Latest news with #FiannaFáil
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Court ruling would give newly arrived asylum seekers more rights than homeless people, Minister claims
Asylum seekers will soon be entitled to damages from the State for failing to provide them with accommodation, while homeless people will have no such right, Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan has said. Such a situation will be the result of an expected decision by the European Court of Justice (ECJ), he warned. The court appears likely to rule that asylum seekers have a right to damages if the State fails to provide accommodation on their arrival, as has happened in thousands of instances recently. Such a decision would be 'very hard to justify' to Irish citizens and other member states, the Minister said. READ MORE Mr O'Callaghan was critical of various aspects of the existing asylum system, which he said has emerged over the years in a 'haphazard' and 'organic' fashion. He was speaking at the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA) on the topic of balancing human rights in the area of justice and migration . The Fianna Fáil TD was particularly critical of a case launched at the ECJ this year on behalf of two asylum seekers who had been left sleeping rough as the State was unable to provide them with beds. The State has strongly contested the case. It argued a huge surge in asylum applications in the context of an unprecedented housing and accommodation crisis constituted a force majeure where the accommodation needs of all asylum seekers could not be met. Last year, about 3,400 male asylum seekers were left without beds after arriving in Ireland, a number that now stands at about 1,400. In April, a legal adviser to the ECJ published an opinion that rejected the State's argument. The court tends to follow the opinions of its legal advisers in its judgments, meaning it is likely to find against the State and rule that asylum seekers left without accommodation are entitled to damages. Such a decision would mean 'people in Ireland who are entitled to be on social housing lists or homeless lists' would not be entitled to damages, while asylum seekers who had just arrived would be entitled to damages if they are left sleeping rough. 'That will be a very consequential decision that will be very hard to justify, not just to citizens of Ireland but of all member states.' He said the State 'should try to ensure that in trying to vindicate certain rights we do not marginalise or demote other equally legitimate rights.' The right to apply for asylum 'does not and cannot equate to a right to asylum', he said. Asylum laws are there to 'protect the persecuted'. It is legitimate for people to want to seek a better life for their families but that is not the purpose of asylum, he said. Mr O'Callaghan also revealed plans to overhaul the laws around the wiretapping and digital surveillance. The existing laws date to 1993 and do not account for advances in technology, such as encrypted communications, emails and social media channels. Garda surveillance powers are needed to prevent terrorism and large-scale loss of life, he said. The Minister said the current law does not allow for State agencies to carry out lawful interceptions of popular encrypted digital-based messaging and voice calling services. This is a matter of 'significant concern'. He also criticised the slow progress at EU level in bringing in a child sexual abuse regulation that would obligate telecommunications companies to automatically scan for the presence of abuse material on their networks. 'Many companies are simply not doing enough to address the proliferation of this material on their platforms.' Companies can scan for malware and viruses so they should also be able to scan for abusive material, he said Such regulations would no doubt impinge on the right to privacy, the Minister said. 'But those who argue this should be the primary consideration are not recognising that this material depicts the abuse and rape of children.'
RTÉ News
2 hours ago
- Politics
- RTÉ News
US Ambassador to Israel official calls on Ireland to 'sober up' over OTB
The US Ambassador to Israel has criticised the Occupied Territories Bill, calling on Ireland to "sober up". The bill would prohibit trade between Ireland and Israel's illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. It was scrutinised yesterday by the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and was introduced by Independent Senator Frances Black. Mike Huckabee described the bill as "so stupid" and questioned if it could be attributed to an act of "diplomatic intoxication". "Did the Irish fall into a vat of Guinness," he said in a post on social media platform X. Mr Huckabee said the bill, known as the Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories Bill, "will harm Arabs as much as Israelis". He urged Ireland to "call the Israel Foreign Ministry and say you're sorry!" His comments come after the bill was scruntinised at the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs yesterday during which former minister for justice Alan Shatter likened it to legislation passed in Germany in the 1930s. , and replicated the type of legislation initiated by the Nazis. However, Committee chair John Lahart of Fianna Fáil said that a claim made during the proceedings that the bill is anti-Semitic was "hugely hurtful and slanderous". Labour TD Duncan Smith said there was a failure to recognise that the Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories are illegal. "That's a fundamental point of divergence," he said, adding Israel was "not the only example of Ireland deploying such a bill". In 2014, he said, an "identical bill was passed in Irish law prohibiting trade in goods and services with Russian-occupied Ukraine".
Irish Times
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
CMAT takes a pop at former taoiseach Bertie Ahern in new Euro-Country single
Irish pop star CMAT has teased the next single on her forthcoming album Euro-Country, which includes a cut at former taoiseach Bertie Ahern over his time in government. The upcoming album, expected to be CMAT's most political record to date, comes after the singer received rave reviews for her standout performance on Glastonbury's Pyramid Stage. In social posts on Tuesday, CMAT shared a short clip of the single, which shares the same name as the album, along with a snippet of the lyrics: 'All the big boys, 'All the Berties, 'All the envelopes, yeah they hurt me 'I was 12 when the das started killing themselves all around me...' The song about the financial crisis in 2008 references the hardships people faced in the area where CMAT grew up. READ MORE 'I was about 12 and it all happened around me, it didn't really happen to my family directly,' CMAT said in a recent interview . 'My dad had a job in computers, we didn't really have any money, we weren't affluent, but we were fine. Everybody else on the estate we lived in worked in construction, or in shops, and they all lost their jobs. Everybody became unemployed. 'Then, in the village I grew up in, there was a year or 18 months where loads of the people I went to school with, their dads started killing themselves because they'd lost everything in the crash.' The reference to Ahern in the song is not the first time CMAT has made her feelings known about the former Fianna Fáil politician who served as taoiseach between 1997-2008. In an interview with Hot Press in 2023 , she said if Ahern ran for the presidency she would 'make it my personal f**king mission to make sure that he doesn't win'. Ahern has yet to confirm if he will be running in the presidential election this year, but his name has been included among those speculated to join the race. - Additional reporting from the Guardian
Irish Examiner
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Cork County Council is only local authority without language policy for Gaeltacht housing
Calls have been made to amend the County Development Plan to ensure Irish speakers are allocated a guaranteed percentage of new council and private houses that are built in the region's Gaeltacht areas. Cork County Council is currently the only local authority in the country which to date has not adopted such a policy in its planning conditions, despite the fact that an act was passed 25 years ago which allows councils with Gaeltacht areas to do this. The issue was raised at a meeting in County Hall by Fianna Fáil councillor Gobnait Moynihan, a fluent Irish speaker who lives in the Mhuscraí Gaeltacht. That area encompasses a number of small villages in the Mid-Cork region such as Cùil Aodha, Baile Mhuirne, Cill na Martra, Réidh na nDoirì and Béal Àtha nGhaothaidh. The other Gaeltacht area in the county is Oileàn Cléire off the West Cork coast. Ms Moynihan said the council is planning to build some houses in Baile Mhuirne and it should reserve a percentage of these for those who speak Irish on a daily basis. Ms Moynihan said the Planning and Development Act 2000 gave councils the green light to place language conditions on housing developments in Gaeltacht areas. 'All other councils with a Gaeltacht area are tackling this issue, except for Cork County Council. Take Donegal County Council, for example, where any housing development must have a minimum of 85% of the units allocated to Irish speakers,' she said. A Gaeltacht only exists because a percentage of people in the particular area speak Irish daily. The Gaeltacht status could be lost quickly if the level of daily Irish language speakers falls. "We know from the last census that there was a 2.4% drop of daily Irish speakers in the (Mhuscraí Gaeltacht) location already. For this reason the language conditions on such a housing development is paramount in preserving the Gaeltacht and for the growth of the language. At least other councils are tackling the issue, but to date Cork County Council is not,' Ms Moynihan said. Fianna Fáil councillor Gearóid Murphy said it was unfortunate that Cork County Council appeared to be the only local authority which hadn't adopted the terms of the 2000 Act, while fluent Irish speaker Fianna Fáil councillor Gillian Coughlan also voiced her support. Mid-Cork based Fine Gael councillor Michael Creed also said there has to be a commitment from the council to provide houses for Irish speakers in Gaeltacht areas. Council chief executive Moira Murrell said that a review is to take place shortly of the current County Development Plan and officials will give consideration to what the councillors had asked for when this happens.
Extra.ie
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Extra.ie
Packie can put 'em under pressure if he enters Áras race
Fianna Fáil is 'sounding out' soccer legend Packie Bonner as a potential Presidential candidate, has learned. A well-placed source said the party is opposed to running any veteran politicos in the race for the Áras later this year. They said Fianna Fáil has 'opened lines of communications' with Bonner, but no formal approaches have been made. The figure also said the party 'has had conversations' with fellow Ireland soccer legend Niall Quinn. A native of Co. Donegal, Bonner is best known for his save of a penalty by Daniel Timofte at Italia '90, which saw Ireland beat Romania to reach the World Cup quarter-finals. Packie Bonner. Pic: INPHO/Billy Stickland The 65-year-old was a victim of the FAI's botched financing of the Lansdowne Road rebuild, losing his job as technical director as part of a wave of redundancies in 2010. He rejoined the soccer body in 2021 and serves as an independent director. Bonner has been eyed by Fianna Fáil for elections in the past, including a 2010 by-election in Donegal and the 2009 European elections. In a book published in 2010 entitled Donegal's Sporting Heroes, Bonner said: 'If I went into politics, I wouldn't want to get caught up in the system. 'I'd have to have something to achieve along with a vision and a method. If I could satisfy myself that that could be done, then I'd look at the possibility in the future.' Packie Bonner. Pic: Ben McShane/Sportsfile Party sources also noted former Manchester City striker Quinn's oration at the 1916 Relatives Association commemoration earlier this year. The GAA and soccer legend earned an MA in history from Dublin City University in 2022, having written his master's thesis on the republican and former Fianna Fáil minister Oscar Traynor. Speaking about potential Fianna Fáil candidates for the Presidency, one TD said: 'It won't be a Bertie Ahern or a Peter Power or a Mary Hanafin. Forget about that. It will be someone completely outside – or it will be Micheál [Martin]. Packie and Niall are two names being discussed.' Another figure said that 'nobody should rule out' Fianna Fáil leader Mr Martin running. It comes as Fine Gael confirmed Mairead McGuinness as its candidate for the autumn's election, and Independent TD Catherine Connolly sought support from Labour for her bid. Packie Bonner. Pic: Tyler Miller/Sportsfile Ms McGuinness's formal ratification as Fine Gael's candidate is to take place at an event in September. Party leader Simon Harris said yesterday that the former EU commissioner 'possesses all the attributes to bring our nation together'. Ms McGuinness is the first official nominee in the race to replace Michael D Higgins. Ms Connolly, who is expected to officially enter the race tomorrow, has received the backing of the Social Democrats and People Before Profit and is expected to garner the support of several independents. Labour said it would 'seriously' consider supporting Ms Connolly, who is a former party member, and met with the Independent TD yesterday. It is understood that party leader Ivana Bacik is in favour of supporting her. 'We [Labour] are the ones who were leading on running a joint, left-leaning candidate,' one TD said prior to the meeting. 'Of course, we are going to consult with our membership, but Ms Connolly has many good qualities that we can get behind.' Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has also refused to rule herself out of the running for the Presidency. Prospective candidates need the support of 20 Oireachtas members to get on the ballot paper.
