Photograph: Leah Scholes/InphoThe contest to become the next president of the GAA looks set to be a two-man race between Tipperary’s Ger Ryan and Wexford’s Derek Kent. Wexford GAA stated: “Derek has always shown great leadership and drive with both Wexford and Leinster, and he leaves a great legacy at county and provincial level. Irrespective of whether that timeline is upheld, the next GAA president will be in office during what is certain to be a period of unprecedented change. He was vice-chairman of Munster GAA from 2019-22, chaired Munster GAA’s Coaching and Games Committee from 2019-22 and also served as provincial council PRO between 2014-17. Wexford’s most recent GAA president was Michael Kehoe (1949-52).

Lawyers for Elon Musk and X Holdings Corp successfully applied to challenge the investigation, which relates to X’s complaints procedures. Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/PAElon Musk and social media giant X have been granted permission by the High Court to challenge an investigation by Irish media regulator Coimisiún na Meán into whether X, formerly Twitter, contravened the EU’s Digital Services Act. The two applicants claim that neither of them “provide the X Service in the EU, or have any contractual relationship relating to the X Service” relating to recipients of the service in the EU. XIUC has also named Mr Musk and X Holdings as notice parties in its challenge. In a statement, a spokesperson for Coimisiún na Meán said: “We are aware of the proceedings that have been filed by Elon Musk and X Holdings Corp this week.

About 60 staff at Meta contractor Covalen will take industrial action on Wednesday is a dispute over grading, pay and union recognition. Photograph: Kirill Kudryavtsev/Getty ImagesAbout 60 staff at Meta contractor Covalen will take industrial action on Wednesday is a dispute over grading, pay and union recognition. The workers involved say they are classed as community operations analysts when they in fact work as paralegals. They are seeking a regrading and a pay review which the Communication Workers Union (CWU) contends should result in pay increases of at least €1,000 per annum. These are separate to the union as the company will not engage with the CWU for the purposes of collective bargaining.

Paul Costelloe’s daughter Jessica (left) and his widow Anne (centre) leave St Patrick’s Church after the funeral service. The main celebrant was Canon Michael O’Dea, parish priest of St Simon’s Church in Putney, London, where the family have a home. Costelloe, one of the highest profile names in Irish and UK fashion, died at the age of 80 in London in November after a short illness. Photograph: Barry Cronin/ The Irish TimesMembers of the Costelloe family carry his remains into the church in Monkstown. Photograph: Barry Cronin/ The Irish TimesHe also recalled the annual Christmas card he was personally given by Costelloe.

The Irish Times group is selling its majority stake in WLF FM in Waterford. Photograph: iSTockThe Irish Times media group has sold its 75 per cent shareholding in Waterford-based radio station WLR FM to the Daily Mail Group for an undisclosed sum. Other brands here include Evoke, Extra.ie, OneFabDay.com, The Irish Daily Mail, The Irish Mail on Sunday, and Business Plus magazine. Having had its roots in pirate radio, WLR secured a local licence, went on air in September 1989 and describes itself as Waterford’s biggest radio station. The Irish Times had previously sold its shareholdings in regional broadcaster Beat 102-103, and Red FM in Cork to Bauer Media.

Then CRH chief executive Albert Manifold rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange when the company switched its listing there in 2023. Photograph: NYSEIf it hadn’t already, CRH has officially joined the big leagues with its admission to the S&P 500 Index later this month. When it shifted its primary listing to the New York Stock Exchange, inclusion in the S&P 500 was one of the key attractions to making the switch. It brings deeper liquidity to the CRH market and makes the stock more attractive than it even already was. Shares in Paddy Power owner Flutter meanwhile are more or less flat since it moved its primary listing to the New York Stock Exchange in May last year.

Shuffling the pack of rivals, partners and adversariesOne of the criticisms Donald Trump’s National Security Strategy makes of Europe is about the war in Ukraine and the Europeans’ lack of enthusiasm for making peace with Vladimir Putin. Military deterrence is only effective as such if it is part of a broader diplomatic strategy but where Russia is concerned, Europe has abandoned direct diplomacy. Europe should also think again about its policy towards China, which has been subordinate to its relationship with Washington since 2019. This was when the EU identified China as a partner for co-operation, an economic competitor and a systemic rival. This was the logic behind the EU’s use of national security as a justification for following Washington’s lead in restricting the sale of high-end technology to China, including semiconductor equipment.

Lawyers, landlords and business people paid more than €10 million to the Revenue in the three months to September 30th for failing to pay tax, new figures show. Lawyers, landlords and business people paid more than €10 million to the Revenue in the three months to September 30th for failing to pay tax, new figures show. Revenue published its latest defaulters’ list on Tuesday, naming 30 people and businesses who paid more than €50,000 in tax, penalties and interest over the third quarter of the year. The agency noted that audits and other action to boost compliance yielded almost €177 million during the same three-month period. Days ago a prominent tax adviser said that social media influencers and content creators were concerned at the threat posed by making their addresses public.

There are currently at least 18,000 people - the majority of them children - on a long waiting list for an assessment of need. Photograph: iStockChildren with additional educational needs will no longer need an assessment to access a special class or special school under reforms designed to cut years-long waiting lists for vulnerable children. Minister for Children Norma Foley on Tuesday announced that the Government will replace the existing assessment of need process with a new system. Ms Foley said she wanted to “sincerely acknowledge the commitment and passion” of Ms Darmody. “At the heart of this is children, children with disabilities, who need access to therapies.

A spokeswoman for Aviva says that when insuring any diamond jewellery you’ll need the diamond certificate, a detailed professional valuation as well as the purchase receipt. While an accurate valuation may offer you comfort, it doesn’t mean this is what an insurer will always pay out. Many of us, when we get a new piece of diamond jewellery, will add it to our home insurance policy. Firstly, according to a spokeswoman for Aviva, the amount your diamond ring is insured for is an “upper limit” of cover. Accepting a replacement ring, sourced by the insurer’s loss adjuster, is not an adequate settlement he says.

The deal with Renault is part of a wider effort by Ford to revive its fortunes in Europe. Photograph: Lukas Schulze/Getty ImagesRenault has agreed to partner with Ford to engineer and build electric vehicles for European markets, carrying the blue oval logo. Under the new arrangement, Ford will look after the design of the new EVs, and Renault will provide its new Ampere platform for small vehicles to develop the cars and vans, which are expected to be built in France. Together, we can create a powerhouse of light commercial vehicles in Europe. Alongside the Renault deal, Ford will continue to collaborate with Volkswagen in creating vans for Europe, while Renault already has other long-term alliances with Japanese brands Nissan and Mitsubishi, along with a separate deal with Chinese car giant Geely.

Investors have increased bets that interest rates in the euro zone could rise next year even as the US continues to lower borrowing costs, in a shift that could further weigh on an already weak dollar. Swap markets pricing now implies that the European Central Bank (ECB) is more likely to increase rates in 2026 than cut them. Interest rates are currently lower in the euro zone and several other major economies than in the US — partly because of their slower growth. “Central banks around the world are gradually becoming more hawkish.”Bloomberg on Monday reported remarks from ECB board member Isabel Schnabel that she was “rather comfortable” with investor bets on a euro zone rate increase next year. The central bank has come under sustained pressure from President Donald Trump to lower borrowing costs.

Photograph: iStockOnly the top 20 per cent of earners can afford to rent an average apartment built in Ireland in 2025, while just the top 40 per cent of earners can afford to buy one, according to a new analysis of their building costs and impact on affordability. To afford these apartments, a first-time buyer couple would require a combined salary of between €108,000 to €146,000, based on a 4:1 loan-to-income ratio. It comes as a CSO report on Monday found that 14.8 per cent of the population were deprived of basic needs this year. Deprivation is defined as living in a household that cannot afford two or more of the 11 basic deprivation items considered to be the norm. “The recent reform of the rent pressure zones will help but it will still take time for international investors to return.”

A Christmas sandwich is basically Christmas food between two slices of bread. Now a Christmas sandwich is not made with any Christmas food. A Christmas sandwich does not include freak yuletide fare, by which I mean Christmas pudding and Christmas cake, foods devised in a time of scarcity in order to preserve summer foods for winter. The Christmas sandwich is a phenomenon that should, in the proper course of events happen in the days after Christmas and be made out of leftovers. They see in my eyes the disappointed sadness of a slow carnivore and offer to make me a fresh Christmas sandwich.

Nvidia's H200 processor is about six times faster than the H20, which is currently the most advanced US-made chip Washington approves for export to China. Mr Trump said that the deal, which will require the company to pay 25 per cent of the cost of each chip to the United States treasury, would be extended to other American chip manufacturers. “We will protect national security, create American jobs, and keep America’s lead in AI,” Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. The H200 is more advanced than any AI chips available in China at present, including those made by Chinese manufacturers. Democrats on Capitol Hill criticised the decision to allow Nvidia to sell the H200 chip to China as throwing away the US advantage in critical AI technology.