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Irish Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Parlous state of Defence Forces once again laid bare
The parlous state of the Ireland's Defence Forces has again been laid bare by staff shortages leading to a reduction in operations. In January our Crime and Security Correspondent Conor Gallagher reported that one of the Naval Service 's most modern ships has been forced to patrol without a functioning main weapons system. The failing was due to a severe shortage of qualified naval ordnance technicians, which has left the service unable to maintain all its weapons. Previously Gallagher reported that the Naval Service was sending out an average of one ship per day to monitor Ireland's vast territorial waters, despite Government warnings of maritime threats from foreign militaries and organised crime groups. READ MORE In today's lead Gallagher outlines how senior military sources say Irish military flight operations are to move to part-time hours at the Air Corps headquarters and may soon have to cease entirely. The move will have huge implications for rescue, medical and policing services. As it stands, an acute shortage of trained air traffic controllers (ATCs) at the Air Corps's only base at Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnel, Dublin, is resulting in a move to a five-day-a week, daytime-only flying schedule. This includes flights by the Garda helicopters. The 505 Squadron, which is responsible for air traffic control, is supposed to have 21 personnel but in recent years it has been operating at about 50 per cent capacity. Five personnel are due to depart shortly for the private sector, necessitating the move to a reduced schedule, which takes effect from June 7th. Military sources said if just one or two more ATCs depart, Baldonnel will no longer be able to maintain flight operations. The crisis comes as Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Simon Harris has promised a large investment in the Air Corps, which will soon be renamed the Irish Air Force. This includes the purchase of a military radar system, four new helicopters, one new troop transport aircraft and a complete refurbishment of Baldonnel. Eventually, combat fighter jets will be acquired to patrol Irish skies, Mr Harris has said. The Defence Forces and Department of Defence both said they did not comment on operational issues. The Government does have plans to ramp up Defence spending in the coming years but it is playing catch-up after many years of underinvestment. Independents overboard It was a case of Independents overboard as two Government-supporting TDs voted against the Coalition in favour of a Sinn Féin Bill in support of Palestine. Barry Heneghan of Dublin Bay North and Meath East TD Gillian Toole broke ranks with the other Independents thatsupport the Government in a Dáil vote on Wednesday night. But the Government's majority is not at risk yet as the Dáil still voted by a margin of 87 to 75 against the Opposition party's Bill that sought to curtail Israeli access to sell bonds through the Irish financial system And while Heneghan and Toole did not support the Coalition on this occasion, it does not mean they will not back it (in all likelihood most of the time) in future. As Jack Horgan-Jones and Marie O'Halloran report, Heneghan said he supported the legislation 'because Ireland shouldn't facilitate the sale of bonds that help fund the devastation in Gaza'. However, he also said he is 'fully committed' to the Programme for Government. He added that 'as an Independent TD, I reserve the right to act on matters of conscience'. Heneghan and Toole were part of the Regional Independent Group of TDs which convened around Tipperary North TD Michael Lowry during Programme for Government negotiations. After the negotiations were concluded, Mr Lowry said the group would support the Government 'on good days and bad'. It appears from Henaghan and Toole's votes on Wednesday that this will not always be the case. Their move will likely irritate backbenchers in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael who might like to break ranks occasionally on unpopular issues but are under the party whip and there are consequences if they do so. But what happened on Wednesday was a demonstration why the two larger parties cast the net so wide in enlisting the support of nine independents during Government formation talks. The non-party TDs can be a wobbly third leg of the stool in Coalitions. Best Reads Political Editor Pat Leahy reports that the State could face financial penalties totalling as much as €28 billion for failing to sufficiently reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, experts say. It comes after and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report showed that Ireland's progress towards the goal of reducing emissions by half is slowing. It will now only achieve reductions of 23 per cent in a best-case scenario. In other environmental news whales have left Cork waters as sprat, their food source, is in short supply, a Cork-based businessman has said after abandoning tours of the waters. Colin Barnes, who ran a whale-watching boat tour company, has been put out of business after the departure of the cetaceans. Katie Mellet has the story . RTÉ were back before an Oireachtas Committee on Wednesday. Current Affairs Editor Arthur Beesley reckons it was a drab sequel to firework show of two years ago starring Ryan Tubridy Miram Lord writes the Montrose chiefs were back for 'another grilling at the media committee barbecue – but where's the beef?' Former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar tells Jack Power that the European Union needs to 'grow a bit of backbone' and stand-up to Israel. Harry McGee reports that the non-jury Special Criminal Court and the Offences Against the State Act are set to be repealed after more than 50 years in existence following the acceptance by the Minister for Justice of the recommendations of an expert review group. However, the replacement of the legislation will not mean an end to non-jury courts. Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan said that they remained necessary for certain cases and that had been a recommendation of the Independent Review Group, chaired by Mr Justice Micheal Peart. Playbook Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe is first up in the Dáil taking Parliamentary Questions from 8.47am. Next up to be quizzed by TDs is Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers at 10:23am. Leaders' Questions is at noon. Government business at 1.52pm is statements on flood relief. TDs have an opportunity to raise 'Topical Issues' from 4.17pm. A Labour Party Bill aimed at giving the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission more powers to tackle 'unfair prices' will be debated at 5.17pm. There will be statements on Gaza in the Seanad from 9am. The Committee on Defence and National Security will begin pre-legislative scrutiny of the Government's proposals to scrap the triple-lock on the deployment of Irish soldiers overseas from 9:30am. Representatives of the Arts Council and the National Gallery are expected to be before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) from 10:30am . Expect TDs to delve into issues like the €6.7 million spent by the Arts Council on a new IT system that was eventually abandoned and the separate controversy over the €125,000 x-ray scanner bought by the National Gallery that lay idle for eight years. The full schedule for the Dáil, Seanad and Committees can be found here. 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Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Ivan Toney and Trevoh Chalobah called into England squad by Thomas Tuchel
Ivan Toney and Trevoh Chalobah have been called up by Thomas Tuchel for England's matches next month, and Conor Gallagher has also been included. But there is no presence in the squad for players including Harry Maguire, Marc Guéhi, Dominic Solanke and Phil Foden. Toney is back for the first time since he left Brentford for the Saudi Premier League club Al-Ahli last summer. He has scored 29 goals in 43 games this season and won the Asian Champions League. Advertisement Chalobah's call-up is his first with the senior squad after England appearances at a number of age-group levels. He and Jude Bellingham, who is due to have shoulder surgery later this summer, are among the players included before they are due to go to the Club World Cup. Foden has not fully recovered from ankle ligament damage sustained in early April and said this week in relation to an England call-up that it may be 'better to rest and get my ankle fully 100% back'. Guéhi was in Tuchel's previous squad and has not been included after lifting the FA Cup with Palace. England play a World Cup qualifier against Andorra in Barcelona on 7 June and play Senegal in a friendly in Nottingham three days later. Download the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhone or the Google Play store on Android by searching for 'The Guardian'. If you already have the Guardian app, make sure you're on the most recent version. In the Guardian app, tap the Menu button at the bottom right, then go to Settings (the gear icon), then Notifications. Turn on sport notifications. The international window sits in an awkward spot for Tuchel, coming after the domestic season has ended and before the Club World Cup begins in the US on 15 June. Players with England caps are involved with five teams at the tournament: Chelsea, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Atlético Madrid. • More details soon …
The Guardian
23-05-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Ivan Toney and Trevoh Chalobah called into England squad by Thomas Tuchel
Ivan Toney and Trevoh Chalobah have been called up by Thomas Tuchel for England's matches next month, and Conor Gallagher has also been included. But there is no presence in the squad for players including Harry Maguire, Marc Guéhi, Dominic Solanke and Phil Foden. Toney is back for the first time since he left Brentford for the Saudi Premier League club Al-Ahli last summer. He has scored 29 goals in 43 games this season and won the Asian Champions League. Chalobah's call-up is his first with the senior squad after England appearances at a number of age-group levels. He and Jude Bellingham, who is due to have shoulder surgery later this summer, are among the players included before they are due to go to the Club World Cup. Foden has not fully recovered from ankle ligament damage sustained in early April and said this week in relation to an England call-up that it may be 'better to rest and get my ankle fully 100% back'. Guéhi was in Tuchel's previous squad and has not been included after lifting the FA Cup with Palace. England play a World Cup qualifier against Andorra in Barcelona on 7 June and play Senegal in a friendly in Nottingham three days later. The international window sits in an awkward spot for Tuchel, coming after the domestic season has ended and before the Club World Cup begins in the US on 15 June. Players with England caps are involved with five teams at the tournament: Chelsea, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Atlético Madrid. More details soon …
Irish Times
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Two Irish-based lawyers and their links to Putin's soft-power agency
An ad placed by a Dublin -based solicitor in a Russian -language newspaper based in Ireland in 2023 offered a free consultation to 'compatriots'. What Elizaveta Donnery's offer didn't mention was that the service would be funded by the Kremlin through Pravfond, an organisation established in 2012 with the stated goal of protecting the rights of Russians living abroad, primarily by offering assistance in legal matters. However, the EU and European intelligence agencies say Pravfond does much more than that in some countries. While Pravfond is used in Ireland solely for funding the provision of legal advice to Russian expats, it is used for different purposes in other countries. READ MORE In these countries, it is designed to act as a safety net for Russian intelligence assets – agents or spies – who get into legal trouble abroad, according to western security services. In some countries, it also provides cover stories for these spies. Now, a new investigative project , co-ordinated by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), an independent network of journalists, reveals for the first time the activity of Pravfond across dozens of countries, activity that has continued despite the imposition of EU sanctions in 2023. The journalists – including Irish Times crime and security correspondent Conor Gallagher – sifted through an archive of Pravfond's records with 55,000 emails and 20,000 documents to examine the extent of the organisation's operations. He found another Irish-based Russian solicitor, Olga Shajaku, mentioned in the documents. There is no documentary evidence showing that she ever received funds from Pravfond but in one email, sent in 2016, contained within internal Pravfond records, she provided the organisation with the bank details of her firm's client account. Unlike certain Pravfond-funded operations in other countries, there is nothing to suggest that Donnery or other Russians in Ireland supported by Pravfond engaged in intelligence gathering, influence operations or illegal activity. So what is Pravfond and what role has it played in funding propaganda operations designed to improve Russia's reputation abroad? And why would the Kremlin be interested in funding free legal aid to its diaspora in Ireland? The Russian Embassy in Dublin rejects the findings of the reporting project, calling them 'preposterous allegations' and noting that Pravfond provides 'legal assistance in cases of violations of the rights, freedoms, and legitimate interests of compatriots, in full accordance with universally recognised humanitarian principles and norms of international human rights law'. Gallagher tells In the News about the investigation and Pravfond's activities. Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon.
Irish Times
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Trump confronts South Africa's Ramaphosa with false claims of white genocide
President Donald Trump that there were "many concerns" about South Africa he wanted to discuss those during a meeting with president Cyril Ramaphosa. (Reuters) Two staff members of the Israeli Embassy were fatally shot outside the Jewish Museum in Washington DC. The suspect yelled 'free, free Palestine' when arrested. Dublin City Council has started to clear a large illegal landfill site in Darndale on the north of the city. Video: Bryan O'Brien The Israeli military said that it fired near a diplomatic delegation which had "deviated" from an approved route in the occupied West Bank. Video: Reuters Israeli attacks on Jabalia overnight have resulted in multiple fatalities and numerous injuries, mainly to children, according to reports. Caoimhe Ní Ghormáin, an expert in medieval Irish manuscripts, and John Gillis, who led the conservation, talk about the Book of Leinster. Video: Ronan McGreevy Gordon Manning speaks to members of the Dublin Senior Camogie squad ahead of this week's Camogie Association vote on the wearing of shorts. Video: Bryan O'Brien Conor Gallagher reports on Pravfond, set up by Putin, that intelligence agencies say does more than its stated goal of protecting the rights of Russians abroad 14-year-old Cara Darmody started a 50-hour disability rights protest outside Leinster House to highlight delays in children getting an assessment of needs. CCTV footage of a tractor being driven by 16 year old completely crushing a car in Graiguenamanagh.
