We must prepare for scale of war our grandparents faced, Nato chief warns allies
Nato chief Mark Rutte has urged allies to step up defence efforts to prevent a war waged by Russia that could be “on the scale of war our grandparents and great-grandparents endured”. The time for action is now,” Mr Rutte said. Russia could be ready to use military force against Nato within five years, Mr Rutte said. Mr Zelenskiy indicated the talks were hastily arranged as Kyiv officials scramble to avoid getting boxed in by US president Donald Trump’s demands for a swift settlement. Next week, Ukraine will co-ordinate with European countries on a bilateral level, Mr Zelenskiy said late on Wednesday.
Source:The Irish Times
December 11, 2025 17:15 UTC
Dublin’s Luas Green Line to resume full service this evening
The Luas Green Line in Dublin will gradually resume services from 6pm, the operator has confirmed. It said maintenance teams and engineers have worked “around the clock” to address the issue within the “critical low-voltage safety system known as the 48-volt system”, which caused the Green Line power failure. This safety system is designed to shut down power to the overhead lines in the event of an emergency, it said. The Green Line links Broombridge on Dublin’s northside to Brides Glen, near Cherrywood, in the south, crossing the city centre. Luas Red Line services are running as normal.
Source:The Irish Times
December 11, 2025 17:11 UTC
Review: Orbit x Glasses – A tag that helps you find your glasses
Orbit x Glasses Price : €49 Website : https://findorbit.com/ Opens in new window Where To Buy : OrbitThere is an order to the things that go missing in my home. While there are plenty of tags you can attach to your keys or wallet, there are few suitable for glasses. But when it came to the slightly disorganised child and his eye-wateringly expensive glasses, a better solution was needed. The likely candidate, Tile, discontinued its glasses tracker, but one solution popped up: Orbit x Glasses, a tracker that works with Apple’s Find My. Orbit x Glasses claims to be the world’s smallest tracker, and is designed to sit discreetly on the frame.
Source:The Irish Times
December 11, 2025 17:01 UTC
Has AI buried the metaverse?
In this brave new world, AI agents could carry out tasks with minimal human intervention. AI agents could reroute shipments in the supply chain when an issue is identified, or autonomously detect and deal with cybersecurity threats. That is, presuming the AI companies could persuade their customers to go for it. Of those that implemented AI agents, more than half said there were productivity gains. Like the metaverse, AI is an expensive bet on a new technology.
Source:The Irish Times
December 11, 2025 16:39 UTC
Energia’s first-half earnings drop 22% before €2.5bn deal
The company saw earnings decline in its customer supply business and gas-fired power plants in north Dublin, but rise slightly in its renewable energy portfolio. While the price was not disclosed, the deal is believed to have put an enterprise value on the business of about €2.5 billion. It is one of the longest-established providers of renewable electricity in Ireland, supplying about 17 per cent of the island of Ireland’s total electricity requirements and 20 per cent of its total wind power. The customer supply business saw earnings fall 28 per cent to €55.5 million amid lower margins. This reflected higher wind output, though it was partly offset by lower energy prices.
Source:The Irish Times
December 11, 2025 16:33 UTC
Main Irish nursing homes post four straight years of losses after M&A spree
[ Irish nursing homes are ‘at a critical juncture. It also had €288 million of bank and group company loans at the end of 2023 – leaving it with €59.2 million more of stated liabilities than assets. Nursing Homes Ireland, the sector lobby group, said in a pre-budget submission in August that the average Fair Deal rate in Ireland is about €1,232 a week, some €737 less than public rates. French care home group DomusVi, the fifth main operator, made its entry in January 2021 by acquiring Trinity Care. Its Irish unit reported a €4.96 million loss last year, bringing losses for its first four years in the market to €16.9 million.
Source:The Irish Times
December 11, 2025 16:33 UTC
Romans left us lessons in long-lasting, low-carbon construction
We tend to imagine ancient materials as crude or primitive, but Roman concrete was more sophisticated than anything in use until the modern era. Our current concrete recipes use cement, sand, and coarse aggregates in varying proportion and are, by comparison, extremely carbon intensive. This is where Roman concrete becomes more than a historical curiosity. Roman concrete contains ubiquitous white crystals called lime clasts, formed by quicklime mixing at high temperatures. This is a rare positive feedback loop: more valourised waste, less aquatic pollution and reduced carbon footprints in construction.
Source:The Irish Times
December 11, 2025 16:32 UTC
SuperValu to exit longstanding Getaway Breaks programme next week to ‘focus on new benefits’
SuperValu to exit longstanding Getaway Breaks programme next week to ‘focus on new benefits’. Irish retailer SuperValu will exit its long-standing Getaway Breaks programme which was previously run in partnership with travel company Digibreaks, the company has said. In a statement to The Irish Times, SuperValu confirmed it will be exiting the Getaway Breaks programme from December 15th. The partnership will formally end at the start of January, but all Getaway Breaks vouchers will continue to be accepted and honoured “as usual”. SuperValu said the website for their Getaway Breaks programme will redirect to a new site for Getaways Ireland, the new branding for the programme under Digibreaks.
Source:The Irish Times
December 11, 2025 16:19 UTC
Video shows US forces seizing oil tanker off Venezuelan coast
Footage released by the US department of homeland security shows US forces seizing an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. Video: ReutersUS forces have seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, in a major escalation of Donald Trump’s four-month pressure campaign against the South American country’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro, whose government called the seizure “an act of international piracy”. The grainy, unclassified 45-second video shows US forces landing on the tanker from a helicopter. In an accompanying statement, Bondi said the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and the US coast guard, with support from the department of defense, had “executed a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran”. The objective of this week’s reported tanker seizure was not immediately clear.
Source:The Irish Times
December 11, 2025 16:16 UTC
Inflation jumps above 3% as prices rise at fastest pace since February 2024
On an annual basis, prices accelerated last month at the fastest pace since February 2024, with education, clothing, and food prices all contributing to the headline consumer price index (CPI) increase. Food prices have increased due to higher global prices for a range of staples like cocoa and coffee beans amid weather-related disruption to agriculture and supply chains. Thomas Pugh, chief economist at RSM UK and RSM Ireland, said the decline in food price inflation from 4.5 per cent 4.3 per cent is “good news”. Prices in this category accounted for almost 18 per cent of the headline 3.2 per cent increase in the CPI. Energy prices, which have fallen sharply after spiking in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, remain elevated and have underpinned consumer price inflation this year.
Source:The Irish Times
December 11, 2025 16:09 UTC
Europe is in danger of becoming a plaything, not a player – The Irish Times
The strategy is openly supportive of what are called “patriotic” forces in Europe, which is code for the radical right. Europe cannot rely on the US as a stable or supportive power in either trade or security. This has exposed the incomplete nature of Europe’s power resources. With either or both of these resources, you can engage in hard power politics. Russia is not just fighting a war in Ukraine, but is committed to the destabilisation of Europe by deploying its hybrid war toolkit.
Source:The Irish Times
December 11, 2025 15:39 UTC
Wolf Alice at 3Arena review: An ultimately superb – if underattended – show
Wolf Alice3Arena, Dublin★★★★☆Storm Bram has done its best to keep Wolf Alice from the door. But this ultimately superb – if underattended – Dublin show is nearly derailed by the elements. Cancelled ferry crossings mean the opening acts can’t make it, while Wolf Alice’s tour trucks arrive late. That Wolf Alice have an eye on the big time is evident from their staging. But Wolf Alice have turned disaster into triumph, and by the time they’re played off with Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody they’ve delivered a few thunderbolts of their own during a scintillating gig.
Source:The Irish Times
December 11, 2025 15:34 UTC
New data centres and their grid connections, and SuperValu exits getaway breaks
SuperValu is exiting its long-standing Getaway Breaks programme, which is part of its Real Rewards customer loyalty scheme. Irish retailer SuperValu will exit its long-standing Getaway Breaks programme, which was previously run in partnership with travel company Digibreaks and operated as part of its Real Rewards customer loyalty programme. Cantillon also offers a view on Ireland’s vicious housing circle, which involves high costs and high rents. Ciara O’Brien’s tech review road tests Orbit x Glasses – a tag that helps you find your spectacles. Our Innovator to Watch this week is an Irish AI start-up that aims to cut hiring time by weeks.
Source:The Irish Times
December 11, 2025 15:19 UTC
64 Wine review: One of the most glorious neighbourhood spots you are likely to find
64 Wine Address : 64 Glasthule Road, Glasthule, Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, A96 TH22 Telephone : 01 280 5664 Cuisine : Modern International Website : https://64wine.ie/ Opens in new window Cost : €€There are wine bottles everywhere. The space reads more as a wine shop – as you’d expect in 64 Wine in Glasthule, one of the country’s most highly awarded wine shops – than as a restaurant. A large vintage-style clock hangs over the pass, and the counter is dotted with scales and containers, giving the sense of a working kitchen embedded inside a wine shop. Who’s behind them?Opens in new window ]64 Wine – a shop, wine bar and restaurant, where diners sit within arm’s reach of stock, cooking, and service – is one of the most glorious neighbourhood restaurants you are likely to find, except for the table by the door, which appears to fall off the staff’s map entirely. Earlier this year 64 Wine opened another wine shop in Mount Merrion, and there are plans for a wine bar and cafe to open in Easter 2026.
Source:The Irish Times
December 11, 2025 11:42 UTC
Storm Bram an example of need to assess risk holistically, says Aon chief
Photograph: Dara Mac DónaillThe disruption caused by Storm Bram highlights the need for firms to assess risks “holistically” as businesses are beginning to view weather and natural disasters as a bigger threat to business, according to a new survey by Aon. The primary risk concerning Irish businesses is the threat of cyber attacks and data breaches, according to a new survey, with 93 per cent of businesses having a plan in place to address the threat. Rachael Ingle, the chief executive of Aon Ireland, said there are “big megatrends” impacting Irish businesses, namely weather, workforce, trade and technology. She said these risks are “interconnected and converging”, citing the impact of Storm Bram in recent days as an example of the need for companies to evaluate risks “holistically”. She said means that Irish companies and decision makers should model and plan for these risks, which contributed to 44 per cent of companies suffering a loss in financial performance.
Source:The Irish Times
December 11, 2025 11:00 UTC