Ireland needs six to eight more large developers to meet 2030 housing targets, says agency chief
The Government has committed to building more than 300,000 homes between 2025 and the end of 2030. Photograph: iStockIreland needs between six and eight more stock market listed home builders if it is to meet the Government’s housing target of 300,000 homes by 2030, the chief executive of the Housing Agency has said. That’s the reality of it,” Martin Whelan, the chief executive of the Housing Agency told The Irish Times in an interview. At present, Cairn Homes and Glenveagh Homes are the only two property developers listed on the Irish stock market. Housing Agency chief executive Martin Whelan.
Source:The Irish Times
October 31, 2025 08:01 UTC
Miriam O’Callaghan: ‘Receptiongate was the most stressful moment of my entire career’
Miriam O’Callaghan has been doing one thing since she was a schoolgirl that “no one can believe”. Catherine Connolly and Heather Humphreys with Miriam O’Callaghan and Sarah McInerney in the Prime Time studio. Photograph: Bryan O’BrienO’Callaghan, who is now 65, is the second of five children born to Jerry, from Co Kerry, and Miriam, aka “the real Miriam O’Callaghan”, from Co Laois. “Yeah, everyone else is at it.”Congrats to him on having his great career, but my career is my career. Miriam: Life, Work, Everything by Miriam O’Callaghan is published by Penguin Sandycove
Source:The Irish Times
October 31, 2025 07:33 UTC
‘There’s a darkness to that place’: A night in Northern Ireland’s most haunted castle
There is no sound within its thick walls, and in the corner a small window overlooks Ballygally Bay on the dramatic east Antrim coastline. The 'haunted' room. Hotel bar manager Mark Lappin from Armagh was urged by his wife, a New Yorker, to spend the night in one of the haunted tower rooms. We couldn’t get over the fact no one wanted to stay below the ghost room,” he says. She said there was a couple staying in the room below the ghost room one night who told her there were strange things happening all night.
Source:The Irish Times
October 31, 2025 07:31 UTC
New measures planned as State runs out of space to house Ukrainians
Newly arrived Ukrainian migrants may have their time in State accommodation cut substantially while those already in State accommodation could face relocations. These “immediate” measures are under consideration amid fears the Government is going to “exhaust” its capacity to house people by the end of next month. The Government would also refuse to accommodate anyone coming to Ireland from Ukraine via a second country, or who had previously been granted temporary protection in another European member state. The measures are being considered because of an increase in recent weeks in the number of people fleeing the war who have been granted temporary protection here. And Ireland would “refuse to provide accommodation to beneficiaries of temporary protection who arrive from secondary movement and have previously held temporary protection in another member state”, the briefing says.
Source:The Irish Times
October 31, 2025 07:31 UTC
‘It’s crazy. It’s not worth €425k’: How an ‘insane’ profit on a sale helped a couple move home
“Within the first couple of weeks we had 80 viewings, and it was sold within four weeks,” she says. After 84 bids, the three-bed house in a new estate in Blarney, Co Cork, was sold in 2023 for €425,000. Stacey Hawkes: 'They’re building the houses, but the infrastructure isn’t there to keep up with it.' The house went on sale about two hours after she gave birth to her second child. The couple purchased the house for €275,000 before spending an additional €150,000 to get it into a “liveable state”, using the profit made from the first sale.
Source:The Irish Times
October 31, 2025 06:57 UTC
Revenue files summons against Press Up co-founder Paddy McKillen Jnr
The summons understood to relate to the tax affairs of Paddy McKillen Jnr. Photograph: Getty ImagesThe Revenue Commissioners have applied to the High Court for a summons against Paddy McKillen jnr. The co-founder of the Press Up Hospitality Group, Mr McKillen jnr is a well-known restaurateur and hotelier, and son of Belfast-born property tycoon Paddy McKillen snr. The Revenue summons was filed this week. A spokeswoman for Mr McKillen jnr said: “The case concerns Paddy McKillen Jnr and company Covid taxes already covered by performing phased payment arrangements.
Source:The Irish Times
October 31, 2025 01:12 UTC
Donald Trump says rare earths dispute ‘settled’ after meeting China’s Xi Jinping
He said that Mr Xi agreed to pause controls on exports of rare earths for a year and to resume Chinese purchases of American soybeans. Mr Trump said he and Mr Xi had discussed the issue of semiconductors and US restrictions on the sale to China of the most advanced microchips. “I look forward to exchanging views with you on questions important for our two countries and the world,” Mr Xi said. Mr Trump said that the two leaders discussed Ukraine during their meeting although he appears not to have asked Mr Xi to buy less Russian oil. Mr Trump said after the meeting that he would visit China next April and that Xi would visit the US later next year.
Source:The Irish Times
October 30, 2025 22:49 UTC
Juice Jar wins top prize at new cross-Border awards set up by EasyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou
Sam Shephard, gold award winner at the inaugural North-South Business Cooperation Awards, receiving his €150,000 cheque from the awards founder, Stelios Haji-Ioannou. Photograph: Naoise CulhaneA company set up by a former Royal Marine has won the top prize in a major cross-Border business award scheme set up by the Greek-Cypriot founder of Easyyet, Stelios Haji-Ioannou in partnership with Co-Operation Ireland. The top prize of €150,000 in the North–South Business Cooperation Awards won by Shephard’s company was presented at a ceremony hosted by the billionaire in Castle Leslie in Co. Monaghan on Thursday. Pictured at the inaugural North-South Business Cooperation Awards at Castle Leslie in Co Monaghan were Sam Shephard, left, gold award winner and founder of Juice Jar who received a cheque for €150,000 from awards scheme founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou. Winners in the inaugural North-South Business Cooperation Awards at Castle Leslie in Co Monaghan pictured with awards founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou, centre on the lower tier.
Source:The Irish Times
October 30, 2025 22:40 UTC
Ireland ‘hog-tied’ to progress-delaying bureaucracy, former ceann comhairle says
Former ceann comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl has said the Irish system of governance has created agencies to accept blame when things go wrong. Photograph Nick BradshawFormer ceann comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl has said the country has “hog-tied ourselves to bureaucracy”, questioning whether the Oireachtas has the “courage and vision” to “throw off the shackles” and confront shortfalls in housing, infrastructure and disability services. In a statement to The Irish Times, Mr Ó Fearghaíl said he had raised similar points over the years at meetings of the Fianna Fáil party “but alas, to no avail”. Mr Ó Fearghail said the country should be grateful to Mr Collison for his “astute and accurate analysis of the stasis which currently affects many of our State’s bodies and agencies”. In his article, published last Saturday, Mr Collison noted that Ireland was not building infrastructure quickly enough to satisfy various demands.
Source:The Irish Times
October 30, 2025 22:35 UTC
View from New Zealand: Huge pay day the main reason All Blacks are facing Ireland in Chicago
New Zealand's head coach Scott Robertson is under enormous pressure to get a win against Ireland in Chicago. Talk about dominant All Blacks looked misplaced after they were beaten at home by South Africa in September. The day before the All Blacks left home, assistant coach Jason Holland announced he would be leaving at the end of the year. But that 23-13 win for New Zealand was the exception not the rule – and easily the best performance of 2024. The All Blacks also conceded 17 more points than they scored in the final 20 minutes of games in the championship.
Source:The Irish Times
October 30, 2025 22:35 UTC
‘Is it really worth this much?’: How costs spiralled on a couple’s derelict home renovation
I’m pretty handy, and for this place, I did as much as I could myself to keep the costs down. It was advertised as a home that would qualify for the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant, with the agent emphasising it had been vacant for seven years. The Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant was established in July 2022 as part of the Croí Cónaithe (Towns) Fund with applications managed by local authorities. Photograph: Chris Maddaloni/The Irish Times“I had hoped to change career, but that plan changed because of the cost,” Williams says. “It’s super stressful because you kind of second-guess yourself, like, am I really able to spend this much money?
Source:The Irish Times
October 30, 2025 22:34 UTC
Mysterious bright light over Ireland’s skies sparks UFO theories
Alan O'Reilly of Carlow Weather was sent photos of the light from counties Clare, Donegal and Dublin. Screenshot: Carlow Weather/XAn unusual bright light that could be seen in the sky across Ireland on Wednesday night, prompting speculation of UFOs, may have be linked to Elon Musk’s latest SpaceX rocket launch. Alan O’Reilly of Carlow Weather, the forecasting website, explained that the light was too high in the sky to be a helicopter and that it had made no noise. Soon after it could be seen in the sky, social media speculation began to emerge of it being an unidentified flying object (UFO). A mysterious light in the night sky over Ireland was found to be the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket dumping fuel in orbit following its launch.
Source:The Irish Times
October 30, 2025 22:31 UTC
HSE managers to get up to €32,000 each in back pay forgone after financial crash
HSE did not pay salary increase at the time due to public spending cuts. File image: Jeff Moore/PA WireSenior HSE managers who missed out on a 5 per cent pay increase due to the economic crash are to receive up to €32,000 in back pay under terms recommended by the Labour Court. Its recommendation will benefit 350 current and former managers working for the HSE and voluntary hospitals. This report had recommended implementing a 5 per cent pay increase for cohorts of managers across various departments and organisations, including assistant national directors in the health service. While the increases were generally applied elsewhere, the HSE did not pay them due to cuts in public spending after the crash.
Source:The Irish Times
October 30, 2025 22:21 UTC
Five new suspects arrested in connection with Louvre robbery
Crown jewels worth an estimated €88 million were stolen earlier this month from the Louvre in Paris, the world's most visited museum. Photograph: Riccardo Milani/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty ImagesFive new suspects have been arrested in connection with the Louvre robbery in Paris, in which thieves stole crown jewels worth an estimated €88m, the city’s public prosecutor has said, but the gems remain missing. One of the men detained “was a target of the investigators – we have traces of DNA linking him to the robbery”, Ms Beccuau said. One of the suspects, an Algerian national, was aged 34, had lived in France since 2010, and was known to police for road traffic offences. The second was aged 39, born in the Paris suburb of Aubervilliers, and had convictions for burglary.
Source:The Irish Times
October 30, 2025 21:58 UTC
Dutch liberal leader Rob Jetten tipped for power as far right suffers decline
Liberal Dutch leader Rob Jetten is tipped to become the next prime minister in the Netherlands after voters rejected a short-lived experiment with a government led by the far right. He will need the support of three or more other centrist parties to form a coalition with a parliamentary majority. Geert Wilders' Freedom party is neck and neck with liberal rivals for first place in the election, but lacks coalition options. While Mr Wilders’ Freedom party has lost significantly, it remains a strong force in the Dutch parliament, Ms Kuiper added. He will still have a major influence over decision-making in the years to come.”Deniz Horzum, a consultant who worked as spokesperson for Mr Jetten, said his former boss should not be underestimated.
Source:The Irish Times
October 30, 2025 21:47 UTC