Latest news with #Liberties
Irish Times
12-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Tírlan ponders plan for its Glanbia stake
Days after a testy AGM, the board of dairy co-op Tírlan has been urged to seek expert advice on how it should dispose of its stake in Glanbia plc. As Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports, Tírlan has lost up to €500 million on the value of its holding amid a slump in Glanbia's share price and is in the process of spinning out 15 million Glanbia shares to members but at a greatly reduced value, an issue that has created tensions within the group. Digital Hub, the development agency in Dublin's Liberties area that the government scheduled for closure in 2021 with its properties to be redeveloped for housing, will remain open until at least the end of 2027 amid an uptick in leasing activity, its chief executive has said. Ian Curran reports. Consumer spending in April was aided by increased cinema outings driven by the launch of the popular Minecraft Movie 'and likely helped by the wet weather over the school break', according to AIB's latest spending tracker. Eoin has the story. Eoin also reports that uncertainty around future regulations is frustrating investment in Ireland's undersupplied housing sector, according to investment firm Elkstone. READ MORE Why do many CEOs seem to be unable to write clearly or admit mistakes? Pilita Clark looks at what captains of industry can learn from the retiring Warren Buffett's letters to investors. In Opinion, Glenn Gaughran of Independent Trustee Company, a provider of self-administered pensions, outlines how a change to rules on tax relief on employer contributions to PRSAs are unfair on business owners. Stay up to date with all our business news: sign up to our Business Today daily email news digest. If you'd like to read more about the issues that affect your finances try signing up to On the Money , the weekly newsletter from our personal finance team, which will be issued every Friday to Irish Times subscribers.
Irish Times
12-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
‘Thriving' Digital Hub to remain open until ‘at least 2027′
Digital Hub , the development agency in Dublin's Liberties area that the government scheduled for closure in 2021 with its properties to be redeveloped for housing, will remain open until at least the end of 2027 amid an uptick in leasing activity, its chief executive has said. The centre, which offers flexible office arrangements for budding technology and digital companies at its campus off Thomas Street in Dublin 8 , is nearing full capacity this year after adding 11 new companies in 2024. The Digital Hub currently hosts some 58 companies, which are now leasing more than 4,341sq m (46,735sq ft) of office space from the agency, 91 per cent of the total available space on site. [ Disappointment and regret as Digital Hub in Dublin's Liberties to be dissolved Opens in new window ] One other company has joined since January, the agency said in a statement, and more are expected to move into the hub in the second quarter of the year. READ MORE Fiach Mac Conghail, chief executive of the Digital Hub Development Agency (DHDA) said the Department of Communications had confirmed the campus would remain open until at least the end of 2027. 'I am pleased to say the Digital Hub is thriving and even more so given it has now been confirmed that we will remain in operation until at least the end of 2027, he said. [ Digital Hub signs 29 new leases despite looming closure date Opens in new window ] 'We play an important role in fostering creative digital and creative enterprises and in supporting the local Dublin 8 community, especially through the delivery of a wide range of initiatives and education programmes as well as cultural events and activities.' It comes after the Government announced plans to gradually wind down the DHDA in 2021 on foot of recommendations contained in a Grant Thornton-led review of the organisation. After expressing its disappointment with the decision, the Digital Hub subsequently reached an agreement with the department to allow it to continue offering leases until 2025. The wind-down would also facilitate the transfer of the DHDA's property assets, comprising some 3.7 hectares across two sites on either side of Thomas Street, to the Land Development Agency (LDA) to be repurposed as social housing. In 2023, the LDA unveiled Pear Tree Crossing, a €180 million master plan to build more than 500 homes on the site. However, questions remain about how many of the buildings, some of which are protected structures, can be redeveloped and how long the wind-down would take. The LDA submitted a planning application for 'enabling works' related to the project on a small portion of the lands last December, which Dublin City Council sent back to the State body for additional information. Mr Mac Conghail, a member of The Irish Times Trust, said the Digital Hub continues to work closely with the LDA on the transfer of the lands and is also liaising with Dublin City Council on the regeneration of parts of Dublin 8.
Russia Today
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Media freedom deteriorating in EU
Media freedom is deteriorating in a number of EU countries, according to a recent report by the Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties). The group has claimed that pluralism and freedom of speech are 'under attack' as media companies become increasingly controlled by governments and wealthy owners. In the Media Freedom 2025 report, the authors have outlined a range of pressures facing journalists and independent outlets, including legal and physical threats, declining ownership transparency, and political interference in public broadcasting. The group has warned that these factors have had a significant impact on the work of the media, limiting the diversity of opinions and the independence of publications, reducing public trust in content. Liberties has identified Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Croatia, France, Hungary, Slovakia and Spain as among the EU member states where the situation is most alarming. According to the report, public broadcasters in several of these countries are routinely manipulated by political interests, and legal protections for media workers remain weak or poorly enforced. The group also recorded at least 156 physical or verbal attacks on journalists in 2024, including cases of police intimidation and criminal defamation charges. In some states, the report notes, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) are still being used to silence critical reporting, despite the EU's recent efforts to curb their abuse. Liberties also noted that Russian and Belarusian journalists working in the bloc have repeatedly faced threats and harassment and become targets of spyware, raising concerns over their safety and what effect it could be having on their work. Earlier this month, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported that the EU had denied its journalists accreditation for 2025, citing sanctions regulations. The outlet has appealed the decision, referencing the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and earlier EU statements that had assured journalistic activity would not be restricted. The rejection follows a broader crackdown on Russian media in the EU since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. The European Council has banned Russian outlets such as RT, Sputnik and RIA across the bloc. In its 16th sanctions package adopted this February, the bloc also added eight more Russian news outlets to the blacklist, including and the Zvezda TV channel. Russian officials have repeatedly condemned the bans, arguing EU officials are afraid of people seeing a viewpoint that differs from the Western mainstream narrative and drawing their own conclusions about current events.
Irish Examiner
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Press freedom and pluralism face ‘existential battle' across EU, report finds
Media pluralism in many EU member states is being increasingly strangled by a high concentration of ownership, even in countries with traditionally free media markets, according to a report that concludes press freedom is crumbling across the bloc. The report, produced by the Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties) based on the work of 43 human rights groups from 21 countries, said several EU governments were attacking press freedom or weakening media independence and regulation. Along with weak ownership transparency rules, growing government influence over public media and threats against journalists, media freedom and pluralism were 'under attack across the EU, and in some cases in an existential battle', it said. 'This isn't a surprise,' said Jonathan Day, the report's lead editor. 'Governments' efforts to weaken the rule of law and democratic institutions almost always start by seeking to control their country's media landscape.' Day said the EU's attempt to safeguard media freedom, the European Media Freedom Act (Emfa), was 'already facing resistance even before it's fully in force. How successfully it is enforced may be make-or-break for media freedom in some member states.' Media ownership The report singled out an excessive concentration of media ownership as a particular concern in Croatia, France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden, with ownership often concentrated in the hands of a few ultra-wealthy individuals. This was exacerbated by inadequate transparency of media ownership, it said, with many member states failing to set up publicly accessible databases required by the Emfa, almost all of which is due to come fully into force in August. The binding legislation aims to guarantee the protection of journalists and sources, independence of regulatory bodies and full ownership transparency — but many member states 'seem unready if not unwilling to fully enforce' it, the report said. France faced 'significant media pluralism challenges', the report said, highlighting Vincent Bolloré's acquisition of the Hachette group and installation, at several of its publishing houses, of executives sympathetic to the conservative billionaire's views. In Italy, the report noted the planned acquisition of AGI, a leading news agency, by the Angelucci Group, headed by Antonio Angelucci, an MP from the far-right Lega party who already owns Italian newspapers including Il Giornale, Libero and Il Tempo. Bonnier owns 43% of all subscription-based multi-day newspapers in Sweden; while Schibsted owns 13 more including Aftonbladet and Svenska Dagbladet. The Dutch online media market, meanwhile, is dominated by websites owned by DPG Media, Mediahuis and RTL Nederland — with the former announcing plans in late 2023 to acquire the latter, a move being investigated by the consumer and markets authority. Concerns over pluralism are also rising in Germany, where many local newspapers, hit by digitisation and declining readership, are closing offices. Nearly half of all German newspaper publishers have reduced their editorial staff and 62% expect further cuts. The report also found that journalists remain vulnerable to hate speech and attacks, suffering police violence in France, Germany, Greece, Hungary and Spain. Guardian Read More Electricity restored to 99% of Spain and most of Portugal after massive power outage
Euronews
10-04-2025
- Business
- Euronews
Why is the remote French archipelago of Saint Pierre and Miquelon making global headlines?
ADVERTISEMENT Saint Pierre and Miquelon, a self-governing French territory located off the shores of Canada with a population of roughly 6,000, is not used to making global headlines. But when US President Donald Trump slammed the steepest tariffs in the world on it during his so-called "Liberation Day" last week, the world's attention turned to the eight-island archipelago. On 2 April, the Trump administration claimed Saint Pierre and Miquelon imposed 99% tariffs on the US. Trump's team took this supposed figure and slashed it in half to reach the "reciprocal" tariff rate of 50% — as a result, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, along with Lesotho, for a moment faced the highest tariff rates in the world. 'It was a bit surprising to find ourselves public enemy number one all of a sudden, especially given that we are a small territory which has been suffering from inflation', Stéphane Lenormand, who represents the Liberties, Independents, Overseas and Territories party in the National Assembly, told Euronews. The territory grappled with the prospect of extortionate tariffs, before Trump U-turned on his rate days later, lowering it to 10%. The island of St Pierre in the north Atlantic Courtesy of Kévin Dumarcet Belbéoc'h Many remained puzzled about how Trump reached the 50% tariff rate, given that the US Census Bureau archives state that trade with Saint Pierre and Miquelon has been minimal for the past thirty years. "US figures don't include all products from Saint Pierre and Miquelon, which enter the American market through Canada. This means we have virtually no direct contact with the US, apart from the occasional fishery," said Lenormand. But fish proved to be exactly the problem, as Trump's calculation methods were based solely on 2024 figures, in what was an exceptional year for Saint Pierre and Miquelon in terms of sales. In July, the country received an unprecedentedly large order for halibut fish, which led to exports to the US reaching €3,08 million ($2.84 million), while imports totalled €90,570 ($100,000). The Trump administration calculated its tariffs using a simple formula: it divided Washington's trade deficit with a country by its exports to the US. Economists have discredited this method, stating that it considers a country's trade imbalance but does not represent actual tariffs imposed on the US. Speaking to Euronews, Bernard Briand, President of the Territorial Council of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, said that the territory will still "be keeping a close eye on the responses of the European Union and Canada, our main trading partners." French politician adds to the islanders' woes Just when islanders thought the headlines had subsided, the French nation's eyes turned to them again days later. French National Assembly deputy Laurent Wauquiez argued that foreign nationals under an obligation to leave French territory, known as OTQF, should be given two options: either be locked up in Saint Pierre and Miquelon or sent back to their home countries. ADVERTISEMENT As part of his proposal, Wauquiez said he would block any individuals who wished to return to France from the archipelago, which is outside the Schengen area. Wauquiez's interview with French newspaper JDNews sparked backlash across the country's political spectrum. France's Minister for Overseas Territories Manuel Valls reacted swiftly, stating "no internal campaign should lead a politician ... to hold a territory of the (French) Republic in contempt." Others like Annick Girardin, former overseas territories minister, called for a public apology. ADVERTISEMENT Apologies don't seem to be an option for Wauquiez, who hopes to be elected as the next president of France's conservative Les Républicains party in upcoming elections. The controversial politician invited his followers to join a Zoom call on Thursday to discuss his proposal. In response, politician Bernard Briand encouraged locals to dial in. During the call, Wauquiez acknowledged that local politicians and residents were not happy about his measure, but he stated that "people across France who live next to detention centres aren't thrilled about it either." "Mr Wauquiez could have mentioned an uninhabited French overseas territory, but no, he had to show such contempt for the local population of Saint Pierre and Miquelon," Briand told Euronews. ADVERTISEMENT The island of St Pierre in the north Atlantic Courtesy of Kévin Dumarcet Belbéoc'h "I've had a lot of feedback from residents who are outraged that our region is being used as a dumping ground for the problems of the rest of France." "One resident, originally from Brittany, told me: 'Where I come from, they say it only rains on idiots. If Wauquiez comes here, he'll have snow on his head all year round'. I think that says it all," added Briand. Wauquiez said living conditions in Saint Pierre and Miquelon, which is situated off the coast of Canada and experiences harsh winters, would act as a deterrent. "The average temperature is 5 degrees during the year, with 146 days of rain and snow. I think that's going to get everyone thinking pretty quickly," he explained. ADVERTISEMENT Responding to these comments, the MP representing the isles Lenormand asked: "How could people facing an obligation to leave French territory be sent to Saint Pierre and Miquelon, which is in fact a French territory?" "Our territory has one of the smallest prisons in France, so it would be impossible for us to host hundreds of prisoners," he pointed out. Despite the controversy, Lenormand remains hopeful that something positive could arise from recent chaos which has surrounded the island. "I am optimistic and want to believe that the focus given to us by Trump and Wauquiez in the space of a week could bring us new businesses and new residents, including some of the diaspora we're trying to bring back," he concluded. ADVERTISEMENT
