December 2025 sees many houses are selling at least 10 per cent over asking, according to a myhome.ie report. AprilEaster eggs are likely to cost up to 50 per cent more this year than they did last year, Which? Photograph: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesWorldpanel records a 5.4 per cent rate of grocery inflation suggesting the cost of living crisis is worsening again. The average health insurance premium is up 8 per cent since the beginning of 2025, according to the Health Insurance Authority. Irish consumers faced climbing house prices, grocery price inflation and health insurance premiums

Gianluca Pagliuca takes the ball out of the net after Ray Houghton put Ireland 1-0 up against Italy during the USA World Cup in June 1994. Highlighting the “groundswell of support for our team”, he said Irish fans traditionally travel in great numbers. “Against this background, we are very concerned that there should be an adequate supply of tickets for Irish supporters planning to travel to World Cup ’94. Separate files outline the amount of public money spent for government ministers and other officials to go to World Cup games. The file noted that, given the “one-off nature” of World Cup trips, the comptroller and auditor general spending watchdog was likely to closely examine records.

Aluminium, copper, lithium, nickel - Europe’s e-waste mountain now hides one million tonnes of these critical raw materials every year. Half of consumers in Ireland don’t realise the materials in their old electrical and electronic appliances contain critical raw materials. Aluminium, copper, lithium, nickel - Europe’s e-waste mountain now hides one million tonnes of these critical raw materials every year. This is leaving a hidden hoard of critical raw materials gathering dust. With the Critical Raw Materials Act (2024) the EU has set a benchmark that a quarter of annual demand for critical materials is met by recycling by 2030.

I remember when plastic bags were going to save the trees we were chopping down to make paper. I thought I’d take my dilemmas about the effects of plastic chopping boards over their dilemmas about whether the children would have enough to eat tomorrow, any time. The thing is, I said to my son, however awful the state of the world, more people are living longer and healthier and probably happier lives now than ever before. In many times and places, I’d just be trying to survive war, famine and/or disease. There are happier and healthier countries than Ireland (a narrower rich-poor divide is usually a sign), but most aren’t.

President Mary Robinson’s presence at commemorations in Paris in 1995 to mark the defeat of Nazi Germany would not conflict with Ireland’s neutrality, a senior Department of Foreign Affairs official advised. French president Francois Mitterand had invited Robinson and Fine Gael taoiseach John Bruton to so-called VE Day commemorations, along with the leaders of other states neutral in the second World War, including Sweden and Switzerland and Austria. “The issue of attendance at such commemoration ceremonies, remembrance days, etc, has always been a sensitive one,” noted the head of Foreign Affairs’ political division, Richard Townsend. “Ireland’s neutrality in World War II and sensitivities in the Anglo-Irish context have led governments in the past to decline such invitations,” he said, though feelings on the issue “have abated somewhat in recent years”. Foreign Affairs would have “no objection” to it taking part, but that this decision was only arrived after Irish diplomats in Paris made contact with “other neutral States, namely Sweden, Switzerland and Austria”.

In September, publishing his Government’s National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said “unequivocally disability is a priority” for his Government. Who is going to prove them wrong?”Mr Anderson is not alone in feeling there are significant barriers to disabled people accessing employment. Photograph: Sam Boal/Collins PhotosIreland has one of the lowest rates of employment among disabled people in Europe – standing at 32.6 per cent compared with an EU average of 51.3 per cent. The Government’s national human rights strategy for disabled people is guided by obligations the State must meet under international human rights law, makes three commitments on employment. “It’s a human rights issue.” For him it would mean “purpose, routine, financial independence.

Neptune get huge derby winNeptune showed amazing heart on Saturday as they easily beat Demons in Neptune Stadium. Demons’ disasterIn so many ways it was a disastrous derby for Demons. Demons need this loss to be a catalyst for change. Ballincollig win cup dress rehearsal 81-75Ballincollig got a good test from Limerick Celtics ahead of the two teams facing off next weekend in the Cup. With four wins and eight losses, they are only two games above Demons.

‘It feels like you’re flying sometimes’ – heaven is a halfpipe for freestyle skier Ben Lynch as he chases Olympic dreamDublin-born and Vancouver-raised, the 23-year-old switched allegiance to Ireland last year in a bid to compete at Milano Cortina 2026Ben Lynch is in the mix to qualify for the Winter Olympics in Italy next FebruarySinéad Kissane Yesterday at 19:00Legendary American freestyle skier Glen Plake once said the best skier on the mountain is the one having the most fun. And there’s a skier hoping to represent Ireland at the Winter Olympics in two months’ time who would thoroughly agree.

Carol O'Donovan on grief abroad: 'There’s a thing that happens when you wake up and find yourself to be a foreigner.' My parents enjoyed travelling and had an “anything is possible if you try hard enough” attitude. ‘There’s a thing that happens when you get that call that every foreigner dreads / When your world ends and spins and spins and you’re dizzy...’The grief was crippling. It must be hard to grieve parents while seeing memories of them round every corner, but it is a different kind of hard to grieve your people in a world that never knew they existed. Would you like to share your experience with Irish Times Abroad, something interesting about your life or your perspective as an emigrant?

After university, she worked as a presenter on several radio stations, including Cork’s RedFM, WLR in Waterford and Tipp FM. She co-hosts the radio show Lorraine & Ross in the Morning, 6am-9am weekdays, on Cork’s 96FM. He does melancholy so well, that moody, heart-breaking sound; equally, he does bright, uplifting and Shiny Happy People so well. Annie MacWhen I first came across Annie Mac, she was doing a Sunday night show with Nick Grimshaw on BBC radio. We’ve had the hosts, PJ Kirby and Kevin Twomey, on our radio show a couple of times.

Baby loss: ‘I just felt as a dad, I was sort of being ignored after my baby died – and by not talking, I let it happen’

Brigitte Bardot in the Vatican in 1995. Publicity portrait of French actress Brigitte Bardot, 1963. The bust of Marianne represents former French actress Brigitte Bardot and the slogan reads "French Republic, Liberty, Equality, Fraternity". "This is my only battle, the only direction I want to give my life," Bardot said in 2013. Brigitte Bardot kisses a stray dog during a visit to the Bucharest dog pound.

Two men, aged in their 80s, have died in a house fire in rural Co Sligo. The fire service, the National Ambulance Service and the gardaí responded to an emergency call to the property at around 11am. The farmhouse is on a small holding between the seaside village of Enniscrone and the surfing village of Easkey. Stock imageNews in 90 Seconds - December 28th 2025"Gardaí are investigating a fatal house fire that occurred in Co. Sligo,” gardaí said in a statement. “Two males, aged in their 80s, were pronounced deceased at the scene.

Fishamble is the only Irish theatre company to receive a Laurence Olivier Award, the highest award in British theatre, equivalent to the BAFTAs for television. The publicity was such that there was dark muttering in thespian circles that it might have been, er, staged. In any given year, half of all new plays produced in Ireland come out of the Fishamble hit factory. In a welcome address, Ireland’s Ambassador to India, Kevin Kelly, highlighted the shared history of India and Ireland and their common struggle for independence from the British Empire. The pair are already at work on a new solo show, which Kinevane hopes to perform in 2027.

Aryna Sabalenka in action against Nick Kyrgios during The 'Battle of the Sexes' exhibition match. Photo: PA WireNick Kyrgios (right) hugs Aryna Sabalenka after victory in the The 'Battle of the Sexes' exhibition match at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Nick Kyrgios took victory in the controversial ‘Battles of the Sexes’ as he beat women’s world number one Aryna Sabalenka 6-3 6-3 in Dubai. Kyrgios looked tired but still prevailed as he mixed power with his usual array of unorthodox shots that kept Sabalenka guessing. “I think it was a great level, I made a lot of great shots, moved a lot to the net, drop shots.