Latest news with #Irish-born
RTÉ News
a day ago
- Politics
- RTÉ News
High Court action over use of Irish airspace for weapons transport
A legal challenge to the use of Irish airspace for flights transporting weapons to Israel has been lodged at the High Court. Campaign group Uplift, along with news organisation The Ditch and Irish-born Palestinian surgeon, Dr Ahmed El Mokhallalati have lodged papers seeking permission to apply for judicial review. In the statement filed to ground the application, they say they are seeking declarations that the Minister for Transport has failed to investigate allegations that Irish airspace has been used for the transport of weapons for use by the Israeli Defence Force in its military operations in Gaza and that part of the relevant legislation is unconstitutional. They also claim the Irish Government is in breach of export legislation in the manner in which "dual use export licences" are being granted for goods which they say are used to manufacture weapons. Uplift says it published a report in May last year outlining its view that a surge in "dual use" trade between Ireland and Israel, since Israel commenced military action against Gaza may be linked to goods being used in the production of military equipment. They say there is a high risk that goods from Ireland are being exported to be used by two Israeli companies involved in manufacturing weapons and military equipment. The Government has said the level of dual use exports is not related to the ongoing military attack on Gaza. The Ditch has published research on tracking flights which appeared to be transporting weapons to Israel through Irish airspace. They say there's clear evidence that this is being done. They say in their statement of grounds, that it is legally impermissible to do this, that it's facilitating genocide being carried out by the IDF against the Palestinian people and that no exemptions were sought for the transportation of these weapons. They claim the Minister for Transport has failed in his duties under Air navigation and transport legislation to investigate the allegations about the use of Irish airspace. They also say the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment has been unlawfully granting dual use export licences. Surgeon Ahmed El Mokhallalati, who was born in Dublin, outlined his experiences in Gaza and described how he had contacted the Uplift organisation with a wish to do something about the ongoing death and destruction there. He said he believed Ireland had been facilitating the transfer of weapons and munitions of war to be used against the people in Gaza and he said these were the same weapons which destroyed his home, killed his friends and families and caused horrific and unspeakable harm to the people whose lives he worked hard to try to save. He said he was disappointed to see that the Government was continuing to ignore the abuse of its airspace in this manner and he said he felt compelled to take some action. He said he believed the Government was turning a blind eye to the use of Irish airspace to transport weapons and facilitating the most egregious crimes against humanity. Uplift say they are hoping to get a hearing at the High Court to seek leave to bring the judicial review proceedings before the end of this week.
Irish Independent
2 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Galway City Council housing amendment receives high praise
The proposal was made by Cllr Evelyn Francis Parsons to 'formally recognise and support the housing needs of Irish-born emigrants returning to Ireland,' the report says. The amendment was adopted in June and inputted into the scheme to be in conjunction with the Safe Home Ireland programme. This programme provides information and support for Irish emigrants at home and abroad - specifically older Irish emigrants who face suitable accommodation conflicts when returning to the country. 'The Council acknowledges the unique vulnerabilities and contributions of returning emigrants and aims to ensure equitable access to social housing supports.' The report states that criteria for eligibility for housing support are: Be Irish-born and aged 57 or over. Be living abroad in rented accommodation. Be capable of independent living. Be unable to afford housing in Ireland from personal income or saving. Giving recognition to Irish born emigrants for the scheme was a 'labour of commitment and conviction,' Cllr Francis Parsons said. 'For those of you who think this is not a big deal or a waste of time,' she added it's the 'equivalence of putting a light in the window' for Irish natives to return. This consideration is 'for real people who wish or need to return and reintegrate into their communities.' 'Our own diaspora must be seen and feel important.' Cllr Francis Parsons said she is 'proud that Galway City Council are leaders' in making this change. She adds that it is a 'small change on paper but it holds deep meaning to the returning Irish emigrants.' In conclusion of the report, it said: 'This amendment ensures that those who once left Ireland in search of opportunity are welcomed back with dignity and support.' Clarifying that the inclusion of this amendment does not imply preferential treatment to any applicants.
The 42
5 days ago
- Sport
- The 42
Ireland U21 international Eiran Cashin joins Birmingham City on loan from Brighton
EIRAN CASHIN, THE Ireland U21 defender, has joined Birmingham City on a season-long loan deal from Brighton. The 23-year-old joined Brighton from Derby County in January. Advertisement The left-footed central defender came through the academy at Derby and went on to make 144 appearances for the Rams before joining Brighton for a reported fee of £9 million (€10.3m). He made his Premier League debut against Aston Villa in April. Cashin has represented the Republic of Ireland at youth level, qualifying through an Irish-born grandmother, and made his U21 debut in June 2022. We are delighted to announce the signing of defender Eiran Cashin on a season-long loan from Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion. ✍️ — Birmingham City FC (@BCFC) July 25, 2025 Brighton head coach Fabian Hurzeler said: 'Eiran has benefitted from the period of time he's been with us and had a strong pre-season. 'This loan offers him the opportunity to play regularly, and continue his development. We'll be keeping a close watch on him as the season progresses.'
Irish Times
6 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
US congressman Brendan Boyle: ‘Kerry are the Yankees of Gaelic football, aren't they?'
'Dad! Brendan here . . . remember I was going to call you at 4.15pm,' the Congressman says into the speaker phone, but Francis Boyle picks up before his son has finished leaving his message. Philadelphia has been home since Francis Boyle left Donegal over half a century ago, yet the accent remains undiluted Glencolmcille, low spoken and clear as spring water. On Sunday, the Boyle men will watch the All-Ireland final together. Francis has been riveted to the All-Ireland championship season, to Donegal 's ascent. Brendan set his father up with a season GAA pass so he has been watching all the games live. In the decades of more limited transatlantic communication, following the local and All-Ireland championships was an act of both imagination and perseverance. 'Well, there was a couple of ways,' Francis tells us. 'The first way was the Democrat. You'd always read up on the games in the Democrat. The second way was to go up to New York and they'd always have the results of the games there. It was one of the things you always did at home. You followed the games. It was Michael O'Hehir when you were growing up. And you followed the local Glencolmcille team. That was the way.' Brendan Boyle nods through this, listening intently. There's a view of the Capitol from the window behind him. His office is spacious and comfortable, the walls decorated with photos of political highlights and, he later points out, a painting of the untamed coastline where his father's home stands in Donegal. READ MORE 'I remember going with you to a bar in northeast Philadelphia in 1992 to watch Donegal win its first All-Ireland. And then sometimes the Irish Centre would show the games as well. As a sports nut as a kid, and to a certain extent still today, I would always pay attention. Still every Sunday I'll get a text from him saying, oh Donegal won today. And now, so-and-so is on. And I'll get the score from him. As kids, the radio was always on in the house on a Sunday. Or Dad would be on the phone with one of his siblings to get the scores. I think it is one of those things that maintained the link across the Atlantic.' The Boyle story is at once the archetypal Irish emigration story, but also unique. Francis left school at 16 and then left Glen because there was little choice. Now, his son is the only member of Congress with an Irish-born parent. Philadelphia was an obvious city: his older sisters had made lives there and were in a position to sponsor him. 'My aunt and uncle were there 30 or 40 years before that. They were here during the Depression. When I came out here first there were an awful lot of people from Glencolmcille. Older people that I would meet at certain things. It was almost like everybody in the houses at home had somebody here. I remember going to the village one time home on holidays. And I met up with five or six people that had been over here and then went back and retired. 'And then I met a couple more who had brothers and sisters in Philadelphia. So even at home, people would talk about Philadelphia. And then here, I would meet people from home and we would talk about Glen. Wakes and weddings, you always ran into people from home.' He met his wife, Eileen Boyle, the daughter of Sligo emigrants, in Philadelphia. She worked as a school crossing guard in the city. They'd been married for 36 years when Eileen died, aged just 61, in 2013. But she lived to see both of her sons, Brendan and Kevin, elected to the Pennsylvania state house, the first brothers to achieve that since William Penn presided over the first session in 1682. Francis worked as a warehouse worker for decades. When that closed in 2000, he worked as a janitor for the Philly city subway company. His hearing isn't the greatest on the phone; 50 years of noisy machinery and trains take their toll. Brendan was the first in the house to go to college, graduating from Notre Dame. He caused a national ripple of true Democratic sensation in 2015 by beating Marjorie Margolies, the mother-in-law of Chelsea Clinton, to win a congressional seat on Capitol Hill. Congressman Brendan Boyle speaks at a rally for student loan forgiveness in Washington. Photograph:At 48, he remains one of the more youthful faces of the party. He is also one of the more prominent, clear-voiced Democratic consciences of the current administration and Donald Trump, whose impact, he says, has thrust American politics into 'an alternate reality' since he was elected for a first term as president in 2016. We talk for a while about the Irish-American experience. In summer times, the Boyles often headed to the Jersey shore. Brendan remembers his father chatting to the summer staff serving ice creams or behind cash registers: they were usually Irish. 'And he would find out where they were from, who he might know from their town. And by the early 1990s, that suddenly changed. All of a sudden, it was eastern European kids. And they haven't been Irish since. Philly is still a city that is very proud of its Irish roots. But there is no question that basically in a generation or two, the numbers coming out is a trickle of what it used to be. 'That's partly because Ireland has become so successful. But for those who still would like to come to America from Ireland, we have to make it easier. It has been far too difficult. We have been close to passing measures a number of times.' Francis remembers that Jim McGuinness was out in Philly years ago for a football summer, in the 1990s. And he returned as Donegal manager in the autumn of 2012. Before they hang up, the Boyles agree to make a plan for Sunday. It's a 10.30am throw-in on the east coast of America. They'll be among tens of thousands watching. Both are hopeful, nervous. ' Kerry are sort of like the Yankees of Gaelic football, aren't they?' the Congressman says with a laugh. 'That tradition of theirs. Although I will say I have had the most blessed sports year of my life. It began with Notre Dame in January. Then the Eagles in the Super Bowl.' 'So,' he says, knocking on the desk, 'hopefully Donegal can keep that going,' before rising from his chair, already late for a late afternoon meeting.
Times
6 days ago
- Times
DNA experts visit west Cork to solve Toscan du Plantier cold case
A team of forensic experts from the US has travelled to Ireland to examine evidence from the murder of the French film-maker Sophie Toscan du Plantier with groundbreaking new DNA testing methods. The group, headed up by Jared Bradley, chief executive of M-Vac Systems, flew from company headquarters in Sandy, Utah to Dublin this month to test samples preserved from the crime scene in west Cork. It is understood the tests focused on a heavily bloodstained flat rock and concrete block believed to have been used to batter the mother of one to death near the entrance to her isolated holiday home outside Schull before her body was found on the morning of December 23, 1996. Samples from a blood-smeared metal gate, briar bushes and a barbed wire fence near where the body was found were also analysed, as were the night clothes that the victim wore on the night she died. The testing was carried out by Bradley's team alongside Forensic Science Ireland personnel, utilising one of the most effective instruments in modern forensic technology. The M-Vac is a wet-vacuum DNA collection system which involves spraying a solution on a surface while simultaneously vacuuming it off. An FBI study found it was capable of collecting multiple times the yield of DNA compared with typical swabbing techniques. It also works on surfaces that present difficult challenges for collection. On his way to Dublin, Bradley expressed hopes that his work could lead to a breakthrough in the case. 'Praying for a fantastic outcome from this trip. If what I believe will happen actually does, it will be massive for us in a host of ways. Please pray for us,' he said. Detective Superintendent Desmond McTiernan, head of the serious crime review team, recently discussed the international scope of the investigation. • Sophie Toscan du Plantier: DNA opens door to solving murder 'We are trying to develop new leads. I would say that it is going very well and we are being extremely comprehensive,' he said. 'From the forensic perspective we are trying to develop it more. There are advancements there on a worldwide scale. We have gone abroad. We have close links with the FBI, and that is working quite well.' Claire Glynn, an Irish-born professor of forensic science at the University of New Haven in Connecticut, voiced her support for the technology and its use in the Toscan du Plantier murder probe. 'I always recommend the M-Vac machine because it is such a power tool to recover trace amounts of DNA from very difficult surfaces such as bricks and old pieces of leather. It is able to get great results,' she said. 'The efficacy of the instrument for this case is proved by comparison to the murder in December 1995 of 17-year-old Krystal Beslanowitch in Utah. 'Based on the articles I have read and seen and the assumption that swabbing [was tried] on the flat rock and the concrete block used to murder Sophie, it is difficult to say any other collection method would be appropriate,' Glynn added. 'I say that based on the murder of Krystal in Utah in 1995, where granite rocks were swabbed multiple times between 1996 and 2013 with no interpretable results, but when the M-Vac was brought in the investigators were able to collect 42 times the previous DNA material and provide a profile of the killer leading to conviction. The similarities between that case and Sophie's is uncanny.' No one has ever been charged or convicted over the murder of Toscan du Plantier, one of Ireland's most notorious unsolved crimes. Ian Bailey, an English journalist, was the self-confessed prime suspect in the case but consistently denied any involvement in the murder. He was arrested twice for questioning but never charged, because of insufficient evidence. • Jules Thomas: My leukaemia was caused by Sophie Toscan du Plantier stress The High Court in Dublin denied French efforts to extradite Bailey, but a French court convicted him in absentia in 2019, sentencing him to 25 years in prison. Bailey died in January last year at the age of 66. His ashes were scattered off the coast of west Cork, where he had lived, following a memorial service last month. The case remains a source of ongoing public interest, spawning podcasts, documentaries and films exploring the circumstances around the killing. The garda's serious crime review team, with bases in Cork and Dublin, is understood to have put much of its investigative efforts into seeking advances in forensic science, but it has also re-examined the original investigation and subsequent reviews, leading to it checking more than 1,600 witness statements over the last three years. A team of seven detectives operating out of Bantry garda station has interviewed more than 300 witnesses in Ireland, Europe, the US and Australia as part of the comprehensive probe.
