Voters in Iceland have rejected a government proposal to reopen accession talks with the European Union after a closely fought referendum campaign that divided the country against a backdrop of global volatility. After a long and anxious night for those on both sides of the debate, the No camp ended up with 52.8 per cent […]
Continue ReadingGermany and five other northern European countries have signalled readiness to compromise in budget talks after meeting in Berlin, but retained their opposition to further common EU borrowing. Leaders of Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Austria, Finland and Sweden said they backed plans to conclude talks on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2028-2034 by year-end – […]
Continue ReadingWide-ranging sanctions on the Russian aluminium smelters supplied by the Aughinish Alumina plant in Co Limerick have been announced by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The move targets four smelters which, according to an Irish Times investigation published earlier this year, receive hundreds of millions of euro worth of alumina, the raw material used to make […]
Continue ReadingA wildfire engulfed homes in a picturesque Croatian resort on Thursday night and Friday morning, killing one person, injuring 40 and forcing 1,200 to evacuate, officials said, as the European Union warned that pockets of “very extreme” wildfire conditions stretched across the Continent. Hundreds more were evacuated from a beach resort in northern Greece and […]
Continue ReadingMore than 300,000 acres have been burned so far this summer in France, in the worst damage experienced by the country since the second World War. Spain, Portugal, the UK and Greece have also suffered badly, with tens of thousands of people displaced and emergency services continuing to struggle with the speed and intensity of […]
Continue ReadingThe “only alternative” that opponents of the plan to end the so-called triple lock on Irish troop deployments offer is to “do nothing and stand by as Russia and others continue to destroy international peacekeeping”, Micheál Martin has said. Opponents of the Government’s plans to end a United Nations Security Council veto on foreign deployment […]
Continue ReadingSpain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has called for an urgent meeting of EU interior ministers after what he called some member states’ “selfish, polarising and unlawful reaction” to this week’s mass border crossing into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, in North Africa. It comes after he confirmed “virtually all” the irregular migrants had been returned, […]
Continue ReadingSir, – This newspaper’s report on the Taoiseach’s meeting with German chancellor Friedrich Merz noted they would discuss “strengthening Europe’s competitiveness”, including the Irish presidency’s work to “simplify rules” (“Taoiseach to host German chancellor for talks in Dublin”, July 28th). ’Simplification’ has become one of the most misleading phrases in European politics. Rather than describing […]
Continue ReadingHigh summer at Farmleigh, with a pleasant breeze and the mercury rising lazily to a comfortable resting spot in the mid-to-low 20s. It probably felt like a welcome respite for the visiting European entourage – German chancellor Friedrich Merz flew in from Berlin, where it’s predicted to hit the mid-30s by Thursday. The Irish summer […]
Continue ReadingThe evacuation of nearly 4,000 people from tourist sites on France’s Atlantic coast is under way as the return of winds and extreme heat jeopardised firefighters’ battles to contain wildfires raging to the west of Bordeaux. The precautionary evacuation order, which covers campsites, holiday villages and other tourist accommodation around the resort of Lacanau, exacerbated […]
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