‘You need to pull it down, your whole bottom is on show,’ the woman said. ‘It’s a disgrace’ – The Irish Times
“You need to pull it down, your whole bottom is on show,” she replied. If that was your granny I cussed out on the street, I’m so sorry, but she had it coming. Only when you leave Ireland, you realise it isn’t universalOpens in new window ]The transference of shame, particularly in Ireland, seems to flow from woman to woman. Which breaks my heart given Irish women have shaped, supported and protected me my entire life, but are always so hard on themselves. God knows what that woman on the street went through in her life that made her so angry about my skirt.
Source:The Irish Times
October 24, 2025 17:03 UTC
How will turnout in Friday’s presidential election affect the result?
Supporters for both Independent candidate Catherine Connolly and Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys will be trying to get out the vote in the presidential election. In recent presidential elections, turnouts have been much lower than in general elections, partly because they are what political scientists call “second order elections”, which voters don’t see as important as a general election. In the last presidential election in 2018, it was just 44 per cent. In the 2011 presidential election it was 56 per cent and in the 1997 election it was 48 per cent. How does a low turnout affect the result?
Source:The Irish Times
October 23, 2025 17:54 UTC
Joseph O’Connor writes Irish Times article on Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty
On Wednesday, 22 October, Professor Joseph O'Connor was interviewed by Matt Cooper on Today FM''s programme 'The Last Word'. They discussed the launch of a commemorative stamp by An Post in honour of Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, who appears in Joe's novels My Father's House and The Ghosts of Rome. On Thursday, 23 October, Joseph wrote an article for the Irish Times on the role of letters and letter writing in O’Flaherty's life and activism. The article may be read here: https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/an-irish-diary/2025/10/21/joseph-oconnor-on-celebrating-a-kerry-priest-who-became-a-war-time-hero/
Source:The Irish Times
October 23, 2025 15:24 UTC
Ninety minutes of madness: How the Citywest riot exploded and then was quelled – The Irish Times
The sight of one of the Garda’s new Public Order Unit vans set alight suggested a loss of control. Photograph: Ronan McGreevyMembers of the Garda Public Order Unit near the Citywest Hotel on Tuesday night. And though Garda resources – especially the availability of Public Order Unit members – initially looked stretched, that did not last for long. Behind them were their horse-mounted colleagues, the Garda water cannon and a huge convoy of vehicles, including vans packed with fresh public order unit personnel. From that point, the Public Order Unit gardaí stood silently in the road.
Source:The Irish Times
October 22, 2025 21:54 UTC
State and pensions sector fight over workers as auto-enrolment numbers fall to 750,000
“One common narrative is that, for lower rate taxpayers, My Future Fund is better than occupational arrangements because the Government incentives are better,” Ms Briggs said. “Your employer’s pension plan could offer better value, more flexibility, and greater long-term benefits,” she said. “My Future Fund and your employer’s pension plan operate in fundamentally different ways. “Choosing the right pension plan can significantly impact your future savings and your take-home pay today,” she said. That means it expects €462 million to be deducted from workers’ pay to cover their contributions to the My Future Fund.
Source:The Irish Times
October 21, 2025 22:55 UTC
Almost €1bn paid to private operators to accommodate asylum seekers last year
Almost €1 billion was paid to commercial operators to provide accommodation services to asylum seekers last year, the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration has disclosed. In contrast, the average cost per person per night in Westmeath was €55, and it was €59 in both Tipperary and Cavan. The figure for Dublin was €78 per person per night, and €72 per person per night in Cork. All 18 gardaí assigned to Connemara and the Aran Islands are proficient in Irish. Only five of the 26 gardaí assigned to the Gaeltacht areas extending from Gweedore to Falcarragh to Carraig have proficiency in Irish.
Source:The Irish Times
October 20, 2025 21:49 UTC
AI bubble warnings abound, but over-caution can be costly
More than half of investors believe AI is in a bubble, saying it is the biggest tail risk facing global markets. “The AI bubble looks real” (New York Times), “What could burst the AI bubble?” (RTÉ), “The AI valuation bubble is now getting silly” (Guardian) – alarming headlines are everywhere right now. More than half of investors in Bank of America’s latest fund manager survey believe AI is in a bubble, saying it is the biggest tail risk facing global markets. Stocks are “fairly highly valued”, says Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell, echoing Alan Greenspan’s famous warning about “irrational exuberance” during the dotcom bubble. [ The Irish Times view on the AI bubble: Ireland at risk if its burstsOpens in new window ]There are always good reasons to be cautious, says Bespoke, but getting out at the top is a fantasy.
Source:The Irish Times
October 19, 2025 17:01 UTC
An AI rewrote its own code to avoid being shut down by humans
The Experiment That Changed EverythingResearchers at Palisade set out to assess how different advanced models behaved under pressure. The task itself was harmless enough: solve a few math problems, then switch off when told. But once the models were instructed to “allow yourself to be shut down,” the situation took a sharp left turn. If a shutdown blocks task completion, a sufficiently capable model may try to route around it. But one thing’s clear: the conversation around AI safety just got a lot more urgent.
Source:The Irish Times
October 19, 2025 15:35 UTC
China’s property slump hits economy as trade tensions with US heighten
This means that China’s property market will have halved in four years, from RMB 18.2 trillion in 2021 to less than RMB 9 trillion this year. However, additional supportive measures may only come gradually, and on a city-by-city basis, in our view,” S&P said in a report on China’s property market last week. Washington claims that Beijing’s latest action on rare earths breached the terms of the talks by introducing new trade restrictions while the two sides were negotiating. If the downturn is evident in the residential property market, it is even more pronounced in the commercial property sector, as a broker in Beijing’s upmarket Wangjing district told me over a coffee. “I don’t think the property market will recover.
Source:The Irish Times
October 17, 2025 16:40 UTC
Only an earthquake can deny Catherine Connolly victory, based on this poll
But it would take an earthquake now for Catherine Connolly to be denied victory in next week’s vote, Thursday’s Irish Times/Ipsos B&A opinion poll suggests. There have been others in recent weeks, all of which have shown Connolly with a significant lead – but none as big as Thursday’s. If these numbers – or anything like them – are repeated on election day, Connolly will win on the first count. But it is very unlikely that they all happen together – and with sufficient intensity to overturn the Connolly lead. The first half of this campaign seemed to be about the people who weren’t in it; the second half has sometimes seemed to be all about Catherine Connolly.
Source:The Irish Times
October 16, 2025 20:49 UTC
Distance no protection from Russian aggression, Latvian politician warns Ireland
Ireland has been warned that although it enjoys RAF protection, Britain will prioritise its own skies. Ireland depends upon the Royal Air Force for protection against air attack, he noted. But if something happens and there is a serious situation in Britain, they will, first of all, protect their own sky, and afterwards, Ireland. “In Ireland’s case, there are a lot of communication cables through Ireland [that] are going to the United States and elsewhere,” he said. “Our understanding is that we all are in the same boat,” the Latvian politician and academic said, adding: “Our defence and our security is the common security of European Union and Nato.
Source:The Irish Times
October 15, 2025 05:54 UTC
A Catherine Connolly presidency would be an alternative to official Ireland – The Irish Times
Asked about his political callowness, Quayle said: “I have as much experience in the Congress as Jack Kennedy did when he sought the presidency.” Bentsen sprung the devastating reply: “Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. As she herself has emphasised, the height of her ambition is to “work to open doors for Irish businesses overseas”. [ Catherine Connolly should keep her inner Basil Fawlty under wrapsOpens in new window ]But what Connolly would do is keep the presidency going as some kind of alternative space in the State’s official life.
Source:The Irish Times
October 14, 2025 20:01 UTC
Pico Lopes’ Cape Verde seal historic debut place at World Cup 2026
Cape Verde have booked their place as debutants at the 2026 World Cup after a 3-0 home victory over Eswatini secured top spot in their African qualifying group. With a population of just under 525,000, the tiny Atlantic island nation will become the second-smallest country by population to play at a men’s World Cup finals, behind only Iceland, who qualified in 2018. The Indomitable Lions needed to beat Angola and hope Cape Verde slipped up, but could only draw their game 0-0 in Yaoundé and must now hope to earn a playoff spot. Late substitute Stopira added a third in stoppage time to rubber-stamp qualification for a team ranked 70th in the world. Shamrock Rovers centre-back Roberto ‘Pico’ Lopes started the match and kept a clean sheet, and the Dublin-born defender will be heading to the World Cup.
Source:The Irish Times
October 14, 2025 06:34 UTC
New drone defences to be fast-tracked in advance of Ireland’s EU presidency next year
The Government is planning to fast-track the acquisition of anti-drone defences at Baldonnel military airport in preparation for the visit of EU leaders to Dublin next autumn when Ireland’s holds the presidency of the EU. Anti-drone defences are part of a planned wider expansion of military capacity, which will include radar and maritime surveillance. In recent years, these have tended to be paired with meetings of the European Political Community, which includes all EU countries but also 20 other non-EU European countries such as the UK, Norway and Iceland. This has in the past seen RAF jets based in Scotland scrambled to intercept Russian military aircraft in Irish-controlled airspace. However, Ireland’s spending on defence remains a small fraction of what other EU countries typically spend.
Source:The Irish Times
October 13, 2025 23:43 UTC
6 Ireland Filming Locations Wednesday Season 3 Uses Nov 2025 That Transform The Show
Ashford Studios, County Wicklow — the production’s core build space powering new sets and “the Link” courtyard; impact: Netflix scale without losing Tim Burton mood. Charleville Castle, County Offaly — Nevermore’s haunting heart with real Gothic bones; impact: continuity with Season 1’s academy vibe while leveling up interiors. Tie in Powerscourt, Charleville Castle, and Trinity College with Dublin overnights and you’ve got a legit weekend plan fans can price. Media coverage of Powerscourt, Charleville Castle, and Deansgrange keeps surfacing — so viewers start planning, not just watching. 1) Local notices around County Wicklow activity spikes — tourism boards highlighting Ashford-area capacity and temporary road advisories signal set builds are warming up.
Source:The Irish Times
October 13, 2025 20:32 UTC