
Man (22) pleads guilty to attempting to murder his former girlfriend
At a brief arraignment at the Central Criminal Court on Tuesday afternoon, Josh O'Brien, of Walkinstown Avenue, Crumlin, Dublin 12, replied "guilty" to the attempted murder of Niamh Kelly at Firhouse Road, Firhouse, Dublin 24 on September 19th, 2024.
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Defence senior counsel Michael O'Higgins told the court the injured party in this case was O'Brien's girlfriend at the time.
He said Ms Kelly is receiving ongoing treatment for her injuries and a report on those injuries has been obtained.
However, he asked the court to put the sentencing back to a date in October to allow time for an updated report which he said would hopefully provide a clearer picture on the progress of her recovery.
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Mother of Irish soldier Sean Rooney gets permissio...
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Vincent Heneghen SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said the State had no difficulties with this request.
Mr O'Higgins said he was also seeking a psychological report for his client, who has no previous convictions.
Mr Justice Paul McDermott directed that a probation report and victim impact statement be prepared and adjourned the matter to October 6th.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can contact Women's Aid (24-hour freephone helpline at 1800-341 900, email helpline@womensaid.ie) or Men's Aid Ireland (confidential helpline at 01-554 3811, email hello@mensaid.ie) for support and information.
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The Independent
25 minutes ago
- The Independent
‘They are turning him into a hero': Kneecap solidarity gig held in Dublin
Hundreds of people have attended a music session in Dublin city in solidarity with Kneecap rapper Liam Og O hAnnaidh after he appeared in court on Wednesday. Kneecap flags and logos hung from the windows in Connolly Books, which dubs itself Ireland's oldest radical bookshop, in solidarity with O hAnnaidh, Kneecap, and the people of Palestine. Pro-Palestine supporters criticised the decision by British authorities to bring a charge against the performer instead of focusing on the Israeli government's actions against the Palestinian people. O hAnnaidh, 27, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, is accused of displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah at a gig in November last year. Hundreds of Kneecap supporters greeted O hAnnaidh as he arrived at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on Wednesday morning, alongside fellow Kneecap rappers Naoise O Caireallain and JJ O Dochartaigh. During the hearing, his defence team argued the case should be thrown out, citing a technical error in the way the charge against him was brought. The case has been adjourned until September 26, when the judge will rule on whether he has the jurisdiction to try the case. At the protest session at Connolly Books on Wednesday afternoon, several artists played Irish traditional music in solidarity with the rappers and Palestine. Musician Ru O'Shea, who performed at the demonstration, said charging O hAnnaidh had turned him into 'a hero'. 'I think it's been a huge misstep by the powers that be to go after him in the first place,' he told the PA news agency. 'I reckon that they don't have a thing on him, and I think they are turning him into a hero, and I think we need a hero. 'What's happening in Palestine right now, it's gotten to such an extreme that it's waking a lot of people up, including the British who might not have ever seen it otherwise and stayed in that bubble forever.' O'Shea's friend John Feehan said: 'I think people are maybe starting to look up a little bit in Britain, and I think things like what's happening with Kneecap is a catalyst for people to be like 'Oh, wait a minute, what's actually happening here?'. So I hope there's momentum, but I really don't know.' Dubliner Aoife Powell, 19, said she came out to protest because she is 'angry' at the decision to charge an artist rather than focus on what is happening to the people of Gaza. 'I'm here because it just worries me that the fact that governments are focused on artists expressing themselves rather than the actual problem, which is obviously the genocide in Gaza,' she told PA. 'It's a little bit disheartening to see there's so much pressure being put on these artists to stop saying what they truly think and to stop standing on the right side of history. 'I feel like it's a distraction from what's actually happening. 'When a government tries to silence people, they should learn that they can never silence people. I feel like the public would get more angry at that.' Sean O'Grady is from Coleraine in Northern Ireland but has lived in Dublin for almost 70 years. 'I'm delighted with them (Kneecap), that they've done what they're doing, and they're getting plenty of publicity. 'The British government are crazy, I mean, what are they at? 'They're supplying a lot of the bombs, and a lot of the arms and ammunition to Israel to do what they're doing. So they should be ashamed of themselves instead of bringing in these people (to court) for stupid reasons. 'It's getting good publicity over there for the cause of the Palestinians.' Dubliner Dermot Nolan said he attended his first Palestine protest in 1967, and while he remembers horrific events such as the Vietnam War, the scale of death and injuries in Gaza is the worst he has ever lived through. 'I'm here because it's important to for two reasons – first of all, to show our intolerance of the genocide and slaughter that's being carried out by the US, Nato and Israel. 'The second reason is the question of civil rights. We're protesting about the indictment of a member of the Irish group Kneecap. 'It is a sign of creeping authoritarianism which is happening in all the western countries and most clearly in Britain.'


Daily Mail
26 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Schools accused of allowing pupils to take up GCSEs in their native languages, such as Chinese and Russian, to boost grades
More pupils are taking GCSEs in unusual languages such as Chinese and Russian amid claims native speakers are using them to boost their grades. Government data for this year shows 42,945 pupils took GCSEs in niche languages – up 70 per cent from 25,225 just four years ago. This is roughly 10,000 more than those that take German, and it is a third of the number who take French. Experts said it was likely pupils from migrant backgrounds were taking qualifications in their mother tongue to get an 'easy' GCSE under their belt. Farcically, these GCSEs also count towards the Government's Ebacc, a performance measure aimed at getting pupils to do rigorous subjects. And there have also been concerns the trend could put off non-native speakers, who are learning the language from scratch. The entry data for 'other modern languages' covers any language aside from the mainstream subjects of French, German and Spanish. Included are Arabic, Italian, Japanese, modern Hebrew, modern Greek, Bengali, Polish, Turkish, Urdu and Panjabi. Iain Mansfield, head of education at the Policy Exchange think tank, said: 'Encouraging native speakers to take these foreign language GCSEs en masse has long been used by some schools to artificially boost their rankings. 'While there is nothing wrong with an individual pupil choosing to take a GCSE in their heritage language, the soaring numbers show it's time for Government to clamp down on this loophole – and ensure schools can't claim credit for entering pupils into language GCSEs at which they are already proficient.' Alan Smithers, professor of education at the University of Buckingham, said: 'Many of these GCSEs are mainly taken by native speakers because they can do extremely well and meet the obligations on schools to promote language learning. 'The problem is that there are important foreign languages which other pupils could very usefully learn like Chinese and Russian, but they are nowhere near as good as native speakers, and most I'm afraid tend to get put off.' The number taking 'other foreign languages' has increased every year since 2021, with a 1 per cent increase since 2024. Almost a quarter – 24 per cent – of those taking these languages do so a year early, suggesting they may already know all the course content. Last year, 72 per cent of entries to this category got at least a grade 7 – equivalent to the old A – compared to 22 per cent across all GCSE subjects, making it the highest-scoring. One school, Leeds City Academy, actively encourages pupils to take GCSEs in what it calls 'heritage languages' – defined as 'the first language spoken by the student or a language in which they are proficient'. It offers tuition of just two hours a week after school to help them pass the qualifications, which are run by EdExcel. The school's website says: 'As heritage language students already have a sound knowledge of the language, you will be expected to sit the higher tier exams.' The trend is a concern for native English speakers who take GCSEs in these languages learning from scratch. Some private schools now offer languages such as Chinese, with a view that it could be a useful language to have in the future global job market. Previous research from Ofqual on native speakers taking A-level languages found they perform on average better than non-native speakers. A Department for Education spokesman said: 'Learning a language empowers young people to engage with the world, think critically and understand new perspectives, and we want all children to have this opportunity regardless of their background or postcode. 'High and rising standards are at the heart of the government's mission to break down barriers to opportunity which is why we are committed to increasing the number of pupils studying languages at GCSE, including languages that are commonly spoken in modern day Britain. 'Decisions about which languages to offer at GCSE are taken by exam boards and are partly decided on by the level of demand from schools, and people speaking the language in the UK. Many post-16 and adult learners will take language GCSEs, particularly in lesser taught languages.'


The Sun
26 minutes ago
- The Sun
I'm a beauty expert and save £320 a year laminating my own brows – the six steps you must follow to get the perfect look
IF you've ever wanted fluffy, laminated brows but have steered clear because of the price, you can actually do them yourself for just £20 per year. An in-salon brow lamination appointment costs an average of £40 in Scotland, and you need them re-done every six weeks. 4 4 This amounts to a whopping £347 per year. There's much better things to be spending that much money on, so do them yourself at home – it will set you back just £20 per year. When you're going to save that much money by doing it DIY, it's a no brainer, right?! The Covid pandemic, as bad as it was, still came with some benefits. One of those was that I learnt how to do much of my beauty maintenance at home myself. There is no need to go to a salon for brow lamination, as it's the exact same science as a lash lift – you are perming your hair to sit in a certain position. For brow lamination, this is pointing vertically upwards, instead of naturally horizontal. What you need is a £20 lash lift kit from Amazon and half an hour of your time. That one kit will last you a whole year if you re-do them every six weeks. I've been doing this since lockdown, and I get daily compliments on my brows. I'm a makeup artist and swear by £2.50 product in my six-minute glam routine It's an easy process to do it yourself and all you need is your lash lift kit, some cling film, micellar water, cotton pads and a brow brush. You can then either tint them, use a tinted brow gel, or leave them their natural colour. Here's my simple six-step guide to achieving salon-worthy brows at home... Step 1 Use the glue in the lash lift kit to coat your lashes, then brush them upwards with your brow brush so that they are stuck firmly in place pointing vertically upwards. Step 2 Using the No.1 Perm bottle in your lash lift kit, apply a layer of the cream over your brows, then cover your brows with cling film for 10 minutes. 4 4 Step 3 Remove the cling film and use a dry cotton pad to remove any excess cream. Wipe in an upwards direction so as not to disturb the direction of the hairs. Step 4 Using the No.2 Fixation bottle in your lash lift kit, apply a layer of the cream over your brows, then cover your brows with cling film for 10 minutes. Step 5 Remove the cling film and use a damp cotton pad soaked in micellar water to remove any excess cream. You should give them a good rub in all directions to make sure they are completely clean. Step 6 Use a clean brow brush to brush your brow hairs up. You'll be amazed at how they now naturally sit upright without the need for any brow gel. Apply some of the oil in your lash lift kit to your brows to re-nourish them as the kit is very drying on the hairs. Beauty maintenance costs a lot of money, especially if you do the whole lot – hair, nails, brows, lashes. And don't get me started on how much time every month I can spend in salons! With the current cost of living, any savings are very welcome. Try laminating your own brows at home and pop the £327 you've saved away for Christmas. Win-win!