Tag Archives: Ireland

The Associated Press reports: The Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein, which seeks unification with Ireland, hailed a “new era” Saturday for Northern Ireland as it captured the largest number of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly for the first time in a historic win. With almost all votes counted from Thursday’s local U.K. election, Sinn Fein secured 27 of the …

Reuters reports: Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney was taken off stage by officials during a speech in Belfast on Friday after the event organiser said a suspicious device had been discovered in a hijacked van in the car park of the venue. The van driver was ordered at gunpoint to drive to the venue in north Belfast, one of the …

CNN reports: Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, known as the Taoiseach, tested positive for Covid-19 Wednesday while attending a gala in Washington, DC, that had just been addressed by President Joe Biden. Martin left the gathering for The Ireland Funds after his positive result was confirmed, according to PA Media, a UK-based news agency. Irish Ambassador to the US Daniel …

The Irish Independent reports: A dead man was brought to a post office this morning in an attempt to collect his pension in one of the most bizarre incidents that gardaí have ever seen. The shocking incident in which the deceased male was propped up by two other men happened at the post office on Staplestown Road in Carlow town. …

The Associated Press reports: Nations across Europe are moving to reimpose tougher measures to stem a new wave of COVID-19 infections spurred by the highly transmissible omicron variant, triggering calls for protests from Paris to Barcelona. As case numbers escalated, alarmed ministers in France, and Austria tightened travel restrictions. Paris cancelled its New Year’s Eve fireworks. Denmark closed theaters, concert …

The Irish Mirror reports: A passenger on a flight from Dublin Airport to the US was allegedly involved in an ‘air rage’ incident last week. The man was travelling on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Ireland to Dulles International Airport in Washington DC on December 2. As the plane began descending towards the US airport, the man is said to …

Ireland’s Independent reports: Gardaí are recommending criminal charges be brought against anti-vax extremist Antonio Mureddu in connection with Covid patient Joe McCarron’s departure from hospital in Donegal while gravely ill. The 67-year-old Covid patient returned to hospital two days later, but subsequently died. In a video [below] that later went viral, Italian anti-vaccination extremist Mr Mureddu is seen encouraging the …

Reuters reports: Britain and Ireland traded barbs on Twitter on Sunday after British Brexit negotiator David Frost restated his view that the EU must agree “significant change” to the Northern Ireland protocol that governs trade and border rules in the province. The protocol was part of the Brexit settlement Prime Minister Boris Johnson negotiated with the EU, but London has …

The Irish Times reports: A Covid-19 patient who left a Co Donegal hospital last week after being encouraged by anti-vaccination campaigners, has died in hospital. Joe McCarron, aged 75, died at Letterkenny University Hospital on Friday. Mr McCarron, who was from Dungloe, had been in hospital for a number of days after contracting the virus. His case received widespread attention …

Reuters reports: Ireland plans to adopt a COVID-19 certificate to help citizens move more freely across the European Union from mid-July, but is not yet in a position to allow unencumbered travel from neighbouring Britain, senior ministers said on Friday. Ireland now has the strictest travel curbs in the EU. It advises citizens against non-essential travel, imposes fines on people …

CNBC reports: Ireland’s health service shut down its computer systems on Friday after being hit with a “sophisticated” ransomware attack. The Irish Health Service Executive said there was a “significant ransomware attack” on its IT systems, without commenting further on specifics. Ireland’s vaccination program has not been affected and appointments will go ahead as planned, but the registration portal has …

Reuters reports: A British chain of holiday parks was until recently using an “undesirable guest list” to stop people with Irish surnames from making bookings, an anti-discrimination watchdog said on Tuesday. The list used internally at Pontins and obtained by The I newspaper included surnames commonly found in Ireland and within the Irish diaspora in Britain, such as Doherty, Gallagher, …

Politico Europe reports: People must stop socializing in each other’s homes for several weeks under new pandemic restrictions announced Wednesday by the Irish government. The Cabinet took action in emergency session after public health chiefs warned that the rate of COVID-19 infections was growing much faster than during the first and second waves. Some measures, while immediately intended to discourage …

The New York Times reports: The government of Ireland announced a six-week lockdown beginning Wednesday night, becoming the first European country to reimpose a national lockdown. The new measures, announced on Monday, are a dramatic U-turn for the government, which just two weeks ago fell short of imposing the highest level of restrictions despite advice from public health experts. Under …

The Independent reports: The US government has announced it is expanding its European travel ban to include Britain and Ireland, as it seeks to contain the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the globe. Donald Trump originally exempted Britain and Ireland from his 30-day ban on travellers from 26 European countries that took effect at midnight on Friday. The new travel restrictions on …

Business Insider reports: Hours after the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus a pandemic, President Donald Trump announced a 30-day travel ban on most of Europe. But he excluded two countries where he has hotels and golf courses that have been struggling financially: the UK and Ireland. Trump has two properties in the UK — Trump Turnberry and Trump …

The BBC reports: Dublin has cancelled its annual St Patrick’s Day parade amid fears about the spread of coronavirus, Irish broadcaster RTÉ has reported. Earlier on Monday, Cork moved to cancel its parade, the second largest in the country attracting up to 50,000 people. The city council said public welfare was paramount and cancellation was the correct decision. Irish Health …

The Guardian reports: Leo Varadkar has resigned as taoiseach after Ireland’s hung parliament entered deadlock over the choice of a new premier. Varadkar submitted his resignation to Michael D Higgins, the president of Ireland, on Thursday night after a tempestuous but inconclusive sitting of Dáil Éireann, which met for the first time since the 8 February election. It adjourned until …

The Irish Herald reports: A €14,000 spend by gardai on sandwich/snack bags for members was part of an overall €107,625 catering payment to the Donald Trump-owned Trump Doonbeg resort in west Clare. That is according to figures released by An Garda Siochana concerning its €11.3m overtime operation put in place to protect the US President during his two-night stay at …

The Guardian reports: Boris Johnson has signalled to the EU that he would make a major U-turn on his plans for the Irish border to successfully secure a 48-hour window of intensive negotiations over a potential Brexit deal. EU diplomats gave the green light to a weekend of talks after being told by the bloc’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, that …