Butler brothers granted stay on High Court order restricting their ability to act as company directors
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The Journal
an hour ago
- The Journal
Taoiseach says €3.6 million investment in Israel is 'not going to fund any war'
TAOISEACH MICHEÁL MARTIN has said a €3.6 million investment in Israel is 'not going to fund any war' in response to claims that Ireland was funding a genocide in Gaza. The Fianna Fáil leader said the Government has no role in directing how public money should be invested and said it was not true to say Irish funds invested in Israel meant Ireland was funding a genocide in Gaza. Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe confirmed in the Dáil last night that the Irish Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) had divested itself of all Israeli bonds in the last number of weeks. During Leaders' Questions this afternoon, Social Democrats deputy leader Cian O'Callaghan raised the matter during Leaders' Questions this afternoon. He told the Dáil that at the end of 2023, the ISIF held €2.62 million in Israeli sovereign debt. By the end of 2024, that had increased to €3.62 million. 'This wasn't a mistake or some kind of oversight. Someone made a deliberate decision to increase the level of public money spent on Israeli war bonds, and the Israeli government have not hidden what those bonds are for,' O'Callaghan said. 'These bonds are clearly being used to help finance their genocidal campaign. Taoiseach, this is utterly outrageous.' Advertisement The Dublin Bay North TD also said it was 'shameful' that nearly €8 million of Irish public money was invested, directly or indirectly, in companies operating in occupied territories while the Government is trying to pass the Occupied Territories Bill, which would ban the trade of goods with Israeli settlements in the same occupied territories. Ireland directly invested in 11 companies with ties to settlements in occupied Palestinian territories, with the State's divestment from six of these companies in April 2024 bringing this number to five. But through involvements in those five companies, the ISIF may still be investing millions in businesses with links to settlements that are considered illegal under international law. The Journal Investigates recently reported on who these companies are and why they are linked to settler activity in occupied Palestine territory. Govt 'not involved in investment decisions' Martin said he would 'follow through' on the issue raised with him today, but pushed back against the suggestion that Ireland was funding a genocide. I take strong exception to your assertion that the Irish Government is funding genocide. It most certainly is not and never has. 'You know the Government does not get involved in investment decisions by any fund that is established, you know that is the case.' He said Ireland was opposed to the war in Gaza and listed Ireland's position on matters relating to Gaza: that Ireland was the only country that has moved to pass legislation banning goods coming from the illegally occupied Palestinian territories and had pushed for the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. He said Ireland had intervened in South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and also sponsored UN resolutions in respect of decisions at the court. O'Callaghan said the Government gives the ISIF 'its strategic direction', and should direct it not to invest money in companies that contravene international law in the West Bank. Read Next Related Reads Fine Gael TD criticises Alan Shatter for comparing Occupied Territories Bill to Father Ted sketch Micheál Martin likens Israel's plans for 'humanitarian city' in Gaza to a 'concentration camp' 'There are much better places that our money should be spent: in affordable housing, in healthcare and disability services. Not a cent should be invested in companies operating in occupied Palestinian territories, in the West Bank.' Martin said: 'The ISIF have confirmed that at the end of 2024 it had held €3.6 million in Israeli sovereign debt. 'That's not going to fund any war, deputy. So let's have a sense of perspective. You can argue it's not right, I take that point. 'But you said we funded genocide. That is an outrageous, exaggerated assertion. You lack credibility in putting a point like that, but you do it for political gain only.' He said ISIF held €5.2 million in Egyptian sovereign debt and €2.3 million in Jordanian sovereign debt, and added: 'I wouldn't approve of some of this either.' He called on O'Callaghan to withdraw the claim that Ireland was funding genocide. With reporting from Press Association Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Mick Clifford: An Post is indeed doing fine, but the company's original business is in bad shape
Managing decline is never easy. So it has been with Ireland's post offices. Over the last 30 years or so, the State's network has been reduced from nearly 2,000 to less than 1,000. The decline was inevitable with the flight from rural to urban Ireland. The introduction of the internet condemned what is now refereed to as 'snail mail' to the status of a sunset industry. Then along came the pandemic to accelerate further the migration of business and communication online. That reality is behind the public perception of the current status of An Post. Yet, as the company's CEO David McRedmond pointed out on Wednesday, the network accounts for only around 20% of the company's business. So it is that under McRedmond's stewardship, An Post has accelerated diversification away from mail delivery and into ecommerce and financial services. The result has been a company that returned a profit of €5.6m for 2024, up from a €20m loss the previous year. An Post also had, for the first time, revenues in excess of €1bn. That is fair going for a company associated in the public mind — erroneously — with the dying habit of snail mail. So it was no surprise that poor McRedmond nearly choked on his cornflakes on holiday in Italy when he saw a headline saying that his company was 'on the brink'. He rang Morning Ireland to put the nation right and he let fly. It would be hard to blame him. Presumably, he was expecting plaudits on his return home for the healthy finances instead of reading that he was overseeing a basket case. An Post CEO David McRedmond pointed out that the post office network accounts for only around 20% of the company's business. Picture: Brian Lawless An Post is indeed doing fine. But it is also the case that the company's original business is in bad shape. In line with global trends, mail volumes were down by 7.6% in 2024. Despite that, revenue from mail increased, but that is a scenario that can hardly be sustained. As reported in Wednesday's Irish Examiner, suggestions are being floated that delivery days might be cut. That would be a rational business decision, but one that would induce headaches among some politicians. The post office has been an integral feature of rural, and to a lesser but still significant extent, urban Ireland for centuries. As is often the case, perception, on which much of politics is often based, is very different from reality in this sphere. In 1995, there were 1,839 post offices, which was down by around 500 from 10 years previous. At the last count, there were 960. In the last decade alone, 257 have closed. According to a reply to a parliamentary question from Sinn Féin's David Cullinane, 201 of these were categorised as 'rural' and the remaining 56 as 'urban'. Cullinane described the figures as 'shocking'. 'The local post office plays a vital role in Irish life, providing financial services, access to the social welfare system, communication infrastructure, and community supports,' he said. 'In many areas, they are the only visible expression of the State.' Maybe so, but the reality is that post offices are run as businesses by independent postmasters who are effectively franchisees. The average age of postmasters is pretty high. When retirement beckons these days, there are very few willing to take up the slack. In May, the Irish Postmasters Union commissioned a report from Grant Thornton to map out the future. The consultant calculated that a strategic investment of €15m annually, up from the current €10m, is required over the next five years to stay any further culling from the network. If the money isn't forthcoming, the result would be 'cutting communities off from vital services, undermining national goals for regional equity, social cohesion and financial access', the report said. The report also stated that that the network in Ireland is between €344m and €776m in terms of its annual social and economic value to communities. Post offices are run as businesses by independent postmasters who are effectively franchisees. File picture: Maxwells All of that may be something of a sideshow commercially within An Post. Politically, however, it is the only show in town. No government wants to be associated with what effectively would be further cuts to services particularly in rural Ireland. So it was that, to mix a few metaphors, somebody in cabinet leaked in order to run a flag up the pole, suggesting that palms need to be greased in the name of votes. Whomever could it have been? The minister who brought the report to cabinet, Patrick O'Donovan, said that it certainly wasn't him. One down, 14 ministers and a few super juniors to go. Not only did a minister breach cabinet confidentiality with that leak, they also took it upon themselves to trample all over O'Donovan's well-tended patch. No wonder he was angry at how this leak turned out. By rights he should have got on the phone immediately to McRedmond and they could have shared their anger and mused on how commerce and politics sometimes just don't mix.
Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
'Big battle ahead' on EU supports for farming, IFA warns
The Irish Farmers' Association has warned of a "big battle ahead" for vital EU supports for farming, ahead of the publication of the European Commission's proposals for the next EU budget post-2027 and the next Common Agriculture Policy (Cap). Speaking from Brussels, IFA president Francie Gorman said what was emerging about how farming will be funded from 2027 was "very concerning". 'While we will have to examine the specifics in more detail, it is clear that the EU Commission is downgrading the importance of the Cap and food production to allow for greater spending elsewhere,' he said. 'The Cap is being turned into an environmental and social policy. Support for farmers who are producing the most food is being consistently reduced. The commission seem more interested in finding ways to cut payments to individual farmers rather than support them,' he said. "As it stands, the Cap provides an annual injection of nearly €2bn into our rural economy to support food production. 'At a time when Ireland is a net contributor to the overall EU budget, this level of investment in every parish takes on even more significance. Cap has been the cornerstone of the multi-billion export sector that underpins thousands of jobs in regions far from the urban centres,' he said. The EU Commission also needs to be honest with consumers. Cutting Cap funding will reduce food production and lead to food price inflation. 'These proposals will have to be approved by the member states and the EU Parliament, so there is a long journey ahead and we will expect a real fight from our Government and MEPs. 'The EU presidency, which Ireland will assume this time next year for the second half of 2026, takes on added importance. Our Government has to secure the maximum funding for Irish farmers to encourage the next generation to consider farming as a career. "From the Taoiseach down, this has to be front and centre of every discussion across those six months,' he said. Commenting, agriculture minister Martin Heydon said: 'These are complex legislative proposals which will need detailed consideration. The commission is proposing major changes in structure that we will now study in detail in order to better understand the impact on Ireland. 'This publication is just the beginning of a protracted process. Member states will, through the Council of Ministers, begin the process of agreeing a general approach to the commission's proposals, before engaging in line-by-line negotiations with the EU Parliament and the EU Commission. "This will take some time, and I fully expect the progression of these proposals to be a significant feature of Ireland's presidency of the EU Council in the second half of next year.' The minister will host the first meeting of Ireland's Cap consultative committee on Thursday, which will engage in detail on these proposals. Read More Agricultural output price index up 20.7% in the 12 months to May
