SuperValu to exit longstanding Getaway Breaks programme next week to ‘focus on new benefits’. Irish retailer SuperValu will exit its long-standing Getaway Breaks programme which was previously run in partnership with travel company Digibreaks, the company has said. In a statement to The Irish Times, SuperValu confirmed it will be exiting the Getaway Breaks programme from December 15th. The partnership will formally end at the start of January, but all Getaway Breaks vouchers will continue to be accepted and honoured “as usual”. SuperValu said the website for their Getaway Breaks programme will redirect to a new site for Getaways Ireland, the new branding for the programme under Digibreaks.

Footage released by the US department of homeland security shows US forces seizing an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. Video: ReutersUS forces have seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, in a major escalation of Donald Trump’s four-month pressure campaign against the South American country’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro, whose government called the seizure “an act of international piracy”. The grainy, unclassified 45-second video shows US forces landing on the tanker from a helicopter. In an accompanying statement, Bondi said the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and the US coast guard, with support from the department of defense, had “executed a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran”. The objective of this week’s reported tanker seizure was not immediately clear.

On an annual basis, prices accelerated last month at the fastest pace since February 2024, with education, clothing, and food prices all contributing to the headline consumer price index (CPI) increase. Food prices have increased due to higher global prices for a range of staples like cocoa and coffee beans amid weather-related disruption to agriculture and supply chains. Thomas Pugh, chief economist at RSM UK and RSM Ireland, said the decline in food price inflation from 4.5 per cent 4.3 per cent is “good news”. Prices in this category accounted for almost 18 per cent of the headline 3.2 per cent increase in the CPI. Energy prices, which have fallen sharply after spiking in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, remain elevated and have underpinned consumer price inflation this year.

The strategy is openly supportive of what are called “patriotic” forces in Europe, which is code for the radical right. Europe cannot rely on the US as a stable or supportive power in either trade or security. This has exposed the incomplete nature of Europe’s power resources. With either or both of these resources, you can engage in hard power politics. Russia is not just fighting a war in Ukraine, but is committed to the destabilisation of Europe by deploying its hybrid war toolkit.

Wolf Alice3Arena, Dublin★★★★☆Storm Bram has done its best to keep Wolf Alice from the door. But this ultimately superb – if underattended – Dublin show is nearly derailed by the elements. Cancelled ferry crossings mean the opening acts can’t make it, while Wolf Alice’s tour trucks arrive late. That Wolf Alice have an eye on the big time is evident from their staging. But Wolf Alice have turned disaster into triumph, and by the time they’re played off with Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody they’ve delivered a few thunderbolts of their own during a scintillating gig.

SuperValu is exiting its long-standing Getaway Breaks programme, which is part of its Real Rewards customer loyalty scheme. Irish retailer SuperValu will exit its long-standing Getaway Breaks programme, which was previously run in partnership with travel company Digibreaks and operated as part of its Real Rewards customer loyalty programme. Cantillon also offers a view on Ireland’s vicious housing circle, which involves high costs and high rents. Ciara O’Brien’s tech review road tests Orbit x Glasses – a tag that helps you find your spectacles. Our Innovator to Watch this week is an Irish AI start-up that aims to cut hiring time by weeks.

64 Wine      Address : 64 Glasthule Road, Glasthule, Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, A96 TH22 Telephone : 01 280 5664 Cuisine : Modern International Website : https://64wine.ie/ Opens in new window Cost : €€There are wine bottles everywhere. The space reads more as a wine shop – as you’d expect in 64 Wine in Glasthule, one of the country’s most highly awarded wine shops – than as a restaurant. A large vintage-style clock hangs over the pass, and the counter is dotted with scales and containers, giving the sense of a working kitchen embedded inside a wine shop. Who’s behind them?Opens in new window ]64 Wine – a shop, wine bar and restaurant, where diners sit within arm’s reach of stock, cooking, and service – is one of the most glorious neighbourhood restaurants you are likely to find, except for the table by the door, which appears to fall off the staff’s map entirely. Earlier this year 64 Wine opened another wine shop in Mount Merrion, and there are plans for a wine bar and cafe to open in Easter 2026.

Photograph: Dara Mac DónaillThe disruption caused by Storm Bram highlights the need for firms to assess risks “holistically” as businesses are beginning to view weather and natural disasters as a bigger threat to business, according to a new survey by Aon. The primary risk concerning Irish businesses is the threat of cyber attacks and data breaches, according to a new survey, with 93 per cent of businesses having a plan in place to address the threat. Rachael Ingle, the chief executive of Aon Ireland, said there are “big megatrends” impacting Irish businesses, namely weather, workforce, trade and technology. She said these risks are “interconnected and converging”, citing the impact of Storm Bram in recent days as an example of the need for companies to evaluate risks “holistically”. She said means that Irish companies and decision makers should model and plan for these risks, which contributed to 44 per cent of companies suffering a loss in financial performance.

“Research Ireland is funding huge amounts of PhDs to be trained, but they’re leaving afterwards because there isn’t an incentive to stay. “They don’t have the residency and visa to be able to do that, so they move abroad.”For Hines, the bottlenecks are clear: housing and visas, but most of all, AI infrastructure. Ireland’s AI talent retention challenges come just as the European Union’s AI Act – the world’s first comprehensive attempt to regulate artificial intelligence – begins to take effect. The Act is intended not only to set guardrails for companies, but also to signal Europe’s determination to shape the culture of AI research itself. During the event, Canadian computer scientist Richard Sutton urged young researchers to ignore debates about regulation and ethics and just “focus on developing the AI”.

Images taken by a European Union satellite last week shortly before the sighting of five rogue drones in Dublin Bay show the nearby presence of a “dark vessel”, which appeared to be trying to hide its location. Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan has said the drones “were for the purpose of putting pressure on EU and Ukrainian interests”. Zelensky Photograph: Alan Betson / The Irish TimesGiven their location, there are strong suspicions the drones were launched from a ship in the Irish Sea rather than from land. The presence of the unidentified ship shortly before the incident is a vital clue for investigators from An Garda Síochána’s Special Detective Unit, the section investigating the drones incident. Taoiseach Micheál Martin told the Dáil on Wednesday the presence of the drones was a “very concerning incident” similar to incidents in other EU states.

But for the very most part, finding an elected official with a proficiency in the humour, grammar and vocabulary of social media is rare. You do not have to spend the same amount of hours on Simon Harris’s TikTok account as I did to work this out. And with apologies to Harris, because he is not the only – in fact, far from the worst – perpetrator of bad social media practice. Oh don’t worry, it’s only the 2.2 million Irish TikTok users who might see that! Social media operates in a chatty vernacular, a lax cadence, whatever you want to call it.

The target date for the full delivery of the military radar programme is set for 2028. Photograph: Alan BetsonNew anti-drone capabilities will be available if needed as part of security arrangements for Ireland’s presidency of the EU in the second half of next year, the Minister for Defence is expected to announce on Thursday. It is understood Helen McEntee will say a budget of €19 million will be provided for a counter unmanned aerial system to be procured for the Defence Forces. The aim is to have the system available to the Defence Forces by the middle of next year. The target date for the full delivery of the military radar programme is set for 2028.

Ireland’s limited ability to diversify away from gas-fired generation reduces the scope for wholesale price reductions, the committee has heard. Photograph: iStockThe reason for Ireland’s high electricity prices is “difficult to establish”, the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has said. Citing Eurostat data, the ESRI said Irish electricity prices have fallen in the last two years, from their 2023 peak, but the decline has been less than in many other European countries. [ Wholesale electricity prices down 18.5% but consumers still facing high billsOpens in new window ]“Possible explanations include fewer risk-mitigation options and weaker competition in the Irish market. He identified “reliance on imported fossil fuels, particularly gas, for electricity generation,” as a driver of higher energy costs.

Garda Dara Kelly on Wednesday said he compiled CCTV footage taken from three houses on Drumcairn Avenue and a Ring doorbell attached to Mr Murphy’s house. On arrival at Mr Murphy’s house, Ronan entered the driveway, activating lights in Mr Murphy’s van, the witness said. Garda Cullen agreed with Mr Kennedy that Mr Murphy was polite and courteous at all times. When Det Insp Houlihan knocked on the front door, Mr Murphy’s partner answered and said Mr Murphy was in bed. Det Insp Houlihan noted Mr Murphy appeared nervous and did not seem like someone who had just woken up.

Ms O’Kelly had said, to maintain good family relations, she permitted Raymond to live there under licence. When her brother refused to leave, Ms O’Kelly went to court acting on her own behalf or as executor and trustee under her father’s will. When Raymond had not left by that date, the Dublin County Sheriff took possession of the house and delivered possession to Ms O’Kelly. Grellan O’Kelly, as personal representative of the estate of Ms O’Kelly, was later substituted for his deceased sister as plaintiff. Raymond McGovern had to get an extension of time to appeal and, having got that, did “absolutely nothing” to prosecute his appeal, the judge said.