UK/EU food deal to ease Windsor problems could come at too high a price, says former British minister
Former Conservative minister Greg Hands is “opposed” to an agreement where London would agree to align with EU regulations on sanitary and phytosanitary rules. Photograph: PAUL FAITH/AFP via Getty ImagesA European Union/UK agreement on food exports designed to resolve problems in existing trade between Britain and Northern Ireland could come at too high a price, a former British minister for trade has warned. However, Mr Hands said: “Why would the UK voluntarily and dynamically align with rules over which we have no say? He had doubts that an SPS agreement would remove all of the GB/NI hurdles that are being claimed for it: “It’s an arguable thing. The Irish Government has frequently “smoothed things over” when difficulties have emerged between London and Brussels, said Mr Hands, who now works with a Czech-based industrial group.
Source:The Irish Times
November 05, 2025 20:33 UTC
Gardaí unable to speak to girl (10) allegedly assaulted near Citywest ‘due to medical advice’
Photograph: Getty ImagesGardaí have been unable to speak to a 10-year-old girl, who was allegedly sexually assaulted in west Dublin last month, “due to medical advice”, a court has heard. “She is in a secure facility – due to medical advice, we can’t speak to her,” she also said. The defence solicitor told the court his client was on a waiting list for the Central Mental Hospital, but no report was yet to hand. The judge told him to inform his client the court was asking that medical doctors see him in prison. The case triggered violent scenes in Citywest, Dublin, in the following days, resulting in more than 30 arrests.
Source:The Irish Times
November 05, 2025 20:33 UTC
Challenge to €650m Enterprise train contract could mean loss of €165m in funding, court told
The planned investment in the Dublin-Belfast Enterprise service will see an hourly service between the two cities, doubling the current eight services per day to 16. Photograph: Bryan O’BrienA High Court challenge to the awarding of a €650 million contract to replace the Dublin-Belfast Enterprise train service rolling stock could mean the loss of up to €165 million of European Union funding towards the project, a judge was told on Wednesday. It will also mean the replacement of “non-Enterprise sets” of rolling stock which do not have the same feel and kit-out as Enterprise trains. Mr Smyth said funding for the project is coming from the Irish Government, the Northern Ireland department of infrastructure and EU funding programmes for the six counties. If the EU funding is not ultimately achieved, it would be for the sponsoring departments here and in Northern Ireland to make up the shortfall, he said.
Source:The Irish Times
November 05, 2025 20:18 UTC
Israel says it has received the body of deceased hostage from Gaza
Under a ceasefire deal that took effect on October 10th, Hamas turned over all 20 living hostages held in Gaza in return for nearly 2,000 Palestinian convicts and wartime detainees held in Israel. In return, Israel handed over 270 bodies of Palestinians it had killed since the war began in October 2023, Gaza health authorities said. Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages in their cross-border attack on Israel on October 7th, 2023, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s retaliatory offensive in the Gaza Strip killed more than 68,000 Palestinians, health officials in the enclave say. Earlier on Tuesday, Gaza health authorities said Israeli fire killed a man in Jabalia in northern Gaza.
Source:The Irish Times
November 05, 2025 20:08 UTC
Dublin private school apologises to parents for offering places in ‘error’
The school admissions team apologised and advised applicants who received the offer notification to disregard it. A sought-after private school in South Dublin has apologised to parents for the “distress” caused after admissions offers were issued in error. In an email subsequently issued to those affected, Louise Marshall, principal of St Andrew’s College, offered her “sincere apologies for the confusion caused”. Last year, the school received 480 applications for the 167 available places, with 228 applicants being placed on a waiting list. St Andrew’s College did not respond to a request for comment on the error.
Source:The Irish Times
November 05, 2025 20:08 UTC
EU states agree deal to slash carbon emissions by 2040
European Union climate ministers have approved a deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Danish minister who chaired talks. Environment ministers from the EU states settled on a commitment to cut the union’s carbon emissions by 90 per cent of 1990 levels, over the next 15 years. “The planet doesn’t care where we reduce emissions”, EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said on Wednesday, after the 2040 deal was agreed. About a dozen EU states are projected to fail to hit earlier targets to dramatically bring down their emissions by 2030. The 2040 climate target still has to be approved by MEPs in the European Parliament, before it becomes law.
Source:The Irish Times
November 05, 2025 20:08 UTC
‘I’m not getting any younger’: Rory McIlroy planning to reduce his schedule in the future
And sometimes it’s nice to get off that hamster wheel and do things your own way. “Look, I’m not getting any younger. But I definitely think that I can still keep improving in certain areas and get even better. The field: Its position as the penultimate tournament on the DP World Tour schedule with elevated points has ensured a stellar field headlined by world number two Rory McIlroy. Rory McIlroy is the 5-1 favourite ahead of Tommy Fleetwood at 11-2 but it is Tyrrell Hatton – runner-up to Waring last year – who looks well priced at 8-1.
Source:The Irish Times
November 05, 2025 19:35 UTC
From snake bites to moth colonies: There’s shocking intensity to Australia’s natural world – The Irish Times
Photograph: iStockWhen I came home from Australia for a visit last autumn, my brother and I took a road trip. I planned to visit Kerry to do some research for a book I’m working on, and my brother kindly offered to drive me. For an Irish person, accustomed to the less capricious cadence of Irish seasons and creatures, Australia is a sort of cosmic shock. While the landing of my apartment building is hopefully not these moths’ natural habitat, there they have been each morning this week. In the meantime, I try to nurture a sense of awe in the face of Australia’s alien (to me) natural world.
Source:The Irish Times
November 05, 2025 19:32 UTC
Fire-safety concerns found during inspections at more than 50 asylum centres
A review by The Irish Times of all available reports for inspections on Ipas facilities so far this year found fire-safety concerns were raised in respect of more than 50 accommodation centres. There were no fire-safety concerns raised in the 2024 inspection, the most recent report available, of the Drogheda accommodation centre. Some inspections also raised concerns about how long evacuations took. A number of inspection reports raised concerns about overcrowding in some accommodation centres, which was also flagged as a fire-safety issue. Inspectors also identified fire risks from a number of e-scooters being charged indoors in the corridors of some accommodation centres.
Source:The Irish Times
November 05, 2025 19:31 UTC
Novo Nordisk loses further ground in obesity market
Novo Nordisk is continuing to lose ground in the obesity and diabetes markets, with the Danish drugmaker saying it expected sales and profit growth at the lower end of its guidance this year. The Ozempic maker, which is in the midst of a fierce battle with US rival Pfizer to buy obesity biotech Metsera, now expects 2025 sales growth of between 8 and 11 per cent at constant exchange rates. The updated forecast in its latest results is driven by lower expectations for sales of Ozempic and its other blockbuster weight-loss treatment Wegovy. Maziar Mike Doustdar, who was appointed chief executive in August after his predecessor was ousted following sharp falls in the share price, said the transformation plan had already created efficiencies. “We aim to accelerate on all fronts to be able to compete better in dynamic and increasingly competitive markets,” he said.
Source:The Irish Times
November 05, 2025 19:27 UTC
The Irish Times view on Coalition strains: it’s the little things that trip you up
It is more than five years now since Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael broke one of Irish politics’ last taboos and agreed to join together in coalition government. As Albert Reynolds ruefully reflected following the implosion of his own coalition, it’s the little things that trip you up. Since Yates is a former Fine Gael minister, many would have assumed he was speaking from that perspective. He chose not to share his commercial relationship with Fianna Fáil with listeners or colleagues. If this Coalition is to thrive rather than just survive, it will need to find a sense of forward momentum.
Source:The Irish Times
November 05, 2025 19:18 UTC
Irish arm of Italian bank to fund delivery of first playing pitch for Dublin’s Liberties
Mediolanum International Funds is set to fund a full-size community playing pitch for Dublin's southwest inner city. Mediolanum International Funds has announced plans to fund the delivery of the first, full-size community playing pitch for the southwest inner city. At an event in Dublin’s City Hall on Tuesday night, Mediolanum International Funds announced that it had raised more than €1.1 million for community initiatives across Dublin. Tom Magee of Sporting Liberties, an umbrella group of local sports clubs which has been spearheading the campaign for a playing pitch, said the impact of the project would “be felt for generations”. Dublin City Council has committed to delivering a separate playing pitch as part of its planned redevelopment of the nearby Marrowbone Lane depot site.
Source:The Irish Times
November 05, 2025 19:00 UTC
Jack Chambers endures silent tsunami of schadenfreude in the Dáil – The Irish Times
“I’m not going anywhere.”Fighting talk from Micheál Martin in an interview last week amid dark rumblings in the ranks over his handling of the presidential election debacle. Catherine Connolly ceased to be a TD after she won last month's presidential election. Then again, it was a happy day of sorts too for the deputy leader of Fianna Fáil. Former Fine Gael minister Ivan Yates. The Taoiseach was on his way to the Amazon Delta while his ill-fated presidential election candidate, Jim Gavin, is down the Swanee river.
Source:The Irish Times
November 05, 2025 18:55 UTC
British media sees red over Irish poppy refuseniks
There was a predictable mini furore this week in British media over Ireland footballer and Arsenal player Katie McCabe’s decision not to wear a poppy for a match last weekend. At this time of year, Irish people living in Britain sometimes feel the glare of attention over their decisions about wearing the poppy. I do not wear one but, of course, I have no issue with the Irish in Britain who do. It appears that the Daily Mail was the first British newspaper to report on McCabe’s decision to “DITCH” the poppy from her jersey last weekend in Arsenal’s match against Leicester. [ Finn McRedmond: Annual kerfuffle over the poppy does not point to an island ready for reunificationOpens in new window ]The Royal British Legion sells 30 million poppies each year.
Source:The Irish Times
November 05, 2025 18:38 UTC
‘Significant’ staffing shortages in stroke units, report finds
According to the report, there was a 13 per cent increase in hospital stroke admissions, from 6,089 in 2021 to 6,882 in 2024. During this time, the number of stroke unit beds has increased 2 per cent from 239 to 244. Stroke units are vital for the outcome of such patients, significantly reducing mortality and disability through the use of multidisciplinary teams. [ Is one long walk better for you health than several short walks?Opens in new window ]The National Stroke Strategy 2022 to 2027 outlined a desire to ensure the stroke units “are properly staffed and not just ‘signs over doors’”. “Every hospital now has a stroke unit, but too few patients are actually being treated in them,” he said.
Source:The Irish Times
November 05, 2025 18:04 UTC