logo
Ireland and Wales to deepen co-operation with partnership

Ireland and Wales to deepen co-operation with partnership

The Ireland-Wales Shared Statement 2030 was launched in Swansea following the success of the 2021–2025 agreement.
The statement sets out a framework for collaboration across six key areas: political engagement, climate and energy, economy and trade, education and research, culture and heritage, and community links.
The agreement aims to build on progress made in recent years and strengthen ties for the remainder of the decade.
Eluned Morgan, First Minister of Wales, said: "The Statement marks a significant step forward in our relationship with Ireland.
"By working together on shared priorities we can achieve far more than we could alone.
"This partnership demonstrates the strength of our historic bonds and our commitment to tackling common challenges together."
Simon Harris, Tánaiste of Ireland, said: "Our relationship with Wales remains very important to Ireland.
"The Shared Statement underlines the breadth of connection between us – across trade, research, energy, culture and language.
"This is all underpinned and cemented by our vibrant and rich people-to-people connections."
The forum also highlighted ongoing collaborations, including projects in renewable energy and academic research.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Poll: Who would you vote for in the presidential election?
Poll: Who would you vote for in the presidential election?

BreakingNews.ie

timean hour ago

  • BreakingNews.ie

Poll: Who would you vote for in the presidential election?

Big names have been slow to emerge ahead of the election, but many are likely to set out their stall in the weeks to come given the election must take place by Tuesday, November 11th. Former minister Mary Hanafin is to seek the Fianna Fáil nomination to contest the presidential election. The Tipperary native and former Dún Laoighaire TD has told the Irish Independent she is "in the mix". Advertisement Ms Hanafin said: "'If I could contest it, I would happily do that. It's a role I would hope people could feel I would do well, both nationally and internationally." Fianna Fáil hasn't put forward a candidate for the election since 1997. The party decided to sit out the 2011 presidential election after a disastrous showing at the general election earlier that year, while in 2018 Fianna Fáil opted not to challenge President Michael D Higgins. Ms Hanafin, 66, feels sitting out the 2025 presidential election is not an option. Advertisement 'I think it would be an insult to the office of president if the largest political party doesn't contest it. It's a really important constitutional role,' she said. 'I think the nomination should be decided earlier rather than later. I know it can make it a very long campaign, but for a candidate to campaign well I think you could go around the country and actually talk to people." Ms Hanafin has had a number of disputes with Taoiseach Micheál Martin in the past. In 2011, she lost out to Mr Martin in the Fianna Fáil leadership contest, and in 2014 she ignored his request not to stand in the local elections in Blackrock. However, she said they are now on good terms. Advertisement Ms Hanafin served as education minister, arts minister and social protection minister during her time in government. She is the first big name in Fianna Fáil to make her intention to seek the nomination clear. Former taoiseach Bertie Ahern, former minister Éamon Ó Cuív and MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú have all been linked with a bid. Big names have been slow to emerge ahead of the election, but many are likely to set out their stall in the weeks to come given the election must take place by Tuesday, November 11th. MEP Seán Kelly and former MEP Mairead McGuinness are likely to compete for the Fine Gael nomination. Advertisement Speaking to reporters in Brussels, Mr Kelly said he is considering running but has not yet made up his mind. He also said an internal contest for the Fine Gael nomination would be a positive. "Democracies thrive on elections, without elections, you can't have democracies. The members like to be able to exercise their franchise," he said. It was recently revealed that Ms McGuinness claimed €800,000 in MEP expenses for office rent and other costs when using family property in Co Meath as her constituency office. Advertisement This is within EU Parliament rules. However, The Irish Times reports some Fine Gael sources feel it is a "point of discomfort" in the presidential campaign because of the prospect of questions being raised on the matter. Sinn Féin has not selected a candidate yet, but Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O'Neill has not ruled out a bid. At a press conference in Co Armagh, Ms O'Neill was asked about the possibility of her running in the election. She replied: "I think I've plenty to do, being First Minister. But I would think the fact remains that I could stand for election, I could be elected as Uachtarán na hÉireann, but I can't vote in that election, so that's where there's a deficit and what we need to see is presidential voting rights extended to the North so the Irish citizens in the North can vote.' Former SDLP leader Colum Eastwood was also linked with a presidential bid. He told the BBC that people had asked him to consider a presidential bid. 'I'm going to take the time to think about it." In terms of so-called celebrity candidates, recently retired radio presenter Joe Duffy and broadcaster Miriam O'Callaghan have been linked with a presidential bid. Duffy has not ruled it out, while O'Callagahan has been consistently linked with a bid over the years. Less likely is Conor McGregor, who has made his desire to run no secret, however, he would likely find it difficult to be nominated by at least 20 members of the Oireachtas or the backing of at least four local authorities — city or county councils. Take our poll below to choose who you would like to vote for in November.

‘You can't pause the internet': social media creators hit by burnout
‘You can't pause the internet': social media creators hit by burnout

The Guardian

time3 hours ago

  • The Guardian

‘You can't pause the internet': social media creators hit by burnout

The life of a social media creator can be high in glamour and status. The well-paid endorsement deals, the online followers and proximity to the celebrity establishment are all perks of the industry. But one hidden cost will be familiar to anyone coping with the 21st-century economy: burnout. The Guardian has spoken to five creators with a combined audience of millions who have all experienced degrees of workplace stress or fatigue. 'There's no off button in this job,' says Melanie Murphy, 35, who has been a social media creator since 2013. 'The algorithms never stop. You can't pause the internet because you get sick. If you vanish for two or three months completely you know the algorithms will bring your followers to new accounts who are being active.' Dublin-based Murphy says her symptoms of burnout were 'complete fatigue' and a 'nerve sensation of tingling and brain fog.' A dose of Covid was then 'the straw that broke the camel's back', she adds. There is also a self-consciousness that comes with struggling in a nascent industry some people may not take seriously – or cannot conceive of as being hard work, given its association with glamour or the ephemeral nature of social media fame. 'It's really hard to talk about my job impacting how bad I felt without people being like 'shut up you're so privileged',' Murphy admits. She is not alone. Five out of ten creators say they have experienced burnout as a direct result of their career as a social media creator, according to a survey of 1,000 creators in the US and the UK by Billion Dollar Boy, a London-based advertising agency that works with creators. Nearly four out of 10 (37%) have considered quitting their career due to burnout as well, according to the research. The World Health Organization defines burnout as the consequence of 'chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed', with symptoms including exhaustion, reduced effectiveness at your job and a feeling of mental distance from your work. Others spoken to by the Guardian talk of creative block and their own lack of engagement with the material that, by necessity, they have to churn out on a regular basis. 'There's no HR department, there's no union,' says Murphy. 'If my husband got burned out, like I did, and literally couldn't stand up off the couch, he would have someone to call. The only people I could really call were creators.' Shortly after the birth of her second child in 2023, Murphy had what she called a 'complete burnout breakdown'. 'My body was, like, 'I'm done'.' Perhaps ironically, Murphy says, YouTube videos were a help in her recovery. She also sought out therapy and 'pulled back a bit' from work, having saved up enough money to cover a few months off. Now, after 'a lot of brain retraining stuff', she only posts two YouTube videos a month – having run at one or two a week before. She used to be 'very, very active' on Instagram but now posts only 'if I feel inspired to post'. Now, Murphy and her husband, an airline pilot, 'kind of match' each other in earnings which 'does mentally take a bit of weight off'. Murphy's company makes 'a bit over' €100,000 (£86,000) a year. She says she has cut down heavily on unpaid work and changes to her work-life balance have probably reduced her earnings by about €20,000. Murphy has 800,000 followers across YouTube and Instagram – her main sources of income are brand sponsorship – including from the Trainwell personal training app and online therapy company BetterHelp – and advertising revenue from YouTube, which shares a substantial cut of ad spend with creators. Creators – people who make a living from making online content, often via brand sponsorships – lead a professional life that reflects the digital culture they are embedded in. It is fast, demanding and vulnerable to sudden changes of taste. Becky Owen, the global chief marketing officer at Billion Dollar Boy, says the average full-time creator has to carry out a number of tasks to be successful, from planning, filming and editing content to managing relationships with brands; and, of course, engaging with followers. Owen says the 'wheels are coming off' for many creators. 'It's prevalent. It's not just a few,' she says, adding that there can also be an emotional toll because a lot of creators 'monetise themselves' and turn their lives into content. 'Beyond getting new commercial deals, the greatest challenge creators face is managing the business side of what they do. They're juggling countless responsibilities, trying to excel at all of them, often before they even have a chance to focus on the content itself. That's where they really need support,' says Owen. Allison Chen, 22, a New York-based creator who specialises in baking, cooking and lifestyle content and has a combined audience of 1.3 million across YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, says the pursuit of views and engagement can be wearying. It can leave you feeling 'regardless of how many views you get, there is always a higher peak to achieve'. 'Social media creators also have the same comparison and self-esteem issues that regular social media users have,' she says. Chen says deleting social media apps has helped. Her routine involves downloading Instagram and TikTok whenever she needs to upload content – and then deleting them. 'I repeat it every day,' she says. London-based Hannah Witton, 33, suffered in a similar way. She restructured her professional life to avoid burning out completely, having been a full-time creator since 2015. Witton took three months of maternity leave after giving birth to her son in 2022. Three months, she says, is the longest amount of time she has seen any creator take off after having children. 'The shortest amount of time I've seen someone take off [for maternity leave] is three days. I wish I could have taken longer off but I just knew it wasn't possible.' When she returned, Witton found she was trying to produce the same amount of YouTube and podcast content – on sex and relationship advice – within half the time, with the added financial burden of paying for a producer to help make her content. 'Something had to suffer. And the thing that was suffering was me and the content – and my relationship with the content,' she adds. 'Audiences are smart, and I think they can pick up on those kinds of things. This week Google-owned YouTube called on the UK government to take creators more seriously as a profession, in recognition of the 'profound economic and cultural contributions they bring to the UK's creative industries'. Meanwhile, creators used to broadcasting advice to others are having to rally themselves through the hard times. 'It is possible to get through this and still earn good money while not spreading yourself too thin, which many creators do,' says Murphy.

IKEA to open its largest shop outside Dublin
IKEA to open its largest shop outside Dublin

BreakingNews.ie

time4 hours ago

  • BreakingNews.ie

IKEA to open its largest shop outside Dublin

IKEA, the Scandinavian homewares chain, are to open its largest shop outside Dublin in Waterford city. The global chain will open the doors to its seventh plan and order point in Ireland on July 17th, as part of its ongoing expansion plans. Advertisement Three more locations are earmarked to open by IKEA within the next year. Situated at Tramore Road Business Park, Tramore Road, the new location will span 840sqm and is over eight times larger than all other existing locations of its plan and order points in Ireland, which normally range from 70 to 100 sqm. 15 jobs are to be created, while the store's order point will also feature a dedicated section with 100 different products available for immediate purchase. Additionally, the store will provide a click-and-collect service, allowing customers to order any item online and pick up locally free of charge. It will also serve as an in-store returns location. The new location will operate on a cashless basis, accepting card and digital payments only. IKEA currently has six stores here and opened its first premises in December 2007 with a store in Belfast. The first store in the Republic of Ireland opened in Ballymun, Dublin, in July 2009.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store