Latest news with #IrishGovernment
BBC News
14 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
Casement Park: Government in 'solution-finding mode', O'Dowd says
The UK government is in "solution-finding mode" when it comes to resolving funding for the redevelopment of Casement Park, Stormont's finance minister has O'Dowd was speaking after a meeting in London with Treasury officials ahead of next week's Spending GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) ground has been lying derelict for more than a have been ongoing to determine if the government will make a contribution to the west Belfast stadium. A Spending Review, expected on Wednesday 11 June, will see the government lay out its financial plans for day-to-day spending for the next three has largely been viewed as the juncture when it confirms whether or not it will make a financial contribution to help deliver the stalled plans to redevelop the Gaelic games is estimated that it would cost at least £260m to build a new stadium, but only around £120m is currently Communities Minister Gordon Lyons has promised £62.5m from the Stormont executive, the GAA say it will pay £15m while the Irish government has pledged around £43m.
BreakingNews.ie
21 hours ago
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Boylan accuses Government of 'cop out' on Occupied Territories and Israeli bonds bills
Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan has accused the Government of a "cop out" on the Occupied Territories Bill and her party's Israeli bonds bill. TDs voted 87-75 against a motion brought by Sinn Féin to force the Irish Central Bank to end its role in facilitating the 'Israeli war bonds' in the EU on Wednesday. Advertisement While the Government is proceeding with the Occupied Territories Bill, some opposition politicians have criticised the fact that services will be excluded from it. In an interview with Ms Boylan said: "People are dying, almost 100 people are dying every single day, and children are starving to death and the Irish government has leverage which it is refusing to use. "I do appreciate the fact that Ireland recognised the state of Palestine and that was a very important step. It was good that they wrote and asked for a review of the EU Israel Association Agreement, but again that was February. So over a year ago, and now we're only seeing action on that, and it's not even being suspended. It's pending the review. We need to stop the killing. We need to stop the slaughter. "We need to stop the killing. We need to stop the slaughter. And that means using whatever leverage each member State has. You're not going to get a consensus at an EU level. That's very, very clear after 19 months. It's not going to happen. So take the unilateral measures. You're covered under international law to do that. And and that's where Israel will sit up and listen." Advertisement Sinn Féin's bill would have given the Finance Minister the power to stop the Irish Central Bank from facilitating the sale of Israeli government bonds across the EU. Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe described it as "unworkable". Ms Boylan accused the Government of hiding behind the EU, and compared it to the State going against the EU in the Applex tax case. 'Cynical' "I also find it really cynical of the government to hide behind that as an excuse because we're regularly taken to court by the EU for not being compliant and there's no issue. We were taken to court over the Apple tax, we vigorously defended that. Advertisement "If the genocide happening was important enough for the Irish Government, I think the general public are saying 'well then take on the EU and wait and see if the EU will take this to court,' I don't believe they would because I don't believe the EU has a leg to stand on legally." The Occupied Territories Bill will ban imports originating from the Palestinian Territories that are illegaly occupied by Israel under international law, according to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). However, the bill the Government are considering differs from the initial bill put forward by Senator Frances Black, as it will not ban trade in services with the Occupied Territories. "The ICJ Occupied Territories ruling has decided those territories are occupied illegally. Advertisement "On the ICJ ruling, every state should take measures to prevent the genocide from happening. That means not providing financial assistance in any way, including economic trade. So I would say to them put it up to the EU, use it as an excuse to take them on and go 'OK, well, we're not going to be the ones on the wrong side of history'. "I think the the watering down of the Occupied Territories Bill is to make sure that it is more or less a symbolic bill which is deeply disappointing. Seventy per cent of trade is in services. "The ICJ ruling was clear. It's economic trade, they made no distinction between trade and goods and trade and services so it is a cop out on the part of the Government. Not only have they delayed and stalled this bill, they've now made sure it's as ineffective as they possibly can. It has been described as symbolic." In a recent speech in the European Parliament, Ms Boylan made an apology to the people of Gaza for EU "inaction". Advertisement It went viral, and Ms Boylan said she was surprised by the huge response to her words. Lynn Boylan's recent 'apology' speech to Gaza went viral. "I've had messages from across the world and I've never had that on the back of speeches. But I don't mean just messages on social media, people actually taking the time to send you an e-mail or people who know me saying they passed it on to work colleagues. "The thing is that they wanted somebody to say that they're sorry because they're marching, they're doing everything and none of it seems to be having any impact. I think it's sort of tapped into the emotions that people are feeling, that feeling of comple helplessness and despair at what's happening. "It's not having the impact on our politicians. That is why I felt that frustration that I just may want to make an apology because the role I have as chair of of the European Parliament Delegation to Palestine, I'm meeting with Palestinian solidarity groups, I'm meeting with groups that are in Gaza on the ground and I've literally nothing positive to say to them anymore because everything we have tried has just been stonewalled. I was just overwhelmed by the reaction to it, to be honest. "It's just soul destroying, because what is the red line anymore? "The control or the influence that Israel has over the Western world, that they're just allowing international law to be shredded in front of our eyes and war crimes to be committed and to do nothing. You have to question the long-term impacts of this, both for the European Union, for democracy, for people, humanity, it is all being called into question because of what we're seeing."
Irish Post
2 days ago
- Business
- Irish Post
Customer engagement leader CCI Global announces major Galway expansion
CUSTOMER engagement leader CCI Global has this week announced a major expansion of its Galway site, moving from a three-desk start-up space into a 30-person office unit. The move comes just six months after the leading Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company opened its first European base at Platform94 in Galway. The new office space will provide the capacity needed to support CCI's ambitious growth plans in the region, with room to scale their team steadily over the coming months. "Establishing our European base at Platform94 is a strategic move for CCI as we continue to grow our global delivery capability," said Mervyn Pretorius, Group CTO and Ireland Lead. "The team here is already contributing to key areas of our technology and client support operations, and this expansion positions us to deliver even more value to our partners worldwide." Global cornerstone CCI Global is headquartered in the UAE and is one of the top providers of customer management services across key African markets. These include Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Egypt and South Africa, with Botswana launching soon. With over 15,000 employees across 15 sites on the continent and boasting more than 80 international clients, the company's expansion into Galway marks a strategic step in building distributed global tech hubs. Galway's vibrant talent pool, innovation-driven culture and strong connectivity make it an ideal European base to complement CCI's growing African operations. The expansion positions the Galway site as a cornerstone of CCI's global growth strategy. 'Tech talent' Heralding the Galway expansion, Group CEO Martin Roe highlighted Ireland's reputation as a prestigious tech hub. "This strategic move has been thoughtfully planned and is a key step in our global growth," he said. "We chose Ireland as the home of our IT Hub because of its strong reputation for tech talent and the incredible support from the government and local ecosystem. "We're excited to be expanding into a larger space in Galway, strengthening our IT capabilities, and creating more high-quality jobs here in Ireland." Meanwhile, Denis Curran, Head of Emerging Business at IDA Ireland, said the move reflected the Irish Government's commitment to supporting inward investment. "CCI Global's expansion in Galway is a strong endorsement of Ireland's position as a strategic location for ambitious, growth-focused companies," he said. "Our pro-business environment, combined with access to skilled talent and a supportive innovation ecosystem, continues to attract firms from across the globe." See More: CCI Global, Galway, IDA Ireland, Platform94
Belfast Telegraph
3 days ago
- Politics
- Belfast Telegraph
Government lodges protest letter over Israeli gunfire near peacekeepers
The incident came during a joint Irish-United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) and Lebanese armed forces patrol close to the Blue Line on Thursday. None of the Irish personnel – who had recently been deployed with Unifil as part of the 126th Infantry Battalion – were injured in the incident. Oglaigh na hEireann said on Thursday that all personnel were reported to be safe and well, and continued to monitor the situation in southern Lebanon. On the direction of the Irish Minister for Defence, Simon Harris, a formal 'demarche' has been served on the Israeli government through the UN. It says Ireland considers the incident in the village of Yaroun as 'completely unacceptable in terms of the safety of peacekeepers and the execution of their mandated duties'. 'These concerns are held at the highest levels' of the Irish Government and the Defence Forces, it adds. Tanaiste Mr Harris was briefed on the incident by the new Chief of Staff Brigadier General Rossa Mulcahy. Just before midday on Thursday, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) fired shots into an area where a joint Irish-Lebanese unit was conducting peacekeeping duties. Nobody was injured. Mr Harris said: 'It's clear to me that the actions of the IDF were reckless, intimidatory, totally unacceptable and a clear breach of the international rules surrounding peacekeeping. 'I want to pay tribute to our personnel deployed with Unifil, who are operating in an increasingly volatile and tense environment.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Israel's Irish foes have just come up with their most shameless plan yet
Every country in the West has its fair share of politicians who love nothing better than to indulge in noisy grandstanding about Israel. For some reason, though, Ireland's quota seems to be particularly fervent. Last October, you may recall, local councillors in Cork responded to events in the Middle East by officially banning Benjamin Netanyahu from visiting their city. Admittedly, it is not known whether the Israeli prime minister actually had any intention of visiting it. If he'd been planning to fly in as part of a major diplomatic mission to strengthen economic ties between Israel and Cork, or simply to treat his wife to a romantic trip to Cork Butter Museum and the Old Cork Waterworks Experience, he certainly never said so on the record. But, either way, the disappointment doesn't appear to have made him rethink his strategy on Gaza. Still, Cork's councillors will have been heartened to see that the Irish government is keeping up the fight. Micheál Martin, the Taoiseach, says that Israel is guilty of genocide. To his great frustration, however, the leaders of few other European nations seem to agree with him. In order to persuade them, therefore, he's come up with an inspired plan. In the Irish parliament this week, he said: 'We're hoping that we will broaden the criteria by which genocide is judged by the Geneva Convention.' In other words: since other leaders don't agree that Israel is guilty of genocide, we'll simply change the definition of 'genocide', until they do. At present, the word is generally understood to mean a deliberate attempt to eradicate a race of people. What the new definition would be, I don't know. 'Deliberate attempt to eradicate a proscribed terrorist organisation'? 'Deliberate attempt to force the release of the 58 hostages the terrorist organisation is still holding captive, over 19 months after it abducted them'? 'Refusal to respond to the single biggest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust by merely lighting some candles and singing Don't Look Back in Anger'? At any rate, I just hope this doesn't give our own Government any ideas. Otherwise some members of it might think: 'Hang on. If we broaden the word 'genocide' to mean 'posting offensive opinions on social media', we can keep Lucy Connolly banged up for life.' A prisoner has attacked a prison officer using boiling water. That's the second time this has happened in a month. And so, once again, the public is left asking itself the following question. Who on earth decided that prisoners should be allowed to have kettles? Someone must have. Indeed, there must have been a high-level meeting, at which some very important people discussed the matter, and concluded that no possible risk could arise from permitting dangerous criminals to access a device that can be used to cause third-degree burns. Whoever these people are, they presumably haven't read Decline and Fall. Evelyn Waugh's sublimely horrible debut novel, published in 1928, contains a chapter about an ultra-progressive prison governor. After one inmate, a carpenter by trade, verbally abuses the chief warder, the governor concludes that the inmate is suffering from a 'frustrated creative urge'. So he orders that the inmate be provided with a set of carpentry tools. Upon receipt of these thoughtful gifts, the inmate immediately uses them to saw off the prison chaplain's head. This week's news, therefore, only serves to enhance Evelyn Waugh's stature as a satirist. Not only did he satirise the 1920s. He managed to satirise the 2020s, too. 'Hell is other people,' wrote the French philosopher, playwright and all-round ray of sunshine Jean-Paul Sartre. It seems, however, that his fellow countrymen now wish to make a slight amendment to his best-known line. Hell isn't other people. Hell is other people's children. Hence the rapid rise, all over France, of child-free restaurants and hotels. More and more French people have had it up to here with the screeching of today's delinquent brats. So they wish to escape it. And plenty of businesses are happy to oblige. All of a sudden, though, these blissful idylls are under threat – not from a child, but from a government minister. Sarah El Haïry, France's 'high commissioner for childhood', is furious about this adults-only trend – because, she thunders, it's nothing less than 'violence against children'. Her critics will say this is nonsense. Indeed, they may even say she's got it the wrong way round. Keeping restaurants and hotels free of screaming urchins actually prevents violence against children. None the less, I can't help feeling that she has a point. It does seem unfair to single out children. Mainly because nowadays, the people who create the most infuriating noise in public are invariably adults. Especially on public transport, where so many of them insist on merrily inflicting their favourite music on everyone in earshot. It's never good music, either. The people with the worst manners always have the worst taste, as well. Anyway, no matter what Madame El Haïry says, the long-suffering people of France needn't worry. Their birth rate is now so low, there soon won't be any children left to annoy them. 'Way of the World' is a twice-weekly satirical look at the headlines while aiming to mock the absurdities of the modern world. It is published at 6am every Tuesday and Saturday Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
