Austria win Eurovision, pipping Israel at the post
Austria have won the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 in the country's first victory since bearded drag queen Conchita Wurst won in 2014.
A Mexican Navy sailing ship crashed into the landmark Brooklyn Bridge in New York on Saturday night, killing two people and injuring 17 others.
Garda Flatley died after being hit by a motorcycle as he was carrying out speed checks on the R132 at Lanestown, north Co Dublin. Video: Dan Dennison
Emmy performs "Laika Party" for Ireland's entry at the second semi-final for Eurovision 2025.
Cork-based singer/songwriter Martin Leahy marks three years of singing his song Everyone Should Have a Home outside Leinster House. Video: Dan Dennison
Syrians in Damascus celebrate after US president Donald Trump announced plans to ease sanctions on Syria and normalise relation. Video: Sally Hayden
Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed at least 52,908 people since October 2023, while the total number of injuries has climbed to 119,721.
Hollywood icon Robert De Niro lambasted 'philistine' US President Donald Trump and his proposed movie tariff at the Cannes Film Festival's opening ceremony.
Released Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander was reunited with family members after 19 months of captivity by Hamas. Video: Reuters
Dubliner Oscar Despard captained a team from Christ's College, Cambridge to victory in the final of the BBC student quizshow University Challenge. Video: BBC
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Irish Times
4 hours ago
- Irish Times
Guinness and Three seen as Ireland's ‘top sponsors' as number of deals rises 29%
Guinness and Three have been named as Ireland's top sponsors as the number of sponsorship deals rose 29 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter, according to data from consultancy firm Onside. The group, which announced the top sports and non-sports sponsors in its quarterly review on Tuesday, said the GAA had a 'very active first quarter', with renewals from long-standing sponsors Centra, SuperValu and Allianz. The group, which has been running the reviews since 2016, said horse racing and soccer were also 'very active categories'. Guinness secured the 'most appealing sponsor' position in sports, driven by the success of the Guinness Men's and Women's Six Nations Championships. READ MORE Vodafone, a long-standing partner of the IRFU, claimed second place, followed by Lidl for its sponsorship of the Women's Gaelic Football Association (LGFA). Telco company Three emerged as the top non-sports sponsor, recognised for its music and venue naming rights strategy with the 3Arena and the 3Olympia. Electric Ireland, for its partnership with Pieta and Darkness Into Light, secured second place, while SuperValu rounded out the top three for its Tidy Towns sponsorship. Onside said the research shows the 'enduring appeal' of rugby as a sponsorship platform in Ireland. Five of the top 10 most admired sports sponsors have prominent partnerships in the sport. 'Despite a disappointing result for Ireland in the 2025 Guinness Six Nations, the review highlights the mass appeal of rugby for consumer-facing brands,' the group said. 'Leading IRFU sponsors Guinness, Vodafone, Aviva, Bank of Ireland and Aldi all feature prominently among the top sports sponsors.' Connacht rugby star Bundee Aki was named as the 'most recognisable, admired, trustworthy, and influential' Irish rugby personality, followed by Leinster's James Lowe and Caelan Doris. Other appealing sports sponsors included Allianz as the top sponsor of Paralympics Ireland and the Olympic Federation of Ireland, and as a sponsor of the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship. Elsewhere, notable sponsors named were Sky as primary partners of the women's and men's national football teams, as well as AIB which sponsors four codes in GAA. 'The sponsorship landscape is constantly evolving, and our review highlights the power of authentic partnerships that resonate with the Irish public,' says Kim Kirwan, director of intelligence and insight at Onside. 'Rugby's continued dominance demonstrates its ability to connect brands with consumers, while the success of non-sports sponsorships like Electric Ireland's Darkness into Light shows the importance of aligning with meaningful causes.'
Irish Times
4 hours ago
- Irish Times
Story of a Song review: Delve into the ballad Grace falls short of filling us in on its afterlife
Rod moves in mysterious ways – and what an impact he ( Rod Stewart , that is) has had on Grace, the maudlin 1916 Rising ballad which has undergone a remarkable resurgence since the rasping rocker started belting it out at his concerts. Stewart has talked a great deal about how Grace has yanked at his heartstrings – on the Late Late Show several years ago, he spent practically the entire interview wiping away tears. But there is more to the tune than a sobbing classic rocker, and the tale of Grace and its rebirth receives a more origin-focused, less Rod-centric retelling in the first episode of the latest season of Aistear an Amhráin ( RTÉ One, 7pm, Tuesday). The informative documentary series traces the evolution of well-loved songs. A run time of just 30 minutes leaves little space for mucking about and Sinéad Ní Churnáin cracks on from the outset by rewinding to 1916 and the love affair between Grace Gifford and Joseph Mary Plunkett, as recounted in the lyrics of Grace. They were the doomed couple who tied the knot hours before Plunkett was marched before a British firing squad for his part in the Easter Rising. READ MORE Plunkett was executed at Kilmainham Gaol, where singer Aoife Scott performs several lines from the song (a favourite of Olympic boxer Kellie Harrington ). 'There is a very particular atmosphere here,' Scott says. 'I felt these vibrations in the walls. It was very strange. That's why so many people visit Kilmainham Gaol.' Joseph Mary Plunkett was a signatory of the Proclamation Grace is often assumed to have dated from the early 20th century, but, as Ní Churnáin reveals, it was written in the 1980s, a boom-time for dewy-eyed ballads bashed out by hairy Irish folk singers. In this case, the hairy folk singer was Jim McCann, who received the tune, with thanks, from Frank and Seán O'Meara, songwriting siblings from Mullingar, Co Westmeath. 'Jim McCann was over the moon,' says Frank, who wrote the melody and who plays back a grainy early recording that is far jauntier than the version Stewart has belted out across the world for several years. The idea for writing about Gifford and Plunkett came to Seán after he was asked to rustle up a hit to order. Though aware of Plunkett, he knew little of Gifford until delving into her story. 'I may not have known before I did the research what Grace's name was,' he says. As a sort of idiot's guide to Stewart's favourite Irish weepy, Aistear an Amhráin ticks the boxes. Still, it would have been useful to hear more about the track's afterlife. For instance, how is it that former senator Donie Cassidy reportedly came to hold the copyright to Grace? And how much is it worth? Such details would have helped the viewer better appreciate the impact of Grace and reveal something we didn't already know (most of the audience are surely familiar with the story of Gifford). How, for that matter, did Stewart come upon it? You wanted to dive deeper into the story of Grace and its incredible recent renaissance, but, for all its good work, Aistear an Amhráin didn't go far enough in filling in the blanks.
Sunday World
10 hours ago
- Sunday World
Kneecap announce ‘biggest headline show outside of Ireland' at London arena
'BELLY OF THE BEAST' | The concert comes after the group remained on the line-up for Glastonbury Festival, when it was confirmed on Tuesday (left to right) Members of Kneecap, Liam Og O Hannaidh (Mo Chara), JJ O Dochartaigh (DJ Provai), and Naoise O Caireallain (Moglai Bap) (Brian Lawless/PA) The concert comes after the group remained on the line-up for Glastonbury Festival, when it was confirmed on Tuesday, despite calls from Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch and a number of other politicians to remove them. Kneecap were taken out of the line-up at Scotland's TRNSMT festival last week after safety concerns were raised by police, while last month the group played to thousands at London's Wide Awake festival in Brockwell Park. The Belfast trio have scheduled a replacement gig for the cancelled festival show at Glasgow's O2 Academy in July. The group's London concert will take place on September 18, with tickets going on pre-sale on the group's WhatsApp channel at 10am, before a general sale on Friday. In a post announcing the gig, Kneecap said: 'The belly of the beast – let's go.' It comes after Kneecap member Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, was charged under the name Liam O'Hanna by the Metropolitan Police with a terror offence last month over the alleged display of a Hezbollah flag at a gig in November last year. Counter-terrorism police previously investigated Kneecap after videos emerged allegedly showing the band calling for the deaths of MPs and shouting 'up Hamas, up Hezbollah'. The group apologised to the families of murdered MPs but said footage of the incident had been 'exploited and weaponised', and also said they have 'never supported' Hamas or Hezbollah, which are banned in the UK. In response to the charge, the group said in a social media statement: '14,000 babies are about to die of starvation in Gaza, with food sent by the world sitting on the other side of a wall, and once again the British establishment is focused on us. 'We deny this 'offence' and will vehemently defend ourselves, this is political policing, this is a carnival of distraction. 'We are not the story, genocide is, as they profit from genocide, they use an 'anti-terror law' against us for displaying a flag thrown on stage. A charge not serious enough to even warrant their crown court, instead a court that doesn't have a jury. What's the objective? 'To restrict our ability to travel. To prevent us speaking to young people across the world. To silence voices of compassion. To prosecute artists who dare speak out. 'Instead of defending innocent people, or the principles of international law they claim to uphold, the powerful in Britain have abetted slaughter and famine in Gaza, just as they did in Ireland for centuries. Then, like now, they claim justification. 'The IDF units they arm and fly spy plane missions for are the real terrorists, the whole world can see it.' Kneecap member Liam Og O hAnnaidh outside the 100 Club in Oxford Street (PA) Ahead of their Wide Awake set, Kneecap released their latest song The Recap, which opens with a sample of a news report about the counter-terrorism police investigation into the group, and mocks Ms Badenoch's attempts to block arts funding they were awarded, and the Conservative Party's election loss. In 2024, the band released an eponymous film starring Oscar-nominated actor Michael Fassbender which is a fictionalised retelling of how the band came together and follows the Belfast group on their mission to save their mother tongue through music. Formed in 2017, the group, made up of O hAnnaidh, Naoise O Caireallain and JJ O Dochartaigh, are known for their provocative lyrics and merchandise as well as their championing of the Irish language, and their best-known tracks include Get Your Brits Out, Better Way To Live and 3Cag. (left to right) Members of Kneecap, Liam Og O Hannaidh (Mo Chara), JJ O Dochartaigh (DJ Provai), and Naoise O Caireallain (Moglai Bap) (Brian Lawless/PA) News in 90 Seconds - 3rd June 2025
