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Irish Times
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
President Higgins to host Princess Anne at Áras an Uachtaráin
President Michael D Higgins will welcome Princess Anne at Áras an Uachtaráin in Dublin on Wednesday. The British princess will make what has been described as 'a courtesy call' at the Phoenix Park. King Charles's sister will meet President Higgins and his wife, Sabina ahead of her attendance at the official opening day of the 150th Dublin Horse Show at the Royal Dublin Society (RDS). The largest summer event in Dublin will see about 1,600 horses and ponies compete across 168 classes and competitions over five days. A total prize fund of more than €1.4 million is on the line. READ MORE During the visit, Anne will tour a special exhibition on the history of the show and meet representatives from the Riding for the Disabled Association Ireland amd from Festina Lente, a Bray-based charity offering equine-assisted learning and therapy services. The princess, who competed in the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games in the equestrian three-day event, will also present rosettes to the winners in Class 20 of the Small Hunters competition. - PA
Telegraph
29-07-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
In the name of Palestine, Ireland is sacrificing its own interests
The past few weeks have seen the worst deterioration in Irish-US relations for many decades. What is widely seen as Ireland's extreme anti-Israel obsession collided with the realities of American business and geopolitical interests. It was the war in Gaza that changed everything. The Irish political elite, which for complicated historical reasons was never very sympathetic to the Jewish state, became hyper supportive of the Palestinian cause. President Higgins, the grand old man of the Irish Left – cast in the mould of a Jeremy Corbyn – led the offensive. Nearing the end of his second seven-year presidential term, Michael D, as he is widely known, is hugely popular in Ireland. Within days of the Hamas October 7 massacre, EU president Ursula von der Leyen visited Israel to show solidarity with the victims and express support for Israel in the wake of the unprovoked attack. Speaking in Rome a few days later, President Higgins called Ms von der Leyen's actions 'reckless' and said she 'wasn't speaking for Ireland.' President Higgins continued, we cannot 'ignore the long-neglected source of much of this conflict, which is the Palestinian issue.' This was interpreted by some Jews as offering a ham-fisted and very misguided justification for the Hamas invasion of ten days earlier. Under the Irish Constitution, the presidency is primarily a ceremonial institution. Like the King, Irish presidents are meant to be above politics with no role in setting policy. In his multiple statements on Israel, Gaza, and Palestine, President Higgins has comprehensively undermined this constitutional boundary. Other senior politicians have been equally vociferous. Tánaiste (deputy prime minister) Simon Harris boasted: 'We are the first government in the European Union to say what Israel is doing is genocide.' Taoiseach Micheál Martin has also claimed repeatedly that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. As relations between Ireland and Israel continued to deteriorate, last December Israel closed its embassy in Dublin because 'of the extreme anti-Israel policies of the Irish government.' It was against this toxic background that the Occupied Territories Bill (OTB), a piece of legislation that had lain dormant for years, was suddenly revived. The proposed legislation seeks to ban trade between Ireland and the Israeli occupied territories. Last year, Ireland exported goods to the value of €73.6bn to the US – larger than those of the UK (€64.5bn). Total US corporate investment in Ireland comes to almost half a trillion dollars – greater than the combined US investment in the EU's four largest economies, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. US firms account for 70 per cent of Ireland's annual corporate tax revenue, and for one in six private sector jobs. These astonishing statistics show how Ireland's current and future prosperity is fundamentally dependent on America. Incredibly, the Irish government now seems willing to put the nation's economic wellbeing at risk, ostensibly because of imports from the occupied territories of mainly avocados, dates, and olives – with an annual value of just €136,000. The considerable economic myopia of the OTB is matched only by its political naïveté. Its definition of occupied territories even includes areas that America recognises as being fully under Israeli sovereignty. Take Jerusalem. The bill compounds its US political problems by describing the area of Jerusalem where the American embassy is located as an illegal 'Settlement'. Recently, there have been many dire warnings of the potentially severe consequences of passing the OTB. Jim Risch, the Chair of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, did not pull any punches. Ireland, he said, is 'on a hateful, anti-Semitic path that will only lead to self-inflicted economic suffering. If this legislation is implemented, America will have to reconsider its deep and ongoing economic ties.' Two weeks ago, an Irish Times poll suggested that the Irish public is becoming increasingly concerned about the bill's potential negative consequences. Displaying classic signs of buyer's remorse, almost half of those polled were in favour of either not passing it, or wanted further clarification on its economic implications. There are signs too that the government is catching up with the changing public mood. In a let-this-chalice-pass-from-me moment, a government minister said that the whole issue of the boycott 'should be dealt with at EU level. Frankly that would be the best solution.' Indeed, as that would get the government off the hook on which it had impaled itself. It was a belated recognition that Ireland may have gone too far out on a limb on this issue. With the Dail in summer recess, the government has some breathing space to assess its options before the OTB comes up for legislative review in the autumn.
Irish Times
18-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Rent Pressure Zones could be in place across country by Friday, Dáil told
An emergency law to extend Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) to the entire country could be in place by Friday if the President signs the legislation immediately after the Oireachtas passes it, the Dáil has heard. Minister of State for Housing Christopher O'Sullivan said the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bill is an 'immediate and concrete protection against high rent inflation'. The controversial legislation is being rushed through both Houses replacing scheduled proceedings as an interim measure to 'quickly protect all tenants from high rent increases'. The Opposition supported the legislation, despite intense criticism of the Government's 'ramshackle, haphazard' and 'back-of-the-envelope' reform proposals. READ MORE [ Thousands of holiday lets will need planning permission due to Rent Pressure Zone changes Opens in new window ] The legislation was passed in the Dáil on Wednesday and goes to the Seanad on Thursday. Mr O'Sullivan said that 'from the day after the passing of this Bill' with 'enactment by President Higgins ' no rent increase across the country can exceed 2 per cent or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower, with certain exceptions. 'This is an immediate and concrete protection against high rent inflation,' he said. 'We want to provide certainty, clarity and stability for the rental sector,' he said. The new policy measures announced last week to apply from next March aim to boost investment in the supply of homes. Legislation will be introduced later this year to give effect to reforms announced last week which will apply from March 2026 when rents for new tenancies can be set at market value. But Sinn Féin housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin described the Government's proposals as an 'utter shambles' and 'an assault on renters' who will be the losers. He hit out at the 'haphazard, ramshackle, back-of-the-envelope process' for widespread reforms that will affect 'tens of thousands of people'. Mr Ó Broin said that 'in the best-case scenario' there will only be 'a modest increase in the levels of institutional investment in high-end, high-cost, private rental cost developments'. 'The consequence of this is that renters everywhere will pay a cost,' because '80 per cent of current renters are in tenancies of six months or less' and 'the idea that somehow existing renters are protected is simply not true'. Labour spokesman Conor Sheehan who called for a two-year rent freeze, said the Government's measures 'will, in the round, cause rents to increase again'. The proposals last week 'very nearly caused a run on the rental market'. He added it is 'very clear what the priority is here because investors will not be negatively impacted by these changes but renters will'. Under the proposals 'we will return to a situation in this country whereby people will be evicted from their properties because they cannot pay the rent'. Social Democrats spokesman Rory Hearne said it is 'quite a cruel move' to give renters the RPZ for six or seven months 'and then rip it away from them', next March. When their tenancy ends or the landlord decides to sell the property in six years' time 'they will face market rents and a rental system and a housing market that will be even more unaffordable'. He said 'the Government is taking a gamble, but it is gambling with renters' lives, betting on the likelihood that the free market and the investor funds will come through for renters'. Green Party leader Roderic O'Gorman called on the Minister to tie rent caps to the property and not just to the lease. In this way 'students returning to the same room are not charged new market rent each year'. There should be a legal definition for student tenancy 'allowing academic year leases to be regulated in line with their unique situation'. These are not 'radical asks' but 'practical adjustments that would make this legislation better'.
BBC News
09-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Jarlath Burns rules out Irish Presidential bid
The President of the GAA Jarlath Burns has said he will not be a candidate in this year's Irish Presidential Burns, who is from South Armagh, had been touted as a potential candidate to replace President Michael D Higgins whose second term of office ends in when he was asked about the issue during a sports interview on RTÉ Radio, the GAA chief said: "I have another year of the GAA presidency to do, and I would certainly not be in the mood to give that up to go for anything else."He added, "I have a lot of things to do in the GAA and a very short time to do it," before stating "it's a firm no from me". This year's Presidential election in Ireland must take place within a sixty-day period before the term of President Higgins ends on 11 Higgins was inaugurated on 11 November 2011 and re-elected in October Irish President may not serve more than two main political parties have not yet announced their candidates for the election. It is not known if all the main parties will ultimately nominate a candidate or if they will decide to endorse a candidate from outside their respective recent Presidential elections in Ireland, there has been a growing trend of independent candidates seeking a nomination and some have contested elections, including the 1970 Eurovision song contest winner Dana who was a candidate in wishing to contest the Irish Presidential election must be nominated by at least 20 members of Dáil Éireann (Irish Parliament) or Seanad Éireann (Irish Senate) or receive nominations from at least 4 local or retiring Presidents can nominate themselves, but not after serving two terms.
