Reindeer in Lapland can eat them, apparently, and their herders discovered that if they drank the reindeers’ urine after such a meal, they would get high and see such marvels as flying reindeer. Native black bee, Apis melifera melifera. Can you tell me if this is our native black bee, Apis melifera melifera? Someone suggested to me that it could be a different species, ie an ivy bee. Doireann Eames, Donnycarney, DublinThis is a honeybee, and she looks dark enough to be our native black species.

AIB and Bank of Ireland both rose again, while Ryanair jumped more than 3% in a wider airline-sector move. Friday: Tech fears hit sentiment; Irish banks slideThe tone changed quickly on Friday. [8]The big Ireland-specific catalyst: an ISEQ index reshuffle is comingOne of the most concrete “week ahead / weeks ahead” developments for Euronext Dublin isn’t macro—it’s index mechanics. Euronext published the December 2025 quarterly review results for the ISEQ index family, with changes due to be implemented after the market close on Friday, 19 December, and effective from Monday, 22 December. References1. www.investing.com, 2. www.irishtimes.com, 3. www.investing.com, 4. www.irishtimes.com, 5. www.irishtimes.com, 6. www.irishtimes.com, 7. www.irishtimes.com, 8. www.irishtimes.com, 9. www.euronext.com, 10. www.vfb.be, 11. www.spglobal.com, 12. www.spglobal.com, 13. www.spglobal.com, 14. www.spglobal.com, 15. www.spglobal.com, 16. www.irishtimes.com, 17. www.irishtimes.com, 18. www.irishtimes.com, 19. www.reuters.com, 20. www.reuters.com, 21. www.ft.com, 22. www.irishtimes.com, 23. www.irishtimes.com, 24. www.irishtimes.com, 25. www.irishtimes.com, 26. www.irishtimes.com, 27. www.spglobal.com, 28. www.irishtimes.com, 29. www.euronext.com, 30. www.investing.com, 31. www.spglobal.com, 32. www.irishtimes.com

Photograph: Alan BetsonGardaí are investigating an XL Bully dog attack on a woman in Co Limerick on Friday. XL bully dogs without a certificate will be liable to be seized and euthanised. Should XL Bully owners choose not to keep their dog, they can surrender it to a council dog warden. Since October 1st last year, following a number of XL Bully attacks, legislation was passed, making it a criminal offence to import, breed, rehome or resell an XL Bully. [ Is the XL bully ban the best approach?

Munster Rugby's Mike Haley (centre) celebrates scoring his team's second try during the Investec Champions Cup match at SuperValu Pairc Ui Chaoimh, Cork. Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA Wire. RESTRICTIONS: Use subject to restrictions. Editorial use only, no commercial use without prior consent from rights holder.

The EU froze indefinitely €210 billion of Russian sovereign assets held in the bloc on Friday as Kyiv and its European allies sought to strengthen their hand at a critical phase in US-orchestrated peace talks. The freezing paves the way for a loan to be raised against the assets to prop up Ukraine’s defence. EU leaders still have to overcome strong objections from Belgium, where the assets are mostly held, at a summit next week. The Trump administration has ratcheted up the pressure on Kyiv to sign a peace deal with Russia by Christmas on largely unfavourable terms first drawn up between Washington and Moscow. The Ukrainian army was pushing Russian forces back, Mr Zelenskiy said, claiming its resistance there would strengthen Ukraine’s hand in talks.

According to the Seafood Ireland Alliance, Ireland's fishing quota will be reduced by 57,000 tonnes next year following an early morning deal among EU member states. Aodh O’Donnell of the Irish Fish Producers Organisation said the deal would deliver a €94 million hit and threaten the survival of many Irish vessels and seafood businesses. “The EU has failed Ireland’s fishing industry repeatedly. “These amounts of fish allocated to Ireland from other member states protected our fishing fleet from periods of severely depleted quotas. Regrettably, a group of member states chose to block the invocation of The Hagues this year.”

The most notable changes are to a number of peak-time direct services between Mallow and Cobh/Midleton via Cork. Photograph: Bryan O'BrienIrish Rail customers have been reminded to check for potential changes to services when new timetables come into effect on Sunday. Full timetables are available at irishrail.ie and on the Iarnród Éireann app, and commuters have been urged to check them before travel. The new platform is being delivered under the Cork Area Commuter Rail Programme to increase the capacity of the network. Irish Rail said the programme is part of a number of projects designed to facilitate up to a 10-minute service frequency for the Cork rail network.

The early and intensifying wave of influenza sweeping across Ireland presents a challenge to the resilience of the health system. Such an early onslaught emphasises long-standing structural vulnerabilities in the Irish health service. This early surge exacerbates the challenge. Among adults over 60, uptake sits at 56 per cent versus a 75 per cent target. This early flu surge exposes the fault lines in a health service operating at the limits of capacity.

Into this landscape enters a new supposed miracle tonic for women: testosterone. Another trial is planned, but for now, “there is no good evidence that giving premenopausal women testosterone will be beneficial”. “All the published studies show that the only evidence of benefit is for postmenopausal women who are bothered by low libido,” Davis says. In Ireland, doctors can prescribe testosterone for women, but only off-label and only in carefully selected cases, such as postmenopausal women distressed by low libido. She prescribes testosterone when low libido is causing distress, usually after menopause or after surgical removal of the ovaries.

Gwen Morgan, Dublin Bus's director of service operations, says congestion charges could make it 'too costly' for motorists to drive into Dublin. Photograph: Stephen Collins/Collins PhotosCongestion charges to “discourage” motorists from driving in Dublin city centre should be introduced to improve bus services, as average speeds in the capital are now slower than London, according to a Dublin Bus official. Gwen Morgan, director of service operations at Dublin Bus, said congestion is increasing year-on-year and significantly affecting average speeds during peak times. Speaking to The Irish Times this week, she said the average speed in the city centre was 13.4km/h during peak morning times in October, compared with an average of 14km/h in London. She said congestion charges could be introduced “zonally” or near certain “pinch points” in the city centre, such as Church Street, Dame Street and Pearse Street, where services “suffer greatly from congestion”.

Eilísh Hardiman was appointed in April last year to a new post of strategic programme director at CHI on her previous salary of almost €184,000. Photograph: Sam Boal/CollinsA former chief executive of Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) at the centre of an employment dispute is leaving the paediatric healthcare group for a regional role in the Health Service Executive, the Minister for Health has confirmed. Eilísh Hardiman served two terms as chief executive of CHI from 2013 until April 2024 and sought a third term at the helm of the children’s hospital operator. Following a mediation process, Ms Hardiman was appointed in April last year to a new post of strategic programme director at CHI on her previous salary of almost €184,000. The Irish Times sought comment from Ms Hardiman on her change of role.

The Defence Forces has no rules of engagement for dealing with drones despite the threat they have posed for years and their rapidly growing use in hybrid attacks and incidents designed to cause embarrassment and disruption, especially by Russia. However, security sources said there was uncertainty on board about how to proceed as the personnel had no rules of engagement to follow. This week, Minister for Defence Helen McEntee unveiled €1.7 billion Defence spending plan to the year 2030, including €19 million for anti-drone technology. Neither the Department of Defence nor Defence Forces offered substantive responses to questions on the absence of drone-related rules of engagement, including whether they would be drawn up and approved by the department. “For operational security reasons, neither the Department of Defence nor the Defence Forces discuss specific operational matters or publicly disclose specific rules of engagement,” the Department of Defence said.

At this peak time, 16 controllers based at the Dublin Bus depot in Broadstone are in constant contact with drivers operating buses across the city. [ Charges needed in Dublin as morning traffic peak now worse than London, Dublin Bus saysOpens in new window ]Each controller, all of whom are former bus drivers, oversees about 65 buses at one time. Photograph: Dara Mac DónaillPointing to these various “pinch points” which are at a standstill across the city, Dublin Bus spokesman Blake Boland says “things can really fall apart” at about 8.30am on typical midweek office days, particularly during the school run. “Sometimes people can think that ‘Dublin Bus is letting me down here’, but they don’t realise the real reason that bus didn’t turn up. Incidents of antisocial behaviour, of which there were 1,053 last year, can also result in significant delays and cause “ghost buses” – buses that never arrive and ultimately vanish from the schedule.

Photograph: Bryan O’Brien“We spend all of our money all of the time so we’re always short and scrambling to convince people we are worth subscribing to. Seán Mahon, managing director of Southern Star Media. “We have to be on our toes about how we evolve businesses.” But, he insists, all research shows people tend to trust their local media organisations and that trust, he says, “is our superpower”. Dr Eileen Culloty of DCU Institute for Future Media, Democracy and Society (Fujo), agrees local media benefits from exceptionally high levels of trust among its audience but adds: “A lot of our local media is owned by international companies, so it’s not actually all that local. And if you have these contracting markets, there’s less money to be made in print.

Waterford City and County Council is set to sell a landholding tied to Waterford Airport to an unnamed US businessman. Photograph: Waterford Airport/twitterIn a country rightly focused on how public assets are used, it is surprising how little attention is being paid to a county council selling €2.3 million worth of public land to an unnamed US businessman of considerable means for just €50,000. In order to enable a €30 million private investment into Waterford Airport, the local council will be disposing of an 84-hectare landholding. Various names relating to the investor’s identity have been floating around in Waterford, with suggestions that they have connections to Donald Trump. Why is the council selling public land at a knock-down price to an investor they will not name?