David McWilliams: What is behind the anti-Americanism on the Irish left? – The Irish Times
Given these extraordinary ties, America is obviously Ireland’s best friend, so where does the anti-Americanism of the Irish left come from? In these days of social media, it’s the Cultural Revolution for the TikTok age, but Maoism-Third Worldism gripped the left decades ago. In Maoism-Third Worldism, there are only two sides – the powerful and powerless, the coloniser and colonised, the legitimate and illegitimate. Economically, Maoism-Third Worldism cleaves towards pure self-sufficiency, rather than the tricky compromises that international trade involves. Might having a new Irish president steeped in the rhetoric of Maoism-Third Worldism risk American capital flight?
Source:The Irish Times
November 15, 2025 16:31 UTC
Solvej Balle: ‘I thought that if I started to write this, I would spoil it’
On the Calculation of Volume is a seven-book series by Danish writer Solvej Balle. So far, six of the seven volumes have been published in Danish; Balle is working on the concluding volume. I tried to throw it out several times, because I thought that if I started to write this, I would spoil it. “When I finally started to write what ended up being the beginning of Book One, it was in 1999 or 2000. Balle also raises an important point about sustainability and whether civilisation is consuming the very raft that keeps it afloat.
Source:The Irish Times
November 15, 2025 16:23 UTC
Evan Ferguson to miss Ireland’s World Cup qualifier in Hungary
Evan Ferguson remains sidelined by injury following the game for Roma against Parma on October 29th. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/InphoEvan Ferguson will not link up with the Republic of Ireland squad ahead of Sunday’s final World Cup qualifier against Hungary in Budapest (kick-off, 2pm). Ireland must beat Hungary at the Puskás Aréna to secure a play-off to reach next summer’s tournament in North America. The 21-year-old striker had hoped to recover from an ankle injury he aggravated playing for Roma against Parma on October 29th. Ferguson has failed to score a goal during his recent loan moves to West Ham United and Roma, but he was on target in three of Ireland’s first four qualifiers.
Source:The Irish Times
November 15, 2025 15:14 UTC
Epstein files: Trump taunted from beyond the grave
To Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein has become the nuisance who won’t accept that the friendship is over. The reopening of government and Congress was always going to lead to a resumption of the political chatter about the Epstein files. The petition will have unanimous Democrat support but also needs to have at least 70 House Republican votes. “These emails prove absolutely nothing other than the fact that President Trump did nothing wrong,” Leavitt said. “And what President Trump has always said is that he was from Palm Beach and so was Jeffrey Epstein.
Source:The Irish Times
November 15, 2025 14:00 UTC
Trump rolls back tariffs on beef, coffee and other foods as inflation concerns mount
The new exemptions – which took effect retroactively at midnight on Thursday – mark a sharp reversal for Mr Trump, who has long insisted that the sweeping import duties he imposed earlier this year are not fuelling inflation. “They may in some cases,” raise prices, Mr Trump said of his tariffs when asked about the move aboard Air Force One on Friday evening. Mr Trump also told reporters aboard Air Force One that he would move forward with a $2,000 payment to lower- and middle-income Americans that would be funded by tariff revenues at some point next year. Although the US is a big beef producer, a persistent shortage of cattle in recent years has kept beef prices high. Asked if further changes were planned, Mr Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, “I don’t think it’ll be necessary.
Source:The Irish Times
November 15, 2025 13:43 UTC
Storm Claudia: Thousands without power as Dublin’s River Dodder ‘remains under close observation’
High waterlevels at the Weir in Lucan as riverbank renovation works become submerged due to heavy rainfall during Storm Claudia. Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish TimesDublin City Council (DCC) says the River Dodder “remains under close observation”, with cumulative rainfall on the Dublin Mountains exceeding 100mm since yesterday and contributing to high river levels. Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish TimesThe village of Blackwater in Co Wexford has been hit again by flooding as a result of Storm Claudia. It will stay rather cloudy overnight for most but largely dry with just a few spots of light rain or drizzle along with some patchy mist. The forecaster says tomorrow will be dry for most tomorrow with a mix of cloud and sunny spells at first along with the odd spot of light rain or drizzle.
Source:The Irish Times
November 15, 2025 13:41 UTC
‘Whitewashing Francoism’: Spanish youth flirt with far right as 50th anniversary of dictator’s death nears
Vito Quiles, a Spanish far-right activist compares himself to Charlie Kirk. At a university in Málaga in October, things took a dark turn when some of his supporters waved pre-constitutional flags, associated with the Franco regime. A pre-constitutional Spanish flag, associated with the Franco regime. Photograph: Emilio Naranjo/Pool/GettyIn 2022 Sánchez’s government pushed through parliament a democratic memory law, declaring the Franco regime illegal and deeming the public defence of it a criminal offence. Photograph: Roger Viollet/Getty ImagesA woman holds the Spanish republican flag during a protest in Madrid against the impunity for the crimes committed during the Spanish dictatorship of Francisco Franco.
Source:The Irish Times
November 15, 2025 13:33 UTC
AIL preview: Big Leinster names to feature in Dublin 6W derby face off
Like never before, the Dublin 6W derby has more than just local bragging rights at stake, as second-placed Terenure College host St Mary’s College at Lakelands Park (kick off 3pm) in an Energia All-Ireland League Division 1A summit meeting. UCD welcome Young Munster, with Andrew Osborne at fullback, while the Cookies welcomes Munster trio Shay McCarthy and halfbacks Tony Butler and Jake O’Riordan. Promoted Nenagh Ormond, still winless, host Ballynahinch after contrasting Bateman Cup outings, the latter’s ruthless 78-0 win over Sligo regaining them momentum. Division 2A: Ballymena v Cashel, Eaton Park; Banbridge v Old Crescent, Rifle Park; Dungannon v MU Barnhall, Stevenson Park; Galway Corinthians v Wanderers, Corinthian Park; Greystones v Shannon, Dr Hickey Park. Division 2B: Enniscorthy v Clogher Valley, Alcast Park; Navan v Rainey, Balreask Old; Skerries v Buccaneers, Holmpatrick; Sligo v Malone, Hamilton Park; UL Bohemian v Galwegians, UL4G.
Source:The Irish Times
November 15, 2025 13:32 UTC
Tadhg Beirne: ‘There’s so much more in us - we’re a far cry away from our potential at the moment’
Tadhg Beirne tells a story about Johann van Graan replacing him around the hour mark back in his second season with Munster. I feel like I’m an 80-minute player’.”From that day on, Beirne became one of Van Graan’s 80-minute men. Last season, Beirne completed 80 minutes in all bar one of his 16 starts for Munster, when coming off for the last three minutes away to Ulster. In all, Beirne played 2,544 minutes last season. “I think there’s so much more in us and we’re a far cry away from our potential at the moment.
Source:The Irish Times
November 15, 2025 13:31 UTC
Ireland remains locked into the anglophone world. Will we ever make the multilingual leap?
The languages question is topical following Catherine Connolly’s commitment to make the promotion of the Irish language a prominent theme of her presidency. The 2022 census shows 40 per cent of people could speak Irish, 10 per cent very well, 32 per cent well and 55 per cent not well. Only about 5 per cent can speak at least two foreign languages here, compared to the EU average of 28 per cent. These figures map the Irish languages question and the opportunities it presents. Structurally, Ireland has a real opportunity to make this multilingual leap; but we still need the political will and cultural skills to do it successfully.
Source:The Irish Times
November 15, 2025 13:19 UTC
Hugo Hamilton: ‘I love speaking Irish. It places me in a less aggressive country full of musical links to an ancient past’
The erasure of the past and the erasure of the present and the loving impact of hope. We acknowledge what is going on and also have a duty to notice what is beautiful in the world. As a German-Irish writer, part visitor and part native, I explore that landscape against the background of my German heritage. I love speaking Irish, it places me in a less aggressive country, closer to nature, full of musical links to an ancient past. I would set up a system whereby each European country would adopt a less prosperous country elsewhere in the world.
Source:The Irish Times
November 15, 2025 13:14 UTC
No, Ireland wouldn’t be better off if Denis O’Brien or John Collison were in charge – The Irish Times
Billionaire Denis O’Brien thinks university graduates are “entitled”, remote working is a bad idea and HR professionals are “weak” people who “also want to work from home”. But, he went on – pertinently, or so critics of his own tax arrangements might say – “the question is: is it acceptable?”Tech billionaire John Collison thinks Ireland is hopelessly inefficient, stymied by too much regulation and too many quangos. This is a recurring theme of Irish life: the notion that everything would be vastly improved if only rich men such as O’Leary, O’Brien or Collison were in charge. Collison and his brother built a payments system that was better than existing payments systems. Ireland – and almost every other country, aside from Sweden – diverted all of its resources towards a single goal.
Source:The Irish Times
November 15, 2025 13:05 UTC
Trump says he will likely sue BBC for up to $5bn over edited speech
US president Donald Trump has threatened a lawsuit of up to $5 billion against the BBC. Mr Trump’s lawyers had initially set a Friday deadline for the BBC to retract its documentary or face a lawsuit for “no less” than $1 billion. “We’ll sue them for anywhere between $1 billion and $5 billion, probably sometime next week,” Mr Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he headed to Florida for the weekend. In an interview with British right-leaning TV channel GB News, Mr Trump said the edit was “impossible to believe” and compared it to election interference. [ Why the BBC has apologised over a Donald Trump speech edit, and what happens nextOpens in new window ]“I made a beautiful statement, and they made it into a not beautiful statement,” he said.
Source:The Irish Times
November 15, 2025 12:44 UTC
Donald Trump may yet make his mark on the NFL after decades out in the cold
But Trump has shattered all of the old conventions and restraints, and his slow, fist-pumping dance has become a staple celebration on NFL fields. President Donald Trump busts out his trademark dance on the campaign trail earlier this year. Donald Trump, then owner of the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League, poses with head coach Walt Michaels and quarterback Doug Flutie at a press conference at Trump Tower on February 5th, 1985. Basically offering to throw the USFL under the bus if it meant he could get an NFL team. So the NFL was yet another strata of elite American society that refused to permit Donald Trump into its inner circle.
Source:The Irish Times
November 15, 2025 12:32 UTC
Out-of-pocket Zimbabwean care workers left without wages after promised jobs fall through
Another said she was left without income for months and had to eventually leave a staff house when the landlord arrived, threatening to change the locks. Several of the workers moved into a staff house Unity had rented near the centre and training was held for some, but the jobs failed to materialise, the tribunal heard. Why are you talking to these people you’re staying with about our company?”Ms Chiwaridzo said the workers at the staff house were “scared to talk”. Ms Chiwaridzo said the workers living at the staff house pooled their resources to try to pay for electricity, food and heating. Brenda Mubaiwa said she had left “kids at home” to come to to the Republic and work, but had only ever been paid €300 by Unity Healthcare.
Source:The Irish Times
November 15, 2025 12:02 UTC