‘Optimism is a form of activism’: Three creative industry workers on a changing Ireland
I know that’s probably not a shock. I think that’s why we keep at it. I know that’s true of a bunch of other people as well. I think that’s a huge opportunity. Rebecca: Most people, if you say you’re a producer, they don’t really have a sense of what that is.
Source:The Irish Times
November 25, 2025 05:58 UTC
Asba Meats’ owner visited woman worker’s home looking for ‘massage’, WRC told
A meat factory worker has secured more than €40,000 at the WRC for sexual harassment and employment rights breaches. The tribunal heard the worker joined Asba Meats part-time on the factory floor at Asba Meats in mid-2023 when she was a student. He left after she told him she “needed time to think about it”, she told the hearing. The worker told adjudication officer Ewa Sobanska she felt “violated” and “very uncomfortable”. There was nothing to contradict the worker, because Asba Meats did not attend the hearing, she noted.
Source:The Irish Times
November 25, 2025 02:28 UTC
Novo Nordisk shares slump after drug failure in Alzheimer’s trial
Novo said the trials, which enrolled nearly 4,000 patients, did not “translate into a delay of disease progression” even as it “resulted in improvement of Alzheimer’s disease-related biomarkers”. Well, in an update to staff in June, Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy stated the company would reduce jobs in some areas while it hired in others. Novo’s troubles have led to the ousting of Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen as chief executive in May. Former Novo chief executive Lars Rebien Sorensen was appointed chair of its board in October, after the previous chair and six other directors stood down. More data from the Alzheimer’s trials will be presented at a scientific conference next month with full data expected next year.
Source:The Irish Times
November 25, 2025 01:48 UTC
The Irish Times view on Ireland’s foreign relations: Helen McEntee’s diplomatic tests
Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee speaking to the press as she arrives to the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels last week. (Videograb: European Council)Simon Harris’s 10-month term as Minister for Foreign Affairs was dominated by two international challenges: Donald Trump’s tariff diplomacy and the war in Gaza. And as Israel’s assault on Gaza continued, more European Union member-states moved towards Ireland’s position on Palestinian statehood. Recent years have seen a dramatic expansion of Ireland’s global diplomatic footprint and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade now has almost 3500 staff working in more than 100 locations around the world. These strategies expire in 2025 and the Government is planning to develop a new one called Global Ireland 2040, along with regional strategies for the next 15 years.
Source:The Irish Times
November 25, 2025 01:13 UTC
Redquartz offers investors private bond ‘backed by Government accommodation contracts’
They will receive a 12 per cent return, or coupon payment, paid in arrears by Redquartz every quarter, the document states. The private bond is not regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. These “stable, State-backed dividends” are “valued at €8 million” in total up to 2029, Redquartz told investors and will finance the investors’ exit from the bond after 24 months. The contracts are due to commence in 2026, according to the information Redquartz has provided investors. Mr Kelly said the bond is a way for Redquartz to raise money to “capitalise” its projects.
Source:The Irish Times
November 24, 2025 22:42 UTC
Russia rejects European input into peace proposals as US and Ukraine praise progress
Residents who survived a Russian strike last week return to inspect the damage to their apartment building in Ternopil, Ukraine. On Monday the Kremlin quickly dismissed the input of European states, led by Germany, France and Britain. “Regarding the plans floating around: this morning we learned about a European plan that, at first glance, is completely unconstructive and doesn’t suit us,” said senior Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov. He also suggested that the deadline could be put back if progress towards an eventual deal was evident this week. “Is it really possible that big progress is being made in Peace Talks between Russia and Ukraine???
Source:The Irish Times
November 24, 2025 21:36 UTC
Dairy plant suspends production after further pollution incident in Cork river
North Cork Creameries, which came under the spotlight amid the fish kill on the Blackwater river, has had to suspend production after a pollution incident. The interagency investigation was carried out by Inland Fisheries Ireland, the EPA, Cork County Council, the Marine Institute and Uisce Éireann. It said it directed North Cork Creameries to resolve the issue in the shortest possible time. “North Cork Creameries are not currently discharging at SW1 [the main discharge point]. The agency awaits a response from North Cork Creameries in relation to compliance at SW1.
Source:The Irish Times
November 24, 2025 20:34 UTC
‘Everyone hopes’: A Ukrainian city waits for a peace deal, or for Russian troops
Pavlohrad mayor Anatoliy Vershyna in his office in the city of about 140,000 people in eastern Ukraine. When you consider unregistered IDPs too, we think there are at least 140,000 people in Pavlohrad now,” Vershyna says. Damage from a Russian missile and drone attack on Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region. Journalist Tetiana Volkova, founder of the Step ('Steppe') news website in Pavlohrad, eastern Ukraine. A concert hall in a cultural centre in Pavlohrad now serves as a shelter for people displaced by Russia's invasion.
Source:The Irish Times
November 24, 2025 19:33 UTC
Two dead and several injured after crash involving bus, truck and car in Gormanston, Co Meath
Video: Alan BetsonTwo men have died in a three-vehicle crash involving a bus, a truck and a car in Co Meath. The lorry driver, who was in his 40s, and the driver of the Bus Éireann bus, a man in his 50s, were pronounced dead at the scene. Bus Éireann confirmed one of its drivers died in the crash, which took place near the site of the former Huntsman pub. Jean O’Sullivan, chief executive of Bus Éireann, said the company is “devastated by this tragic incident”. Five young people died in a road crash in Co Louth on Saturday, November 15th.
Source:The Irish Times
November 24, 2025 18:30 UTC
Redquartz offers investors private bond secured against ‘State-backed’ contracts
Quinn's pub in Drumcondra is one of the assets listed in Redquartz's information document for investors, against which the private bond is secured. Trevor White was speaking to The Irish Times upon the publication of the venue’s 2024 financial results, which show growth in income at the attraction despite its closure for much of the year for renovation. For the past 250 years, migration from and to Ireland has been driven by individuals seeking a better standard of living and new opportunities, writes John FitzGerald. Most immigrants to Ireland today are, like Irish people over centuries, motivated by better job opportunities in Ireland than in their home country. After scandals such as Cambridge Analytica, governments wanted to act to regulate Big Tech, writes AICertified chief executive Ian Dodson in Monday’s opinion column.
Source:The Irish Times
November 24, 2025 18:28 UTC
Health sectors seek work-permit changes to allow more non-European staff
Under existing legislation any company seeking to use the employment permit system must make a declaration as to the number of EEA and non-EEA employees they employ. Sources said in 2021 the Government broadened the categories of staff that can be employed from outside of these European countries. In recent years as the number of such staff increased, some organisations and companies found themselves coming close to the official limit. Under existing legislation any company seeking to use the employment permit system must make a declaration as to the number of EEA and non-EEA employees they employ. The DETE described the 50/50 rule as “an important element of the employment permits system”.
Source:The Irish Times
November 24, 2025 18:02 UTC
Home Building Finance Ireland boosts lending capacity by 27% with €200m facility
Home Building Finance Ireland (HBFI), set up to fund the delivery of new homes, has boosted its total lending capacity by 27 per cent with a new €200 million facility with Danske Bank. This is the first time that HBFI has raised market funding to complement its initial State funding, on which it has relied to date. The new facility will add to HBFI’s existing €730 million facility with the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF). The legislation establishing HBFI gives it the power to raise up to €750 million in market funding, in addition to its €730 million ISIF facility. “This new facility will allow us to fund even more homes and to continue to play a supporting role in alleviating Ireland’s supply shortage.
Source:The Irish Times
November 24, 2025 17:58 UTC
‘This is ridiculous’: Taoiseach defends his level of foreign travel during trip to Angola
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has robustly defended the extent of his foreign travel during 2025, arguing that international engagement is vital and that going back to an “isolationist position” where Ireland does not attend any meeting is “ridiculous”. Mr Martin has been abroad 20 times since becoming Taoiseach early this year. Mr Starmer has travelled abroad on fewer occasions than the Taoiseach this year. The Taoiseach questioned the premise of such a position and said it was not an objective one. He has travelled to Angola from South Africa where he attended the G20 summit over the course of the weekend.
Source:The Irish Times
November 24, 2025 17:34 UTC
Trump says Ukraine has ‘zero gratitude’ for peace plan amid international talks
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said there were “signals that President [Donald] Trump’s team is hearing us”. Mr Zelenskiy had earlier said that Ukraine was grateful to the United States and to Mr Trump for all US efforts aimed at helping Kyiv. European leaders have made clear that the Moscow-drafted demands endorsed by Mr Trump are mostly unacceptable. If Mr Zelenskiy signed off on the proposals Kyiv would be forced to give up its freedoms, he said. It belongs to Ukraine.” She said Mr Zelenskiy was a “smart person” and predicted he would not give up Ukrainian land.
Source:The Irish Times
November 24, 2025 17:31 UTC
Fresh push for US tariff exemptions on whiskey and medtech
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Helen McEntee who, with other EU trade ministers is meeting US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick on Monday. Ireland will be asking the Trump administration to lift trade tariffs on whiskey, medical devices and certain agricultural products, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Helen McEntee has said. Goods on the EU’s wish list include pasta, cheese, wines, whiskey and olive oil. Speaking before the meeting on Monday, Ms McEntee said the Government would be pushing for key Irish industries to benefit from any possible tariff cut. The discussion will take place over lunch, where the two sides will also cover steeper 50 per cent tariffs on steel imports, and their approach to China.
Source:The Irish Times
November 24, 2025 17:12 UTC