Irish premier cancels visit to meet political leaders in Northern Ireland
The Irish premier has cancelled a visit to meet political leaders in Northern Ireland on Thursday.
Micheal Martin was due to travel to Belfast to hold meetings with First Minister Michelle O'Neill and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, as well as the leaders of the Alliance Party and the SDLP.
Sources in Belfast said that officials from Mr Martin's office cancelled the visit early on Thursday morning, stating that he had 'urgent international business' to address which occurred overnight.
The Department of Taoiseach said the trip was cancelled 'due to a schedule change'.
It was to be Mr Martin's first visit to Northern Ireland as Taoiseach since he was reappointed to the role.
Mr Martin was due to deliver a keynote address at the Dublin Belfast Economic Corridor Summit at the International Convention Centre in Belfast.
It was planned that he would then travel to Stormont Castle where Ms O'Neill and Ms Little-Pengelly would host a meeting.
The Fianna Fail leader was then to make his way to Parliament Buildings where he was to be greeted by the Speaker of the Assembly, Edwin Poots, which would have been followed by a meeting with Alliance Party leader Naomi Long and SDLP leader Claire Hanna.
Speaking before the cancelled visit, Mr Martin said: 'I am very much looking forward to my first visit to Northern Ireland since becoming Taoiseach again, to meet with the First Minister and deputy First Minister and other political leaders.
'It is also a good opportunity to address the Dublin Belfast Economic Corridor Summit, on the back of ambitious new funding for Shared Island initiatives to unlock potential in sustainable tourism, arts and culture, and economic growth.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
a day ago
- Telegraph
I travelled every mile of the UK coastline. These were my five favourite places
It started at Cape Wrath lighthouse. I had just spent 55 days walking 1,000 miles up the spine of Britain, but was already thinking about my next adventure. The coastline was calling. After a year of preparation, I was back at the lighthouse, with a plan to travel anti-clockwise around my island home, by foot, by bus, by train and even by hitch-hiking, to understand its current challenges and opportunities, but also to reconnect with my inner islander. I walked around 2,000 miles of it, as I have found that it is only by moving at walking pace, and not driving at 20 times that rate, that I start to really notice and understand things. It is strange that we call it a coast line at all, as that confers on it a linear and permanent quality, when it's not. It runs for 11,000 tortuous miles of dynamic geological activity, where the south-eastern bit is sinking into its own clay and the north-western bit still rising, freed of the weight of the last ice age; some parts, such as Holderness in Yorkshire, are eroding at up to two metres a year, whilst others, like Hoylake Beach, are watching the sea recede beyond miles of new sand. For an island nation, we ought to cherish our coastline. Sadly, that's not always the case. Much of what is happening is beyond our control, such as sea level rise, erosion, warming waters and the twice-daily tide that wraps itself around the island and races across the mudflats. But much of what is happening is also down to us: the lifeless sea beds below salmon farms, sewage discharge, polluted rivers pouring out into the sea and the endless pearl necklace of discarded plastic – an average of 170 pieces per 100 metres of coastline – that comment sadly about the way we choose to live. Yet for all these problems, I found a determined army of scientists, activists, fieldworkers and volunteers working to remedy them; I found beach-cleaning schemes wherever I went, groups planting new sea grass and seeding native oysters and people simply determined not to accept that the decline of nature is a one-way street. Whilst I was shocked at the decline of so many of our coastal communities – a phenomenon brought about by a combination of technology, Beeching's axing of the railway branch lines and the dawning of cheap air travel – I was also struck by the opportunities that the internet, and working from home, might give to people who want to stay there and earn sufficient money. Studies show that health outcomes should be, on a-like-for-like basis, better in coastal communities than their equivalent inland, but they are not. Right now, some of the worst deprivation in Britain lies in our coastal towns, and the low pay and seasonal nature of the available jobs remains a real problem. Above all, these communities need to be far more involved in making their own decisions. A low point came in my own south-eastern corner of the country, where the beautiful Langstone Harbour just to the east of Portsmouth, where sewage releases have had devastating consequences to the wildlife. Southern Water has been fined £90 million for these 6,971 discharges, but the money won't bring back what is lost, and it will take years to reverse the damage done. It was a journey of highs and lows, of idiots and heroes, of peace and drama. By the time I had taken my boots off for the last time at Dunnet Head 18 months later, I was fully back in love with the coast again, and with my status as an islander. I was staggered by the beauty of our coast and, it has to be said, by the delight of my three constant travelling companions: the sound of the surf, the cry of the gulls and the thought of the next ice cream. The sheer variety of the UK's coastal habitat is astonishing. Circumnavigate our coast and you will encounter machair (fertile low-lying grassy plains), salt flats, estuaries, shingle and lagoons and towering, storm-battered cliffs. Places I had never been before and discovered for the first time linger in my memories. The following are five that really stand out. Knoydart, Scotland The wilderness of Knoydart on the west coast of Scotland is a community-owned coastal zone home to both an old temperate rainforest and a new band of native woodland, protected, for now, by the exclusion of deer who would otherwise stop it growing to maturity. The village of Inverie, a good 15-mile hike from the nearest road, seems to be reinventing what isolated communities might amount to these days given support and a healthy injection of youth. Cardigan Bay, Wales Here I found a coast every bit as beautiful as that of its more celebrated Cornish rival, but far less crowded, and therefore generally cheaper. Alongside the delight of the rising use of the Welsh language, I found people who instinctively understood the value and importance of nature, and who also had a strong pride in who they were and the history that had led them here. Penzance, Cornwall In Penzance, at the western tip of Cornwall, I found a town that had taken a six-year grip on the problem of plastic, and actually done something more than mere words to alleviate it. Through its Plastic Free Town initiative, which the organisers spent long months selling to schools, businesses, clubs and other stakeholders, Penzance has taken a giant stride to reduce the use and waste of plastic, and thus provide a valuable template for communities all around the country that could usefully follow their lead. North Norfolk On the North Norfolk coast, deep in the winter, I saw wildfowl flocks flying in from their sea roosts to the beet fields just inland. It was a magnificent sight. We talk a great deal about being the most nature-depleted country on earth, but we also need to celebrate what we have. To watch 70,000 pink-footed geese in flight is to understand in an instant how things once were, and how they could be again. Our most desolate islands Finally, although I didn't set out to go to the smaller offshore islands, I ended up visiting about 30 of them in all, including the three overtly religious ones of Iona, Bardsey and Lindisfarne, 'thin' places where the border between this world and another is supposed to be at its narrowest. Without being religious myself, I found these to be quietly moving places, perhaps inspired by the long line of early saints who made their subsequent forays into the mainland from these wild, desolate bases.
BBC News
a day ago
- BBC News
Northern Ireland school-based anxiety at 'epidemic' levels
A woman whose children have been off school for a long period due to acute anxiety has pleaded for help to get them back into full-time Craig said her son Casey, 14, and 12-year-old daughter Autumn "go into meltdown" anytime they go near school so they have been off for months on leading mental health consultant said "school-based anxiety" is "off the Richter scale" in Northern Ireland after BBC News NI learned that 85,000 children had missed more than a tenth of school days in the current academic Department of Education (DE) said increasing pupil attendance was an "ongoing challenge" and "not unique to Northern Ireland". The Children's Commissioner Chris Quinn is so concerned about the high levels of "emotionally based school avoidance" that he has instructed his officials to investigate the of the main causes cited are anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism and bullying, either physical or politician alone, the SDLP assembly member Cara Hunter, said she is in touch with 200 families across Northern Ireland who have children who will not attend than 4,000 pupils with the very highest rates of absenteeism are currently referred to specialists for help but it is unclear how many of these are linked to "emotionally based school avoidance". The children who find school 'overwhelming' Ms Craig said Casey has not been at school since Easter of last year and Autumn has been off since are enrolled at Laurel Hill Community College in 44-year-old single mother said they find the secondary school environment "overwhelming"."It ranges from not being able to eat, not being able to sleep, having just a complete meltdown trying to get through the doors, crying," she said."Didn't want to get out of bed, didn't want to get dressed, didn't want to get in the car - you had these four or five challenges even before you've got to the school doors, and then teachers are expecting them just to walk in and continue with their day as normal."She said offers of reduced timetables or "time-out" passes, whilst well-intentioned, actually made her children feel worse."I just feel like the secondary school setting is not suitable for every child and, unfortunately, the alternative to the secondary school doesn't exist," Ms Craig said."We're not in 1925 anymore, we're in 2025 and the school system has not changed."She said education authorities need to offer more help to people like her and her Craig is now paying out of her own pocket to get them schooled in English and mathematics in a private setting."It's not that they don't want to learn," she said."Both of them are very intelligent and they're willing to learn, but they're willing to learn in the right settings, just not a big school." Northern Ireland school-based anxiety 'off the Richter scale' Omagh-based mental health consultant Bronagh Starrs believes Northern Ireland is facing an "epidemic" of school-based said many of these children are academically capable and want to go to school, but cannot."They just have catastrophic levels of fear around going to school, they just think of the worst possible scenarios."She added: "The difference between truancy and this phenomenon is that parents are usually aware, or very aware, of the issue and are actively trying to help the young person."These kids have genuine psychological struggles to attend school."She said schoolchildren had become "entrenched" during the Covid-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns, when they had to stay at home, and then struggled when schools opened up again. Ms Starrs said the issue is now "off the Richter scale in terms of the extent of this phenomenon in every school". How big is the emotional-based school avoidance problem? SDLP assembly member Cara Hunter described it as the biggest issue she has dealt with since being elected to Stormont five years said a lot of young people are waiting on an autism or ADHD assessment and feel the school environment is "anxiety-inducing".It was also very distressing for parents who "don't know where to go for guidance", she added."I've spoken with a number of parents who've actually had to leave their job because their child is not attending school, so it's a massive issue across Northern Ireland."We have a big problem here."Hunter also accused education authorities of "failing quite a large number of children" because they have not recognised the severity of the problem. Of the 4,120 children referred to the Education and Welfare Service, more than a third are currently on a waiting list, the Education Authority (EA) Commissioner Chris Quinn said the high rates of "school avoidance" - and understanding why so many children are involved - are "a top priority" for his office. He said they were "exploring issues related to anxiety-based school avoidance, impact of poverty, ill health, long-term impact of Covid-19 and bullying"."We need to understand why these children and young people are not returning to school and explore whether their support needs are being met," he added."Additionally, with fewer educational psychologists in schools and the increasing impact of mental health issues, particularly since Covid, we must do more to support children and young people's wellbeing."The Education and Welfare Service (EWS) currently receives an average of 300 referrals every month from schools about children who are not attending class, although the causes can range from emotional-based school avoidance to physical health, domestic abuse and drug and alcohol issues. From 2019 to May 2025, nearly 500 parents or guardians were prosecuted by the Education Authority for keeping their children from school without a valid excuse. Previous figures from the Department of Education (DE) show there was a significant rise in school absences after the Coronavirus pandemic and DE said it recognised that "attitudes towards regular school attendance have changed since the Covid 19 pandemic and that some children and young people face challenges that make regular attendance at school difficult".Officials said regular attendances had actually improved in the last three years and help was available through emotional health and wellbeing programmes. If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, information about help and support is available via BBC Action Line.
Rhyl Journal
a day ago
- Rhyl Journal
Rangers ‘expect success' under Russell Martin, says chief executive
The Govan club were taken over by an American consortium led by Andrew Cavenagh and 49ers Enterprises last Friday before new sporting director Kevin Thelwell officially joined from Everton on Monday. Another key appointment for Gers was made on Friday when 39-year-old former Southampton boss Martin, who had a short loan spell as a player in Govan in 2018, was confirmed as manager. The appointment has not found universal favour among supporters but Stewart believes Martin fits the bill perfectly – albeit the former Scotland defender has to demonstrate that to his new bosses. Stewart, who started work in his role last December, said: 'Russell's appointment is the culmination of a series of steps we've been working on over the past few months since I joined Rangers. 'We started with the football review, which I spoke to the media about in January. This led to several insights and recommendations, including the need to modernise our operations and develop a clear footballing identity. 'Then the next step was to appoint a sporting director and Kevin, of course, was appointed in April and came into the building just this week. 'We also have been developing a clear football style and identity and that's work that's been going on behind the scenes. It's been led by Kevin and it's involved football people. 'We've now culminated in appointing Russell and in Russell we've got a head coach who aligns to the footballing style and identity that we've been developing. 'In addition to wanting a head coach who's going to excel in terms of the style that we're looking to play as a club, we also were looking for a head coach that's going to improve our culture, develop our squad and ultimately win matches. And Russell's been a standout candidate. 'This appointment is about building a winning team and a strong culture. 'Now, Russell's no stranger to our club, as you know, he's been a player here previously and we expect success and Russell knows that. We're really, really excited for his leadership and for him to get started.' Martin will be joined at Ibrox by assistant head coach Matt Gill and performance coach Rhys Owen. A new share issue at the club's general meeting on June 23 will raise £20million, the bulk of which will be going to the football department. Thelwell insisted that Martin will be involved in any new recruits. He said: 'When we talk about recruitment, clearly it's going to be a collaborative approach. 'I've never been in this role ever where I've signed a player for the first team that hasn't been supported by the head coach or the manager. So we'll talk a lot about how we want to play. 'We'll talk a lot about what profiles we think we need and what positions we think we need. 'And then between Russell and I, and the recruitment team, we'll sit down and identify players that we think can make us better very quickly. And then between us, we'll decide about what we do next. 'That's generally how I've worked and generally how we've discussed how it's going to work. And for me, that's probably been a good way of working so that we've got some clarity.'
