
Ex-RTE star potential presidential candidate amid ‘no comment' nod & joint ballot bid with election date to be finalised
It comes as
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Murphy has revealed that opposition leaders are planning to hold further talks next week
Credit: � 2025 PA Media, All Rights Reserved
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Michael D Higgins will be replaced as president
Credit: Getty Images - Getty
An election to replace
However, political parties have been holding back on their candidate selection processes as they fear a lengthy election campaign could get dirty.
Opposition parties previously met to discuss the possibility of joining behind one candidate but there has been no progress as leaders wait to see if Sinn Fein will put forward their own runner.
The group of left leaning parties that are in discussions for a joint candidate include Labour, the Greens, the Social Democrats, Sinn Fein and People Before Profit.
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A move for a joint candidate from the left would become less likely if Sinn Fein decided to go it alone with their own party candidate.
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy has revealed that opposition leaders are planning to hold further talks next week as he confirmed the idea of a joint candidate is not dead yet.
He said: 'I'm involved in those discussions and People Before Profit are very enthusiastic about the idea of a joint left candidate.
MOST READ IN THE IRISH SUN
'We think with the right candidate and the right platform, we might win the Presidency and we could have a left candidate in the Presidency again.
'From our perspective and this is objectively true, this process is still alive.
JOINT CANDIDATE BID
'I would be very hopeful that we would have progress towards a joint left candidate before the Dail recess.'
The
Asked if
The LiveLine host did not rule out running for the Aras after he left his long running show last week but confirmed that he has NOT been approached by a party to run.
It comes as Housing Minister James Browne revealed that he wants to announce the date of the presidential election before the Cabinet breaks for a summer break.
He told the Irish Sun: 'I expect to be having that discussion with the leaders before the recess with a view to bringing something to Cabinet.
'So we will have that detailed discussion. It will be up for the Government to make a decision but I think people need to know the date as soon as possible.'
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Housing Minister James Browne revealed that he wants to announce the date of the presidential election before the Cabinet breaks for a summer break
Credit: � 2025 PA Media, All Rights Reserved

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Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Irish Independent
Galway City sees Local Property Tax surplus for another year
The Housing Department announced that an additional €42m will be added to the LPT 'baseline funding' next year. This will bring the allocation from €696m in 2025 to €744m in 2026. Over the three years leading up to 2026, baseline funding has risen steadily, up 33% overall. Local authorities receive a baseline funding amount to guide their budgeting. If an authority collects less LPT revenue than this baseline, it receives an additional allocation to equalise or given a 'boost'. Conversely, if it collects more than the baseline, the surplus must be directed toward roads, housing, and similar projects. In 2025, Galway City is in a €5m surplus for local authority use. For 2026, a provisional €2m increase in LPT revenue is projected. Local government and Planning Minister, John Cummins said: 'For the 10 surplus Local Authorities, they will see significant uplift which will assist them in delivering urban regeneration projects for the benefit of their growing communities.' The Local Authority is 'essential' to the servicing of Galway city said Housing Minister James Browne and 'each of them will now see an increase in funding in line with their increased yield.' While homeowners are expected to see a slight rise in their Local Property Tax bills, most will remain within their current valuation bands. It is noted that yield from this specific increase will also go to the local authority. 'Those who are paying local property taxes deserve to see their contribution at work in their local areas and today I have made changes to ensure more locally sourced revenue is spent where it comes from.' County Galway is expected to be an authority that requires equalisation meaning the LPT will amount to less than the baseline set out, and funding will be provided to them.


Irish Times
8 hours ago
- Irish Times
Republic's students pay 50% less than those from Britain to study in NI. Should they pay more?
With uncanny timing, given the proposed rise in student contribution fees , the DUP and Sinn Féin have been discussing students from the Republic. DUP assembly member Phillip Brett submitted a written question at Stormont two weeks ago 'to ask the minister for the economy whether her department has any plans to remove students from the Irish Republic from the university student cap'. Sinn Féin economy minister Caoimhe Archibald, whose remit includes third-level education, responded last week that 'improving student mobility remains a priority for me and I am committed to removing barriers for people from here who want to study in the South and vice versa. Removing southern students from the number cap by increasing fees would not support this aim'. There was a lot going on in this short exchange. READ MORE Undergraduate fees have a statutory maximum across the UK of £9,535 (€11,082) a year. Local students in Northern Ireland pay £4,855 because Stormont has chosen to subsidise the difference. To keep this subsidy under control, Stormont caps the number of places for local students. Sinn Féin is objecting to higher fees in the south and will almost certainly never agree to them in the north The cap is a disaster, preventing growth for the sake of a counterproductive giveaway. One-third of students from Northern Ireland who want a local place are unable to get one, forcing them to study in Britain, where they have to pay the maximum fee anyway. They might as well have paid it to stay at home – but then Stormont could not congratulate itself on its generosity. Students from the Republic are treated as local students throughout the UK under the terms of the Common Travel Area. When studying in Northern Ireland, they apply for capped places and pay the £4,855 (€5,681) fee, which they can borrow from the UK's government-owned loan company. Students from Britain pay the full UK fee in Northern Ireland and hence are outside the cap. They, and students from abroad, have become the only hope of university expansion in the region. So when the DUP asked about moving students from the Republic outside the cap, it was opening the door to significantly increasing their numbers. Sinn Féin's refusal assumed paying full fees would have the opposite effect, deterring applicants from the Republic. Of course, there is a constitutional subtext for both parties. More cross-Border students and identical treatment of northern and southern students are matters of great importance to Sinn Féin. The DUP is only interested in southern students as a source of revenue and growth, although this is not a hostile stance – it takes the same view on students from Britain. When the DUP asked about moving students from the Republic outside the cap, it was opening the door to significantly increasing their numbers Whatever view anyone takes on this is largely irrelevant in practice, as Britain and the Republic each contribute just 2,000 students, or 3 per cent of total enrolment at Northern Ireland's universities. Numbers from the south have tripled this decade, but from an absurdly low base. Perhaps the difference in fees is a fairly small part of the story, especially as it can be borrowed on excellent terms. Students from further afield might be more attracted to Northern Ireland if its third-level sector was simply larger, offering more choice and suffering from less of a perception of provincialism. Students from the Republic are twice as likely to study in England as in Northern Ireland, despite having to pay twice as much. As the current system is not working well for anyone, there is little to lose by trying different approaches. If southern students were moved outside the cap, northern universities would immediately have 2,000 more local places, plus a motivation to grow by increasing their appeal to southern students. Universities currently have no such motivation and put in the effort to match. It is far from certain that raising fees for southern students would cancel this out. Stormont could at least make a serious attempt to model various scenarios. Full UK fees might not have to be charged to expand certain courses, for example. The Irish Government might provide some assistance, although the €1,000 rise in contribution fees in the Republic suggests the moment to ask may have passed. The cap is a disaster, preventing growth for the sake of a counterproductive giveaway Sinn Féin is objecting to higher fees in the south, and will almost certainly never agree to them in the north. If it took a step back from this populist grandstanding, it might see its objectives clash. Identical treatment of northern and southern students may be hampering cross-Border mobility by limiting northern places. If the number of southern students in the north did increase significantly under the current system, they would be displacing Sinn Féin's northern constituents, which could prove highly unpopular. Northern Ireland's universities want fees for everyone to rise to the UK maximum, rendering the cap unnecessary and unleashing the sector's growth potential. Stormont is ignoring their increasingly urgent pleas. Southern students could help test the waters for a badly-needed policy that otherwise has little chance of being delivered.


Dublin Live
18 hours ago
- Dublin Live
It will be hard to stop child homelessness topping 5,000, Housing Minister admits
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info Housing Minister James Browne has conceded that it will be difficult to stop the number of children living in emergency accommodation from rising above 5,000. The Department of Housing published its May homelessness report last week and recorded 4,844 children in emergency accommodation. This was an increase of 69 on the previous month. In total, homelessness figures for May stood at 15,747 people, another record increase. At a press conference after Tuesday's Cabinet meeting, Minister Browne acknowledged that the number of children considered homeless is increasing towards 5,000. He said: "Well, the sense of direction, unfortunately, has been upwards and we're very close to that 5,000. "I don't want to see that threshold crossed, but it's gonna be very difficult to prevent crossing over that 5,000, considering how close we are. We're going to look at more measures of how we can prevent that child homelessness. "We have seen a significant increase in homelessness. We're seeing a significant increase in people becoming homeless moving from IPAS centres. "We've got very different categories of how people are becoming homeless, some people who need real support from health services, mental health services. Then you'll have people coming from high IPAS who no longer have the ability to stay in our IPAS centre because they've been regulated and don't have anywhere to live. "Then you have families who are becoming homeless as well. We want to focus on those families and how we can increase those preventative measures for families going in and getting back out as quickly as possible." Minister Browne stated that 40 per cent of families moving into homelessness accommodation are the recipients of notices to quit, something he said will be protected by new Rent Pressure Zone Legislation. The Minister's comments on child homelessness were criticised by Sinn Féin's housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin, who branded it an "utterly appalling admission of failure". He said: "Government have the power to take emergency action to tackle homelessness. That they choose not to take action is the reason why so many children are in emergency accommodation. They are not bystanders in this crisis." Elsewhere, Minister Browne confirmed reports in the Sunday Times suggesting that people will need to be considered habitual residents in Ireland to access social housing and emergency homeless accommodation. Mr Browne said that the Government will seek to pass legislation that it approved last year to "regularise habitual residents in this country who would be entitled to housing in line with the current rules around Social Protection and in line with European rules in relation to EU criteria." This, he said, will be done to "prioritise those who are actually living in the country". The Irish Mirror understands that additional proposals will go back to Cabinet in the coming weeks that will exempt children from the residency requirement and clarify that where an EU citizen is ineligible for social housing supports, the local authority is not required to provide homeless services. Under EU Law, a 'right to residence' for longer than three months is available to EU citizens who have sufficient resources for themselves and their family members not to become a burden on the host member state. The May homelessness report notes that 21 per cent of people in emergency accommodation were from the European Economic Area or the UK, while 28 per cent were non-EEA. The remaining 51 per cent were Irish citizens. Mr Browne said EU citizens who cannot financially support themselves will be returned home. However, he denied that this was an attempt to reduce the homelessness figures by removing non-Irish citizens from the list. He added: "We're talking about people who might have arrived in the country, who haven't been working here, who haven't been living here, and then seek social housing supports. It's people who have been here very, very short term." The Irish Mirror understands that the planned legislation will only be for new people coming into the system and anyone living in emergency accommodation will not be reassessed and it should not impact the current emergency accommodation figures. A Department of Housing spokesperson added: "Homelessness is a hugely complex issue and the Department does not speculate on fall or increase in numbers. "The information collected and published by the Department shows that there are many and varied reasons that households present to homeless services in local authorities and enter emergency accommodation. It is important that local authorities have a robust legal framework to assess households for homeless provision, and changes to the legislation are being considered on that basis." Join our Dublin Live breaking news service on WhatsApp. Click this link to receive your daily dose of Dublin Live content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice . For all the latest news from Dublin and surrounding areas visit our homepage.