'It's all about choice' - Dublin camogie players hope for change
14-year-old Cara Darmody started a 50-hour disability rights protest outside Leinster House to highlight delays in children getting an assessment of needs.
CCTV footage of a tractor being driven by 16 year old completely crushing a car in Graiguenamanagh.
Amateur video footage captures the moment a sailing tallship crashed into New York's Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday, killing two people and injuring 17 others.
Austria have won the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 in the country's first victory since bearded drag queen Conchita Wurst won in 2014.
A Mexican Navy sailing ship crashed into the landmark Brooklyn Bridge in New York on Saturday night, killing two people and injuring 17 others.
Garda Flatley died after being hit by a motorcycle as he was carrying out speed checks on the R132 at Lanestown, north Co Dublin. Video: Dan Dennison
Emmy performs "Laika Party" for Ireland's entry at the second semi-final for Eurovision 2025.
Cork-based singer/songwriter Martin Leahy marks three years of singing his song Everyone Should Have a Home outside Leinster House. Video: Dan Dennison
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Irish Examiner
15 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
Izz Cafe owner wishes luck to Cork hurlers from Palestine
The Palestinian owner of Cork's Izz Cafe has described how he's fallen in love with Cork hurling as he wished the Rebels the best of luck in their quest for All-Ireland glory. Izz Alkarajeh, whose Palestinian cafe in Cork City has won multiple awards for its food, returned to Palestine this week to visit family while his homeland is deep in a devastating conflict with Israel. The video on Facebook consisted of Izz talking to the camera while wearing an alternative black and red Cork jersey. He described how he has fallen in love with the game of hurling since moving to the Rebel County. Izz described himself as a 'true Corkonian'. "From the heart of Palestine to the Rebel County, I am sending all my love and luck to the Cork hurlers this Sunday. Corcaigh Abú!" the businessman said. The caption on the post read: "We are hoping @officialcorkgaa make history this weekend. While we are currently visiting family in Palestine, we are with you in spirit and will be watching closely!" Izz and wife Eman's journey to Cork, where they set up their successful cafe, is as inspiring as it is deeply emotional, and can be read here. Read More Cork and Tipp fans furious as All-Ireland final ticket chaos sparks calls for GAA review
Irish Times
15 minutes ago
- Irish Times
Supreme Court is still changing society, says Attorney General
The Supreme Court has made 'as many' declarations of unconstitutionality in the last 15 years as happened during the court's life in the 1960s and 1970s, Attorney General Rossa Fanning has said. 'The perception that constitutional litigation has dried up and that there are no new rights is not statistically borne out,' he told the Patrick MacGill Summer School in Glenties, Co Donegal. During the same debate, Labour leader Ivana Bacik had argued that the high point for Supreme Court intervention came more than 50 years ago under Mr Justice Brian Walsh and Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, when new rights were discovered in court judgments. 'There are as many declarations of unconstitutionality now in the last decade and a half as there ever were in the 1960s and 1970s,' said Mr Fanning, 'it is not the case that there was a whole load of declarations of unconstitutionality 50 years ago and now there are none.' However, he said the Irish Constitution is 'a mature instrument', no longer subject to 'low-hanging fruit' changes as happened 50 years ago when the Supreme Court established that everyone facing trial is entitled to legal representation. [ State urged to target five or six 'crucial' infrastructure projects Opens in new window ] 'That kind of seminal decision is unlikely to be happening as frequently now under a mature instrument. But that's not necessarily a bad thing,' Mr Fanning said in a debate on the Constitution, chaired by Ruadhán MacCormaic , editor of The Irish Times. Contrasting the Irish and US supreme courts, Mr Fanning said: 'The Constitution doesn't mean whatever the judge thinks it should mean when he gets out of bed. 'The Constitution is not a subjective document. There must be objective principles that govern its interpretation. The meaning must be found from within the document itself.' The Supreme Court rejected an application by Katherine Zappone, who later became a minister, to have her Canadian same-sex marriage recognised in Ireland, but this left the way open for a successful referendum later, he said. 'I personally think it's very difficult to disagree with the proposition that the way we did bring it about has an awful lot more democratic legitimacy, and consequently popular and public acceptance,' the Attorney General said. 'Quite literally, the proposition was put to the people and the people decided, not unelected judges arriving at a very strained and artificial interpretation of a Constitution written in 1937.' [ Better-off families 'sailing away from the have-nots', warns Ombudsman Opens in new window ] The Irish experience can be contrasted with the US, where its 'constitution is almost impossible to amend' and where president Donald Trump could boast that one of his most significant achievements was the appointment of three conservative judges. '[They] are called upon to decide all of these important moral issues, whether it be same-sex marriage or abortion or many other things. They've become almost more important than any legislator in America, with Secret Service protection following them around.' Contrasting the Walsh/Ó Dálaigh Supreme Court with the court in later years, Ms Bacik, a legal academic and barrister who has appeared before the Supreme Court, argued: 'In the 1960s and the early 1970s, we saw an expansive approach to judicial lawmaking. Then that completely slowed down. 'There was then a rolling back and judges were much more deferential to the executive and the Oireachtas, leading to charges that the era of judicial lawmaking was over.' However, there has been a change since 2017 where 'some judges on the Supreme Court are clearly looking to be more expansive again', drawing inspiration from the European Convention on Human Rights, among other sources. 'It's no longer unusual to see quite a number of different judgments [from Supreme Court justices],' she told the summer school, adding, 'some are clearly pushing the boundaries a little'. Referring to the Irish unification debate, the Labour leader urged the creation of an Oireachtas joint committee that would consider 'the language and text' of the Constitution in advance of a unity referendum. Unlike the situation now facing the US, most, if not all, of the Irish Supreme Court judges are not known by the public, Prof David Kenny, Professor in Law and Fellow and head of Trinity College Dublin's law school. 'Almost no one in the room could identify one Supreme Court judge as being on the left or on the right, as opposed to the US where you can almost predict decision by decision how judges will come down,' he said.
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Drop in housing commencements was expected after ‘record' year, Taoiseach says
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has rejected suggestions that housing commencement figures are going in the wrong direction, insisting a fall-off was always expected after a bumper 2024. Mr Martin said the lower figures for the first half of 2025 follow the end of a waiver on levies for developers at the end of last year. The suspension of levies for new residential developments was introduced in 2023 to stimulate housing construction. It led to a sharp increase in the level of housing commencements. From 2025, developers once again became liable to pay development contributions to local authorities. READ MORE Last month only 1,356 commencement notices were lodged, the lowest monthly total recorded since 2020. Department of Housing figures indicate the total number of housing commencements this year to date was 6,325 compared with 34,581 by June of last year. Speaking during a visit to Ringaskiddy, Co Cork , on Friday, Mr Martin said the fall-off in housing commencement from January to June of this year was anticipated given what he termed an 'extraordinary' number of commencements in 2024 and 2023. 'I don't think [saying that housing commencement figures are going in the wrong direction] is fair. You have to look at the context. Last year was a record year of 33,000 [housing commencements] because of the waiving of the development levies.' He said the year before this was 15,000. He said it was 'important' that building completions were up in the first three months of this year. Mr Martin stressed the Government had taken significant measures that would lay 'foundational steps' for growth, and there were 'thousands and thousands of houses now in the pipeline'. 'We do need to unblock some of those and that is why the National Development Plan is important in enabling the unblocking of some projects that are already about to happen or in the pipeline itself,' he said. While maintaining public-sector investment, the Government is also focused on attracting further private-sector investment into the construction industry, which he said was 'critical'. 'What will be key next year and in the years ahead will be getting more private-sector construction – particularly in apartments – we need to really increase the level of apartment building,' he said. Mr Martin added that he is concerned about how Ireland will increase housing delivery. 'I am concerned about how we get from 33,000 to 50,000. That is my focus.' 'We have a lot of commencements. We have a lot of planning permissions granted. The issue is how we turn those into buildings.'
