Latest news with #ex-FineGael
Dublin Live
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Dublin Live
Heather Humphreys rules out Presidential bid
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info Heather Humphreys will not be running in this year's Presidential election. The ex-Fine Gael politician made the announcement this morning. The former TD for Cavan and Monaghan said that while it was a great honour to be considered for the position, she is opting out of the presidential bid for the same reasons she didn't run for the general election in 2024. She also stepped down as Fine Gael's deputy leader the same year. She told RTE: "I have been honoured by the number of people who have approached me and said I should run for the presidency. "I have given it a lot of consideration and a lot of thought, and while it's very flattering and it's a great honour to be considered for the highest office in the land, I've decided that I'll not be running for the presidency." She said she wants to spend more time with her family and friends and concentrate on doing other things. Join our Dublin Live breaking news service on WhatsApp. Click this link to receive your daily dose of Dublin Live content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. For all the latest news from Dublin and surrounding areas visit our homepage.
The Journal
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Journal
Ex-Taoiseach Leo Varadkar joins singer Lyra on RTÉ's new adventure show tonight
Vardkar, Lyra and Goggins will sleep in caves and scale gigantic peaks in tonight's episode. RTÉ RTÉ THE FORMER TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar is among a group of musicians, sports stars and celebrities testing their abilities on a new RTÉ programme airing tonight. Former special forces soldier Ray Goggins will be sending Belfast rap trio Kneecap to the Arcitc and ex-Fine Gael leader Varadkar to South Africa to test their extreme outdoor expedition skills. The new adventure programme, Uncharted with Ray Goggins, was announced earlier this month and airs at 9.35pm this evening on RTÉ One television. Advertisement Varadkar tonight will team up with Irish singer Lyra to travel through the wild, untamed mountains of Drakensburg, South Africa. Alongside Goggins, they will sleep in caves and scale gigantic peaks. RTÉ - IRELAND'S NATIONAL PUBLIC SERVICE MEDIA / YouTube Kneecap will join Goggins in the Arctic in a future episode. Paralympic gold medallist Ellen Keane and six-time All-Ireland Camogie star Ashling Thompson will travel to Bolivia to the start of the fabled 'Death Road' on a seven-day challenge for the series. Galway hurler Joe Canning and track and field star Thomas Barr will also join Goggins in Colombia, where they will navigate five deadly river rapids, coming face-to-face with deadly snakes and venomous spiders. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Irish Daily Mirror
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Irish Daily Mirror
'Irish housing crisis stinks of gross incompetence and action needs to be taken'
There was only one issue in the recent General Election as far as most people were concerned and it was housing. We all know enough new houses are being built to meet the demand and far too many young people in their 20s and 30s, can't afford to buy or rent a property and are living at home with their parents. There is also a dire shortage of what is called social housing - the old council house as we used to call them which working class people on low incomes could rent from their local authority - think Finglas, Cabra, Ballyfermot, Clondalkin. Both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael were returned to office largely on the basis that they were making some progress on the housing front. Although they had missed almost every housing target that they set, they were at least constructing 30,000 new homes a year - not the greatest result but a start. It was 10,000 below what they told voters was the figure for 2024 but, luckily for them, the truth only came out weeks after polling day. When Micheal Martin was elected Taoiseach, I expected this administration to hit the ground running, publicly declare a national housing emergency and to act accordingly by initiating a series of new and radical measures, to get the ball rolling and deal with the issue. Here we are, almost 100 days, and guess what? NOTHING. Instead what we have seen is a lack of action and it is a disgrace. There is no sense of urgency, the civil service and the department of housing are running around like headless chickens and we have a new minister in James Browne who seems to be lightweight and completely out of his depth. No one ever said, as ex-Fine Gael Minister Eoghan Murphy will testify, that dealing with housing is easy but Minister Browne, who was never a full Cabinet minister before, has very little experience at this level, and is moving slower than a snail. It seems the Minister wants to get all the facts before making any decisions when we have all known the bloody facts for years. I believe he has been appointed way above his pay grade and I cannot understand, for the life of me, why the Taoiseach - a clever and decent man - has not put a heavy hitter into the most important department in this land at the moment. In his three months as Minister James Browne has done zero. He is all talk and no action. The dogs in the street know we need to build thousands of social houses on state land at 100 miles an hour so people on low incomes have somewhere to live. We should not have 15,000 homeless in this country. We should not have our children being housed in hotels as temporary accommodation. There should be national outrage over it. So why in the name of God isn't it happening? The Government in an emergency can do whatever it wants and can start by abolishing An Bord Pleanala, which is a basket case. It can grant permission if it wants to build houses on state land in every county. If there is a will, there is a way. The Government needs to stop dithering and literally go to war on the housing front. I don't know Minister Browne from Adam. But I know if I was in the job and would be making decisions good, bad or indifferent to get the ball rolling and diggers onto sites. This country has been fumbling about with the whole housing issue for the last decade and there is no longer any time for excuses or delays. If the officials running the Department of Housing are not good at their jobs, fire them and get individuals from the private sector in. There does not seem to be any sense of urgency with either the Minister, the Department or the Government. The people are sick and tired of it. The whole housing crisis stinks of gross incompetence. In a recent interview with the Irish Times on April 14 last, the Minister told how he had got the National Planning Framework - whatever the hell that is - through Cabinet and he will have a Strategic Housing Activation Office set up in the coming weeks. WOW! He will also be rebranding An Bord Pleanala to An Comisiun Pleanala - that is really going to help getting families into new homes. He is also delighted he has been given an extra €750 million in his budget - great, well start bloody spending it. The Minister stated: "We will continue to move as quickly as possible with some real and some very big decisions over the next few weeks." I can't wait. If he thinks he is moving fast God help all those on the housing lists and being crucified on the rental market. His failure to make any major announcements so far has set the alarm bells ringing among backbenchers in both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, who are getting it in the ear from constituents. I know for a fact that Fine Gael backbenchers are seriously worried about the severe lack of housing action, three months into office. The National Planning Framework will apparently increase the amount of zoneable land available to the local authorities, and help Uisce Eireann, the ESB and EirGrid as to where they need to install infrastructure. Minister Browne said in his interview he hoped to get it through both houses of the Oireachtas by the end of April or the first week of May - so we are talking either next week or the week after. Let's see if it actually happens. He is then going to issue a Section 28 variation order to amend every existing county development plan and assign each county council a certain amount of land that they need to rezone for housing. Extra staff will be hired in the local authorities to help make this happen. I wondered what in the name of God is this Strategic Housing Activation Office? This I discovered will be an office linked to the Department of Housing which will identify lands that can provide homes for families but have not gone ahead for various reasons from a planning to utilities issue, and try and sort them out. Sounds great in theory but when will that happen? He is also hoping the new National Planning Development Act will also stop new homes being built because of judicial reviews and new challenges to stop developments. Sounds great but I hear the legal eagles are waiting in the wings to challenge holes in the new legislation that could take years to address. I am sure the Minister is well intentioned but it is all far too slow and just not good enough. He should have had a national summit of every major player in the building game to see how we can fast track an end to this crisis with a dramatic three-year plan, to restore stability to the housing market. The Housing issue is a bit like the National Children's Hospital, no one in power or authority appears to have a clue how to fix it, and the voters, the taxpayers are left suffering in silence. If Mr Browne doesn't get his act together by mid-summer he should be fired at 100 miles an hour. Our housing emergency is far bigger and more painful than any one individual. Action speaks louder than words.
