From left, Mary Good (Managing Director of Advanced Medical Services), Jimmy Nodwell, Harry McCue (IPFBA chairperson), Pat Byrne, Ed Donovan (CEO Advanced Medical Services) and Fergus McDaidFormer Irish footballers to receive health screening in AthloneOver 100 retired footballers will undergo health screening in the Shamrock Lodge Hotel, Athlone as part of a combined Irish Professional Footballers Benevolent Association (IPFBA) and leading healthcare company Advanced Medical Services (AMS) initiative. The health screening takes place on four dates this month in the family run hotel, today (Thursday, January 8), Friday, January 9, Thursday, January 15 and Friday, January 16. Now, this new joint-venture will see retired Irish footballers of all ages undergo the tests with the IPFBA covering the entire budget of the four days. Advanced Medical Services’ medical director, Dr Alan Byrne, who is also active in a voluntary capacity with the IPFBA, stresses the huge benefits of the scheme’s roll-out. “As part of this preventive health screening initiative we will ask the members to complete a lifestyle and mental health questionnaire along with blood pressure and BMI measurement.

Local Fianna Fáil Minister of State, Robert TroyTroy calls for prototype grants for secondary school innovatorsLocal Fianna Fáil Minister of State Robert Troy has called on the Department of Enterprise to introduce ‘prototype’ grants of up to €1,000 for secondary school students to help young innovators turn strong ideas into real, working projects. Minister Troy said Ireland must do more to actively cultivate a culture of innovation and risk-taking among young people if the country is to build its own future industries. We should be encouraging young people not just to seek secure employment but to see themselves as creators, inventors and future entrepreneurs," Minister Troy said. Minister Troy said the exhibition highlights both the exceptional talent of Irish students and a missed opportunity. By backing young innovators early we are laying the foundations for the next generation of Irish companies Irish jobs and Irish ideas," he concluded.

Peter Burke said around 230,000 people are employed in the tourism sector (Bairbre Holmes/PA)An investment announced on Wednesday will herald a “new era” for the tourism sector, a minister has said. Minister for Tourism Peter Burke unveiled a €4.7 billion “war chest” which is due to be invested in Ireland’s enterprise sector over the next five years as part of the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment’s capital plan for 2026 to 2030. He said about €400 million would be allocated to the tourism sector which would be used to fund a number of measures to boost the industry. Mr Burke also said there would be a focus on developing skills “to ensure that there are significant career pathways in our tourism sector”. The minister said around 230,000 people are employed in the tourism sector, with about 46,000 small and medium-sized businesses involved in the industry.

There was reduced pressure on GP out-of-hours services over the Christmas period following implementation of the IMO GP Winter Agreement, the Medical Independent (MI) has been informed. Dr Ken Egan, Mayo-based GP and Chair of the National Association of GP Co-ops, told MI that co-ops managed well over the holiday period. The IMO GP Winter Agreement, which commenced on 8 December and runs until 15 February, was negotiated in November. “So while there were some delays there were not as many as there could have been because we had so many additional resources on hand. These included the additional resources put in place by the co-op, the GP agreement to extend day-time surgery hours, and improvements to the NEDOC phone system.

A cloud hung low this week over Upperchurch-Drombane’s idyllic winter. A central figure in the community, Niamh Kinnane, has died. In a beautiful tribute on Tipp FM, John G O’Dwyer put it like this: “A light has gone out in all our lives. The historical society, the walking festival, the active retired, housing for elderly, the IT centre, the community fitness hub. Keith rewinds to that first day, five or six himself, carrying a hurley through the gates of the Drombane pitch.

Hays County Crime Stoppers are offering a reward of $1,000 for information regarding the whereabouts of Izaak Michell. Michell is understood to hail from Adelaide and, according to Hays County Crime Stoppers, had been residing in Austin. He had also beaten Sebastian Attard to become the inaugural Subversion jiu-jitsu Invitational light heavyweight champion in March 2025. Gordon Ryan, a co-founder of the Kingsway stable, said on Instagram: ‘Izaak Michell is no longer training or affiliated in any way with our gym. Crime Stoppers are asking anyone who has information about Michell’s whereabouts to contact Hays County Crime Stoppers anonymously on 1-800-324-TIPS (8477) or submit their tip online at http://callcrimestoppers.com/ or by using the P3 Tips app.

Anna Geary and her husband Kevin Sexton have announced the birth of their second baby boy. The former camogie captain, broadcaster, and author posted to her Instagram account on Wednesday, sharing the happy news with a snap of her and her husband in the hospital with their new arrival.

St. Brigid's senior football manager, Anthony Cunningham, expects Brian Stack and Mark Daly to be fit for Sunday week's All-Ireland Club Senior Football Championship final against Dingle in Croke Park. However, at the team's press night in Kiltoom ahead of the final on Wednesday evening, Cunningham confirmed that both players were fine and should be available for selection. "Brian is fine, a bit sore and a bit stiff, but he'll be fine. He hasn't broken anything, so he'll be okay. He was a bit shook afterwards, but he'll be fine too."

Visitor numbers to Ireland saw a strong rebound in November with a 13% increase compared to the same period in 2024, but figures for the year still lag well behind, new data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows. In November, 460,300 foreign visitors completed a trip to Ireland in — representing an increase of around 52,600 compared to November 2024 and a 3% increase compared to November 2023. These visitors spent €347m on their trips, excluding fares, which is up 10%. Year-on-year, the number of visitors from Britain is up 7%, while visitor numbers from continental Europe grew 13% and North America rose 23%. In total, visitors to Ireland spent just over €5bn — 11% lower than the estimated spend of €5.7bn from January to November 2024.

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Maybe you turn the air conditioning on and stick your feet under the covers if they get a little chilly. Of course, the scrolling didn’t start straight away when I entered my hotel room. And then, of course, came the dance of the light switches. I’d never actually counted the number of light switches in a hotel room before but, at 21, the junior suite at the dated but comfortable hotel on the east coast of Tenerife has to be up there with the record setters. We had also packed a deck of Uno cards and we found one channel among the many French and German offerings on the hotel room telly that was showing Goodfellas in English on repeat.

For the last 27 years, many of my wishes have been directed at a free and democratic Venezuela. The reality in the country is unchanged: the same local authorities, military and institutions continue to exercise control. This creates destabilisation, increases radicalisation – including from those who do not support Maduro but who also don’t want their country “managed” by external powers. The idea that dramatic external actions automatically bring a democratic transition closer is horribly misplaced. For him it’s entertainmentOpens in new window ]Venezuelans have long called for international support in pursuing a democratic transition.

Grok, the AI chatbot that lives on the social network X, is a key component of Elon Musk's xAI venture. The Elon Musk-owned learned language model became the number one free app on the Apple store after more than a week of international coverage of its perverse ability to create intimate photographs of people without their consent and create child sex abuse imagery. But it seemed to be lethargic when the illegal images were being created by its own chatbot. The Government and the State agency encouraged anyone who witnessed such illegal content to report it. In short, the emergent threat of intimate and illegal AI images has created a situation where there is a very obvious problem with absolutely no obvious regulatory solution.

The Government will abolish the passenger cap at Dublin Airport through legislation later this year, the Taoiseach has said. Airport operator DAA has repeatedly called for the 32m annual passenger cap to be lifted, arguing that expanding Dublin Airport to 40m passengers a year is “in line with national aviation policy”. The complaint warned that enforcement of the cap could force American carriers to lose slots at Dublin Airport, which it said would be discriminatory. The memo bringing the legislation to Cabinet outlined the “importance of addressing the passenger cap at Dublin Airport and the challenges faced in securing timely permission for planning applications”. Under its 2007 planning permission, Dublin Airport is limited to handling 32 million passengers a year across both terminals.

Two internal, members-only hustings events are to take place within the party to allow contenders to engage directly with the membership. Speaking to media on Thursday morning, Mr Burrows responded saying “absolutely” when asked if he would welcome a contest for the role. “We describe ourselves as the most democratic party in Northern Ireland, but that doesn’t count if we always have coronations. Let’s have a conversation, let’s set out our visions, let’s give the members a choice, then let’s unite afterwards and go and fight the next election and start growing again. Mr Nesbitt, a former broadcast journalist, led the UUP between 2012 and 2017 but quit following a difficult Assembly election result.