15 brilliant short books to get you back in the habit of reading
Here’s the good news: reading books doesn’t just improve our attention spans, it helps reduce stress, improves sleep and reduces cognitive decline. So if you used to read a lot more before the age of social media, here are 15 short books to help you get back in the habit. A short, endlessly debatable, brilliant book everyone should read at least once. And besides all that, how could anyone not want to read a book called Lady Gregory’s Toothbrush? This is what makes The Details so great – we’re reading about someone else’s memories, but they might as well be our own.
Source:The Irish Times
January 12, 2025 03:02 UTC
Devastating fires in wealthy LA areas prove nowhere is immune to climate disasters
Several major fires are enveloping LA, notably one raging in the western Pacific Palisades and another in the eastern mountains above Pasadena. “Record-breaking wildfires are becoming more frequent, and the current California wildfires are especially alarming, occurring outside the usual fire season – May to October,” says Dr Chris Mays, an expert in wildfires, based at University College Cork. Lack of acknowledgment of even the possibility that climate was a critical factor in igniting these catastrophic fires stands out. That is why the climate mantra of “every tenth of a degree of temperature reduction matters” is so often repeated. Its collapse due in the main from climate change, strange as it seems, would led to a much harsher climate for those living in northwestern Europe.
Source:The Irish Times
January 10, 2025 23:48 UTC
Could one US dollar soon be worth more than one euro? What does this mean for Ireland?
Strength of the dollar: A big surge in the dollar in the last quarter of 2024 has left the euro trading at about $1.03. This trend has significant implications for the euro zone and for Ireland, with the US being one of this country’s key markets for exports and investment. READ MORERelatively strong growth prospects in the US contrast with a weakening outlook in the euro zone. “This depreciation reflects a confluence of factors, including relative economic performance, monetary policy expectations and heightened geopolitical and domestic political uncertainties within the euro zone, particularly in Germany and France,” he said. This outlook for dollar strength “will have a significant impact on Ireland and the euro zone”, he said.
Source:The Irish Times
January 10, 2025 09:44 UTC
Wexford woman named in Team of the Year at Sportswoman Awards 2024
Dunlevy’s new pilot, Wexford woman Linda Kelly, played a key role in amazing year…Latie-George Dunlevy, Ireland’s most decorated Irish Paralympic athlete, and her pilots Linda Kelly and Eve McCrystal claimed the ‘Team of the Year Award’ at The Irish Times Sport Ireland Sportswoman of the Year Awards 2024 which took place in Dublin recently. The trio won the Award for their outstanding achievements at the Paralympics and World Championships in 2024. Eve McCrystal then stepped in to pilot Dunlevy in another World Cup race in Italy 10 days later. At the Awards Kelly described Dunlevy as an inspiration whom she had watched with awe at the Tokyo Paralympics. For more information about the Awards and the other award winners, you can check out: https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/sportswoman-of-the-year-award/Jason Redmond From Gorey, Jason is the owner of Wexford Weekly.
Source:The Irish Times
January 10, 2025 07:48 UTC
A radical departure from Ireland’s approach to drug addiction
A few days before Christmas, Ireland’s first medically supervised injection facility opened in Dublin, almost a decade after it was first proposed by Government. The centre, which was first proposed in 2015, will initially run as an 18-month pilot at the Merchants Quay Ireland Riverbank location. So, what are the arguments in favour of this centre, what are those against, and how will it affect the lives of drug users themselves? READ MOREAnd, will this injection facility help tackle the wider crisis of drug use in Ireland? Today, on In The News, a radical departure from Ireland’s approach to drug addiction – and the people who will use the state’s first safe injection centre.
Source:The Irish Times
January 09, 2025 18:18 UTC
Leinster's kryptonite Will Skelton eager to stand tall again...
Leinster's kryptonite Will Skelton eager to stand tall against old rivals againYesterday at 10:45La Rochelle lock has proved Leinster's nemesis during his outstanding career but is struggling with an ankle injury in advance of this week's showdown between the sides
Source:The Irish Times
January 09, 2025 06:10 UTC
Funeral of Sophie Toscan du Plantier’s father: ‘He wasn’t afraid to die because he knew he would see her again’
The funeral Mass for the father of Sophie Toscan du Plantier has been told he wasn’t afraid to die because he knew he would be reunited with his murdered daughter. In an emotional tribute, Georges’ son, Stéphane Bouniol, told mourners about happy summers spent fishing with his father, a “dignified man who was always smiling”. READ MORE[ ‘A man of great decency and dignity’: Sophie Toscan du Plantier’s father died without ever knowing the truthOpens in new window ]“Papa spoke of how my sister had been taken from us much too soon. In his own way, he wasn’t at all afraid to die one day, because he knew that he would see her again. You will stay in my heart forever.”Marguerite and Georges Bouniol, parents of Sophie Toscan du Plantier a their home in Paris.
Source:The Irish Times
January 06, 2025 17:24 UTC
Some firms put €500,000 per year through pension loophole
The review found that 17 cases involved payments of at least €500,000 and that the numbers involved appeared to be rising. Photograph: iStockA Revenue review of a pension loophole found some businesses were transferring more than €500,000 per year into funds for the owner, their spouse, their children or parents. The review found that 17 of these cases involved payments of at least €500,000 and that the numbers involved appeared to be rising. READ MOREThe Revenue review also found that for 13 of the transfers the person who benefited had only taken up employment that year. It said in cases involving payments of more than €1 million, there was blatant evidence of “salary sacrifice” to maximise pension contributions and avoid tax.
Source:The Irish Times
January 06, 2025 17:02 UTC
Climate-driven sea level rise will overwhelm major oil ports, study shows
Houston and Galveston in the US, the world’s biggest oil producer, are on the list of threatened oil ports. Sea level rise is already causing problems around the world even before it overtops coastline developments. Cutting emissions sharply would not only slow the rate of sea level rise but also limit the ultimate rise. “Basic information [from scientific assessments of sea level rise] don’t seem to have gotten into the consciousness of governments,” she said. Accelerated ice melt and ocean expansion has already caused the rate of sea level rise to double in the last 30 years.
Source:The Irish Times
January 06, 2025 04:01 UTC
Almost 60,000 without power as Met Éireann warns cold spell will continue until Friday
Main pointsElectricity and water: Almost 60,000 homes, farms and businesses are without power as of Sunday evening, mostly in counties Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, Carlow, Laois and Wicklow. About 15,000 customers are also without waterAlmost 60,000 homes, farms and businesses are without power as of Sunday evening, mostly in counties Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, Carlow, Laois and Wicklow. In Cork, Kerry, south Tipperary, Laois and parts of the mid-west, the HSE has cancelled some services including outpatient appointments and day services. Some 59,000 homes, farms and businesses are without power, mostly in counties Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, Kilkenny, Carlow, Laois and Wicklow, according to ESB Networks. -AD @TFIupdates — Iarnród Éireann (@IrishRail) January 5, 2025Weather and road conditions in Charleville, Mallow and Kanturk are extremely poor, gardaí have said.
Source:The Irish Times
January 05, 2025 13:53 UTC
Brazilian student deported from Ireland over Christmas claims paperwork error left him ‘helpless’
Brazilian student Fernando Moura Fernandes Souza (37) was deported from Dublin Airport over what he says was an administrative error. Background photograph: Chris MaddaloniA Brazilian student who says he was deported in error over Christmas by Irish immigration authorities has described feeling “helpless” and “abandoned” after a mini-trip away from Dublin turned into a nightmare. When he arrived back at Dublin Airport on the evening of December 27th, he was refused entry to Ireland. My mistake was not to have questioned why it [the card] didn’t arrive,” Mr Souza said. It said: “Following the completion of a registration, it may take a further two weeks to receive an Irish Residence Permit (IRP) card via post.
Source:The Irish Times
January 03, 2025 08:32 UTC
The worst of this strange decade of wokeness is over – The Irish Times
The year 2024 provided the vibe shift and in 2025 it’s time for mainstream politics in Ireland to heed it. So, when we look at Europe’s turmoil in 2024 – in many places only set to worsen – we can be grateful to the relative stability afforded by Ireland’s liberal establishment. The worst of this strange decade of peak wokeness is over – evidenced by the fact that even Judith Butler, a foot soldier in the 2010s woke revolution, came to condemn its excesses recently. But you can’t have a politics of identity that is only about identity. But the language of identity politics general to the 2010s seems now to be a blip, rather than the establishment of a new rule.
Source:The Irish Times
January 02, 2025 22:01 UTC
Dundalk's McCrystal plays key part of Team of the Year winners
Eve McCrystal then stepped in to pilot Dunlevy in another World Cup race in Italy ten days later. In all Dunlevy and Kelly had five crashes through the year, Kelly had Covid twice, and also had to endure a leg infection. (Team of the Year winners Linda Kelly, Katie-George Dunlevy, and Eve McCrystal at the The Irish Times Sport Ireland Sportswoman of the Year Awards. Front: Linda Kelly, Kellie Harrington, Katie-George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal at the Irish Times Sport Eireann Sportswoman of the Year Awards. Boxer Katie Taylor has won the overall award a record five times and been a monthly award winner 18 times.
Source:The Irish Times
January 02, 2025 17:47 UTC