Funeral of Garda Kevin Flatley takes place in Co Dublin
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
The Irish Times chess columnist Jim 'JJ' Walsh (93) has retired. He has written about chess in the newspaper for close to 70 years. Video: Dan Dennison
The front facade of an unoccupied cottage in Ranelagh has crumbled and fallen onto the street, obstructing a footpath. Video: Dara MacDonaill
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Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Mystery objector to planned revamp of Shrewsbury Road home used for Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman film
A mystery objector is opposing a planned new gate as part of house revamp plans by Dee and Ian Lawlor for their property at Coolbeg, Shrewsbury Road in Dublin 4. Coolbeg was used in scenes from the 1990s Hollywood blockbuster Far and Away starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman . The Lawlor planning application comes after Coolbeg was purchased for €12.23 million in a November 2024 deal, according to the Residential Property Price Register . The Lawlors are seeking planning permission for a residential extension, car garage, and a modified vehicular entrance with an additional pedestrian entrance at Coolbeg. The residential extension will result in the home having a gross floor area of 6,932 sq ft – almost six times the size of an average three bed semidetached home of 1,200 sq ft. READ MORE [ Look inside: Shrewsbury Road Edwardian used for Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman film for €12.5m Opens in new window ] However, planning consultants, Hughes Planning and Development Consultants (HPDC) have called on the council to refuse planning permission or seek alterations to the planned boundary treatments. In the only submission opposing the scheme, the Dublin based planning consultancy doesn't state who the submission is being on behalf of. In the submission, director at HPDC, Kevin Hughes states that 'the proposed new gate and alterations to the boundary wall along Shrewsbury Road, if granted, would set a negative precedent and erode the visual coherence and heritage value of the wider area'. Mr Hughes states that the Lawlor plan to remove a 1.7 metre high existing metal gate and replace it a 2.1 metre high solid timber hardwood door and associated pedestrian door of same material. Mr Hughes said: 'We object to the design, scale, and materiality of the entrance gate which opens on to Shrewsbury Road. He contends that 'the proposed new gate is significantly larger in scale to the existing gate, and the gates of neighbouring properties. This will detract from the architectural rhythm of the street, and its consistent visual character'. Mr Hughes has requested that the council refuse planning permission or that the application be amended 'to ensure the boundary treatments are appropriately scaled'. The sole objection against the planned house revamp follows businessman and Shrewsbury Road neighbour, Fred Trenaman writing a letter of support to the council for the house revamp plan. In a planning submission on behalf of the Lawlors, director at Thornton O'Connor, Sadhbh O'Connor said 'the proposed garage and gate are modest in scale and design'.
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
Fears over Russia being used to make ‘insincere' argument against triple lock, Opposition group says
The Government is using fears about Russia to make an 'insincere' argument against the triple lock, according to an alliance of Opposition politicians. Left-wing and Independent politicians have claimed that a number of Government TDs and Senators are uncomfortable with plans to relax the legal barriers that can stop Irish troops from being deployed overseas. Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire of Sinn Féin, Paul Murphy of People Before Profit, Duncan Smith of Labour, Patricia Stephenson of the Social Democrats, and Independent Senator Alice Mary Higgins held a joint press conference today along with a number of civil society groups calling for the retention of the lock. The triple lock is the mechanism under which Ireland can deploy more than 12 troops on missions abroad. Such deployments require the approval of the Government, Dáil Éireann and the UN Security Council . READ MORE The Government has consistently argued that this gives countries like Russia or China, who enjoy permanent membership of the UN Security Council, the power to veto Ireland's participation in international missions. The UN has not agreed a new peacekeeping mission since 2014. Last month, the Government approved plans brought forward by Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Simon Harris to unravel the triple lock . Mr Harris has said he wants to make progress with the controversial legislation before the Dáil summer recess. Labour's Mr Smith said the Government's discomfort with Russia's place on the council 'seems to be quite recent' and that the issue was not about the status of the UN Security Council. 'I would say they are being insincere in that,' Mr Smith said. He said he believed some Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael backbench TDs and Senators were against their own Government's plans to scrap the triple lock. [ Government wants progress on scrapping triple lock before Dáil break Opens in new window ] 'I do believe there are people in Government that share our position, and we need to reach out to them and try to get them to change the minds of what's going on in Cabinet at the moment, and the public are on our side. 'This is just stuff that you pick up on the margins of meetings or corridor chats and all the rest. They will be getting heat on this from people that don't want to see Irish troops being deployed, which is the majority of people ... it is a headache that backbenchers don't want.' Ms Higgins said she believed Government politicians who want to keep the triple lock 'have a deeper understanding than maybe some of the Ministers seem to have'. 'Because we're getting a very, very narrow description of neutrality as being this entirely technical matter of, 'Are we fully paid up members of Nato?' rather than, 'Are we a country that fulfils that principle under Article 29 of the Constitution?' – which is the peaceful settlement of international disputes,' she added. Save Our Neutrality, a cross-party campaign to keep the triple lock, will be holding a demonstration this Saturday against Government plans to relax the legal barriers for sending Defence Forces overseas.
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
Locals block OPW vehicles at Castletown House as dispute over access continues
Locals stopped essential service vehicles entering Castletown House estate in Celbridge, Co Kildare on Monday as the long-running dispute over public access to the site shows no sign of abating. On Monday morning Office of Public Works (OPW) staff attempted to use motorised buggies to accompany the vehicles from the Celbridge gate entrance along Lime Avenue, a path leading to the house used by locals and protesters, who claim it is not suitable for vehicles. Locals from the Save Castletown Gate Protectors (SCGP) group said the use of the route by service vehicles would make it unsafe for vulnerable pedestrians and people who use wheelchairs. Gardaí were also present at the scene of Monday's stand-off. READ MORE The dispute over access to Castletown House has been ongoing for 20 months. The house was acquired by the State in the 1990s and sits on a large estate that is popular with local walkers. The house, one of the most architecturally significant Palladian-style country homes in Ireland, was closed in 2023 in a dispute over a right of access to its lands. On the estate a 235-acre parcel of land that stretches from the M4 entrance to the house, was bought by a developer Kilross Properties in April 2023. The gate to Castletown House at Celbridge, Co Kildare. Photograph: Stephen Farrell The M4 entrance and nearby car park were closed to the public and to the OPW. OPW staff returned to Castletown House on April 10th for the first time in two years, with a goal of opening the house to the public at the end of May. Local representatives joined protesters at Monday's peaceful stand-off. They included Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly and Fianna Fáil TD Naoise Ó Cearúil, and councillors Rupert Heather (Lab), Nuala Killeen and Claire O'Rourke (both Social Democrats). [ Vandals cause €500,000 worth of damage to OPW site used to access Castletown House Opens in new window ] The OPW want four to five essential services vehicles to drive daily along Lime Avenue accompanied by a buggy. They announced this plan on social media on Friday. The State's property management agency said the use of the avenue is safe, citing a health and safety report carried out in 2024. Protesters from the SCGP group have proposed that any essential service vehicles are accompanied on foot by an OPW staff member. The OPW said this would be too costly, at €10,000 a year – a figure disputed by protesters. Locals want the entrance at the M4 Dublin to Galway motorway and nearby car park reopened to the public, which would also allow for ease of access for essential services vehicles. [ Challenge brought over alleged unauthorised erection of gates blocking access to Castletown House Opens in new window ] 'Lime Avenue is not the solution,' said Miriam Flynn, a member of the SCGP group. 'The solution required is for the Minister to do what's necessary for there to be access via the M4 entrance.' The OPW said it was developing an application for planning permission, which will be made this summer, for a visitor car park in the Kildare Innovation Centre. Ms Flynn criticised the delay in applying for this planning permission. Local woman Monica Joy, a member of the SCGP group, expressed frustration that local residents do not have proper access to the house and its grounds. 'If you take a drive around Celbridge, there are no amenities. There is no investment for communities even though huge numbers of houses have been built,' she said.
