Europe should reassess its relationships with Russia and China
Shuffling the pack of rivals, partners and adversariesOne of the criticisms Donald Trump’s National Security Strategy makes of Europe is about the war in Ukraine and the Europeans’ lack of enthusiasm for making peace with Vladimir Putin. Military deterrence is only effective as such if it is part of a broader diplomatic strategy but where Russia is concerned, Europe has abandoned direct diplomacy. Europe should also think again about its policy towards China, which has been subordinate to its relationship with Washington since 2019. This was when the EU identified China as a partner for co-operation, an economic competitor and a systemic rival. This was the logic behind the EU’s use of national security as a justification for following Washington’s lead in restricting the sale of high-end technology to China, including semiconductor equipment.
Source:The Irish Times
December 09, 2025 17:55 UTC
Lawyers, landlords and business people hit for €10m over failing to pay tax – The Irish Times
Lawyers, landlords and business people paid more than €10 million to the Revenue in the three months to September 30th for failing to pay tax, new figures show. Lawyers, landlords and business people paid more than €10 million to the Revenue in the three months to September 30th for failing to pay tax, new figures show. Revenue published its latest defaulters’ list on Tuesday, naming 30 people and businesses who paid more than €50,000 in tax, penalties and interest over the third quarter of the year. The agency noted that audits and other action to boost compliance yielded almost €177 million during the same three-month period. Days ago a prominent tax adviser said that social media influencers and content creators were concerned at the threat posed by making their addresses public.
Source:The Irish Times
December 09, 2025 17:40 UTC
Children with additional educational needs will not need assessment to access classes or schools
There are currently at least 18,000 people - the majority of them children - on a long waiting list for an assessment of need. Photograph: iStockChildren with additional educational needs will no longer need an assessment to access a special class or special school under reforms designed to cut years-long waiting lists for vulnerable children. Minister for Children Norma Foley on Tuesday announced that the Government will replace the existing assessment of need process with a new system. Ms Foley said she wanted to “sincerely acknowledge the commitment and passion” of Ms Darmody. “At the heart of this is children, children with disabilities, who need access to therapies.
Source:The Irish Times
December 09, 2025 17:04 UTC
Jewellery insurance: Having something insured for €20,000 doesn’t mean that’s what you’ll get back
A spokeswoman for Aviva says that when insuring any diamond jewellery you’ll need the diamond certificate, a detailed professional valuation as well as the purchase receipt. While an accurate valuation may offer you comfort, it doesn’t mean this is what an insurer will always pay out. Many of us, when we get a new piece of diamond jewellery, will add it to our home insurance policy. Firstly, according to a spokeswoman for Aviva, the amount your diamond ring is insured for is an “upper limit” of cover. Accepting a replacement ring, sourced by the insurer’s loss adjuster, is not an adequate settlement he says.
Source:The Irish Times
December 09, 2025 17:00 UTC
Ford to partner with Renault in Europe to build EVs
The deal with Renault is part of a wider effort by Ford to revive its fortunes in Europe. Photograph: Lukas Schulze/Getty ImagesRenault has agreed to partner with Ford to engineer and build electric vehicles for European markets, carrying the blue oval logo. Under the new arrangement, Ford will look after the design of the new EVs, and Renault will provide its new Ampere platform for small vehicles to develop the cars and vans, which are expected to be built in France. Together, we can create a powerhouse of light commercial vehicles in Europe. Alongside the Renault deal, Ford will continue to collaborate with Volkswagen in creating vans for Europe, while Renault already has other long-term alliances with Japanese brands Nissan and Mitsubishi, along with a separate deal with Chinese car giant Geely.
Source:The Irish Times
December 09, 2025 16:23 UTC
Investors increase bets on ECB rate rise in threat to dollar
Investors have increased bets that interest rates in the euro zone could rise next year even as the US continues to lower borrowing costs, in a shift that could further weigh on an already weak dollar. Swap markets pricing now implies that the European Central Bank (ECB) is more likely to increase rates in 2026 than cut them. Interest rates are currently lower in the euro zone and several other major economies than in the US — partly because of their slower growth. “Central banks around the world are gradually becoming more hawkish.”Bloomberg on Monday reported remarks from ECB board member Isabel Schnabel that she was “rather comfortable” with investor bets on a euro zone rate increase next year. The central bank has come under sustained pressure from President Donald Trump to lower borrowing costs.
Source:The Irish Times
December 09, 2025 15:40 UTC
Only top 20% of Irish earners can afford to rent an apartment, surveyors say
Photograph: iStockOnly the top 20 per cent of earners can afford to rent an average apartment built in Ireland in 2025, while just the top 40 per cent of earners can afford to buy one, according to a new analysis of their building costs and impact on affordability. To afford these apartments, a first-time buyer couple would require a combined salary of between €108,000 to €146,000, based on a 4:1 loan-to-income ratio. It comes as a CSO report on Monday found that 14.8 per cent of the population were deprived of basic needs this year. Deprivation is defined as living in a household that cannot afford two or more of the 11 basic deprivation items considered to be the norm. “The recent reform of the rent pressure zones will help but it will still take time for international investors to return.”
Source:The Irish Times
December 09, 2025 15:33 UTC
Patrick Freyne’s quest for the best Christmas sandwich in Dublin: ‘I give it five Santas out of five’
A Christmas sandwich is basically Christmas food between two slices of bread. Now a Christmas sandwich is not made with any Christmas food. A Christmas sandwich does not include freak yuletide fare, by which I mean Christmas pudding and Christmas cake, foods devised in a time of scarcity in order to preserve summer foods for winter. The Christmas sandwich is a phenomenon that should, in the proper course of events happen in the days after Christmas and be made out of leftovers. They see in my eyes the disappointed sadness of a slow carnivore and offer to make me a fresh Christmas sandwich.
Source:The Irish Times
December 09, 2025 15:30 UTC
Donald Trump allows Nvidia to sell powerful AI chip to China
Nvidia's H200 processor is about six times faster than the H20, which is currently the most advanced US-made chip Washington approves for export to China. Mr Trump said that the deal, which will require the company to pay 25 per cent of the cost of each chip to the United States treasury, would be extended to other American chip manufacturers. “We will protect national security, create American jobs, and keep America’s lead in AI,” Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. The H200 is more advanced than any AI chips available in China at present, including those made by Chinese manufacturers. Democrats on Capitol Hill criticised the decision to allow Nvidia to sell the H200 chip to China as throwing away the US advantage in critical AI technology.
Source:The Irish Times
December 09, 2025 15:22 UTC
Bob Vylan issue defamation proceedings against RTÉ over Glastonbury controversy
The group Bob Vylan are represented by Belfast firm Phoenix Law which filed two sets of defamation proceedings at the High Court. Photograph: Yui Mok/PAThe punk-rap group Bob Vylan have issued defamation proceedings against RTÉ over its reporting of the duo’s performance at the Glastonbury music festival this summer. Bob Vylan courted controversy this summer when, during a performance at Glastonbury, they led chants of “death, death to the IDF”, a reference to the Israel Defense Forces and the war in Gaza. Belfast legal firm Phoenix Law, which is representing both men, on Monday filed two sets of defamation proceedings at the High Court. A spokeswoman for RTÉ said: “RTÉ does not comment on legal matters.”
Source:The Irish Times
December 09, 2025 14:55 UTC
Parents upset after school declined hall request for secular event on first Communion day
Parents of seven children out of a group of 30 want them to be part of non-religious ceremony. Photograph: ThinkstockA group of parents said they were “shocked” and “feel discriminated against” after a Catholic school initially declined their request to use the premises for a non-religious ceremony. Parents of children attending St Laurence O’Toole’s in Roundwood, Co Wicklow, had hoped to use the hall there for a secular ceremony in May to coincide with the school’s First Holy Communion ceremony, though the request was declined last month. Last month, she was told by the chair of the school’s board of management that the board “could not agree to your request”. Neither the school nor its board of management responded, but the Archdiocese of Dublin said it had advised the school last week to allow the ceremony to be held in the school hall.
Source:The Irish Times
December 09, 2025 14:31 UTC
The Irish Times view on apartment development: State is running to stand still
The cost of developing apartments in Ireland continues to rise yet further, according to the latest research from the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI). This is perhaps no surprise given the level of general inflation, but the point is that the increases are taking place from already high levels. Total development costs of around €530,000 for a lower-range apartment mean that when the developer’s margin is added, the price is unaffordable except for those on high incomes. Many developments are sold for buy-to-rent – which provides a guaranteed purchaser and thus helps financing – but the price paid guarantees high rental levels. All the State investment is, in other words , having an impact, though levels of new supply remain well below what is needed.
Source:The Irish Times
December 09, 2025 10:32 UTC
Netflix casts an unhappy chill over Hollywood
Stranger Things has been among the biggest Netflix hits, but now the streaming giant is planning to buy Warner Bros. The antitrust actions that fractured the old studio system in the mid-20th century remain foundational to any understanding of how Hollywood works today. The major studios not only produced and distributed films, they owned large theatre chains, exerting control over every step of a film’s commercial life. Independent producers, no longer blocked from national exhibition, carved out space for films that diverged from the major studios’ formulas. Unlike Netflix, Paramount is seeking to buy the entire company, including cable TV assets like CNN and the Discovery Channel.
Source:The Irish Times
December 09, 2025 09:54 UTC
Majority of companies paid by State to accommodate international protection applicants do not report on profits
Figures from the Department of Children, Disability and Equality show the State paid €285.4 million on international protection and related costs in July-September. They include Brimwood Unlimited, which received €3.11 million in three months, and JMA Ventures, which received €2.69 million. Kintrona, whose directors include Tony O’Neill of Cork and John Crean of Portlaoise, received €6.33 million from the department. Heronwell Unlimited, whose shareholders include Damien Bateman of Portmarnock, Dublin, received €4.67 million in three months. Townbe Unlimited, whose directors include Paul Collins of Bandon, Co Cork, received €3.56 million.
Source:The Irish Times
December 09, 2025 09:48 UTC
Uber in Dublin: Are taxi fares about to become a lot cheaper?
Dublin Taxi drivers protesting against Uber in the city centre last month during rush hour. The global transportation giant has started offering Irish customers fixed rates when they book a taxi trip through its app. The first Friday before Christmas may well be a difficult time to find a taxi driver. Traffic is light for a late Friday afternoon – and the metered fare actually turns out cheaper than the advertised fixed fare: €18 instead of €20.20. “We’ve been asked to sit down, have a negotiation and see if we can sort things out,” says Taxi Drivers Ireland spokesman Derek O’Keefe.
Source:The Irish Times
December 09, 2025 09:48 UTC