NTA says council sought more money for Deer Park steps due to ‘challenges on site’
The new entrance at Deer Park in south Dublin was not a 'breathtaking feat of engineering', said Mary Lou McDonald. The Irish Times reported last month that the works, which involved the provision of 14 steps and a ramp at Deer Park, had cost a total of €753,528.43 inclusive of VAT. The park at Mount Merrion is run by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council but funding for the project was provided by the NTA. In 2024, Dún Laoghaire Rathdown requested additional funding due to challenges on site and design issues. The NTA requested detailed cost reports as the project progressed and conducted a site visit in August 2025.
Source:The Irish Times
December 08, 2025 12:02 UTC
‘The power is with us’: Smartphone-free parenting movement takes off in Ireland
Emer Carty is one of more than 1,000 parents who swap advice and stories with like-minded individuals in a group called Smartphone Free Childhood Ireland. Photograph Nick BradshawParents in Ireland are banding together in a growing movement to advocate for children to go smartphone free, amid discussions of online safety and wellbeing. Emer Carty, from south Dublin, is one of more than 1,000 parents who swap advice and stories with like-minded individuals in a group called Smartphone Free Childhood Ireland. Plans to verify the ages of children who use social media in Ireland will be considered in the coming weeks by Government. That’s why I wanted to join Smartphone Free Childhood Ireland,” he said.
Source:The Irish Times
December 08, 2025 12:02 UTC
Ken Early: Trump and Infantino’s maniacal new World Cup order
“I want you to make me an obscene parody of the World Cup trophy. It’s not easy to say, but maybe a look at the kind of companies that sponsor the World Cup suggests an answer. US president Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and Fifa president Gianni Infantino at last Friday's World Cup draw in Washington. In Brazil 2014, the most recent World Cup held in the western hemisphere, the latest kick-offs were at 11pm Irish time. As he takes the World Cup away from Europe, Infantino is helping in his small way to set the terms of the new order.
Source:The Irish Times
December 08, 2025 12:01 UTC
Caelan Doris looks to draw on hurt as Leinster set about banishing Champions Cup demons
Nine of Saturday’s starting XV and 14 of the match-day 23 figured that day, with Caelan Doris, Joe McCarthy and Jack Conan all playing their first game for Leinster since that defeat. The Leinster captain admitted as much, although he stressed did not think of it in a negative way. “I think it’s there, not in a burden sort of way that weighs you back, but you want it to give you a little bit of edge. “That’s my first game for Leinster since Northampton, so of course it was on my mind a little bit this week. And I was just delighted to be back in blue today.”Doris admitted that Leinster’s performance had been “a little bit sloppy” and pointed to their ill-discipline after a bright start.
Source:The Irish Times
December 08, 2025 12:01 UTC
Striving to perform an ideal Christmas is costly in every way – The Irish Times
It doesn’t have to be this way, I was going to say, just do the bits you actually enjoy, nothing bad will happen. Gudrun, the strong and beautiful central character of the 13th-century Laxdæla Saga, marries four times and raises two sons. Violence, breakdown and suicide peak at Christmas when the cracks were already there and the intensifying of pressure over the holidays breaks them wide open. I don’t for a moment think that love means never having to say you’re sorry. Love means having the grace and space to say sorry as frankly and often as necessary, and more importantly working seriously to stop doing the things about which we are sorry.
Source:The Irish Times
December 08, 2025 12:00 UTC
Emergency works sought for Moore Street buildings due to judicial review ‘impasse’
A computer-generated image of the planned new development at Dublin’s O’Connell Street, looking west towards Moore Street. Illustration: HammersonThe company behind the contentious redevelopment of 5.5 acres between Dublin’s O’Connell Street and Moore Street has submitted new plans in relation to a number of historic and protected buildings on the site, pending the outcome of judicial review proceedings against the scheme. However judicial proceedings were initiated against the decision by the Moore Street Preservation Trust, a group involving a number relatives of those involved in the 1916 Rising, and Sinn Féin. Dublin Central GP has also sought planning exemptions for more minor repairs to 57-58 O’Connell Street Upper, 18 Moore Street and 11 Moore Street. This work is largely to stop leaks and protect against water damage to neighbouring 1916 national monument buildings at 14-17 Moore Street.
Source:The Irish Times
December 08, 2025 12:00 UTC
Michael Flatley: ‘My body is in ribbons. People will never know what I’ve been through’
Michael Flatley: 'It’s easy to sit at home and feel sorry for yourself but I want to be an example,' says the dancer and choreographer, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2023. Photograph: Charles McQuillan/Getty ImagesIt’s hardly a surprise that Michael Flatley is a big fan of Christmas. I followed my dream, and I’ve made friends with that pain.”Despite his ailments, Flatley refuses to retire. We attend Christmas Eve Mass and have a big Christmas party, with local people invited. “I’m big on energy.”It’s a far cry from his modest upbringing as one of five children, on the south side of Chicago in a neighbourhood he describes as “tough”.
Source:The Irish Times
December 08, 2025 11:55 UTC
‘Startling’: First look behind the RCSI’s new ‘front door’ on St Stephen’s Green – The Irish Times
The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland has maintained an imposing presence on St Stephen’s Green for 200 years, with a palatial neoclassical facade befitting such an august institution. Much more challenging was the conundrum of doing something similar on St Stephen’s Green itself. “Making a building on St Stephen’s Green is a rare privilege,” McGovern says. Indeed, An Taisce complained that it “breaches 60 years of planning policy in maintaining a uniform parapet height around St Stephen’s Green”. The new RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences building, designed by Henry J Lyons architects, seen from St Stephen's Green park.
Source:The Irish Times
December 08, 2025 11:52 UTC
Festive fashion: Party pieces with staying power for Christmas and beyond
Festive season is upon us, and, on cue, the shops are heaving with sparkle, sequins, and all things shimmery. But this year’s party season mood is shifting. Instead of leaning into one-night-only sparkle, it’s about choosing pieces with staying power that you’ll reach for post-festivities. Items that feel festive now, but will easily slot into your everyday wardrobe later, too. Try a metallic knit with jeans and heels, or champagne-hued silk trousers with a blouse for party season.
Source:The Irish Times
December 08, 2025 11:30 UTC
EU needs fresh thinking as Trump calls time on US ‘propping up entire world order’
Trump's security strategy is explicit about Washington’s contest with Beijing. “China and Russia want to shape a world antithetical to US values and interests. Eight years later, Russia receives only a handful of mentions in the National Security Strategy published last Friday and Moscow is no longer identified as an adversary. And it calls time on the western alliance in its current form, declaring that “the days of the United States propping up the entire world order like Atlas are over”. These changes require fresh thinking in the European Union that goes beyond the current preoccupation with spending more on defence.
Source:The Irish Times
December 08, 2025 11:03 UTC
The endless importance of good manners in the office
They were “famously good”, said fellow dramatist Patrick Marber, and “even courtly”, added theatre critic Nick Curtis. Actors remembered a man who was “very kind” (Tom Hollander), and “clever and kind” (Harriet Walter), while the writer Harry Mount devoted an entire article to “the extraordinary manners of the late Tom Stoppard”. Apologies, or the lack of them, are another baffling aspect of office manners. Another example of good manners helping the good mannered is the simple, cheap, yet inordinately effective act of saying thank you. Ultimately, good manners add to the sum of human happiness, while rudeness does the opposite.
Source:The Irish Times
December 08, 2025 11:01 UTC
Rogue drones during Zelenskiy visit part of ‘co-ordinated threat’ to Europe, says Minister
It is understood the drones also flew into the path Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s aircraft had taken approaching Ireland. “I think it’s fair to say that we think this is part of a co-ordinated threat to EU and Ukrainian interests,” the Minister said in Brussels. It is understood footage of the drones was captured by the crew of the Naval Service’s LE William Butler Yeats. The strong belief is that Russia is behind the interference, using drones to cause disruption in Europe and to embarrass pro-Ukrainian governments. Mr O’Callaghan said the gardaí did a “very good job” in ensuring the security of Mr Zelenskiy’s official visit to Ireland.
Source:The Irish Times
December 08, 2025 10:56 UTC
Buyers of expensive homes could be blocked from vacant property grant
The Government is expected to extend the vacant property grant scheme to 2030, targeting 20,000 payments in that period. Photograph: Artur Widak/GettyHomebuyers purchasing more expensive properties in Dublin could be blocked from accessing the State’s vacant property grant, under proposals being considered by the Government. Figures compiled by the Department of Housing suggest some 22 per cent of homes that have sought the grant in Dublin would be in excess of this threshold. The grant application process includes self-assessed property valuations but also the most recent purchase price of the property. It found the scheme was making a significant contribution to refurbishing vacant and derelict homes.
Source:The Irish Times
December 08, 2025 09:40 UTC
Mohamed Salah’s Liverpool future in doubt as Arne Slot faces Inter decision
Mohamed Salah has sensationally claimed he has been 'thrown under the bus' and has no relationship with Arne Slot. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA WireMohamed Salah could be omitted from Liverpool’s Champions League trip to Milan to play Inter on Tuesday after his outspoken attack on the club and Arne Slot. The 33-year-old also claimed he no longer has a relationship with Slot, who omitted the forward from his starting lineup for a third game in succession. Slot now has to decide whether to include the disillusioned player in his plans for Inter. Liverpool will train at their AXA base in Kirkby on Monday morning, with the first 15 minutes open to the media.
Source:The Irish Times
December 08, 2025 06:45 UTC
Delivery is the key after publication of a tourism policy that gives sector a sense of purpose
In November last year, in the throes of the final days of her term, the then minister for tourism, Catherine Martin, published her Tourism Policy Framework 2025-2030. Government has finally acknowledged this and state agencies for tourism – Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland – now sit along other important economic agencies such as IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland. A new national tourism policy statement, entitled A New Era for Irish Tourism, has been launched by the Government. Although light on detail, the Government’s new tourism policy certainly delivers a sense of purpose. Eoghan O’Mara Walsh is chief executive of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation
Source:The Irish Times
December 08, 2025 06:33 UTC