irish takeaway chain Supermac’s has won a David v Goliath court battle with McDonald’s over the use of the Big Mac trademark, paving the way for it to open outlets across Europe.

The ruling also means the US-founded fast food multinational has lost the right to use the name “Big Mac” in the EU in relation to chicken burgers.

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‘I miss my solitude’: Booker winner Paul Lynch says he is a ‘social introvert’

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Author of novel Prophet Song about an imagined fascist Ireland tells Hay audience he is not a political writer

“I miss my solitude,” last year’s Booker prize winner Paul Lynch told an audience at Hay festival on Saturday.

“In many ways I didn’t sign up for this. I’m an introvert who’s learned how to be social, a social introvert,” he said. “I signed up to sit in a room on my own for three or four years and write a book,” he said.

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US ‘concerned’ by Israel’s isolation, Biden national security adviser says

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Jake Sullivan appears critical of decision by Spain, Ireland and Norway to formally recognise Palestinian state next week

The US is concerned about Israel’s growing diplomatic isolation among countries that have traditionally supported it, Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said on Wednesday.

Sullivan’s remarks, at a White House briefing, followed the announcement by Ireland, Spain and Norway that they will next week formally recognise a Palestinian state. They also came amid efforts by the Biden administration and Congress to coordinate a response to a decision by the international criminal court (ICC) to seek an arrest warrant for Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, over Israeli actions in Gaza.

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‘Never-ending’ UK rain made 10 times more likely by climate crisis, study says

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Winter downpours also made 20% wetter and will occur every three years without urgent carbon cuts, experts warn

The seemingly “never-ending” rain last autumn and winter in the UK and Ireland was made 10 times more likely and 20% wetter by human-caused global heating, a study has found.

More than a dozen storms battered the region in quick succession between October and March, which was the second-wettest such period in nearly two centuries of records. The downpour led to severe floods, at least 20 deaths, severe damage to homes and infrastructure, power blackouts, travel cancellations, and heavy losses of crops and livestock.

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Ireland, Spain and Norway to recognise Palestinian state

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Irish PM declares ‘unequivocal support’ for two-state solution, as Israel recalls ambassadors from Dublin, Madrid and Oslo

Ireland, Spain and Norway have announced they will formally recognise a Palestinian state on 28 May, triggering an immediate response from Israel, which said it would retaliate by recalling its ambassadors from Dublin, Madrid and Oslo, and withholding vital funds from the Palestinian Authority.

The three European governments made the long-awaited announcements in coordinated moves on Wednesday morning that they said were intended to support a two-state solution and foster peace in the Middle East.

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Portal installations linking Dublin to New York City reopen after shutdown

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Two installations host a 24/7 live stream in both cities, but a small number of visitors initially abused the opportunity

The live video portal linking Dublin, Ireland, to New York, New York, has reopened after unruly behavior got the modern art sculpture temporarily shut down.

The two installations making up the Portal – created by the Lithuanian artist Benediktas Gylys – host a 24/7 live stream in both cities so people can see and interact with each other. One installation is located in the Flatiron district of New York, and the other is on Dublin’s popular O’Connell Street.

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Dublin video portal to New York shuts temporarily due to unruly behaviour

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Livestream artwork with 2.4m-wide screen allowed people in both cities to see but not hear each other, leading to offensive conduct

Authorities in Dublin are to temporarily shut down the live video portal with New York because of unruly behaviour.

The city council said in a statement on Tuesday it would switch off the interactive webcam at 10pm Irish time while technicians try to tweak – or censor – a project that has brought delight and notoriety.

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Smiles, waves and flashed body parts: video portal links Dublin and New York

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Dubliners urged to give ‘Irish welcome’ via interactive sculpture, but bad behaviour has also been on display

Rain sluiced down on a grey Dublin afternoon but the crowd clustering around the portal ignored the downpour and waved at a man cycling towards the screen on a sunny morning in Manhattan.

He gazed back, waved and wobbled before recovering his balance and vanishing down Fifth Avenue, eliciting a cheer from the sodden observers on North Earl Street.

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Students across Europe hold Gaza war protests in run-up to UN vote on Palestinian statehood

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Police arrested dozens of people in Amsterdam, with university occupations continuing in Netherlands, Belgium and Spain

Thirty-two people were arrested as Dutch police broke up a Gaza war protest at the University of Amsterdam, in a second day of unrest over the conflict. Police said the offences included public violence, vandalism and assault.

Video captured by Reuters appeared to show officers in riot gear striking protesters and police knocking down makeshift barricades of desks, bricks and wooden pallets that seemingly had been used to set off fire extinguishers in hopes of pushing them back. The footage appeared to also show police dragging several students away as hundreds shouted: “Shame on you!”

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Trinity College Dublin agrees to divest from Israeli firms after student protest

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Five-day encampment in university grounds that caused the college major loss of income ended in victory for campaigners

Students at Trinity College Dublin have ended a five-day encampment after the university pledged to cut ties with Israeli companies.

Student leaders claimed victory on Wednesday night for a US-style campaign that had disrupted the campus and blocked access to the Book of Kells.

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Asylum seekers ‘hide or flee to Ireland’ to avoid UK Rwanda detentions

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Charities fear ‘increasing risks of destitution and exploitation’ of refugees as they go into hiding

The Home Office is dealing with growing fallout from the high-profile round-ups of asylum seekers it wants to send to Rwanda, as some have gone into hiding while others have fled across the border to Ireland.

Officials began rounding up asylum seekers to detain them for the Rwanda scheme a week ago, with at least one now on hunger strike and another threatening suicide.

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‘This is cleansing’: Dublin sends in police and buses to dismantle tent city

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Shocked people from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria herded on to coaches as 200 tents removed and streets cleaned

The convoy arrived just after sunrise: a stream of police vehicles, council trucks, mounted cranes and coaches, ready to dismantle a tent city of migrants and refugees in the heart of Dublin that had become too big, too visible, too political.

They fenced off streets and herded shocked, sleepy men from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and other countries on to buses and began to extirpate about 200 tents, gradually extinguishing all traces of the camp, but no amount of sweeping and hosing could remove the whiff of elections and diplomacy gone wrong.

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Humza Yousaf quits as Scotland’s first minister – as it happened

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Scotland’s first minister resigns after failing to muster enough votes to survive a no confidence vote this week

Humza Yousaf is holding a press conference at noon, Sky News and the BBC are reporting.

Mandy Rhodes, editor of the Holyrood magazine, says she was due to interview Humza Yousaf this afternoon, but he’s cancelled.

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UK will not accept return of asylum seekers from Ireland, Rishi Sunak says

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Prime minister dismisses potential deal with Dublin, increasing prospect of an escalating UK-Irish crisis

Rishi Sunak has said the UK will not accept the return of asylum seekers from Ireland and dismissed the prospect of a deal with Dublin.

The prime minister doubled down on his Rwanda deportation plan and appeared to reject any deal with the Irish government, which is alarmed at asylum seekers entering the republic from Northern Ireland.

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Sunak: rise in asylum seekers in Ireland proves Rwanda plan ‘having impact’

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UK PM points to Irish deputy PM’s claim that threat of being deported led people to cross border from Northern Ireland

An increase in asylum seekers heading to to Ireland proves that the Conservative party’s Rwanda plan is working, Rishi Sunak has claimed.

In an interview with Sky News’ Trevor Phillips that will air on Sunday morning, the prime minister said the “deterrent is already having an impact because people are worried about coming here”.

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UK Rwanda policy is ‘kneejerk reaction’ to migration, says Ireland’s deputy PM

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Micheál Martin says UK asylum seekers fearful of being removed to Rwanda are seeking sanctuary in Ireland

The UK government’s Rwanda policy has been described as a “kneejerk reaction” to migration by Ireland’s deputy prime minister, who said an influx of asylum seekers could arrive in Ireland as a result.

Micheál Martin, Ireland’s Tánaiste, reportedly said asylum seekers fearful of being removed from the UK to Rwanda were seeking sanctuary in Ireland.

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Ireland and Spain reiterate plan to form alliance to recognise state of Palestine

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Leaders of two nations vow to muster international support for two-state solution to Gaza crisis

Ireland and Spain have reiterated their intention to forge an alliance of countries that will soon recognise Palestine as a nation state.

The Irish taoiseach, Simon Harris, and Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, vowed on Friday to muster international support for a two-state solution in Israel and Palestine.

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Irish taoiseach and Spanish PM to discuss Palestine nation state plan

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Pedro Sánchez is first foreign premier Simon Harris will meet since becoming leader

The new Irish taoiseach is to meet the Spanish prime minister to discuss their joint plan to recognise Palestine as a nation state and their attempts to force the EU to assess Israel’s human rights obligations as a condition of their trade deal with the bloc.

Pedro Sánchez, who is due to arrive in Dublin on Friday, is the first foreign premier Simon Harris will meet since his promotion to the office of the taoiseach this week.

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