Tag Archives: Ireland

The Guardian reports: Campaigners in Ireland celebrated the end of a “medieval” ban on blasphemy on Saturday, after voters overwhelmingly backed removing the offence from the constitution in a referendum. The referendum saw 64.85% vote yes to remove the prohibition on blasphemy, with 35.15% in favour of retaining it. A total of 951,650 people voted for the change, with 515,808 …

The Hill reports: President Trump’s scheduled trip to Ireland in mid-November has been canceled, an administration source confirmed to The Hill on Tuesday. No reason was given for the cancellation, although Trump was expected to face protests in Ireland. Trump had been expected to visit Dublin, the Irish capital, as well as a golf course he owns in Doonberg, County …

The BBC reports: Pope Francis has said he is ashamed of the Catholic Church’s failure to adequately address the “repellent crimes” of sex abuse by clergy. The Pope was addressing political leaders and diplomats at Dublin Castle during the first papal visit to the Republic of Ireland for 40 years. He is expected to meet victims of clerical sex abuse …

Irish Central reports: Irish leader Leo Varadkar will bring up same sex marriage to Pope Francis when he meets him in Ireland on August 25th saying that such marriages are the same as any conventional marriage and should be treated as such by the church. Varadkar is Ireland’s first gay leader. Questioned on what he would say to the Pope …

Britain’s iNews reports: A moving advert for Dublin Bus features four dads surprising their children by picking them up for Dublin Pride. The short film opens with a bus driver who has been with bus company since 1982. “We’re going to pick up people for Pride parade” he explains. “We’re going to have proud fathers on the bus.” Three of …

Ireland’s state broadcaster reports: The Taoiseach has paid tribute in the Dáil to those who were criminalised for homosexual activity prior to the repeal of the laws in 1993. “Today the people I want to pay a special tribute to are the unknown heroes, the thousands of people whose names we do not know, who were criminalised by our forbears,” …

The Guardian reports: Ireland has voted by a landslide to legalise abortion in a stunning outcome that marks a dramatic defeat for the Catholic church’s one-time domination of the Republic. The Irish electorate voted by 1,429,981 votes to 723,632 in favour of abolishing a controversial constitutional amendment that gave equal legal status to the lives of a foetus and the …

The Irish Times reports: Ireland has voted by a landslide margin to change the constitution so that abortion can be legalised, according to an exit poll conducted for The Irish Times by Ipsos/MRBI. The poll suggests that the margin of victory for the Yes side in the referendum will be 68 per cent to 32 per cent – a stunning …

The BBC reports: Turnout in the Republic of Ireland’s referendum on abortion laws is higher, so far, than in recent votes. Voting will continue until 22:00 local time on Friday. The turnout at mid afternoon on Friday was higher than at the same stage of the country’s referendum on same-sex marriage and its most recent general election. Polls opened at …

The Guardian reports: The European Broadcasting Union has blocked a Chinese broadcaster from airing the Eurovision song contest after it edited out LGBT elements from an online stream of the semi-finals on Tuesday. Mango TV, a video-streaming site linked to one of China’s most watched channels, Hunan TV, blacked out the performance of Ireland’s Ryan O’Shaugnessy, during which two male …

Ireland’s Gay Community News reports: Sinn Féin spokesperson for the Arts, Youth Affairs and LGBTQI rights, Senator Fintan Warfield has welcomed the passing of the Prohibition of Conversion Therapies Bill 2018 through second stage in the Seanad today. The bill aims to make the practice of performing so called ‘conversion’ or ‘reparative’ therapies illegal in Ireland and would carry fines …

The Indianapolis Star reports: Vice President Mike Pence’s breakfast with new Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar was closed to the media — at the request of the vice president. In a departure from the recent past, reporters were told Friday’s event to be attended by Pence and Varadkar will be private and the media won’t be invited. Pence also had …

The Irish Independent reports: Ireland’s 2018 Eurovision entry could face a broadcast ban in Russia as the video for the song features a gay couple. Ryan O’Shaughnessy will represent Ireland in Lisbon with self-penned track Together. The video features a male couple dancing in Dublin’s Temple Bar. However there has been speculation that the video violates Russia’s strict anti-gay “propaganda” …

ABC News reports: The death of The Cranberries lead singer Dolores O’Riordan is not being treated as suspicious, British police say. O’Riordan was found dead at a London hotel on Monday morning (local time) and officers initially described the death as “unexplained” but now say nothing suspicious had been found. The case is being passed to a coroner to determine …

The BBC reports: The Cranberries lead singer Dolores O’Riordan has died in London at the age of 46, her publicist says. The Irish musician, originally from Limerick, led the band to international success in the 90s with singles including Linger and Zombie. A statement from her publicist said: “The lead singer with the Irish band The Cranberries was in London …

Business Insider reports: Donald Trump’s golf resort in Ireland has received permission to build two seawalls to prevent water from eroding part of the course. Local authorities in Doonbeg, Ireland, gave Trump International Golf Links the go-ahead on Thursday to build the two long barriers along a nearby coast. One wall will be 2,000 feet long, while the other will …

Reuters reports: Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar attended a gay rights event on Saturday during his first official visit to Northern Ireland, upsetting some social conservatives in the only region of the United Kingdom where same-sex marriage is still illegal. Varadkar, who became Ireland’s first openly gay leader when he took office in June, joined activists preparing for Northern Ireland’s …

History!!! The Independent reports: Leo Varadkar is the new leader of Fine Gael and on course to become Ireland’s first gay Taoiseach. The Social Protection Minister got the support of 51 TDs, senators and MEP to get over the line despite losing the popular vote. Massive cheers greeted Mr Varadkar as he arrived at the count centre in the Mansion …

This didn’t get enough attention yesterday, mostly thanks to Sean Spicer’s daily meltdown. The Independent reports: Taoiseach Enda Kenny told Mr Trump that he holds the “future of America, and indeed the world, in your hands”. After handing over the traditional bowl of shamrock, he said the US President was taking up a job that “is exceptionally demanding and difficult”. …

The Irish Times reports: US First Lady Melania Trump is not due to appear alongside husband Donald Trump when he meets Taoiseach Enda Kenny at the St Patrick’s Day ceremony next week. Mr Kenny and his wife Fionnuala have previously appeared at the shamrock ceremony in the White House alongside former president Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama but …