The pact has been in discussion at EU level for the past eight years and the Government announced three months ago that it would be opting in to the pact, which will come into effect in two years’ time.

Under the pact’s rules, there will be tougher border security checks including identification and health checks with the collection of biometric data including fingerprints for anyone above the age of six.

A substantial increase in the number of staff processing applications will now be required along with new processing and accommodation centres.

Migrants will be accommodated in holding centres close to airports and ports, which the Government has insisted will not be detention centres, while asylum seekers’ applications will be processed within a maximum of 12 weeks. Where an application is rejected, asylum seekers will have to be returned forcibly to their home country within the same period. Member states will be required, based on their population size, to take in thousands of migrants from “frontline” countries such as Italy, Greece and Spain, or provide funding instead.

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said, “Those who have a right to international protection must be given that status as quickly as possible. For those who are found not to have a right to international protection, they must return to their home country as quickly as possible.”

Mary Lou McDonald has said the Government’s failure to opt out of any aspect of the pact is a “dangerous erosion” of Irish sovereignty.

Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns described individual aspects of the pact as worth opting into but her party had “very serious human rights concerns” with the overall pact which she described as “dangerous”.

Although its location and existence remain unconfirmed, Deputy Crowe said that some believe the former High King of Ireland’s crown has been in the possession of the Vatican for over a millennium.

Crowe suggests forming a team to search for this long-lost artifact, which has been the subject of legend.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin has previously noted that the current status and existence of the crown are uncertain and subject to debate among experts.

Cluichí leathcheannais

Cill Chainnigh-Clár, Dé Satharn an 6 Iúil

Luimneach-Corcaigh, Dé Domhnaigh an 7 Iúil

Cluiche ceannais na hÉireann

Dé Domhnaigh an 21 Iúil

Cluichí ceathrú ceannais

Dé Satharn an 29 Meitheamh

Ard Mhacha-Ros Comáin, 16:00, Páirc an Chrócaigh

Baile Átha Cliath-Gaillimh, 18:15, Páirc an Chrócaigh

Dé Domhnaigh an 30 Meitheamh

Dún na nGall-Lú, 13:15, Páirc an Chrócaigh

Ciarraí-Doire, 15:15, Páirc an Chrócaigh

Cluichí leathcheannais

Dé Satharn an 13 Iúil

Dé Domhnaigh an 14 Iúil

Cluiche ceannais na hÉireann

Dé Domhnaigh an 28 Iúil

Dr Norah Patten, who is originally from Co Mayo but now lives in the Dublin and works for Realtra Space Systems Engineering in Coolock, will be part of a research mission on Virgin Galactic's new commercial spacecraft, which is due to begin operating in 2026.

She has a PhD in aeronautical engineering from the University of Limerick, is a former global faculty member at the International Space University and has taken part the International Space University Space Studies Program.

...she said will take particular pride in explaining to her now two-year-old daughter in the future about the significance of this journey.

his superior officer told the court that the 22-year-old is an ‘exemplary’ and ‘professional’ officer... It appeared he had lashed out at Ms O’Brien (24) after she and a friend of hers had “politely” asked him to stop shouting “removed” at other people on the street, the court heard.... Hours after the attack Crotty boasted to friends on Snapchat: “Two to put her down, two to put her out”, in reference to striking Ms O’Brien four times.

“The physical injuries I sustained were devastating; a severe concussion, a broken nose, severe swelling, and bruising on both arms, shoulders, head, right upper thigh, left eye, cheek and jaw.”

Asking the court not to jail Crotty, the barrister said: “He (Crotty) is at a cross roads in his life, and a custodial sentence will have very serious consequences for his life and his career.”

Judge Tom O’Donnell, said Crotty’s actions on the night were “utterly appalling”.

The judge said he had “no doubt” that if he imposed an immediate jail sentence on Crotty, that his army “career is over”.

“He (Crotty) took pride in striking a defenceless female in what was a cowardly, vicious, unprovoked and totally unnecessary assault,” the judge said.

He could have got five years, the judge didn't want to ruin his life. "Crotty faces the prospect of his suspended jail sentence being activated in its entirely should he reoffend within the next three years."

The victim said: “The lack of justice is horrific, in spite of the seriously appalling cold hard evidence. There was a complete disregard for the gravity of Crotty’s actions.”

Ms O’Brien said that, in her opinion, the court “was utterly sympathetic to Crotty, commending him on his guilty plea” and that it had explained that “a full sentence would destroy his career in the Irish defence forces”.

The project is part of the PESCO framework where EU member states cooperate to improve the capabilities of their armed forces.

Two months ago the National Risk Assessment identified damage to undersea infrastructure as a key risk for Ireland.

This move by Government would see Ireland joining other EU countries to develop its surveillance operations and reconnaissance.

It would also result in countries sharing information and honing plans to respond to a threat at sea.

The project is led by Italy and already has seven EU member states participating in it.

It will require both Government and Dáil approval for Ireland to sign up to the project.

The Government is also set to approve a plan to participate in cyber defence exercises, which will be led by the European Defence Agency.

The AMECO (annual macroeconomic database of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs) estimates that the Irish population reached 5,348,700 at the end of 2023, compared to 5,165,000 at the end of 2022. That is a rise of 183,000 in a single year.

The EC does not comment on why a population increases, but the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has estimated that more than 100,000 Ukrainian refugees arrived in Ireland between February 2022 and the end of last year.

If confirmed, it would surpass the previous record of a 2.95 per cent increase in the population between 2006 and 2007 when the Celtic Tiger was still roaring.

Economist David Higgins says it'd be one of the highest one-year rises ever recorded for a single country.

“Ireland isn’t just registering its highest ever population growth, or the highest growth of any European country in 2023, we are setting records for some of the largest population growth events in history,” he said. “Our 3.5 per cent in on a par with Malta in 2018, which also saw large asylum arrivals.”

The EC figures are also at odds with those produced by Eurostat, the statistical arm of the European Union, which estimates that the population rose by even more – up by 4.2 per cent in 2023 from 5,060,000 at the start of the year to 5,271,400 by the end of the year, an increase of 211,000.

They are also at odds with those produced by the Central Statistics Office, which calculates population increases from one April to another. It estimates that the population increased by 1.9 per cent (5,184,000 in April 2022 to 5,281,600 in April last year), an additional 97,600 people.

It based these figures on a natural increase of 19,000 (births less deaths) and net migration of 77,600. It says that last year, 141,600 immigrants – predominantly Ukrainian refugees – entered the State and 64,000 left.

The official CSO census figure for April 2022 was for 5,149,139. The discrepancy between the CSO’s census figures and its actual population estimate is accounted for by the fact that the census does not include people ordinarily resident in the country who are abroad on the night it is taken.

A CSO spokeswoman declined to comment on the AMECO figures except to say that they are based on projections for the end of 2023 rather than actual figures. She said the full extent of the population increase in the Republic will not become apparent until September, when the CSO publishes its figures on the State’s population for the 12 months to April.

AMECO is forecasting that the Irish population will continue to grow this year and next year but at a slower rate of 1.5 per cent and 1.1 per cent respectively.

They always inflate the values in these things, I'd guess they're valuing MDMA at €100/g

I think the need to government reform is clear to most people. Our government is ineffective. We've had a succession of bad governments. It's likely that any future government will also be ineffective.

The government hasn't the power to make honest and effective changes, because it is beholden to special interests. It balances its commitments to its allies, with its chances of losing the next election.

So the best policy, the only realistic policy, is to serve the donors and special interests, then do some crowd-pleasing in the election year.

I would argue (though I thing this next bit would be controversial) it is not this government's fault, to work this way. It is the fault of our governance system that compels them to work this way.

Many people have good plans for electoral reform. For example. The ideas are thousands of years old. The structures are well established and proven.

The difficulty is implementing the reform, when the government has no interest in doing so.

So here is a new plan:

1. Establish a sub-reddit which records the policy proposals in the dail and and the voting records of each TD. It will be an accurate record of each TD and party's performance. It must also be easy to read, and in a place where people will read it. It will also be a place for discussion. Accessible information and discussion forums are both required in democracy, and are both lacking. This will also help build support for (2).

2. Convince independent politicians to join a new party. this party will be unique. It should be easy to convince them, because they have little chance alone with the abundance of canditates, and because this new party is a uniquely good opportunity.

It will have specific goals and policy, which are simple and popular. They will address the only important issues (also the issues the current government is underperforming on.

a. Climate change (a real carbon tax)

b. World peace (boycott and ostracize any person, business or territory conducting a massacre)

c. Housing (ban investment funds from owning housing / force developers to build appropriate amenities)

d. Government reform (citizens initiative referendums)

The first three policies are chosen because not only are they the most important things, and also because they are already overwhelmingly popular. Despite this the government has not done them.

The last one which is not well known. But the last one is the whole point. If point (d) is done, every other major change that our society requires can be done quickly and easily. Government will not be able to stop it, no matter what their donors think.

You only need 6 TDs be elected, to propose policy.

3. The new party will be unique, in that the TDs will act as representatives of their electorate. Every dail vote will be passed down to the constituents. In the dail, the TD will vote following the result of this vote. Constituents can also propose new initiatives for the party.

This is a good test case for democracy, to see if there is any major fraud or problems that need ironing out, before this is trialed on a territorial level. It will require some effort to figure out the best way to do this.

When people see that democracy works on the local level, the party can grow in importance and number of TDs, so eventually government can become effective and legitimate.

https://web.archive.org/web/20240529231931/https://old.reddit.com/r/ireland/comments/1d3eul7/how_is_this_even_allowed_no_wonder_we_have/

John Waters is putting up posters with the slogan 'Irish Projected to Be a Minority in Ireland by 2050'. User 'ImprovingTaylorist' posts it with the title 'How is this even allowed? No wonder we have problems with the far right when blatant lies are being told like this.'

Some comments:

I mean is that statement not somewhat true though? Correct me if I’m wrong but in the census in 2006 had Irish people as 87% of the population of the country. In 2022 that was down to 76% so if that trend continues wouldn’t Irish people end up becoming a minority?

Really surprised that people think this claim is unfounded.

Our birthrate is well below replacement level and only declining. All our population growth is through immigration. We’re already at 23% foreign born.

When the older generation dies in the next 25 years we could very well shift to over 50% foreign born.

It's racist to state a statistical fact if we use the data of the last 20 years now? My god, we live in a crazy time. This is highly possible if immigration continues at the rate it's currently at, that is really worrying. It's like some people on here want Ireland to completely lose its identity and become some weird version of America. It's like you people have no original thought whatsoever, or worse, you are intentionally divisive and want Ireland to lose its identity.

Irish culture is loved for a reason and it's endangered, we need to protect it instead of taking it for granted and throwing it all away because of an inferiority complex.

According to "Unpublished UK-based research, which he does not identify" - fella [John Waters] might be a closet unionist, cause that's a lot of flegs

one of his leaflets was delivered to my house a few days ago - no mention of what he would actually do to improve things, just a QR code you could scan to learn more about the “woke agenda”. oddly, his campaign leaflet was accompanied by a leaflet about “vaccine victims”.

wonder how he’d feel knowing this was delivered to an engaged gay couples house lmfaoooo

Lads just skip the "it's not happening" step and get to the "ok it is happening and it's a good thing" bit. It'll save a lot of time.

They've already moved on to "it's a bad thing but you deserve it as punishment for colonialism/exploitation/capitalism"