
Occupied Territories Bill to be raised in Cabinet today
Michéal Lehane, RTE Political Correspondent, discusses the matters due before Cabinet inlcuding the Occupied Territories Bill.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


RTÉ News
6 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Senator Frances Black unlikely to run in Presidential election
Independent senator Frances Black has said she now feels it is unlikely she will be running as a candidate in the Presidential election. She told RTÉ News that she had not been contacted by any political parties and felt, at this stage, the door was closing. Senator Black did not completely rule out standing, but said she has a lot of work still to do in the Oireachtas. In political terms, Senator Black is most closely associated with the Occupied Territories Bill - she first tabled her proposed legislation on the topic back in 2018. She has continued to campaign on the issue and held meetings with Tánaiste Simon Harris on the Government bill, which was approved by Cabinet today. In March, Senator Black disclosed that she had been approached by a number of parties about running in the presidential election and indicated she would be open to the proposal. The fact that no party followed up on the idea and engaged in talks appears to have led her to conclude today that she is not going to run.


Irish Independent
7 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Frances Black rules herself out of presidential run
Ms Black, who first introduced the bill back in 2018, said while smaller opposition parties had spoken to her about the race to the Áras at the start of the year, she had not heard anything since. In recent week, the senator had said she was 98pc sure she would not run in the upcoming election. 'I'm ruling myself out of the presidency for sure,' Ms Black said. 'I had conversations with people at the beginning of the year, around this, around the smaller opposition parties, and I haven't heard anything since." The Independent senator said candidates need to be brave to decide to run, as the campaign can be 'a bloodbath'. 'I've said it before, you'd want to be a very brave person to go into the presidential election because it's a bloodbath. 'I have too much work to do, particularly on this bill, I think I'm a lot of work to do another even after this bill, I think there's more work to be done,' Ms Black said on the Last Word with Matt Cooper on Today Fm. On Tuesday, Tánaiste Simon Harris brought draft legislation of the Government's version of the Occupied Territories Bill, now called Israeli Settlements Prohibition of Importation of Goods Bill 2025. While the bill will see a ban on the importation of goods from the illegal occupied territories, the bill does not include services, which has been the subject of criticism from the Opposition. While Mr Harris has said he is not against the inclusion of services from a policy perspective, he has sought legal advice from the Attorney General. ADVERTISEMENT 'The Tánaiste has committed to me, both to me, and publicly that the Government is willing to include services in the final bill, if we can get the legal detail right,' Ms Black said. 'I am 100pc certain that we can, and I fully intend on holding him to that promise,' she added. Ms Black said the passing of this bill would be 'the first step to real consequences to what Israel is doing' in Gaza. 'My hope is that other countries will obviously follow suit. I think they're waiting,' Ms Black said. 'I was in Brussels a couple of weeks ago, talking to a fair few different countries, and they're all waiting and watching to see what Ireland is going to do with this bill. 'The world is watching us, and it's a very, very important piece of legislation,' she added.


The Irish Sun
7 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
RTE star tipped to replace Joe Duffy as Liveline host as ‘it looks like decision made' after presenter's TV show axed
LIVELINE favourite Katie Hannon is tipped to take over from Joe Duffy after announcing the shock end of her TV show today. RTE chiefs confirmed that its flagship Monday night current affairs series, Upfront with Katie Hannon, Advertisement 1 Joe Duffy's most likely successor has been revealed Credit: Copyright remains with handout provider And as Hannon — currently the 1/5 odds-on fave with She will also host a new TV series ahead of the Presidential election, which must take place by November. In a statement, Hannon, 53, said: 'I'm very proud of what we achieved on Upfront. Advertisement read more on joe duffy "We managed to buck the international trend and actually grew our audience on linear television and our digital footprint. "It was a privilege to work with our small team of talented and hardworking colleagues led by our editor Janet Traynor. 'I also want to thank all of those who came into our studio and trusted us with their stories and contributed to the national conversation on the issues that matter to all of us. "I'm disappointed that we won't be able to keep that conversation going.' Advertisement Most read in News TV A spokeswoman for RTE said: 'The decision to wrap production has been made due to the prioritising of people and financial resources, as the organisation incurs significant change and becomes smaller. 'As part of the organisation's new direction strategy in the prioritising of digital content, it has recently launched a news podcast and 'Clarity', a new strand beginning to tackle increasing misinformation and disinformation challenges.' Joe Duffy fights back tears on air Other employees from the show will continue working with RTE News and Current Affairs section of the national broadcaster. Upfront started in January 2023 as a replacement to Advertisement The most recent series of Upfront With Katie Hannon, which ran from September 24 to May 25, had an average audience rating of 198,000. TOP TV This represents a 25.8 per cent of audience share, with these figures being up from an average of 168,000 and 23.7 per cent in series two. Similarly, the series grew on the RTE Player, attracting 269,000 streams in series three, from 209,000 in series two. Clips from the programme have also generated over 3.3 million video views on Advertisement A source told us: 'Katie Hannon is the obvious successor to Joe on Liveline. She has been filling in for so long.' Katie currently leads the way as the bookmakers' favourite to replace the 69-year-old. Alex Apati of Ladbrokes said: "It looks as though a decision has been made when it comes to Joe Duffy's replacement. With Upfront now cancelled, Katie Hannon's diary is now clear for the iconic gig, and the odds suggest it's hers." Advertisement