Finance Minister John O’Dowd claimed the £17 million funding would only equate to £35 per household using home heating oil in the region, which he described as “extremely disappointing”. On Monday, Sir Keir Starmer confirmed Northern Ireland will receive a £17 million share of a £53 million package in support of heating oil costs that have risen due to the war in the Middle East. Sir Keir Starmer confirmed Northern Ireland will receive a £17 million package in support of home heating oil costs (Brian Lawless/PA)Around two-thirds of homes in Northern Ireland use home heating oil compared with the UK average of just more than 5%. “If the Government are serious about reflecting the need of home heating oil in Northern Ireland that should be much more than that, so I will be querying that with Treasury and also it needs to be targeted,” she said. Facing a Stormont committee on Monday, Sinn Fein Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald accused the DUP of “peddling mistruth and misinformation” in relation to energy bill support funding.

On the hard days, it is often strangers who offer you the most unexpected but necessary support. A passing word from a passerby can make or break you on a morning where everything has gone awry. That, and our love of thanking bus drivers, which no other nationality has done in the history of the world, ever. Honestly, though I never did smoke, I am considering taking it up, because a packet of cigarettes would be cheaper. And, with that, our interaction ended, leaving me to think about this stranger’s good deed for the next six or seven years.

Gardaí are appealing for witnesses after a cyclist died in a traffic collision in Dublin early on Monday afternoon. Emergency services were called to the scene and the male cyclist, who was aged in his 70s, was pronounced dead at the scene. The scene in Balbriggan was being preserved for a technical examination by Garda Forensic Collision Investigators and the road is currently closed. Anyone with information is asked to contact Balbriggan Garda Station on (01) 666 4500, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station. Anyone with information is asked to contact Cahir Garda Station on 052 744 5630, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station.

Educational technology (EdTech) arrived in the early 2000s with promises of personalised learning, limitless information, and seamless communication. Unesco and the Education Endowment Foundation (2024) similarly note that educational technology has mixed effects and depends heavily on the quality of implementation. Growth still depends on nurturing attention, memory, and effort, internal skills that are being displaced by digital tools. However, for children whose cognitive wiring is still developing, reliance on digital tools can hinder the development of cognitive skills. Cooney-Horvath says that digital tools are not neutral because they are engineered for speed, stimulation, and instant feedback.

Video: Heartbroken mother fights back tears as she opens up on tragic death of her daughter who was shot by her own dad, revealing family has been left 'traumatised' by her lossA heartbroken mother fought back the tears on Monday's episode of Good Morning Britain as she opened up on the tragic death of her daughter who was shot by her own dad. Jane Coates spoke to presenters Susanna Reid and Ed Balls about the loss of her daughter Lucy Harrison, 23, who died while visiting her dad Kris in Texas with her boyfriend Sam in January last year.

A cyclist, aged in his 70s, has died following a collision in Balbriggan, Dublin today. The incident between a truck and a cyclist occurred Dublin Street (R132), Balbriggan at about 12.40pm. The scene remains preserved for technical examination by Garda Forensic Collision Investigators and the road is currently closed. Stock imageNews in 90 Seconds - Monday, March 16 2026Road users with camera footage (including dash-cam) who were travelling in the area of Dublin Street (R132), Balbriggan, Co. Dublin on Monday 16th March 2026 between 12:00pm and 1:00pm are asked to make this footage available to investigating Gardaí. Anyone with information is asked to contact Balbriggan Garda Station on (01) 666 4500, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station.

Galway’s favourite chip shop Prátaí reborn as Chipeen as brothers land Guinness Storehouse debutGalway chip shop favourites Barney and Joe Gaughan have rebranded Prátaí as Chipeen, unveiling a new retro look while keeping the same Irish double‑fried chips that made them a local sensationJoe and Barney Gaughan. Photo: Patrick McHughErika Sassone Yesterday at 16:00When the hand‑painted sign went up on 27 Shop Steet, in Galway city, even Barney and Joe Gaughan’s dad – who until that day firmly considered himself “team Prátaí” – had to admit the new look is something special.

When Man Utd can confirm Champions League return as top four race intensifies READ MORE :JOIN US ON FACEBOOK! Latest news, analysis and much more on Mirror Football's Facebook page‌Sutton said on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club: "He's done OK, but he's had his day. If Manchester United really want to move forward as a club Casemiro isn't the future. If he wants £350,000 to be good in the dressing room I don't think they will pay that. It's not always simple as keep him because he's good in the dressing room.

The World Anti-Doping Agency will discuss a potential rule to bar President Donald Trump from major international sporting events Tuesday - even if they take place on American soil. WADA spokesman James Fitzgerald said the rule, if passed, would not bar Trump from this summer's World Cup, the LA Olympics in 2028 or the Salt Lake City Games in 2032 because it would 'not (be) applied retroactively.' The next meeting of the Foundation Board, which would make the ultimate decision, is not scheduled until November, four months after the World Cup final in New Jersey. Vance and members of Congress, who recently approved hundreds of millions in funding for security and other logistics for the World Cup and LA Games. The ONDCP and Congress under both the Trump and Biden administrations have withheld the payments to WADA.

Enda Smith has been named in the GAA.ie Team of the Week for the third time this season. His inclusion comes after he also made the team following Roscommon's victories over Monaghan and Armagh. Following the Boyle man’s virtuoso display against Donegal in King and Moffatt Dr Hyde Park on Sunday last, he has also been shortlisted for the GAA.ie’s Player of the Week. Kerry’s Seánie O’Shea and Jack O’Connor of Meath are also nominated for Player of the Week. To vote for Smith, head over to the GAA's official Instagram page and like the image of the Boyle man.

China has warned that US president Donald Trump’s latest tariff moves could harm the countries’ trade relationship, at the end of high-level talks in Paris. “We are concerned that the possible results of such investigations may interfere with or damage the hard-won and stable China-US economic and trade relations,” Mr Li told journalists. The meeting was meant to prepare for Mr Trump’s planned trip to China in about two weeks, though the president has warned that it could be delayed. Mr Li did not address that, and did not take questions. Mr Trump’s visit to China would be the first for a US president since he went in his first term in 2017.

Tolka Park was buzzing for a Dublin derby that ignited ten minutes beforehand with the absence of Damien Duff clearly not improving relations between the respective management teams. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Shels had switched to a back four so the teams operated very similar set-ups and effectively cancelled each other out. Devoy was naturally at the heart of it and his stoppage time effort was pushed away by Speel. Leigh Kavanagh involved in a shoving matchMore words were exchanged between the benches at the end with Reynolds and Shels goalkeeping coach Paul Skinner lingering the longest.

Recently, prompted by several factors including the ever-growing piles of books littering my home, I rejoined the public library. In the book, published in 2019, Thorn quotes from her diaries while revisiting her adolescence in a green belt town outside London in the 1970s. The second book I borrowed, Dorothy L Sayers: A Careless Rage for Life, by David Coomes, was published in 1992. One aspect of using public libraries is that a lot of the books on offer have been around for a while. Sayers was an English writer and public intellectual who produced a much-admired translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy.

If the Government can’t say that a war is illegal, how can it decide whether to deploy troops to it? The Triple Lock is fit for purposeThe Triple Lock is a safeguard that governs Irish troop deployment overseas. The Triple Lock has served Ireland well, keeping it out of illegal wars. Although legal guardrails around troop deployment make good sense, the Government is in the process of removing them, arguing the Triple Lock is "no longer fit for purpose". Without the Triple Lock, there would be no legal impediment to Ireland deploying alongside our ‘like-minded partners’ on any of these overseas missions.

The expansion of Israeli occupation and its bombing of Lebanon will devastate people there who had not yet recovered from the last wave of violence. Ordinary people bear the brunt of the consequences of this long-term failure to stop violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Lebanon. More than 30,000 members of the Defence Forces have served in Unifil since 1978, many forming deep ties with the communities of South Lebanon. Forced displacement in South LebanonWhen forced displacement happens in South Lebanon, it happens in places Ireland knows intimately — Naqoura, Tibnin, At Tiri — and has built trust in. Three generations of Irish peacekeepers have maintained a presence on the hills of South Lebanon; the least we can do is ensure that the communities who welcomed them are not abandoned.