Why does Ireland's presidential race still have no one at the starting line?
The drive to inject some impetus into the
Irish presidential race
has not yielded anything of note just yet with the starter pistol not expected to sound until
Fianna Fáil
,
Fine Gael
and
Sinn Féin
nominate their candidates.
The Coalition remains divided over Minister for Further and Higher Education James Lawless's recent assertion that the student contribution could increase by as much as
€1,000 next year for third-level students
.
The pause on
Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs
is almost up – is there a plan in place to keep
Ireland's pain to a minimum
?
Plus, the panel picks their favourite Irish Times pieces of the week:
The
puffins of Rathlin Island
, the
digital revolution
that didn't turn out as expected, and how
the wedding of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez
destroyed quiet luxury.
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Irish Times
20 minutes ago
- Irish Times
Hamas says it is ready to enter ceasefire negotiations in ‘positive spirit'
Hamas said it had responded on Friday in 'a positive spirit' to a US -brokered Gaza ceasefire proposal and was prepared to enter into talks on implementing the deal which envisages a release of hostages and negotiations on ending the conflict. US president Donald Trump earlier announced a 'final proposal' for a 60-day ceasefire in the nearly 21-month-old war between Israel and Hamas, stating he anticipated a reply from the parties in coming hours. On Friday evening Hamas wrote on its official website: 'The movement has delivered its response to the brotherly mediators, which was characterised by a positive spirit. Hamas is fully prepared, with all seriousness, to immediately enter a new round of negotiations on the mechanism for implementing this framework.' Earlier a source said Hamas leaders were close to accepting a proposed deal for a ceasefire in Gaza but wanted stronger guarantees that any pause in hostilities would lead to a permanent end to the 20-month war. The militant Islamist group has come under immense pressure in recent months, with its military leadership decimated and the Israeli military forcing its fighters out of former strongholds in the southern and central parts of Gaza. In recent days, Israel has ramped up its offensive, launching an intense wave of air strikes across Gaza, killing more than 250 Palestinians, including many women and children, according to medical and civil defence officials. Hardline factions within Hamas had reluctantly accepted the need for a ceasefire to allow the organisation to regroup and plan a new strategy, one source familiar with the internal debate said. Since a previous ceasefire collapsed in March, more than 6,000 people have been killed in Gaza and an acute humanitarian crisis has worsened. Efforts for a new truce in Gaza gathered momentum after the US secured a ceasefire to end the 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran last month. On Tuesday, Mr Trump announced that Israel had accepted the conditions needed to finalise a 60-day ceasefire, during which the parties would work to end the war. When asked on Thursday if Hamas had agreed to the latest ceasefire deal framework, he said: 'We'll see what happens. We are going to know over the next 24 hours.' Palestinians inspect the damage after an Israeli strike in the Al-Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip on Friday. Photograph: Eyad Baba/AFP via Getty Images Binyamin Netanyahu is expected to fly to Washington on Sunday for talks with Mr Trump about the war in Gaza, the recent war between Israel and Iran and other regional issues. The Israeli prime minister has long resisted a permanent end to the war in Gaza, partly to retain the support of far-right allies in his ruling coalition. But Israel's successes in the war with Iran have strengthened his political position and opinion polls in Israel show strong support for a deal. [ Israel continues deadly attacks on Gaza as Trump awaits Hamas reply to ceasefire plan Opens in new window ] A senior Israeli official told Channel 12, a major Israeli TV network: 'Judging by the signals from Hamas, there is a high probability that we will start proximity talks in the next few days. If there is consent to proximity talks, there will be a deal.' Other Israeli officials said preparations were in place to approve the ceasefire deal and that an Israeli delegation was getting ready to join indirect talks brokered by Qatar and Egypt to cement the deal if Hamas responded positively. The proposal includes the release of 10 living Israeli hostages held in Gaza since the Hamas attack on southern Israel in October 2023 that triggered the conflict, and the return of the bodies of 18 more, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, an official familiar with the negotiations said on Thursday. Hamas seized 251 hostages during the 2023 attack. Fewer than half of the 50 who remain in Gaza are believed to be alive. Aid would enter Gaza immediately under the agreement, and the Israeli military would carry out a phased withdrawal from parts of the territory, according to the proposal. Negotiations would immediately start on a permanent ceasefire. 'We sure hope it's a done deal, but I think it's all going to be what Hamas is willing to accept,' Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, told Channel 12 on Thursday. 'One thing is clear: the president wants it to be over. The prime minister wants it to be over. The American people, the Israeli people, want it to be over.' The delivery of more aid to Gaza has been a principal demand of Hamas throughout negotiations. Israel imposed an 11-week blockade in March, which was only slightly eased in May under huge international pressure as famine loomed. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a secretive private organisation backed by the US and Israel that was charged with delivering food in Gaza, has been dogged by controversy. Hundreds have been killed by Israeli fire while seeking aid at GHF hubs and after gathering in crowds at locations where convoys sent by the UN have been stopped. On Friday, a report by the BBC quoted a former GHF employee describing colleagues firing towards Palestinians who had posed no threat, with many appearing to have been seriously hurt on several occasions. The GHF employee told the BBC he and others had been given no clear rules of engagement or standard operating procedures, and were told by one team leader: 'If you feel threatened, shoot – shoot to kill and ask questions later.' The GHF said the allegations, which were also made by former employees quoted by the Associated Press on Thursday, were categorically false and that no civilians had come under fire at their distribution sites. The Israeli military has denied any intent to harm civilians seeking aid, saying it only fired warning shots. Speaking to journalists while on his way to a rally in Iowa on Thursday, Mr Trump said: 'I want the people of Gaza to be safe. That's more important than anything else. They've gone through hell.' Mr Netanyahu visited Israel's Nir Oz kibbutz on Thursday for the first time since the 2023 Hamas attack. The community was one of the worst-hit in the attack, with nearly one in four residents kidnapped or killed. He said: 'I feel a deep commitment – first of all to ensure the return of all of our hostages, all of them. There are still 20 who are alive and there are also those who are deceased, and we will bring them all back.' The prime minister has been heavily criticised for refusing to take responsibility for the failures that allowed the 2023 attack, during which Hamas-led militants killed 1,200, mostly civilians, and has been repeatedly accused of prioritising his political survival over the fate of the hostages. Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 57,000 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to a count by the territory's ministry of health that is considered reliable by the UN and many western governments. The Israeli military said it 'follows international law and takes feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm' when striking 'terrorist targets'. – Guardian
Irish Examiner
42 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
Trump expected to sign tax-and-spending bill in win for administration
Donald Trump is expected to sign his sweeping spending package into law on Friday during a Fourth of July picnic at the White House, setting up significant cutbacks on federal safety-net programs and increasing funds for aggressive immigration enforcement. Trump has touted the legislation's passage as a 'birthday present for America', speaking before a crowd at a campaign-style rally in Iowa on Thursday evening, even as Democrats expressed their displeasure at the spending package. After months of deliberations, the bill passed by a single vote in the Senate and later passed the House with a 219 to 213 vote on Thursday, with only two Republicans voting against it. The sweeping legislation accomplishes what rightwingers have pushed for, for decades, as the Guardian explained this week, and provides Trump a huge legislative win. The bill, once signed into law, will significantly cut taxes, building on the 2017 tax cuts during Trump's first term. Although temporary tax exemptions for tips, overtime pay and car loan interest are included, research from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities shows that the bill is skewed to the rich, with the wealthiest in the US benefiting the most from the tax relief. Additionally, the law, once signed by Trump, will add new restrictions to Medicaid, which provides healthcare to low-income and disabled people, and Snap, also known as food stamps, which helps low-income people afford food. Researchers estimate that the Medicaid cutbacks will leave as many as 11.8 million people without healthcare, while 8 million people will lose their Snap benefits. Critics say that the Medicaid cuts will have massive ripple effects on healthcare nationwide. 'This is highway robbery,' the Democratic senator Raphael Warnock posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. 'The bill Republicans just passed steals from you to give to the rich.' Proponents of the bill say that the Medicaid and Snap changes are designed to root out waste and abuse. Additionally, the spending package will allocate $170m to immigration enforcement, a monumental amount of money that will help support the Trump administration's push to engage in 'mass deportations'. 'This disgraceful, anti-immigrant budget hands the Trump administration a blank check to further ramp up its shameful efforts to terrorize American communities and separate families,' said Nicole Melaku, the executive director of the National Partnership for New Americans, an immigrants' rights organization. 'Instead of safeguarding people's access to healthcare and wellness, the bill gives tax cuts to big corporations and funnels billions of dollars to hire more immigration agents, build more immigration jails and deny people their fair day in court.' Already, the Trump administration has engaged in widespread attacks on immigrant communities, by increasing resources to immigration enforcement operations. 'This budget promises to supercharge US Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests that disappear community members, leave children parentless and threaten constitutional and due-process rights for all of us,' said Meg McCarthy, executive director of the National Immigrant Justice Center, alegal organization. A recent Guardian analysis shows that undocumented immigrants without any criminal history have been arrested at an exponentially increasing rate, after top White House officials instructed agents to increase arrests. Trump temporarily walked back some of Ice's aggressive immigration enforcement actions after complaints from leaders in the farming and hospitality industries: last month, the Trump administration engaged in a short-lived pause on raids at farms, restaurants and hotels. But at Thursday's event, Trump again brought up the idea of pausing large-scale enforcement on farms. 'If a farmer is willing to vouch for these people in some way, Kristi, I think we're going to have to just say that's going to be good, right?' Trump said to the secretary of homeland security, Kristi Noem. 'We don't want to do it where we take all of the workers off the farms.' In addition to tax cuts, restrictions on Medicaid and Snap and the aggressive supercharging of immigration enforcement, the bill seeks to end green energy incentives created under Joe Biden, seen as a further blow against efforts to combat the climate crisis. The US budget deficit will increase with this bill, leading to opposition by some Trump allies. The non-partisan congressional budget office estimates the bill will add $3.3tn to the country's debt through 2034, leading to clashes with some rightwingers. One of the two Republicans who voted against the bill, Thomas Massie, said he opposed the spending bill 'because it will significantly increase US budget deficits in the near term, negatively impacting all Americans through sustained inflation and high interest rates'. Elon Musk, the rightwing billionaire who established the federal government's office tasked with slashing federal spending during the first few months of the Trump administration, has also publicly called out the spending bill. Days before Congress passed the bill, Musk repeated his call for the creation of a new political party to oppose the Republicans and Democrats. — The Guardian
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
FAI board holds unscheduled board meeting after standoff with Oireachtas sport committee
The board of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) has held an unscheduled board meeting after a standoff emerged with the Oireachtas sport committee. The organisation was due to appear before the committee next Wednesday, but after its regular meeting last week, members of the committee were told the FAI was seeking to delay the meeting. It is understood the FAI wrote to the committee outlining that it wanted to postpone the meeting until Garda investigations into allegations of inappropriate relationships with players against former coaches, and unwanted sexual advances. The allegations were first made public last summer by RTÉ Investigates and the Sunday Independent. Gardaí later confirmed that they are investigating at least one complaint regarding the matter and were in contact with several more potential victims. READ MORE RTÉ has previously reported that the former coaches have denied any wrongdoing. [ FAI stands down three former women's football coaches after allegations of inappropriate behaviour Opens in new window ] Political sources said this week that the committee had decided to respond to the FAI saying it wanted the meeting to go ahead, arguing that the questioning could be constructed in such a way as to avoid encroaching on areas that might be subject to any ongoing investigation. It is unclear what the outcome or decision of the board meeting held on Friday night was, if any. A source with knowledge of discussions denied that there was a split in the board over the matter. It is believed some senior figures at the FAI are deeply sceptical about the merits of attending the committee. A request for comment to the FAI met no immediate response on Friday evening. At the time of the joint RTÉ/Sunday Independent investigation, the FAI said it was treating the allegations with the utmost priority and seriousness. Speaking under Dáil privilege last month, Fianna Fáil TD for Cork North Central Pádraig O'Sullivan said the organisation knew of the allegations in 2023, 'despite the FAI stating publicly that it only learned of these allegations in early 2024″. Mr O'Sullivan said he had seen correspondence dating to May 4th, 2023, which laid this out 'in black and white'. [ Gardaí investigating historical allegations made against women's soccer coach Opens in new window ] Responding, Minister of State for sport Charlie McConalogue said it was the view of his department and of Sport Ireland that the FAI had engaged appropriately with the allegations, and that once it received a formal complaint in January 2024 it acted swiftly and contacted An Garda Síochána and Tusla in accordance with mandatory reporting requirements and its own safeguarding and child welfare regulations. Mr McConalogue said the allegations made by women involved in football in the 1990s were 'truly shocking' and he commended the bravery of those who had come forward to tell their stories.
