Sir, – I have noticed a sharp increase in helicopter traffic over central Dublin, no doubt linked to Ireland’s presidency of the Council of the European Union. As they circle overhead, I wonder how this activity fits with our greenhouse gas emissions targets? Perhaps aviation emissions generated in the service of the EU presidency will […]
Continue ReadingAustralia’s social media ban for under-16s introduced in December 2025 may well be seen in time as a watershed moment, similar to Ireland’s 2004 smoking ban. However, just six months after Australian communications minister Anika Wells told 10 platforms – including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat – to restrict access to under-16s, there have been […]
Continue ReadingMichel Barnier may be Ireland’s favourite Frenchman. As the European Union’s chief negotiator during Brexit, he continually resisted British attempts to isolate Ireland and its concerns about the Border and threw the full weight of the EU and all its members behind the Irish government’s position. Patient, resolute, strategic and meticulously prepared, Barnier became a […]
Continue ReadingAughinish Alumina warned Ireland’s EU commissioner Michael McGrath that cutting off its exports to Russia would harm the European economy. The Co Limerick alumina refinery recently lobbied politicians in Brussels and Dublin to push back on calls for EU sanctions to prohibit it from selling key raw material to Russia, documents show. The Irish Times, […]
Continue ReadingMultiple Irish State agencies are using password software with deep links to a Russian technology company licensed by Moscow’s intelligence service, an Irish Times investigation has found. The use of this password manager software by State bodies, including those involved in the handling of sensitive information, raises serious security concerns, according to experts. The software, […]
Continue ReadingEU workers have much to be thankful for, according to Mary Parkinson, assistant professor in management at UCD Michael Smurfit Business School. “The EU continues to be a good place to work because worker protection is treated as a critical component of healthy organisations and labour markets,” she says. Recent initiatives such as the EU […]
Continue ReadingAt a charmingly named “festival of conversation” in Latvia over the weekend, sideshows included a pair of armoured military vehicles with mounted guns. They were part of the local, Canadian-led Nato mission, but their involvement in an event devoted to talking echoed the doctrine of a former US president, Teddy Roosevelt, when he summed up […]
Continue ReadingMeet Eternal Katastrophy, an up-and-coming death metal band. The five-piece sound like a chainsaw meeting a swarm of angry hornets. Lead singer Danny’s voice rasps like a rusty door. On stage, the guitars and drums are belted out at a million miles an hour. The image of the band is genre-specific, from the hulking, energetic […]
Continue ReadingFormer taoiseach Leo Varadkar will be the star attraction when Chinese entrepreneurs and investors are invited to join him on an exclusive tour of the Great Wall later this month. Numbers are limited to 15 and only business founders, board chairmen/women, presidents and principal shareholders or owners need apply to take part in the three-hour […]
Continue ReadingMinister for Enterprise Peter Burke has said he couldn’t offer any assurances regarding the operations of Aughinish Alumina. A Department of Enterprise investigation into the Co Limerick refinery’s role supplying a key raw material used to make aluminium to Russia is expected “pretty imminently”, according to Burke. Burke was speaking at Dublin Castle where he […]
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