It takes some strength of character to remain something like a normal guy when you’ve been through the Star Wars mill. That ultimately led to him writing and directing Star Wars: The Last Jedi, from 2017. A life without people griping on social media about his Star Wars choices. Any trade-off in terms of anonymity that came with Star Wars was worth it for the experience of making a Star Wars movie. For all the honour of shooting the second of the Star Wars sequels, Johnson is now probably best known for those Knives Out films.

The children are meeting Santa around the hotel Christmas tree and someone else is preparing the turkey. The five-star Castlemartyr Resort has its own unique selling point – Santa will be arriving to its grounds by helicopterThe five-star Castlemartyr Resort in Co Cork has its own unique selling point – Santa will give Rudolph and the gang a rest, instead arriving by helicopter. Comerford and his staff are looking to recreate the homely Christmas experience in the big manor house, which dates back to 1750. Over the Christmas period their culinary offerings will be no less fancy, availing of a local supplier known for their “bespoke black leg Turkey”. “Nobody wants to be overrun on Christmas Day,” he says.

Connacht's Paul Boyle goes over to complete a hat-trick of tries in the Challenge Cup game against Black Lion at Dexcom Stadium. Photograph: James Crombie/InphoChallenge Cup: Connacht 52 Black Lion 0Georgia became the eighth country to provide opponents to Connacht in the Challenge Cup but Black Lion never looked like producing a shock result at Dexcom Stadium as Stuart Lancaster’s men got their campaign up and running with an emphatic win. Black Lion never got a foothold in the scrum and Connacht dominated the lineout despite the wind and rain. They won penalties in their first two scrums, the first on a Georgian put-in, with Blade getting his second try from the second to push the lead out to 45-0 after 53 minutes. BLACK LION: L Takaishvili; A Tabutsadze, D Tapladze, T Kakhoidze, S Aptsiauri; L Tsirekidze, T Peranidze; N Khatiashvili, I Kvatadze, K Darbaidze; M Babunashvili (capt), D Epremidze; L Tsikhistavi, G Tsutskiridze, G Sinauridze.

Photograph: Noel Sweeney/PA WireAn orange weather warning has been issed for the south of Ireland on Sunday. A yellow rain warning had already been issued for large parts of the country this weekend, with the national forecaster advising of a risk of flooding and dangerous conditions. According to Met Éireann, the yellow rain warning will cover Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Donegal and Connacht and will come into effect at 6pm Saturday until midnight on Monday. A second yellow rain warning will come into effect for Tipperary, Waterford and Wexford from midnight on Sunday until 3am on Monday. The UK Met Office has also issued a yellow rain warning for Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Tyrone and Derry from midnight on Sunday until 6am on Monday.

Gardaí are appealing for information after a man in his 60s died following a road collision in Monaghan. Photograph: Bryan O’BrienA man in his 60s has died following a road-traffic collision in Co Monaghan on Saturday morning. Gardaí are appealing for witnesses to the incident, which happened on Old Cross Square, Monaghan town. The scene was examined by Garda forensic collision investigators and the road has since reopened. Anyone with information is asked to contact Monaghan Garda Station on 047 77200, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station.

It was German car makers who were most agitated about the prospect of a combustion engine ban. However, others, such as eco-think-tank Transport & Environment (T&E), say that a weakening of the 2035 standards would just allow Europe’s car makers to become lazy and to stop pushing new technology forward. You guessed it: the car CO2 regulations spurred this progress by requiring EU carmakers to sell electric cars, and to invest and compete. Under the Biden administration, US car makers would have had to improve the average fuel economy of their vehicle ranges by 10 per cent in 2026. The Trump reset lowers that to just 1.5 per cent, allowing car makers to ramp up production of what were once called “gas-guzzlers”.

Ian Whyte's favourite painting sold in 2025 is Mainie Jellett’s ‘Achill Horses’ which went under the hammer for €210,000 in May, 2025. Photograph: Gillian BuckleyAchill horse paintingFor Ian Whyte, chairman at Whyte’s, his favourite painting of the year is Mainie Jellett’s Achill Horses, which the Dublin auction house sold on May 26th. The painting had a guide price of €200,000 - €300,000 and achieved a hammer price of €340,000. Paysage aux Arbres by Roderic O’Conor (1860-1940) sold by deVeres in November 2025 for a hammer price of €340,000. Rory Guthrie says that it is the most favourite painting that he has ever sold.

Eamonn Coghlan: ‘My decision to join Donore Harriers was a selfish no-brainer. The Waterhouse-Byrne-Baird Shield was, and still is, the oldest and longest consecutively run club cross-country race in the world. Coghlan also well understood the importance of cross-country running during the winter months, which ultimately served as a stepping stone to success on the track for many Donore runners. Much of its history may be wrapped up in cross-country, but Donore runners always viewed that as the essential foundation to running fast times on the track. The Story of Donore Harriers is available at donoreharriers.com

He played hurling for Cork and won an All-Ireland medal in 1966, and then in 1984 he went on to manage Cork to an All-Ireland win. Doing the work I do, I find it intensely frustrating at times that there seems to be a can’t-do attitude to some of the big problems we have in the country. Within five years, it was rebuilt and restored, and you’d wonder if that would be possible in this country. Justin McCarthy: 'I’m on a fairly even keel, so I don’t get overexcited about things'What have you lost that you would like to have back? He was, as I mentioned, a hurling manager, and he coached teams all over the country – Cork, Clare, Tipperary, Antrim - and I usually would have gone with him to keep him company.

We have long realised the tourist potential of our coasts, but what about the energy potential? Imagine harnessing this Atlantic energy efficiently and on an industrial scale to become an energy exporter. The potential of Ireland’s Atlantic territory to turn this country from an energy importer to a European renewable energy superpower is enormous. Studies estimate there is a technical wind energy potential of about 600 Giga Watts (600,000 Mega Watts) in Ireland’s Atlantic waters. Instead, floating offshore wind platforms are needed, where colossal wind turbines are mounted on floating structures that are moored to the seabed using anchors.

He issued reassurance to the angry Opposition, and those locked out of the housing market, by listing various Government actions on housing. “Hi Terry,” says Santa, addressing a strapping park ranger named Terry, who wears a high-vis. “Can Mrs Claus bring her special Christmas cookies to the deer?”“Oh no, Santa!” says Terry, selling the emotion of the moment well. Lottie O'Driscoll Murray from Cork, Ireland's contestant in the Junior Eurovision. Photograph: Aleksandra KlimczakNo Eurovision boycott for junior songwritersAmid the international ructions around Ireland’s Eurovision withdrawal, this weekend’s Junior Eurovision has flown beneath the radar somewhat.

This was provided in the considerable shape of Edwin Edogbo. Munster's Edwin Edogbo comes up against Paddy Harrison of Edinburgh. It’ll hopefully be a special day.”Munster's Edwin Edogbo with young fans after the match. Munster's Edwin Edogbo. They all helped me get out of those dark days.”More than anything you wish Edwin Edogbo games.

By early December, Trump was back in the building, now renamed the Donald J Trump Institute of Peace, celebrating his role as an international peacemaker. Some of these were not wars at all and others have not actually ended but most of Trump’s peace deals have one thing in common: a focus on American economic interests. US president Donald Trump and Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu in the White House in October. Perhaps the greatest vulnerability of the peace plan is the extent to which it depends on Trump’s continued engagement for its success. Russian president Vladimir Putin and US president Donald Trump in Anchorage, Alaska in August.

Tan had pitched Intel’s board on buying Rivos in the summer of 2025, but he had no luck. [ Lip-Bu Tan, Intel CEO with Silicon Valley’s toughest turnaround jobOpens in new window ]Intel declined to make Tan available for an interview for this story. Those connections have helped Intel clinch a $5 billion investment from Nvidia and a $2 billion investment from SoftBank. Soon after his appointment as CEO, Tan took direct control of Intel’s investment arm, Intel Capital, reversing a plan to spin it off. Instead, he reorganised the company so that Intel Capital would report to him, according to two of the sources, for reasons Intel has not disclosed.

The US plans to demand access to five years' worth of people's social media history before entering the country. Check your social media first Opens in new window ]“I think there is very good historical connections between Ireland and the United States. “Five years for some people is an awful lot of social media. In that context, I don’t see why five years of social media [is required]. In addition to social media history, applicants would also have to submit other “high value data fields” including email addresses from the last decade, phone numbers from the last five years, biometric information and personal details of family members.