Latest news with #non-Irish
RTÉ News
09-05-2025
- General
- RTÉ News
Campaign seeking to increase diversity in fire service
Dublin Fire Brigade has launched a new recruitment campaign to try and attract a greater diversity of people to the service. They are hoping to increase the number of women, non-Irish nationals and people with different backgrounds, such as trades and science training. In the past, recruitment campaigns for Dublin Fire Brigade could attract up to 10,000 applicants, but in recent years that figure has fallen to around 4,000. The number of women applying to Dublin Fire Brigade has been historically low, but on their last recruitment campaign, the figure rose to 20%. However, only 8% of those went to work for the fire services. Assistant Chief Fire Officer and Head of HR for Dublin Fire Brigade Greg O'Dwyer said the biggest barrier to women applying to the service is their own perception that they cannot do the job. However he said the nature of the work is also an issue, one which they are trying to overcome. "It's a big commitment. We work a 24-hour shift system, 365 days a year and so for some people they might think it might not suit into their lifestyle or for childminding and so on, so we're bringing in new initiatives to try and to attract and to retain more females like work sharing pilots. "Dublin City Council is a great organisation to work for as well, with regards to parental leave, maternity leave, and all of those entitlements." He said Dublin Fire Brigade are also eager to attract people from a diversity of backgrounds. "We've a number of people from different ethnic backgrounds in the organisation and we're looking to try and get the word out there to all of the various communities around the country, not just Dublin, to think about a career in the fire service. "Dublin city is very diverse now there's lot of different communities out there now, and we want to represent those communities as well." Emma Wilson from Skerries in north Dublin was a secondary school teacher before she joined Dublin Fire Brigade over a decade ago. She said while she was initially worried about it being male-dominated, she said she quickly felt no different to her male colleagues. "When I left school and I did a degree in biology teaching and science teaching and taught for three years and then starting the fire brigade. The biology degree definitely helped with my paramedic studies. I found it a lot easier than some other of my classmates and probably helped them through a little bit." "It was a bit intimidating starting off with a lot of males in your class and there's only one or two girls but then once you start working together, you realise everyone's on the same team, doing the same job. There's no difference". "I love the job because it's very varied. No two days are the same. You also get to work with a variety of people from all walks of life. "One of the officers that trained me, after he retired, I got him in cardiac arrest on the ambulance and he made a full recovery. He came in to speak to me and my colleague afterwards, to say thanks for essentially saving his life. It was a surreal feeling that you don't get in most jobs." A background in science and or experience with a trade are among the skills and expertise the service are looking for. Darren O'Connor, who is the Station Officer for Dublin Fire Brigade at their headquarters in Tara Street, had a trade when he entered Dublin Fire Brigade and said he has benefited from educational and promotional opportunities during his 20 years in the service. "Before joining Dublin Fire Brigade I worked as an electrician. Since joining I've completed a masters degree and a degree in management practice and I've been promoted through the ranks. "Having the background as an electrician and serving a trade where there's a lot of theory involved, and practice as well, certainly stood to me." "People from trade backgrounds that have worked with practical tools, people from science background in biology, chemistry, all those factors come into being a fire-fighter paramedic. "You're studying forensic science, you're studying anatomy, physiology as a paramedic, and you put it into practice." 200 people will be recruited as part of this intake on a starting salary of around €50,000.
Irish Daily Mirror
08-05-2025
- Irish Daily Mirror
Tourism stats show Ireland's most popular county for staycations
Dublin was the most popular destination as the number of people opting for staycations in Ireland increased by almost 16 per cent last year, according to new figures. Irish residents treated themselves to overnight trips in other counties more than 16.5 million times during 2024, representing an increase of almost 2.3 million compared to the year before. Dublin was the primary destination for around 17 per cent of these staycations, with staycationers from other counties visiting the capital on 2.8 million occasions. This was followed by Cork, which was the primary destination of 1.8 million staycations last year, seeing a rise of just over seven per cent compared to 2023. Galway was third on the list, with the City of the Tribes attracting visitors from around Ireland on more than 1.4 million occasions in 2024, increasing by nearly 18 per cent and leapfrogging Kerry on the list. Meath was bottom of the pile when it came to Irish residents choosing a destination for overnight visits, attracting visitors on just 231,000 occasions last year. It was followed by neighbouring Westmeath at 266,000. Tipperary was next from the bottom of the list, recording around 372,000 overnight stays by Irish residents. The figures, compiled by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), were published by Minister of State Mary Butler in response to a parliamentary question from Fine Gael TD Brian Brennan. She also revealed that overnight visits by non-Irish visitors increased by just over five per cent last year to almost 6.6 million compared to nearly 6.3 million in 2023. This data was based on passenger surveys conducted during the relevant years. Other popular counties for staycations on the list included Clare, which welcomed around 810,000 Irish visitors last year, while Donegal had 867,000. Kerry was the main destination for 1,360,000 Irish visitors in 2024, and Limerick was the location of choice for around 592,000. Kilkenny was visited 488,000 times, according to the statistics, while Wexford proved very popular, attracting visitors from other counties on 962,000 occasions.
RTÉ News
08-05-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Shane Brosnan building on construction sites and New York Tailteann Cup progression
Shane Brosnan is as Irish as an American can get really. The son of Kerry natives, growing up five minutes from Mclean Avenue in Yonkers, also known as 'Little Ireland', it wasn't unusual to play Gaelic Games, because most of his friends have Irish heritage in some shape or other. "I don't even have too many (non-Irish friends). Everyone that I'm friends with or where we grew up is all pretty much Irish. So, they all know what we do," he told RTÉ Sport. Brosnan dabbled in other sports like soccer and basketball, but by the time he reached his mid-teens, football was his main passion. "I would have been interested in a lot of other sports too, growing up. But by the time I hit like 15 or 16, I knew I wanted to play football." The 22-year-old New York native has fond memories watching from the sidelines when the Exiles gave Leitrim a scare in the closely fought Connacht quarter-final in 2018 and explained it's what spurred him on. "My dad would always bring me to the New York games when I was younger. "I'd say the first one I can really remember is probably that 2018 game with Leitrim. I would have been training maybe with the Under-16 development team at the time." "And I knew probably around that time then when they ran Leitrim close, I knew that I wanted to try to get on the New York team." It must have been a magical moment for Brosnan, when as a bright-eyed 20-year-old debutant, the Exiles claimed their first championship win over the same side that inspired him to pull on the navy and red jersey. Brosnan is hopeful that the 2023 Connacht quarter-final win over Leitrim will inspire more American-born players to continue on to senior level. "All the kids after the game against Leitrim; couple of hundred kids running on the field after. "They're going to be the future. So, the more success we have now could probably drive another 20 or 30 kids to push on and try to get on the New York team when they're older." It's not just the inter-county side that is inspiring the next generation, Brosnan's club, St Barnabas now has a successful senior team, driven in part by his father Mike, who is the president. St Barnabas became the first American team made of entirely homegrown players to win the New York senior football championship in 2020, which they successfully defended in 2021, which Brosnan thinks has accelerated its growth. "I think the underage is getting even bigger now with Barnabas. There's always a good 40 or 50 kids around the pitch. "Even coming up to us after our games and stuff, they're always looking up to us now and they're definitely the future. "I guess winning a couple of championships probably accelerated that growth. We probably didn't have that before when I was growing up, we didn't have had a senior team. "So now they have something to probably look forward to and try to push on and get to that. They have a goal to set now." Despite what history may suggest, with only a few American born players making the panel, the New York captain believes he hasn't had to prove himself as a 'homegrown', which he tributes to the attitudes of fellow team-mates. In 2019, there were six American players on the squad, and up until 2022 that number was roughly the same. But in 2023, four homegrown players featured against Leitrim, whilst there were 12 in total on the panel. The number of truly American players is on the rise, well it depends what way you look at it, they are all of Irish descent after all. "In the first year I came in with New York, we had a lot of good personalities in the team. "They pretty much reassured us right away that we did belong there, that they were involved in other setups, and we were just as good." Brosnan is balancing playing and training with a job in construction, the physicality of the work isn't a barrier though, and the early finish allows time for him to get to their Bronx base for training. There is a reason the majority of the panel work in the sector. "I'm working construction. I'm in the carpenters union in Queens right now. Once we get finished up here around half three and then just head down to training. "I think it probably helps me to keep me moving around and stuff... I think if I was inside an office I'd probably be driving myself nuts. "I would say 75% of our team probably is (working in construction)." The persisting challenge for New York is the lack of competitive minutes in the build up to their championship games. The introduction of the new FRC rules would have many believing their Connacht quarter-final against Galway last month would be a likely trouncing, but the Exiles were stiffer competition than expected. "We ran them close in the first-half. "We probably just didn't have the legs to keep going in the second-half, but it was good to get the game against a team like Galway... Definitely took a lot from that game and hopefully bring it into that game in four weeks time." Brosnan thinks there isn't a lot that needs to change ahead of his side's preliminary Tailteann Cup quarter-final on 7 June, but suggests less predictable kick-outs, alongside a fitness boost may help New York secure their first ever championship victory on Irish soil. "We were very good for 35 minutes, we know we need to probably add on another bit of fitness and hopefully complete that performance that we had in the first-half for a full 70-minute game. "Keeping stuff different. I think maybe we only had maybe a few things we need to figure out, our kick-outs after a while. "We probably should work on a few different varieties of stuff that we can do to keep everything fresh so they're not figuring us out." Watch Galway v Wexford in the Leinster Hurling Championship on Saturday from 2.45pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on and the RTÉ News app and listen to Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
Irish Times
30-04-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Leinster cannot take a motivated Northampton for granted
Phil Dowson knows more about Leinster than he might want to. A history that reaches back 14 years, in 2011 the current Northampton coach scored a try in the first half of his club's Heineken Cup final with Leinster in the Millennium Stadium. Then an openside flanker, Dowson touched down after seven minutes with current Leinster coach Leo Cullen also playing that day in the secondrow. More followed with fullback Ben Foden and captain Dylan Hartley adding a try each as Leinster bled scores and saw the match precipitously falling away. At 22-6 down it took a rousing team talk at the break by Johnny Sexton to shake the Leinster players out of their slumbering start. It worked. Leinster scored 27 unanswered points in the second half to win the match 33-22. Sexton scored two tries, three conversions and four penalties in one of the most remarkable bounce backs in the competition's history. There is more than last season's semi-final defeat by Leinster in Croke Park to fuel the ambitions of the Northampton coach on Saturday in Aviva Stadium. Does he recall the day, almost a decade and a half ago? READ MORE 'Big time,' he says. 'I obviously only played in one final and that was it. We were 22-6 up at half-time and it was a weird game to be honest. But it showed the class of Leinster, it showed the quality of those individuals, [Jamie] Heaslip and Sexton, and so many world-class players, and we didn't have enough to deal with that. 'That's a huge regret, but at the same time what I try to remember from that game is we were one of the first teams to go unbeaten to the final. And the Perpignan game, the Ulster game, playing away in all those games, I had a great time that season. 'Like I mentioned before Europe is special, for me personally. I love the tournament, and I think of that whole final escapade as a year-long journey which failed in the second half of the final and that was it.' Leinster's Tadhg Furlong tackings Harlequins' Danny Care in the Champions Cup round-of-16 in Croke Park on April 5th, 2025. Photograph: Nick Elliot/Inpho It may look like just as difficult a task this year. Then Isa Nacewa, and Nathan Hines were the overseas players with Brian O'Driscoll, Gordon D'Arcy and Shane Horgan among the backs. On Saturday RG Snyman, Jordie Barrett and Rabah Slimani measure up well as the non-Irish element, but Leinster have been impressive in the last two games. The 'nilling' of Harlequins and Glasgow has turned heads, and as Dowson knows Harlequins with Marcus Smith are one of the best attacking sides in the Premiership. What Leinster achieved is not lost on him, with Jacques Nienaber's defensive philosophy taking a lot of the credit. 'Glasgow and Harlequins are two of the best attacking sides in the tournament. I think Quins with Marcus Smith and the nines they carry and people like Alex Dombrandt, they're unbelievable in attack, the same with Glasgow,' says Dowson. 'I think they've got more line breaks than anyone else bar Leinster in the URC so to be able to nil them on the big stage is very, very impressive. 'That speaks to two things in my mind – Nienaber's system and what he has instilled in those players, and the ability and the work of those players to execute the system. They've bought in, they're very physical, they're making good reads. If you've got those two things, the group are emotionally engaged and willing to work hard, and they're good players, and you've got a very strong system being coached really well, it looks like a difficult defence to break down.' For the English side it is a type of voyage of discovery to Ireland. Dowson knows Leinster are favourites to win but there is no way they travel without hope. They won the Champions Cup once back in 2000 when they beat Munster 9-8 at Twickenham with Pat Lam, Paul Grayson, Ben Cohen and Scotland's Budge Pountney on the team. Dowson is also a coach who believes in the concept of the European game and his team have bought into it, the variety, the South African aspect and the different teams from France and Italy that Premiership sides only ever meet in this competition. 'I think it's special because every year you play the same sides in the league, you go to The Rec, Saracens, you go to Kingston Park whereas we don't often get the opportunity to go to Pretoria. 'The same applies to Stade [Francais]. We hadn't played Stade for years and years, to go and challenge ourselves against a French side in Paris and experience Paris together. There are lads who had never flown outside of Europe. That's why it has that certain magic really.' And why Leinster will take Northampton seriously. A dream of winning the European championship, no better motivation.
Sunday World
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Sunday World
Celtic supporters' group slam 'disgraceful' attack on fans by far-right in Dublin pub
The incident happened following a far-right demonstration in Dublin over the weekend A 'disgraceful' far-right attack on Celtic fans in Dublin has been condemned by Naomh Padraig Celtic Supporters Club (CSC). The incident reportedly occurred at a pub on Eden Quay following an anti-immigration march in the city on Saturday. Between 35 and 50 demonstrators entered the pub, but were asked to leave by Celtic fans who had gathered in the pub to celebrate Celtic FC winning their 55th Scottish League title. The protesters reportedly launched physical attacks on the supporters, with staff and management being racially abused. The group was ultimately removed from the pub while the entrance was secured and the pub's doors closed to the public until it was safe to reopen. In a statement, Naomh Padraig CSC said the supporters asked the demonstrators to leave in solidarity with 'the Palestinian people and those in need of refuge worldwide.' 'The demonstration had been earlier chanting 'Get Them Out' in reference to forced mass deportation and anti-Palestinian solidarity slogans with Israeli flags openly on display,' the statement said. 'The demonstrators launched into a physical attack on the Celtic FC supporters and horrendous racial abuse of non-Irish members of staff and management. 'The much larger far right contingent were bravely removed from the property by Celtic supporters while management and staff secured the entrance, closing the venue to the public until it was safe to reopen. The supporters club branded it as' a display and manifestation of bigotry and hatred.' 'Celtic FC is a renowned football club, established in 1887 based on the principles of support for impoverished immigrants and refuge seekers,' they continued, adding that there is 'no place for racism, facism, anti-immigrant support or even sentiment, regardless of the socio-economic or political climate in the ethos of the spirit of being a true Celtic FC supporter.' 'We abhor the attack in Dublin on our clubs supporters as much as we abhor the message that the Dublin demonstration heralded,' their statement said. 'We appeal to those suffering under trying economic circumstances not to be duped by opportunistic political agitators with a far-right narrative. 'They do not have the solution to your problems, or the will to strategise one if all they have to offer is placing blame upon the world's weakest people, refugee seekers.' Hundreds of people took to the streets of Dublin for the anti-immigration protest and the counter-demonstration amid a heavy Garda presence. The march began at the Garden of Remembrance and marched down O'Connell Street before stopping at the Customs House. Demonstrators held various banners, with several wearing baseball caps that read 'Make Ireland Great Again'. One banner showed an image of Conor McGregor standing between Russian president Vladamir Putin and US president Donald Trump. McGregor himself also attended the protest, and in a video shared to social media before hand he said April 26 is a 'big day for our country' and the month of April is 'historic' for Ireland as it marks the anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising, where 'over 100 years ago our brave men and women made the ultimate sacrifice so that we could live free today'. United against Racism held a counter-protest at the GPO on O'Connell Street and chanted as the anti-immigration march passed by them. There was a large amount of heckling and hand gestures between the two groups but there was a heavy Garda presence and no violence broke out. Counter-protesters chanted about Conor McGregor, claiming he won't protect women and referenced the successful civil action taken by Nikita Hand against him after she alleged he raped her at a Dublin hotel. Three people were arrested on public order offences during the course of the day. However, An Garda Síochána confirmed to that no arrests were made in relation to the incident at the pub on Eden Quay.
