Ireland’s graduates: ‘Everyone I know is thinking of moving abroad or has gone’
Many graduates are up against it every year trying to find jobs in oversubscribed sectors, and heading abroad may be the only option to gain experience. “I went off to Europe for six months and then came back and decided to look for a proper job. The HSE says steps are being taken to get college graduates in the health sector into jobs as soon as possible. “Something needs to be done about this, as pretty much everyone I know is either thinking of moving abroad or has gone already. “This initiative has been in place for Nursing and Midwifery graduates since 2021, and in 2023 commenced for HSCPs.
Source:The Irish Times
December 01, 2025 07:31 UTC
‘Regift the bejaysus out of it’: 21 tips for a cheaper Christmas, from readers and from us
Christmas costs: Saving and buying in advance, Secret Santa for the adults and regifting early presents are among readers' money-saving recommendations. Photograph: Chris MaddaloniTop tips to spend less at Christmas are 10 a penny but that did not stop us asking readers to share their wisdom. “If you receive presents early and you have to give presents to others later, regift some of them instead of spending money on buying other presents,” wrote John Toohey. I’m buying a little every week.”Orna Richella reminded us to “check out the best-before dates when you are buying food for the period. So they are the tips from readers, some are good and some are miserable – and, yes, we are looking at you, Tony Clayton-Lea.
Source:The Irish Times
December 01, 2025 07:11 UTC
Ballygunner the undisputed kings of Munster as they see off Éire Óg to claim sixth provincial crown – The Irish Times
Ballygunner’s Michael Mahony and Philip Mahony celebrate at the final whistle of the AIB Munster Club SHC final against Éire Óg at FBD Semple Stadium in Thurles. I think we went into the Munster final a small bit undercooked last year. “They’re 10 years down the road in terms of their preparation,” said Gerry O’Connor, the Éire Óg manager. Time and again Éire Óg forwards were outnumbered and outhustled. For Éire Óg to have any chance, those three players especially needed to catch fire.
Source:The Irish Times
December 01, 2025 06:47 UTC
Leave me alone, AI
'Composing a work email provoked the suggestion that I use Google’s Gemini AI to "help me write" it.' When I asked Meta AI how to delete Meta AI, I was told: “You can’t disable Meta AI, but engaging with it on WhatsApp is completely optional.”Jolted by this breathtaking piece of guff, I realised something else: any time I tried to send an email, write a document or do virtually any other type of online work, AI barged in and tried to do it for me. Meta AI has more than one billion monthly users across all its apps, I discovered, when I messaged Meta to ask if it thought it was deceptive to call an undeletable chatbot optional. Unsurprisingly, it did not, pointing out that Meta AI was no different to other new WhatsApp features, such as camera effects, that people could take or leave – but not erase. Also, a spokesman told me, none of the conversations people have with the chatbot on WhatsApp are used to train Meta’s AI models.
Source:The Irish Times
December 01, 2025 05:57 UTC
Dublin must move ‘in lock-step’ with London on tackling Troubles legacy, say MPs
Photograph: Getty ImagesThe Irish Government must “move in lock-step” with its British counterpart on pledges to investigate Troubles killings properly, the House of Commons Northern Ireland Affairs Committee has said. The North’s commission on victims and survivors said there is a “lack of clarity” surrounding the special Garda unit that is to be established to gather and share information with the Legacy Commission. In a series of recommendations, the Westminster committee urged greater transparency and increased consultation with key quarters, especially the families of those killed during the Troubles. In addition, the British government must address the failure to include Troubles-linked sexual crimes in the powers to be enjoyed by the legacy commission that is to replace the ICRIR. The Westminster committee raised questions about whether the £250 million set aside by London for legacy investigations will be enough, warning that legacy must not prevent the PSNI from policing Northern Ireland.
Source:The Irish Times
December 01, 2025 04:34 UTC
Maureen Dowd: My brother believes that America will never buy socialism
Zohran Mamdani’s election was propelled by younger voters enthralled by his promises of free things, writes Maureen Dowd's brother, Kevin. He knows the annual toast to president Donald Trump at my family’s Thanksgiving dinner sets my teeth on edge. So this year, I’m swallowing the toast as I usually do, with a gulp of the Trump Champagne my brother serves. New York voters chose Zohran Mamdani, a socialist Elmer Gantry with little experience, to be mayor of the world’s most important city. – This article originally appeared in The New York Times
Source:The Irish Times
December 01, 2025 04:10 UTC
Ukraine’s Zelenskiy to visit Ireland amid ongoing efforts to end war with Russia
Volodymyr Zelenskiy is due to meet Taoiseach Micheál Martin as well as pay a courtesy call to President Catherine Connolly. Photograph: Noel Sweeney/PAUkrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy will be in Dublin on Tuesday amid ongoing diplomatic efforts to end the war that has been raging since the Russian invasion of his country almost four years ago. While plans are yet to be finalised, there is also a possibility that Mr Zelenskiy will deliver an address to the Houses of the Oireachtas. “The end goal, obviously, is not just the end of the war,” he said. French president Emmanuel Macron is due to host Mr Zelenskiy for talks in Paris on Monday.
Source:The Irish Times
December 01, 2025 01:31 UTC
The Irish Times view on Herzog Park: this proposal should be rejected
That sentiment faces a test at Dublin City Council on Monday evening when Dublin City Council meets over a proposal to rename a small park in Rathgar named after Chaim Herzog, the Irish-born former president of Israel. Herzog Park is in an area that has long been at the centre of Jewish life in Dublin, close to the only Jewish school in the country. Among the parties represented on Dublin City Council, it is the official position of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Sinn Féin, Labour and the Social Democrats that there should be a two-state solution. Many will see the proposal to rename Herzog Park as an act of erasure that would write the Jewish community out of Ireland’s story. This gesture is the wrong one and Dublin City Council should reject it.
Source:The Irish Times
December 01, 2025 00:44 UTC
Have you noticed this is one of the most significant days of the year?
Of all dates in the year, I find this among the most significant. Who really sees that face in the mirror as you shave away the previous 24 hours? It jolts you into the reality of time, another year almost gone and you hadn’t noticed. Thereafter, on Fridays, I would cycle to the nearby grand metropolis of Frenchpark, where I’d get “the messages” for my mother. The three kilometres there was some distance for a small boy on a child’s bike but a long straight stretch on it seemed to go on forever.
Source:The Irish Times
December 01, 2025 00:34 UTC
‘Very productive’ talks held between US and Ukrainian officials on proposed peace deal
Mr Rubio, US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of president Donald Trump, held talks with the Ukrainian delegation to further flesh out the details of a proposed peace framework. “The end goal, obviously, is not just the end of the war,” Mr Rubio said in brief remarks. “US is hearing us,” Mr Umerov said. It was only a week ago that Mr Rubio had met Mr Yermak in Geneva, with each side saying the talks had been positive in putting together a revised peace plan. Mr Trump said on Tuesday that he would send Mr Witkoff and perhaps Mr Kushner to Moscow this week to meet Mr Putin about the plan.
Source:The Irish Times
November 30, 2025 23:11 UTC
‘We are all very lucky that he is visiting’: Lebanon welcomes Pope Leo
Dancers perform the Dabke, a traditional Levantine dance, as Pope Leo travels in the Popemobile upon his arrival at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, on Sunday. Photograph: EPAPope Leo XIV landed in Lebanon on Sunday, on the second leg of his first foreign trip as head of the Catholic Church. Hizbullah's Al Mahdi Scouts supporters welcome Pope Leo upon his arrival in Haret Hreik, in the Dahieh district of southern Beirut, on Sunday. Our prayers are for peace in the whole world.”Lebanese President Josph Aoun (centre) and his wife Neamat (right), the first lady of Lebanon, welcome Pope Leo at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, on Sunday. Some Christians in southern Lebanon expressed sadness that the pontiff would not spend time there.
Source:The Irish Times
November 30, 2025 22:06 UTC
Donald Trump attacked Joe Biden for being too old. Now his critics say the same about him – The Irish Times
Donald Trump – who has contributed more to the normalisation of ageism than anyone alive – is very upset about a New York Times article this week that collated evidence of his increasing senescence. He has reduced his working hours, so that he now starts his appointments after midday and finishes around 5pm. “He sleeps all the time – during the day, during the night, on the beach,” Trump said of Biden as recently as last week. 'I'm not a sleeper': Donald Trump hosts a roundtable discussion at the White House in 2021. Make-up on the back of Donald Trump’s right hand, which officials say is to cover bruising caused by hand-shaking.
Source:The Irish Times
November 30, 2025 21:53 UTC
Planning approval overturned for 221-bed student accommodation in north Dublin
Mr Justice Richard Humphreys, who manages the court’s planning and environment list, was delivering a judgment overturning Dublin City Council’s planning approval for a 221-bed student accommodation development on lands at Church Lane, Santry, Dublin 9, after the council conceded the case. She made a fresh planning application on August 7th, 2024, without erecting a fresh site notice, the judge said. It was about two breaches of planning regulations that had the effect of disadvantaging Mr Croft and shutting him out of the process. There is, he said, “a big difference” between a breach of public participation and notification requirements that does not adversely affect a judicial review applicant and a breach that does. It is not the law that the size of a proposed transaction or a proposed development overwhelms the need for the right to public participation to have been afforded in accordance with law, he said.
Source:The Irish Times
November 30, 2025 21:22 UTC
‘No plans’ to drop Occupied Territories Bill but legislation ‘not straightforward’, says McEntee
Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee: ‘I’m not going to introduce, nor is this Government going to introduce, legislation that won’t work’. Photograph: Sam Boal/CollinsThere are “no plans” to drop the Occupied Territories Bill but the legislation is “not straightforward” and “we have to get this right”, Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee has said. The current Coalition has promised to progress legislation prohibiting goods from Occupied Palestinian Territories. Lawmakers and others have warned that the Occupied Territories Bill would make it difficult for some multinationals to operate legally in both jurisdictions. I’m not going to introduce, nor is this Government going to introduce, legislation that won’t work, that isn’t appropriate, that can be challenged, but that also might have detrimental implications.
Source:The Irish Times
November 30, 2025 20:44 UTC