Latest news with #ColmÓMongáin
RTÉ News
12-08-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
Call for Government to address number of pubs closing
Publicans have called on the Government to introduce measures to address the number of pubs closing in rural areas. A recent report by the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland found that rural counties had the highest rate number of pub closures in the last 20 years. Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Colm Ó Mongáin, the CEO of the Vintners' Federation of Ireland Pat Crotty said they are calling for a reduction on excise duty on draught beer. "It's homegrown, we should be supporting it. It is the least damaging of all alcoholic products," he said. "It is the lifeblood of small pubs and the social, cultural, community and tourism things that that are all connected with small rural pubs." 2,100 pubs in Ireland have closed their doors since 2005, according to research by the Drinks Industry of Ireland. Mr Crotty, however, has said that the closure rate of pubs in Ireland is even worse than what has been suggested. "The closure rate is even higher. It's not one in every three and a half days now, it's one in every 2.8 days, which is 20% worse than the headline suggests," he said. "In other words, the trend is getting more severe. It's going to become more critical over time." Mr Crotty said that the Vintners' Federation were proposing a reduction on excise on beer in order to combat the rising cost of keeping a pub open. He accused the Government of "moving the goalposts" with their recent changes to cuts in the drinks industry. "Our argument is that the moving of the goalposts has been done by the Government. "It is the significant change in Government-driven cuts that has caused us to be in the situation where otherwise healthy and viable businesses are now saying there's no future in this," he said. Mr Crotty estimated that the cost of the proposed excise cut to the Exchequer could run as high as €73 million. "The particular excise cut that the Vintners' Federation of Ireland are proposing to help small publicans is of the order of €73 million, which is a tiny fraction of the cost of the VAT change for food operators," he said.
RTÉ News
11-08-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
What's the social impact of food delivery drones in Irish skies?
Analysis: There are many issues from noise to privacy which need to be considered around fast food drone deliveries in Ireland Back in 2020, a RTÉ report on Manna's new drone delivery service showed two cappuccinos being delivered by one of the company's drones in Oranmore in Co Galway. A member of the public summarises the milestone as 'this is space age!' Five years on, Manna is the leading company operating drone deliveries in urban areas in Ireland, with a service which appeals to those looking for a futuristic and novel way for ordering their takeaway pizza or coffee. Other drone delivery companies are also conducting trials and operating in Ireland. This includes Wing, operated by Google's parent company Alphabet that has conducted trials in Lusk and South Dublin and Iona, a company focused on deliveries to rural and underserved areas. From RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday with Colm Ó Mongáin, the positives and potential negatives that come with drones On its website, Manna promotes its drone delivery service as beneficial to local communities, with fast delivery, cleaner air and less traffic. They address complaints about issues of privacy by arguing that the drone cameras only operate when deliveries are being lowered. In terms of noise pollution, Manna refer to a report undertaken by Dr. John Kennedy, Associate Professor in Vibrations, Acoustics and Dynamics at Trinity College Dublin. This study analyses the noise of their drones using their Blanchardstown delivery service and claims its fly-over noise is just marginally above the noise found in a 'typical urban setting with steady traffic'. But what is the social impact of such novel technologies as they are implemented at a much faster pace than any means of adequately regulating them? Issues other than noise need to be taken into consideration when analysing this. For example, scaling up drone delivery services across cities might involve an increase in the number of drone stations similar to Manna's Blanchardstown base, which has been subject to complaints about noise and privacy intrusion. It might see the development of larger hubs, such as the Amazon drone-beehive concept, a multi-storey tower surrounded by drone launching pads and with terminals for truck delivery at ground level. While there are EU regulations on the operation of drones above 250 grams in weight or ones that record personal data (image or sound), there is a lack of information about drone flight pathways: for example, there is no drone equivalent to the flight tracking website Flightradar24. The only information available, thanks to recent EU regulations, is the geographical zone map for the usage of drones across Ireland. Safety concerns about the social impact of drones have been well documented. An academic paper from 2016 records concerns including navigation and piloting mistakes, crashes into public infrastructure (such as electricity poles), roads or private property, hijacking of their GPS systems, and the possibility of the payload becoming unattached during flight. It also points out that both the freedom from harm and the freedom from fear of harm are basic human rights. It's no surprise that local Irish communities are starting to mobilise around this issue and taking the matter into their own hands considering the lack of adequate discussion and consultation on the use of drone delivery services. Manna's plans to operate drones from other areas in Dublin, such as Dundrum and Glasnevin, have already ran into objections and opposition. Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Co Council said they have received 148 submissions over Manna's proposal to locate a new aerial delivery hub on lands to the rear of the Holy Cross Church in Dundrum. Writing on behalf of the Holy Cross Church and Pastoral Centre, Monsignor Paul Callan said their objection was on the basis of the drones potentially crating a "hostile noise environment" against the Centre's aim to offer "a quiet respite to the demands of modern life". From RTÉ Radio 1's Liveline, listeners call in to give out yards about drones Manna's counterargument is that they have support from local residents in the areas where they operate and they have submitted a letter in support of their drones to Dublin 15 local representatives signed by 400 local residents. But Cllr John Walsh, representing Castleknock in Dublin 15, launched an online petition calling on the Government to regulate commercial drone delivery services, which he said are impacting communities across Dublin 15. Walsh's petition has gathered more than 1,100 signatures to date, nearly three times the number claimed by Manna. In some cases, local communities have engaged directly with Manna to address their concerns. In the Glasnevin/Drumcondra area, the Griffith Avenue & District Residents Association has mobilised the local community and subsequently arranged a meeting with Manna to discuss and set exclusion zones from drone deliveries. All these developments highlight the pressing need for a much wider consultation process with the whole Dublin population on this matter, rather than unevenly distributed and localised interventions. It also highlights the need for more transparency and better understanding of the need and rights of citizens rather than implying that the issues can be simply resolved through technical improvements. This will become increasingly important as more innovative and 'smart' technologies are implemented in Dublin and other major urban areas in Ireland, with ever increasing autonomy and the use of AI, and all its potential issues. Most importantly, we need to be able to understand how all these technologies can impact us before they arrive unannounced at our door with a greasy takeaway.
RTÉ News
11-08-2025
- Politics
- RTÉ News
What does data tell us about migration to and from Ireland?
Analysis: Nearly 150,000 people moved to live and work in the State in the year to April 2024, a 16-year high for immigration to Ireland Almost 150,000 people moved to Ireland in the 12 months up to April 2024, the highest number in 16 years. We spoke to Eva Leahy, Statistician in the Life Events and Demography Division of the Central Statistics Office (CSO), to get a better understanding of the people who are coming to Ireland. What do we know about the people moving to live and work here? The CSO produces a number of different releases to gain better insights about the people who are moving to and from the country. One of our key releases on this topic is the Population and Migration Estimates series, which is usually published in late August of each year and has data which is validated up to April of that year. From RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday with Colm Ó Mongáin, is the Government doing enough to integrate migrants? The most recent release showed that just over 149,000 people entered the State, or immigrated, in the 12 months to April 2024. This was a 16-year high and was also the third successive 12-month period where more than 100,000 people immigrated to Ireland. 30,000 of these were returning Irish citizens, 27,000 were EU citizens, 5,400 were UK citizens and almost 87,000 were citizens of other countries. What else do we know? Our Population and Migration Estimates release also tells us that just over half (52% or 77,200 people) of the total immigrants who came to Ireland in the 12 months to April 2024 were aged between 25 and 44 years. The age group with the lowest proportion of migrants was 65 years and over, at just 3%. Another release, , published in July 2025, provided even more detail on this front by examining migration as defined as a minimum six-month period since arrival or departure. It echoed our other findings and found that people aged between 25 and 34 years had the largest migration flows during the almost two-year period we examined. From RTÉ Radio 1's Drivetime, a new study reveals our attitudes towards immigration It's also worth pointing out that there is a pretty equal split in terms of the numbers of men and women moving to the State. The biggest difference occurred in August, September and October 2022 when a notably higher number of females moved to Ireland, which coincided with an increase in the numbers of women seeking temporary protection due to the war in Ukraine. Our analysis also showed that, over the eight quarters analysed, people with Irish nationality accounted for up to 2.5% of new inward migration flows per quarter, but they represented almost 67% of those returning to the country. Irish nationals also accounted for up to 61% of those emigrating in each of those quarters over the same period. Outside of people from the EU27 and the UK, people from India, Ukraine, and Brazil are most likely to move to Ireland. What about emigration from Ireland? On the other side of the coin, 69,000 people departed the State cin the 12 months to April 2024, which was the highest level of emigration since 2015. This consisted of almost 35,000 Irish citizens, 13,500 UK and EU27 citizens and 21,500 other citizens, including Ukranians. From RTÉ Radio 1's Morning Ireland, Aisling Moloney speaks to Irish construction workers and medical professionals in Sydney about why they're staying Down Under During this period there was a strong outward flow of people going to Australia. We estimated that around 10,600 people left Ireland to live in Australia in the 12 months to April 2024, up from 4,700 in 2023 (+126%). This was the highest level of emigration to Australia since 2013. Additionally, 6,400 people moved to Ireland from Australia, which was down from 7,700 in 2023 (-17%). What does all this tell us about the population of Ireland? These releases help to paint a picture of our changing society. For instance, my colleagues Cathal Doherty and Labhaoise Barrett published the Irish Population Estimates from Administrative Data Sources 2023 (IPEADS) report in June. It uses data collected by Government departments, agencies and public bodies other than the CSO, as a way to 'count' our population. These types of interactions with the State give us an Administrative Population, which means the CSO can provide estimates of the population in the years between the collection of the national Census. The release put the Administrative Population of Ireland in April 2023 at almost 5.45 million, of which 81% had an Irish nationality. The top five nationalities represented in the Administrative Population after Irish, were UK, Polish, Romanian, Indian and Ukrainian. The top five nationalities represented in the Administrative Population after Irish, were UK, Polish, Romanian, Indian and Ukrainian For the last number of years, the CSO has been testing this different methodology to be able to produce an accurate Administrative Population count, which forms the basis of IPEADS. The advantage of using administrative data to provide a population count is that it can give a more detailed demographic breakdown of our changing society. Being able to provide accurate yearly estimates of our population under such categories as size, age, sex, and nationality, will be a vital tool for the Government and policy makers as they plan for our future. A new release on International Protection Applications will be published later in August and the Social Statistics and Coordination Unit also publish an ongoing Arrivals from Ukraine in Ireland series.
RTÉ News
07-08-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
Large weekend gains for RTÉ Radio 1 in latest JNLR figures
RTÉ Radio 1 has seen large weekend gains in the latest Joint National Listenership Research (JNLR) figures released today, with The Brendan O'Connor Show enjoying the biggest increases on both Saturdays and Sundays. RTÉ Radio 1 remains the most popular station in Ireland, reaching 1.4 million listeners every week, an increase of 25,000 since the last figures. It is the first choice for adults aged 35–54 nationwide, with a share of 14% RTÉ Radio stations as a whole have an all-adults audience share of 29% - the highest in the country. RTÉ Radio now holds 18 of the top 20 programmes and the entire top 10. Raidío na Gaeltachta has increased its weekly reach to over 100,000 listeners. Commenting on the latest figures, Patricia Monahan, Director of Audio, RTÉ said: "This is a great result for RTÉ, giving us 29% audience share and clearly positioning our stations as the most-listened-to in Ireland. "Across the portfolio, we provide a diverse mix of trusted content for audiences covering a wide range of genres including news and current affairs, sport, arts and culture, music, entertainment, and the Irish language." For the first time, The Brendan O'Connor Show on RTÉ Radio 1 has exceeded 400,000 listeners on both days of the weekend, with Saturday's figure standing at 412,000 listeners, up 49,000 book-on-book; and Sundays at 409,000, up 40,000 book-on-book. Book-on-book refers to a comparison of the average listenership for programmes across the four previous quarters (three-month periods). On Saturdays on RTÉ Radio 1, Playback is up 16,000 listeners book-on-book to 351,000, and The Business is also at 351,000, up 31,000 book-on-book. Saturday with Colm Ó Mongáin is at 229,000, up 25,000 book-on-book; and the combined Doc on One/Saturday Sport slot is at 226,000, up 27,000 book-on-book. Year-on-year, The Brendan O'Connor Show is up 72,000 listeners (Saturday) and 63,000 (Sunday) while The Business is up 20,000. Sunday Miscellany on RTÉ Radio 1 has added 16,000 listeners book-on-book to 300,000 while Sunday with Miriam is up 13,000 listeners book-on-book to 317,000. This Week is at 200,000, a book-on-book increase of 16,000; and Sunday Sport is at 211,000, a book-on-book increase of 28,000. Tara Campbell, Head of RTÉ Radio 1, said: "RTÉ Radio 1 has consolidated its position as the biggest radio station in the country and continues to be the number one destination for listeners in the competitive age 35 to 54 demographic. "There has been a particularly strong performance at weekends in this book with gains across the board - one of the standout performances has been The Brendan O'Connor Show, which now has a listenership of over 400,000 on both Saturdays and Sundays." On weekdays on RTÉ Radio 1, Morning Ireland is down 2,000 listeners book-on-book to 469,000 but maintains its position as the country's most popular radio show. Oliver Callan's 9am-10am weekday slot on RTÉ Radio 1 is at 354,000 listeners, down 1,000 book-on-book. Today with Claire Byrne is up 6,000 listeners book-on-book to 354,000. The Louise Duffy Show is down 4,000 listeners book-on-book to 219,000, and The News at One is up 1,000 listeners book-on-book to 298,000. Liveline, which said goodbye to Joe Duffy as host during the summer, is down 8,000 listeners book-on-book to 299,000. The Ray D'Arcy Show is down 10,000 listeners book-on-book to 182,000, and Drivetime with Sarah McInerney and Cormac Ó hEadhra is down 4,000 book-on-book to 217,000. RTÉ Radio 1 has grown its share of the 35-54 age group to 19%, outperforming all other stations in that demographic. On RTÉ 2FM weekdays, The 2FM Breakfast Show is down 9,000 book-on-book to 139,000, The Laura Fox Show is down 5,000 book-on-book to 122,000, and 2FM Drive with Doireann Garrihy is down 8,000 listeners book-on-book to 125,000. On the weekend, 2FM Breakfast with Bláthnaid Treacy is at 153,000 listeners on Saturdays, down 5,000 book-on-book; and on Sundays is at 140,000 listeners, up 5,000 book-on-book. On Saturdays, 2FM Weekend Afternoon with Demi & Mikey is up 5,000 book-on-book to 127,000 listeners, and on Sunday the duo's show is also at 127,000 listeners, up 9,000 book-on-book. 2FM Weekend Drive with Emma & Graham is at 112,000 listeners on Saturdays, up 9,000 book-on-book; and 78,000 on Sundays, up 10,000 book-on-book. RTÉ 2FM has 677,000 weekly listeners and a 10.3% share among 15–34 year-olds. Dan Healy, Head of RTÉ 2FM, said: "It's early days for the new 2FM schedule, which first went on air in February and therefore isn't fully reflected in these results." He said the station is "very excited about the weekend schedule that features Demi (Isaac) and Mikey (O'Reilly), both recruited through the expressions of interest process we ran last year", and 2FM has "also seen good gains for Graham (Smyth) and Emma (Power)". Over on RTÉ lyric fm, Marty in the Morning continues to thrive weekdays with a new record-breaking audience of 75,000, up 4,000 book-on-book. Also on RTÉ lyric fm, Lorcan Murray's Classic Drive has added 5,000 listeners book-on-book to stand at 64,000. RTÉ lyric fm is now reaching 329,000 listeners every week. On Newstalk, The Hard Shoulder is up 12,000 book-on-book to 165,000 listeners while The Pat Kenny Show is at 216,000 listeners, down 8,000 book-on-book. On Today FM, The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show is at 213,000 listeners, Dave Moore's show is at 198,000 listeners, and The Last Word is 181,000.
RTÉ News
07-06-2025
- Politics
- RTÉ News
28 people deported to Nigeria detained prior to flight
Twenty-eight of the 35 people who were deported to Nigeria on a charter flight from Ireland this week were held in custody prior to their deportation. The average length of their detention was 27 days. The figures were provided in response to a request to the Department of Justice by RTÉ's Saturday with Colm Ó Mongáin. In a statement, the Department said a person who is subject of a deportation order can be held for up to 56 days "for the purpose of ensuring their deportation from the State". It added that this was "to facilitate the procurement of travel documentation and the making of arrangements for the deportation flight". Details were not provided on where those deported this week were detained in advance of the flight to Nigeria. However, the Department said there are a number of "prescribed places of detention" which include Castlerea Prsion, Cloverhill Prison, Cork Prison, Limerick Prison, Midlands Prison and Wheatfield Prison. It is understood women detained prior to deportation are held at the Dóchas Centre in Dublin. Detainees can also be held at any garda station. Speaking on RTÉ's Saturday with Colm Ó Mongáin, Fianna Fáil Minister of State Charlie McConalogue said that in some instances it was necessary to detain people in advance of deportation, but this was "hopefully in a small number of circumstances". "The information I have in terms of the women and children involved, there was no detentions there, that there was a date given in advance," Mr McConalogue said. The breakdown of figures for the flight to Nigeria included 21 men, nine women and five children - indicating that at least some women were held in custody prior to their enforced deportation. Speaking on the same programme, Sinn Féin TD Eoin Ó Broin said: "There is no doubt that part of what the very high profile nature of Minister O'Callaghan has done is to try and distract attention away from their failures in terms of running an international protection system that is compassionate, that is human rights rooted, but also that is fair, efficient and ultimately enforced." Social Democrats TD Sinéad Gibney said the events of Thursday morning was "the stuff of nightmares" for the children deported - as well as the children who witnessed their friends being taken away by gardaí.
