
Tánaiste to discuss Gaza truce efforts with Qatari Prime Minister
Qatar and Egypt are mediators in the truce negotiations, with representatives from the nations due to deliver what US President Donald Trump called a "final proposal" for a 60-day ceasefire to the militant group Hamas.
Simon Harris welcomed "news overnight of a renewed effort for a ceasefire in Gaza".
He said he will will use the meeting with Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani to gain "insights from the prime minister about the current state of play in the region", adding that he will thank the Qatari leader "for the extremely constructive role he is playing in attempting to broker peace".
He added that he "will stress the need for the killing to stop, for the de-escalation of tensions and for the full release of all hostages".
"Qatar has played a leading role in trying to mediate an end to this brutal conflict which has cost tens of thousands of lives and caused unthinkable bloodshed and despair," he said ahead of the meeting at Government buildings.
"While the situation remains extremely volatile, I really hope that the killing can now stop and that the unimaginable, brutal situation can end," he added.

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RTÉ News
4 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Trump signs 'big, beautiful' bill on US Independence Day
US President Donald Trump signed into law a massive package of tax and spending cuts at the White House during an outdoor ceremony on the Fourth of July holiday. With military jets flying overhead and hundreds of supporters in attendance, Mr Trump signed the bill one day after the Republican-controlled House of Representatives narrowly approved the signature legislation of the president's second term. The bill, which will fund Mr Trump's immigration crackdown, make his 2017 tax cuts permanent, and is expected to knock millions of Americans off health insurance, was passed with a 218-214 vote after an emotional debate on the House floor. "I've never seen people so happy in our country because of that, because so many different groups of people are being taken care of: the military, civilians of all types, jobs of all types," Mr Trump said at the ceremony, thanking House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune for leading the bill through the two houses of Congress. "So you have the biggest tax cut, the biggest spending cut, the largest border security investment in American history," he said. Mr Trump scheduled the ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House for the 4 July Independence Day holiday, replete with a flyover by stealth bombers and fighter jets like those that took part in the recent US strikes on nuclear facilities in Iran. Hundreds of Mr Trump supporters attended, including White House aides, members of Congress, and military families. After a speech that included boastful claims about the ascendance of America on his watch, Mr Trump signed the bill, posed for pictures with Republican congressional leaders and members of his cabinet, and waded through the crowd of happy supporters. The bill's passage amounts to a big win for Mr Trump and his Republican allies, who have argued it will boost economic growth, while largely dismissing a non-partisan analysis predicting it will add more than $3 trillion (€2.5 trillion) to the nation's $36.2 trillion debt. While some politicians in Mr Trump's party expressed concerns over the bill's price tag and its hit to healthcare programmes, in the end just two of the House's 220 Republicans voted against it, joining all 212 Democrats in opposition. The tense standoff over the bill included a record-long floor speech by House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who spoke for eight hours and 46 minutes, blasting the bill as a giveaway to the wealthy that would strip low-income Americans of federally-backed health insurance and food aid benefits. Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin predicted the law would cost Republicans votes in congressional elections in 2026. "Today, Donald Trump sealed the fate of the Republican Party, cementing them as the party for billionaires and special interests - not working families," Mr Martin said in a statement. "This legislation will hang around the necks of the GOP for years to come. This was a full betrayal of the American people. Today, we are putting Republicans on notice: you will lose your majority," he added.


Irish Examiner
4 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Irish Examiner view: Beware this new race to the bottom of the ocean
Space, as Captain Kirk used to remind us, is the 'final frontier'. But the environment that might concern us most in the next 50 years is the ocean. As a country that has a long coastline, more than 7,500km of it, and extensive claims to the seabeds that surround us, we must pay close attention to what is happening on the seas, beneath them, and above the ocean waves. For those who value our native birdlife — and that is all of us, surely — Ireland's belated efforts to recognise and protect the breeding and feeding grounds which create a diversity of species are a welcome, if overdue, move. Birdwatch Ireland wants the Government to catch up with European colleagues in designating key locations — 73 in our case, 24 of them out at sea — as protected areas. These include marine locations where birds gather in numbers to eat, preen, and socialise. There are increasing threats, including intensive offshore developments, such as wind farms. Greedy eyes are being cast over myriad opportunities to colonise the seas, which go way beyond the current human depredations of intensive fishing, plastic pollution, and climate change. Last month's UN conference on the oceans in Nice — non-participants included the US, of course — spent much time focusing on the potential impact of deep-sea mining. This is an activity that has only been undertaken on a small exploratory scale so far, but runs the risk of expanding exponentially as the pursuit of the world's rare minerals — the ones needed to power technology and energy transition — rapidly gathers pace. Deep-sea mining involves extracting resources from ocean floors rich in cobalt, manganese, nickel, and copper, often at depths of between 4,000-6,000m. US president Donald Trump has already issued an executive order entitled 'Unleashing America's Offshore Critical Minerals and Resources'. This observes that the US has a 'core national security and economic interest' in developing seabed minerals. UN restrictions, it says, would be 'inconsistent' with its sovereignty. But the US is far from alone in its ambitions. Norway, with its huge experience in oil and gas exploration, is in the vanguard of countries jockeying for position. Canada and South Korea are also prime movers. China and Russia, in the Arctic, view deep-sea mining as a vital element of longer-term geopolitical strategies. Some analysts believe that there is a $17 trillion profit to be gained, mainly for private mining companies. But in the enthusiasm to stake a claim in the new Klondike, little thought has been given to the net costs and environmental and economic impacts. Some scientists worry that entire ecosystems could be destroyed by devastating the sea floor and that marine life would be smothered by plumes of sediment. We are one of the 37 countries that have backed a precautionary moratorium and called for more research. Anyone who has watched David Attenborough's most recent National Geographic documentary, Ocean, on Disney+ — some critics say it is his greatest and most challenging work — will appreciate the scale of threat to marine life. But mineral exploitation is a topic which is barely on the radar of the general public at this time. This will change as consequences become apparent. Humankind may remember what happened to the Ancient Mariner in the poem by Samuel Coleridge, when he had the temerity to interfere recklessly in the natural order of life. In that case, the unfortunate seaman was lucky enough to find redemption and salvation by changing his ways. Based on current evidence, we may not be so fortunate. 'Beat the Lotto' a reminder of simpler times Because there is plenty to make us grimace in 2025, anything which leavens the mixture, or transports us back to more innocent, less frenetic, times is welcome. Into that category should be placed Ross Whitaker's enjoyable account of a syndicate's 1992 attempt to game the national lottery, ensure the jackpot prize for themselves, beat the system, and earn the admiration of many, if not quite all, fellow citizens for their cheek and enterprise. Stefan Klincewicz speaking with Pat Kenny on his TV chat show in the 1990s in the new documentary, 'Beat the Lotto'. Beat the Lotto, which reaches cinemas this weekend, recreates the caper where a group, headed by Cork mathematician and accountant Stefan Klincewicz, devised a cunning plan to buy every possible lottery combination requiring some two million number squares to be filled in by hand. The story of what happened is an irresistible tribute to ingenuity and the concept that hope springs eternal in the human breast. And our collective love for some good-tempered roguish humour. Ocean's Eleven it's not, but its portrayal of Ireland in the late 1980s/early '90s, the dog days before the arrival of the Celtic Tiger and the era when booms were getting boomier, is unmissable. It's a shame, but perhaps understandable that the National Lottery didn't take the chance to contribute but, as the director says, they 'didn't remember the episode all that fondly'. Like another foundation story of 21st-century Ireland, the movie Saipan, which retells the story of the schism between Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy before the 2002 World Cup, it's an episode which could, perhaps, only have been created here. And it's none the worse for that. What's your view on this issue? You can tell us here Long-awaited reforms to defamation law Long-awaited reforms to Ireland's restrictive and punitive libel laws were finally passed by the Dáil this week, but not without some grudging commentary from TDs, which will fuel opinions that the bill doesn't go nearly far enough. It is unfortunate that the requirement for complainants to pass a 'serious harm' threshold was placed in the 'too difficult' tray by those who drafted the legislation, as it affects retail and hospitality businesses. Challenging a suspected shoplifter or someone exhibiting excessively lairy behaviour at a nightclub remains a gamble, and there remains no meaningful deterrent to frivolous or vexatious defamation claims. Hard-pressed shopkeepers and managers — and there are plenty of those in Ireland's villages, towns, and cities — will still have to decide whether to defend actions and incur costs which can rise to €20,000 or turn to their insurance and incur higher premiums. Even a victory may offer scant chance of recovery if the complainant has no means to pay. This aspect of the new law will fail to change behaviour despite justice minister Jim O'Callaghan's exhortation that businesses should 'not take the easy route' and pay out. Many of the headlines have already been generated by the legal changes which have removed jury trial from the equation, and the 83-61 vote in favour now sends the proposals forward to the Seanad. Ireland's defamation laws have remained unaltered since 2009, since then we have seen the explosive growth of social media and the creation of a Wild West of opinion and commentary which is instant, and often egregious and untrue. Simultaneously, much of what is often categorised as 'old mainstream media' has seen revenues migrate to online competitors. Public understanding of the changed financial circumstances lags the actual reality. Thousands of newspapers around the globe have closed, and many thousands of journalists have lost their jobs. While this produces a tune on the world's smallest violin from some politicians, those losses are a worry for democracy and a threat to the common wealth. Even as the bill has been progressing it has been marked by litigation which proved again that defending an action by a libel claimant is a precarious pastime. This week, Ryan Casey, the partner of murdered schoolteacher Ashling Murphy, won substantial damages from the BBC after it broadcast a discussion about the content of his victim impact statement in its Northern Ireland political programme The View. It was the second court defeat in Ireland in recent weeks for the corporation after Gerry Adams won damages of €100,000 in a case which incurred costs of between €3m-€5m. These eye-watering sums would drive many publishers out of business. Ireland's new bill includes a public interest defence provided statements are published in good faith and reasonable enquiries and checks have been made prior to publication. Such an argument has never been successfully run in the Republic. Whether there is a queue of editors lining up to be the first to test its efficacy is questionable, but there must be protections for honest journalism and enquiry, particularly at a local level where resources are stretched to the thinnest. Read More Irish Examiner view: Free bets escalate gambling problems


Irish Examiner
4 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Letters to the Editor: Ireland cannot spend €25.5bn on defence
Lieutenant Colonel Conor King, general secretary of the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (Raco), mentions Ireland's low level of defence expenditure ('Ireland's defence spend of 0.2% labelled a 'bad joke', Irish Examiner, June 27). He then mentions Nato's commitment to increase its spending to 5%. While I agree that the Defence Forces are understaffed and their equipment needs upgrading, surely it is he that is joking in thinking Ireland should spend 5% of its GDP on the military. Ireland's GDP in 2023 was €510bn, so 5% of that is €25.5bn. To put it into context, the budget for the health department was €23.4bn. So, people advocating a rise in the defence budget to 5% of GDP want to give more money to a department in charge of approximately 9,500 personnel ahead of a department that oversees about 370,000 people. I have friends in the Defence Forces, so naturally I want them to have the best equipment for the job, but €25.5bn? The next time I meet them in uniform, will they be wearing Gucci combat boots, Ralph Lauren fatigues, and Dolce & Gabbana-inspired helmets? That should go well with their new Louis Vuitton backpacks and custom-designed armoured personnel carriers. This amount would see us outspending the Netherlands and Spain, both of which have far bigger armed forces. It also begs the question of who we are defending ourselves against. No doubt the usual refrain will be the big bad Russians. They are the go-to bad guys that are invoked by every military leader and spokesperson in Europe in their frantic quest to get shiny new weaponry. The fact is that Russia is a little busy right now, and I cannot see them attacking us anytime now or in the future. We do need to upgrade our air, sea, and radar systems, as we have such a large sea and air area to monitor, especially when it comes to drugs and smuggling. We need to invest in services to make the forces more attractive for the 4,000 recruits we need to meet basic requirements. After years of underinvestment, I understand the need to make some one-off investments to cover capital costs, but surely not to the extent of 5% of GDP. Ireland is in a fairly good position economically, but we can't go losing our heads when it comes to managing budgets. You only have to look at the absolutely scandalous mismanagement of the National Children's Hospital building to realise that things can get out of hand very quickly. Let's invest in our defence forces, but let's do it sensibly and based on our needs and not on some arbitrary figure made up by Donald Trump. Brian Ward, Skibbereen, Co Cork Parents supporting trans and non-binary children We would like to thank Dáithí Ó Sé for his recent column — 'I'm struggling with my teen coming out as non-binary' (Irish Examiner, June 30). We formed Mammies for Trans Rights when a few of us got together to talk about how we could best support our trans and non-binary kids. We are not experts, just concerned parents and allies who want to love and protect our children in what can be a difficult time in their lives, especially in what has rapidly become more frightening atmosphere for anyone who challenges traditional ideas of sexuality or gender. We tell everyone who contacts us that the first and best source of information and support is Teni or BelongTo, and then we invite anyone who would like to join us as we march in Pride events across the country each summer. We want kids and parents to see that there's far more of us who love our kids than there is of people spreading fear and division. And we want to remind people that love always wins Mammies for Trans Rights, via email What's your view on this issue? You can tell us here Séamas O'Reilly signs off on a positive note How fitting that Séamas O'Reilly's last column in your newspaper after three years mentions the extraordinary success of a virtual unknown in the race for mayor of New York ('Democratic primary win offers small, life-giving crumb of hope to politics' Irish Examiner, Weekend, June 28). If someone told me a week ago that a 33-year-old Muslim running a pro-Palestinian, anti-Zionist campaign in the biggest city in the United States that has the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, would comprehensively defeat someone like Andrew Cuomo in the mayoral primary, I would have quickly turned the page. But Zohran Mamdani is no ordinary assemblyman. He clearly has touched a nerve with large swathes of New Yorkers who increasingly are being priced out of living in one of the wealthiest cities in the world. His economic policies of free buses, free childcare, and publicly owned grocery stores have shaken the political establishment appealing in particular to young people. Key to his success are core, endlessly repeated commitments focused on a cost of living crisis triggered by a broken economic system. Is it any wonder that the Democrat elites are shaking in their boots and are now pinning their hopes on the unpopular incumbent Eric Adams running as an independent to defeat the Uganda-born Queens new kid on the block in November's election decider. Fair play to Séamas O'Reilly signing off on a positive note. Remember the name Zohran Mamdani, as we are going to hear a lot more about him and his democratic socialist policies. Tom McElligott, Listowel, Co Kerry Labelling for ethical choices for animal welfare Switzerland introduced new labelling on meat and dairy products on Tuesday, July 1. The terms 'beef' or 'pork' will no longer suffice; food labels are now required to disclose if the animals underwent procedures such as castration, dehorning , teeth clipping, tail docking, beak trimming, or force feeding — the list is endless — without pain relief. This labelling will not just apply to meat products but will include milk and eggs and will extend to all points of sale and to imports. This initiative is to encourage consumers to make more ethical choices and presumably to improve welfare standards for animals. As far back as the 18th century the English philosopher Jeremy Bantham asked the following regarding animals: 'The question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?' A mere two centuries after he asked the question, animals continue to suffer. Sadly today many animals spend their short miserable lives in windowless sheds, pumped full of antibiotics, suffering a great deal more than their predecessors in the 18th century. I welcome this initiative by the Swiss government and hope it will soon be obligatory for other EU states to follow suit. Joan Burgess, Annmount, Cork What's your view on this issue? You can tell us here Government must help squeezed middle Regarding Sean Murray's article — 'Fueling frustration: Why Irish petrol prices stay high, even when oil doesn't' (Irish Examiner, online, June 28). I drive to work every day, which is a round trip of about 60km. It costs me around €70 a week, which is about 20% of my income and as I am one of the squeezed middle earners it's really hard. There is no public transport for the time I need to go to work. With the cost of living so high everything is getting harder. I just hope I don't get sick — I just couldn't afford to go to the doctor. My savings have been eroded as we have to pay for everything and we're entitled to nothing. The Government really needs to address this urgently with tax breaks; we are becoming the hidden working poor. Noreen Moloney, Hospital, Co Limerick Combatting the loneliness of teenage girls According to a new study from the World Health Organization (WHO) teenage girls are the loneliest group in the world. While adult men and women both report similar levels of loneliness, nearly a quarter of teenage girls say they are lonely. This is compared to only 17% of teenage boys. Loneliness is a lack or a loss of meaningful social connection and all humans are natural social creatures. We need that social connection from the moment we are born. The most important thing for an infant is skin to skin contact with the parent and social interaction and then friendship builds from that. As a clinician, I would note that many teenage girls are particularly vulnerable to low self-esteem along with increased challenges when it comes to their mental health. It's my contention that teenage girls might be more vulnerable when compared to boys. We do know that there is a drop off in teenage girls being involved in any sort of structured activity. There is a disproportionate drop off in engagement in sports compared to boys at that age. There is an increased use of online social media at home which doesn't always promote a good positive self image. If parents were to put their phones away and develop the art of conversing with their teenage daughters, the positive difference in their teenage girls mental wellbeing would be palpable. Parents displaying an interest in their daughters can be an uplifting feeing for teenage girls. It's important that parents show that they are there for their teenage daughters. Parents must strive to keep their teenage girls involved in activities where they meet and interact with other young people of their own age. It's important that we all mind and nurture one another. John O'Brien, Clonmel, Co Tipperary