The Government is planning a crackdown on “bogus” English language schools that are acting as a “convenient backdoor for immigration”, the higher education minister has said. James Lawless has said while there are good examples of English language schools across the country, some are acting as a “tick box exercise” to allow people to get work permits. “The quality mark, I suppose, will weed out any providers that are substandard or maybe gaming the system,” he said. It will be rolled out for all colleges and universities which take in international students, Mr Lawless added. Mr Lawless said the levy paid will go back into the higher education sector, being collected against a percentage of student intake.

Fair Seas Ireland’s long-promised network of Marine Protected Areas (MPA) is inching forward at a painfully slow pace. MPAs are areas of our seas and coasts designed to legally protect nature in our seas from activities that damage them. This is just the first step in drafting the necessary legislation to designate and manage marine protected areas in Irish waters. Jack O'Donovan Trá: 'Ireland has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to design an MPA network that avoids the pitfalls seen elsewhere.' Ireland now has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to design an MPA network that avoids the pitfalls seen elsewhere.

Yes, we’ve said that we will support Ukraine for as long as it takes. We need to recognize that Ukraine can win and that a Ukrainian victory is in the interests of the geopolitical West. Ukraine has deprived Russia of control of the sky, and Ukraine has held Russia to an effective stalemate on the ground: in fact, Ukraine today controls more of its own territory than it did immediately after Russia’s full-scale incursion. Ukraine has held out for so long because of its own military innovation and arms from the West. And Western military support for Ukraine is limited more by money than by political will.

Athlone’s Pat Stokes, centre of picture, with his European championships bronze medal, and in front, his three younger brothers, at John Noe Nevin’s Mullingar Shuffler Gym after his success in Germany. European bronze medal for young Athlone boxerThere was quite a welcome recently at Olympic boxer John Joe Nevin’s gym in Mullingar for Athlone teenager Pat Stokes, who made Ireland proud at the Under-17 European Boxing Championships in Germany. Competing in the 46kg division, Stokes battled through tough competition to secure a bronze medal, marking a major achievement in his young career. The Under-17 European Championships, held in Kienbaum near Berlin, brought together the continent’s top youth boxers, with competitors from more than 30 countries vying for medals. Although Nevin’s gym only opened this year, it has already seen its members win five Irish titles, with Stokes’ European bronze adding to its growing reputation.

The Government was dubious about the offer of a $1bn investment in the Whitegate oil refinery and Whiddy Island oil terminal in Cork from a group of Saudi investors in the mid-1990s because the plans were “sketchy", while their advisors showed a “lack of technical and business competence”. As part of their plans, they proposed to transfer crude oil shipped to Whiddy via a pipeline to Whitegate. File Picture: Denis MinihaneHowever, a Saudi banker advising the group had not passed on Mr Cowen’s letter. The ambassador also pointed out that the group’s advisers had not been impressive and some of their information had been incorrect. Ultimately the Government announced in March 1995 that the INPC was investing IR£18m to restore the Whiddy oil terminal following a devastating fire at the facility in 1979.

There are signs of trouble ahead between the US and the EU on the issue of regulation of big tech. The US is also targeting the Digital Markets Act which aims to curb monopolistic practices. It is being driven in large part by the big US digital tech companies but also a US desire to allow platforms to promote Trump’s far-right agenda in Europe. Ireland, as the European home of many US digital tech firms, will be at the centre of this developing row. Some of these firms are already lobbying the Government and it is quite possible that Irish regulators could be targeted.

However files released to National Archives at Kew, west London, show that Mr Blair rejected his request for intelligence-sharing insisting the UK had to protect the confidentiality of it sources. Instead the Irish leader had to settle for an assurance that the British ambassador would brief his officials if any threat to Sellafield was uncovered. Writing to Mr Blair following the March 2004 coordinated bomb attacks by Islamist extremists on the Madrid commuter network which left 193 dead, Mr Ahern said it underlined the “ruthlessness and determination” of global terrorists. “I understand your concerns to safeguard the integrity of sensitive information about nuclear facilities and the need to guard against detailed information on the design and nature of nuclear facilities falling into dangerous hands. Mr Ahern was still unhappy, complaining that while he understood the need to protect intelligence sources “the protection of the lives and health of our citizens should have priority”.

The files show that the Northern Ireland Courts Service had set up a working group in 2004 to consider the use of Irish in courts and tribunals as part of the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages. Judith Gillespie was an assistant chief constable in the PSNI in 2004 (Paul Faith/PA)This included opening a consultation process including the judiciary, legal professional bodies, public bodies and Irish language groups. It added: “In terms of the use of a particular minority language, Irish, this may give rise to the question why other languages should not be accorded the same facilities. The response concluded: “In the balance of rights we would have to express concerns that the impact of such a demand will have an adverse impact on the provision of a legal process that is fair and timely. She said: “I feel that even for an Irish language court there would still be a need to use translators and interpreters for Irish to English to assist court officials and police officers who are not Irish speakers.

As part of the annual release of previously confidential Government files from the National Archives of Ireland, it has been revealed that there were concerns over a “risk of suicide” around Stakeknife. The document, stamped “seen by Taoiseach”, came days after Mr Scappiticci was named in several media outlets – with the inquiry official seemingly corroborating the reports. Further asked if there were “health and safety concerns” for Stakeknife, the inspector said it was “not our concern” and that “MI5 and the PSNI are presumably looking after him”. Mr Scappaticci was arrested, interviewed under caution, and files on him were submitted to the director of public prosecutions for Northern Ireland. UK authorities have declined to officially identify Stakeknife, a position described by Mr Boutcher as “untenable and bordering on farce”.

The powersharing institutions were established following the 1998 Good Friday Agreement and ministers held their first Executive meeting in December the following year. Then Northern Ireland secretary Peter Mandelson (PA)However, in February 2000 the institutions were suspended by then Secretary of State Peter Mandelson due to a lack of progress on IRA decommissioning. After a statement from the IRA pledging to put arms “completely and verifiably” beyond use, the Assembly and Executive were restored in May 2000. The paper said: “Northern Ireland is on the cusp of a new beginning. “It is a beginning that offers the real prospect of enduring political stability and self-government.

It includes a note from the executive secretariat which said there had been discussion at the previous executive meeting on January 11 about the flying of the Union flag from official buildings. The legal advice from Denis McCartney from the departmental solicitors’ office said he had “not been able to find any statutory provision relating to the flying of the Union flag”. He said research going back to 1927 indicated “it would appear that the flying of the Union flag was regarded as a prerogative matter”. But the lawyer added: “Whatever the status of this command in Great Britain, it is drafted in terms which disregard the constitutional arrangements for Northern Ireland. Later in the month the powersharing executive was suspended by then Northern Ireland secretary Peter Mandelson due to a lack of progress on IRA decommissioning.

The UK Government had published a consultation document in April which included plans for Asbos, which had already been introduced in England and Wales. Sinn Fein wrote to then NI secretary Paul Murphy over proposed anti-social behaviour laws in 2004 (PA)A Sinn Fein briefing document attached to the letter set out the concerns. It said the experience of Asbos in England and Wales showed they “have been used mainly against young people”. “Given the sectarian make-up of the PSNI and given the past and current abuse of power by a significant number of district councils, Sinn Fein has no confidence that Asbos will be implemented in a fair and impartial manner. “It has been demonstrated that restorative justice approaches are much more likely to be successful in tackling low level anti-social behaviour.

Putin has shown no inclination of moving away from his stated goals, despite Trump’s most recent assertion that a deal is “95%” at hand. You can tell us hereThe last post in DenmarkThe Danish postal service will today deliver its final letter, ending a tradition which has spanned more than 400 years. The announcement of the cessation was made earlier this year when PostNord, an amalgamation of the Swedish and Danish postal services, said it would cut 1,500 jobs and remove 1,500 red post-boxes amid the “increasing digitalisation” of Danish society. The downside of this arrangement is that customers will have to go to a Dao shop to post letters, or pay extra to have them collected from home. Danish postal services have been ongoing since 1624 and, while the Irish equivalent has not been operational quite as long, it would be a set-back for many if it were to end the same way.

ChatGPT creator OpenAI is hiring a “head of preparedness” as it looks to deal with the dangers of artificial intelligence. OpenAI has sometimes been accused of inflating the power and danger of its technology as a way of promoting its tools and encouraging investment. Several parents have already sued OpenAI after their children took their own lives after using the service. The new job will “expand, strengthen, and guide this program so our safety standards scale with the capabilities of the systems we develop,” according to OpenAI’s ad. The job will come with a salary of $555,000 as well as equity in OpenAI, according to the same ad.

The newly released State Papers relating to the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s illuminate the multiple difficulties associated with bringing the Troubles to an end. In 1983, the British ambassador in Ireland, Alan Goodison, suggested there was “a raw nerve which never sleeps” in Anglo-Irish relations. A memorandum from that year by Seán Donlon, the secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs, noted “the inadequacy of the unilateral British approach” to Northern Ireland. Given that in recent weeks legal action has been launched against the Irish State on behalf of some bereaved families over its alleged failure to carry out an “effective investigation” into those bombings, these State papers are clearly relevant to issues that remain contentious and unresolved. Given the consequences of that dark era it remains incumbent on us to understand the depth of the challenges encountered, and the shadows the legacies still cast.