Tag Archives: Ireland

EU Hits Apple With $14.5 Billion Tax Bill

Bloomberg reports: Apple Inc. was ordered to repay a record 13 billion euros ($14.5 billion) plus interest after the European Commission said Ireland illegally slashed the iPhone maker’s tax bill. The world’s richest company benefited from a “selective tax treatment” in Ireland that gave it a “significant advantage over other businesses,” the European Union regulator said Tuesday. It’s the largest …

Read More »

IRELAND: Catholic Church Leaders Hold “Crisis Talks” Over Reports That Trainee Priests Are Using Grindr

ITV News reports: Church leaders have held crisis talks over fears that trainee Catholic priests in Ireland are using the gay dating app Grindr. Ireland’s Catholic Church hierarchy admitted concerns about an “unhealthy atmosphere” at the country’s main seminary. As a result Church leaders have ordered a review of the “appropriate use of the internet and social media” at a …

Read More »

IRELAND: Dublin Archbishop Transfers Trainee Priests After Reports Of Grindr Usage In His Seminary

Irish Central reports: The Catholic Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has announced that he will not send trainee priests from his own diocese, the largest in Ireland, to the national seminary at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth. When asked about his decision to send three seminary students from Dublin to the Irish Pontifical College in Rome instead of Maynooth later this …

Read More »

IRELAND: Priest Convicted Of Raping Boy With Crucifix

The Irish Post reports: A Catholic priest who raped a boy in the 1980s with a crucifix has been sentenced to two years in prison. Anthony Walsh, 63, who first gained notoriety in Britain and Ireland through his Elvis impersonations as part of Father Michael Cleary’s All Priests Show was found guilty of forcing the child to have sex twice. …

Read More »

Brexit Fallout: Sinn Fein Calls For United Ireland Vote

The Irish Journal reports: The UK’s decision to leave the EU means Sinn Féin will press for a border vote in the North. Both Northern Ireland and Scotland voted to remain in the EU, but the leave campaign was able to convince Wales and England to leave the union. “We have a situation where the north is going to be …

Read More »

TRAILER: Viva

Clip recap: VIVA stars Héctor Medina as Jesus, a young hairdresser working at a Havana nightclub that showcases drag performers, who dreams of being a performer himself. Encouraged by his mentor, Mama (Luis Alberto García), Jesus finally gets his chance to take the stage. But when his estranged father Angel (Jorge Perugorría) abruptly reenters his life, his world is quickly …

Read More »

Queen Panti Issues Holiday Message [VIDEO]

Yesterday Queen Elizabeth issued her holiday message. Today we get a holiday message from Ireland’s monarch, Queen Panti Bliss, which was delivered via the national broadcaster, RTE.  The Independent reports: The Queen of Ireland, Panti Bliss, has delivered a rousing alternative Christmas Day Message to rival the Queen of England’s annual message. Panti’s ten minute speech called on the nation …

Read More »

Panti Bliss Makes Most Influential Europeans List

Irish civil rights goddess Panti Bliss has been ranked at #12 in Politico‘s annual list of the 28 most-influential Europeans. From their bio: The outspoken queen captured the public imagination in a country that didn’t decriminalize gay sex until 1993. O’Neill was surprised himself. He charts it up to the fact that drag queens, often considered “fun” and almost “cartoonish” in …

Read More »

Breitbart Has The Ireland Sadz

A few days ago Ireland made it illegal to fire teachers for being gay. As it turns out, that action was an attack against the Baby Jesus. Breitbart wails: Ireland has stripped away laws which protected the rights of people to freedom of religion when in conflict with gay rights. The move comes just weeks after the first Irish gay …

Read More »

IRELAND: Approved Bill Protects LGBT Teachers

Big news for LGBT teachers in Ireland, where the Catholic Church runs most public schools. From the Irish Journal: The Dail has passed a Bill that will make it illegal for religious-run schools to discriminate against LGBT teachers over their sexuality. The Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013 amends the provisions of Section 37(1) of the Employment Equality Act. It has …

Read More »

Sinead O’Connor Under Suicide Watch

Sinead O’Connor has been hospitalized under a suicide watch after posting a rambling Facebook message this afternoon in which she claimed to have overdosed because her husband and children have abandoned her. Irish news outlets have tweeted that O’Connor was found “safe and sound and is getting medical assistance.” O’Connor has apparently lost custody of her children, which appears to …

Read More »

IRELAND: Panti Bliss Moves In Mysterious Ways For U2 At Dublin Concert [VIDEO]

Entertainment Ireland reports: It was a night for the locals as U2 welcomed a few familiar faces on stage at 3Arena last night. During a performance of Mysterious Ways, the stage got 100% more fabulous when Panti Bliss strutted on stage and shook what God gave her. As the song finished up, Bono and Panti shared a few words on …

Read More »

IRELAND: Same-Sex Weddings Begin

Ireland’s same-sex marriage law went into effect yesterday and weddings began this morning after the required 24-hour waiting period. The first couple to marry was Richard Dowling and Cormac Gollogly. RTE reports: The couple who have been together for 12 years got married in Clonmel, Co Tipperary this morning. Senior Registrar for south Tipperary Mary Claire Heffernan confirmed they were …

Read More »

IRELAND: Marriage Law Goes Into Effect

Ireland’s same-sex marriage law went into effect this morning and weddings will commence tomorrow after the required 24-hour wedding period. Via the Independent: More than 300 same-sex marriages are expected to take place in the first fortnight after the new Marriage Equality Act comes into force. Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald will today sign the commencement order, with the first same-sex …

Read More »

TRAILER: The Queen Of Ireland

Today’s news out of Ireland reminded to tell you that the Panti Bliss documentary, The Queen Of Ireland, which is now playing there, will open on Friday in Northern Ireland, where a gay couple married in England yesterday filed suit over their “devalued” relationship status, which became a mere civil partnership once they crossed the border to return home. The …

Read More »

IRELAND: Marriage Act Signed, Weddings Start Monday

Done and done! The Irish Independent reports: In a brief ceremony Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald and Tanaiste Joan Burton officially enacted the historic Marriage Act before a crowd of hundreds. The legislation allows for same-sex weddings from Monday, and was made possible after Ireland became the first country in the world earlier this year to vote for same-sex marriage in …

Read More »

IRELAND: Same-Sex Marriage Signed Into Law

Ireland’s same-sex marriage vote has been signed into law and weddings will commence by mid-November. “The Presidential Commission today signed the ‘Marriage Bill 2015’ into law,” the president’s office said in a statement, paving the way for the first weddings within a month. Ireland voted 62.1 percent in favour of allowing marriage between two people “without distinction as to their …

Read More »

IRELAND: High Court Swats Down Referendum Challenge, Marriages To Commence Within Months

Reuters reports: Gay couples in Ireland should be able to marry before the end of the year after the country’s Supreme Court refused to allow an appeal following an unsuccessful legal challenge to May’s landmark same-sex marriage referendum. Ireland became the first country to adopt gay marriage via a popular vote, with the backing of 62 percent of voters, signaling …

Read More »

IRELAND: Marriage Referendum Appealed To Supreme Court

Two men, one a Catholic [PHOTO] who was once jailed for contempt of court after declaring that the government had no right to dissolve his holy marriage-in-Jesus, have appealed Ireland’s marriage referendum to the Supreme Court. The Irish Journal reports: The two men who appealed the result of the marriage referendum have taken their appeal to the final hurdle of …

Read More »

TRAILER: Ireland’s Young Warriors

Clip recap: Earlier this year, VICE News filmed with a republican youth movement in Ireland called Na Fianna Éireann (“Warriors of Ireland” in English), a small group of around 30 boys considered to be hardline dissidents. They support a violent IRA splinter group known as the Continuity IRA, and believe that a renewed armed struggle is needed to free Ireland …

Read More »