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The Journal
16-07-2025
- Politics
- The Journal
Catherine Connolly, presidential hopeful, gave her first press conference today — here's what she said
THE SALARY, SYRIA and a vision for the next presidency. These were just some of the topics Galway TD and presidential hopeful Catherine Connolly spoke about today during her first press conference of her campaign. Connolly said she is a not a politician seeking office, but a 'citizen' looking to serve as president of Ireland. She said she battled with the decision to run, calling it a torturous decision, but said she told reporters she made the call last week to put her name forward. Catherine Connolly speaks to reporters outside Leinster House today. So what did we learn? 'United Ireland' coming very soon Connolly told reporters that she believes Northern Ireland is 'extremely important'. 'I think we're going to have united Ireland very soon. 'I think the Good Friday Agreement has set the framework for that… I think tremendous work has been done on the ground with cross-border bodies, and I look forward to the day when we have a united Ireland. Advertisement 'I absolutely value the diversity, and we must value the different backgrounds in Northern Ireland,' she added. On the €350,000 salary and would she take a reduced amount? The salary for the presidency is approximately €350,000. President Michael D Higgins has waived a portion of it over his two terms. When The Journal asked if she would take a reduced salary, Connolly said she will 'look at the salary'. She added that she is 'open to ideas on that'. 'I'm certainly going to use it for the common good,' she said. She said she would discuss it with her team and set out how she would use the salary 'in due course'. On her trip to Syria during dictator Bashar al-Assad's time When questioned about a trip to Syria she undertook with former TDs Clare Daly, Mick Wallace and Maureen O'Sullivan, she told reporters that she funded the trip herself: 'We went there for a purpose of fact finding. I met no member of government. Indeed, our whole thing was a Palestinian activist… I saw firsthand the destruction of a whole city. I mean, my idea up to then of a refugee camp wasn't up to scratch really, I was looking at demolition of a city. 'We were shown around by Palestinians. We stayed with them all of the time. After that, we went down to Aleppo. We met the Chamber of Commerce. We had a meeting with UNICEF. We went into a convent, and met a nun, unfortunately who has since died, and many other, many other aspects of that trip. On no occasion had I anything to do with the government, nor did I ever utter one word of support for Assad,' she said. Does she regret signing the nomination papers of Gemma O'Doherty in the last presidential election? Connolly says she doesn't regret her decision to sign O'Doherty's papers at the time, stating that she did not know her personally but saw her as a journalist who had done some very good work in the past. 'Do I support her in any way? Not at all,' she said, stating that her 'judgment call was right at the time'. Related Reads Question mark over Mary Lou McDonald's potential candidacy as support for Connolly builds Left parties begin to align behind Catherine Connolly in race for Áras Forget the presidency - Joe Duffy is now doing ads for Lidl Will she make spending in Áras an Uachtaráin more transparent? There has long been a debate on creating more transparency around the spend on the presidency. While most State bodies are subject to the Freedom of Information Act, the office for the presidency is not. The office of presidency spends about €7m per year, but the breakdown of that spending is kept under wraps. Would Connolly change that? She wouldn't commit to that, only telling The Journal that while she sat on the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee closely scrutinised the spending, stating that she would hope such scrutiny continues. She says she's not a Michael D Higgins continuity candidate Connolly told reporters today that she is proud of President Micheal D Higgins and how he has spoken out about Gaza. 'He showed courage when courage was necessary,' she said. 'I would never describe myself as a continuity candidate. I come from a family of 14, and we have all striven to have our own personalities, and indeed, we would take great exception to say we're following somebody else. I have my own vision and my own support and my own values,' she said. How does she plan to fund her campaign? Connolly said that she will be asking for contributions from supporters, but said parties that are backing her have also offered cash. 'If I had thought about the cost and what's been estimated, a quarter of a million or a half a million [Euro], I think I'd be overwhelmed, and you wouldn't stand,' she said. Connollys said she wants her message to be that 'you do not need to be rich. You do not need to have wealth to stand, nor should you need it'. 'Having said that, I will need money, and we will be asking for contributions, because obviously we need a campaign. But the stronger message is we can do this. This is bigger than wealth and money. This is about having a voice, having a vision, and reflecting the people on the ground, in all its diversity, north and south,' said Connolly. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
The Journal
08-07-2025
- Politics
- The Journal
TD calls for 'Russian' replica sailing ship to be removed from Irish waters off Dublin
LAST UPDATE | 2 hrs ago Sailing ship The Shtandart opposite Dalkey Island this afternoon Eamonn Farrell / Eamonn Farrell / / THIS MORNING Irish authorities have officially contacted a controversial sail training vessel which is suspected of links to the Russian Government. The Shtandart is a replica of a ship built in 1703 by Peter the Great, a Russian Tsar – she is currently visible at anchor off the village of Killiney in south County Dublin. It was built in 1999 and sails under the flag of the Cook Islands but campaigners have claimed it is a Russian operated sail training vessel. It is understood that the Naval Service hailed the vessel this morning and asked what are its intentions. All Russian ships are banned from entering EU ports due to sanctions that were imposed on Russian vessels shortly after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The vessel has no permission to land in Ireland. Her destination, as entered on a ship tracking system, is listed as Dundee in Scotland – she has sailed up from France. 8.7.2025 1:15pm TS Shtandart 🇨🇰 | Hawk Cliff | Killiney Bay | 🇮🇪. • View from Vico Road, Dalkey. • View from dlr Killiney Hill Park. @PhotosOfDublin — Don Sheahan (@SheahanDon) July 8, 2025 Controversy The presence of the vessel has caused some controversy and Fine Gael TD Barry Ward, who is from Dún Laoghaire, has called on the Minister Timmy Dooley, the Minister for State for the Marine, to intervene and have the ship removed. 'These EU sanctions were put in place in reaction to the appalling atrocities carried out by Vladimir Putin and his administration and if we are to be serious about their implementation, we must adhere to them. 'In recent weeks, this ship was banned from entering a number of French ports including Saint-Malo, which will be familiar to many Irish holidaymakers. Going back further, there is an extensive list of European ports that have blocked or sought to block this vessel from entering their waters. 'The formal EU sanctions against Russia are clear and while the Shtandart operates under a Cook Islands flag, this has only been the case since June 2024 and previously sailed under a Russian flag. European Union sanctions introduced a port ban on Russia-flagged vessels, and those reflagged after the invasion of Ukraine, in April 2022,' he said. Advertisement Ward said that the ship is permitted to transit through Irish waters but said there is a 'legal grey area'. 'This ship has a history of declaring false emergencies in order to gain extended access to European ports. 'This includes medical emergency declarations (which would allow it to seek safe harbour) but this must not be allowed to happen in Dún Laoghaire or Dublin. 'The European commission has specifically clarified that this vessel falls under the scope of the sanctions and these sanctions must be upheld,' he added. Ward added that he has written to the Minister and said that the captain of the ship is showing 'clear disregard for EU sanctions and this arrogance and perception of impunity cannot be permitted'. Speaking to RTE News the Captain of the vessel Vladimir Martus said that the attention his ship was facing was 'unfair'. 'We are against what Putin is doing and nobody on this ship has ever expressed support for Russia. 'The Shtandart is simply a replica vessel. We are not a Russian vessel. Shtandart is, and always has been, dedicated to education, heritage, and human connection. We are a homeless child in European waters, and we are fighting for survival,' he told RTE. State response A statement a spokesperson for the Department of Transport confirmed it was monitoring the ship 'on an administrative basis' to ensure it is in compliance with EU's 'restrictive measures against Russia'. 'The Department is aware of the movements of the vessel known as Shtandart. It should be noted that the vessel has not entered a pre-arrival notice for entry into an Irish port which is required under EU regulations. 'From the information available to the Department through third party sources it is understood that the vessel was previous registered under the Russian flag and would fall under the restrictive measures. 'The Department of Transport has been in contact with ports under its remit on the east coast (Dublin Port and Rosslare Europort) to remind them of their responsibilities under EU Council Regulation 833/2014 and the prohibition on providing access to Russian registered vessels to Irish ports and locks. 'This prohibition also applies to vessels that have changed their flag or their registration from the Russian Federation to the flag or register of any other State after 24 February 2022,' the Statement said. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
The Journal
27-06-2025
- The Journal
How Joe Duffy shut down head shops (and why all drugs were legalised for one weird day in 2015)
AFTER OVER 25 years in the Liveline hotseat, Joe Duffy, one of Ireland's most recognisable and influential voices on radio, will hang up his mic for the last time this afternoon. From scandalising the nation after the release of Normal People , to '51551 Wash yer hands' , Joe has brought us countless iconic moments over the years. But younger readers may not recall Joe's instrumental role in Ireland accidentally legalising ecstasy and ketamine for a day. It was 10 March 2015, and thanks to a ruling from the Court of Appeal which deemed the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 unconstitutional, Ireland made international headlines for accidentally making drugs such as ecstacy, ketamine and meth legal for 24 hours. Okay, okay, it wasn't fully Joe's doing, but the court decision arose from a series of events put in motion in large part thanks to Joe's relentless and passionate campaigning against Ireland's head shops. Head shops began popping up at scale across Ireland in late 2009, selling potent drugs such as mephedrone and synthetic cannabinoids. These drugs were not illegal under Irish legislation at the time. At the time, young people in Ireland had become the biggest users of head shop drugs in Europe. A protest against headshops outside Leinster House in March 2010. Reflecting on that period this morning, Joe told RTÉ Radio 1′s Morning Ireland that he first came across a head shop while walking down Dublin's Talbot Street around Christmas 2009. 'I saw this queue at the shop, at a window like you see at a petrol station, and it was a head shop. Advertisement 'I hadn't a clue what a head shop was. I hadn't a clue, and I asked 'What are these guys selling?' And they were basically drugs they were selling. Let's be blunt.' Joe went on to explain how he mentioned it on Liveline on his first day back after Christmas in January. 'We discovered within two days, there was over 100 head shops thriving in Ireland, thriving. And then people start ringing in about the effects of this. We didn't know what they were selling, unregulated. Unbelievable. Making massive, massive profits.' Five months later, on 10 May 201o, Fianna Fáil Taoiseach Brian Cowen clamped down on the shops by declaring a list of over 100 psychoactive drugs to be controlled substances under the 1977 Misuse of Drugs Act. Taoiseach Brian Cowen announcing the legislation. May, 2010. It had an immediate effect. Gardaí raided head shops across the country and, within weeks, the number of head shops in Ireland fell from 102 to 36. Joe put this down to the power of politics, but also to the power of people on Liveline, who brought the issue to the nation's attention. The veteran broadcaster stuck with the story. In 2015, a caller, Paul Hodkinson, talked to Joe about the death of his brother Colm after he took magic mushrooms in 2005. Joe said his campaign against head shops was the only thing he's done over the years with Liveline that brought real risk to him. 'I was physically threatened twice, once in an underground car park by a guy who obviously owned a head shop and was out a lot of money. And another [time] I was spat at on Gardiner Street by another head shop person. 'But that's my job, I was trying to be mediator. But on the head shop thing, I did get very passionate,' he admitted. In the lead up to the government's clampdown, protests against new head shops were common, with some also held outside Dáil Éireann. Related Reads Joe Duffy leaves window open on Áras run as he closes door on RTÉ career Joe Duffy interview: 'We've more people than ever calling. The biggest decision you make is who not to put on air. That can be heartbreaking.' 'Now I couldn't go on any of the protests. But what I can say, there was a plan to open a head shop in Clontarf. Obviously, I couldn't go on that protest, but I painted every single placard that was used in that protest that day,' Joe recalled. Despite the success of the Liveline campaign, not everyone recalls Joe's interventions on drugs policy fondly. In 2010, calls to ban head shops were labelled as 'Joe Duffy-created hysteria' by then Labour councillor Dermot Looney. Protest outside Leinster House. March, 2010. Others, like criminal justice lecturer at Maynooth University, Dr Cian Ó Concubhair, take the view that Joe contributed to a wave of 'moral panic' related to drug use in Ireland. Despite these criticisms, research carried out by Trinity College Dublin in 2020 suggests that the closure of Ireland's headshops led to a drop in drug-related emergency room admissions. At the height of head shop activity in the first eight months of 2010, the rate of drug-related admissions were 9% higher than the same period in 2008. Two years later, in 2012, admissions were over 30% lower, with the decline beginning in June 2010, the month after the government passed its legislation. In Joe's own view, his campaign against head shops was Liveline's 'best achievement'. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Irish Post
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Irish Post
When the blame game turns deadly
RACISTS who burned migrants out of their homes this month in Ballymena, County Antrim, have found it strangely difficult to explain what they were up to. There had been a clear trigger moment in the charging of two Roma boys with an alleged sexual assault on a local girl. Many had gathered one evening for a vigil in support of the girl. And that might have been a good thing to do and one would be slow to attribute racism to any who joined that gathering. But would they have gathered in the same numbers if the alleged assailants had been Ballymena-born white boys? The fact of the accused being migrants in the town played such a strong part in local outrage that, after the expressions of sympathies for the girl, mobs turned on migrant families in the area, stormed their homes, set some of them alight, rampaged through others while mothers and children crouched for safety in dark and dusty attic spaces. Whole families might have been incinerated. But not this time. A loyalist mural in Bellymena (Pic: Lisa Jarvis) As with many things in Northern Ireland we got a spectrum of response to this violence, from the callously racist to the liberal, inclusive and secular. And, as often, this spectrum mapped onto the sectarian spectrum too that describes our historically divided society. The hard racism was coming from working class Protestants, justifying the violence in defence of a community that had been invaded. This attitude associated migrants with rape, much as Donald Trump does. Trump's toxic verbiage makes it easier for people to spew the same unreasoning bilge. The problem is that 'they' get everything. 'They' are illegal. 'They' have no right to be here. Except that when officials eventually came out to explain, there were no asylum seekers/illegal migrants in Ballymena. People coming under attack were in jobs, some of them in the health service. Next along the spectrum comes the unionist politician who, naturally, condemns violence but seeks to explain it. For this is a unionist area. This one says that the trouble had been boiling up for months. He or she had seen it coming, had warned that tensions were rising and had been ignored. SDLP leader Claire Hanna in 2017 (Photo: Sam Boal/ But why? And why can this reasonable sounding professional politician not be clearer about what drives community discontent? The health minister Mike Nesbitt warned that if health service workers of foreign origin were driven out of Northern Ireland the service would collapse. That's how serious this is. Then further along the spectrum we got the nationalist response, led most vocally by Claire Hanna MP (SDLP). She was calling out the racism of thugs, conceding nothing to the idea that migrants have special privileges or that anything is lost to a community when brown faces start to appear on the streets. There is however a problem of resources but you deal with that by campaigning for the government to provide, not by throwing a petrol bomb through the window of a young mother who pays the same price for bread and milk as you do yourself. Claire took care to say that there is racism in her community too. Catholics and Nationalists can be racist. Indeed some in the Sinn Féin base, the most ardently nationalistic of all, have scoffed at their own leadership for being too sympathetic to migrants. The old slogan, Give Ireland Back to the Irish, is, for some, no longer simply a call for British withdrawal but for migrants to be deported. But this month the racism was coming from Protestant working class communities and that, for some Catholic Nationalists, helps to affirm the perception that they - the prods - are the bigots, that Protestant/ Loyalist bigotry is the chief problem here. The problem was simple racism but for some it was viewed through a sectarian lens which shows that Protestants are more racist than Catholics. And there is comfort in that. That still leaves us without a clear explanation of why some people want to drive migrant neighbours from their homes. A man interviewed on the street in Portadown, after the violence had spread there, said that the town is no longer like it was forty years ago. Maybe he lives such an insular life that he hasn't noticed that nowhere is like it was forty years ago. Yes, there was a time when you didn't have to lock your front door, when you went to a neighbour to use a phone and left a few coppers on the hall table, when milk was a shilling a pint and everybody knew everybody else and everybody was white and spoke English. But that time isn't coming back for anybody. Perhaps such nostalgia does come with a genuinely felt sense of loss, a loss to be pitied and empathised with. But it's not a loss that can be eased by burning the street. Nor is it a loss likely to have been felt by the teenagers who rampaged against 'dirty foreign scum' - a remark picked up from the crowd by a BBC microphone. Nor is it a loss politicians can capitalise on, so they shouldn't try. See More: Ballymena, Northern Ireland, Racism, Riots
The Journal
25-06-2025
- Health
- The Journal
Minister says wing of new children's hospital might be named after medic Kathleen Lynn
HEALTH MINISTER JENNIFER Carroll MacNeill has defended the name of the country's new children's hospital. The hospital is to be officially called the National Children's Hospital of Ireland, however the name has been described as 'unimaginative' by those in Sinn Féin. Over the years, there have been campaigns for the hospital to be named after a historical figure, such as Dr Kathleen Lynn . Lynn was a suffragette and doctor who co-founded Saint Ultan's Children's Hospital in Dublin in 1919 with her partner Madeleine ffrench-Mullen. Advertisement Lynn, who was from Mayo, was also the chief medical officer for the Irish Citizen Army during the Easter Rising. Speaking to reporters today, the minister acknowledged the criticisms of the name, but said the reason the name was picked is it 'was very simple'. She explained that there was a process of engagement with youth advisory groups, with parents and with patients, stating: 'That is the name that they chose'. 'And I think it's a good name,' said the minister, who added that people will likely just call it the 'Children's Hospital'. 'But what I'm really most concerned about is stressed out parents coming into Heuston station, getting in a taxi, and maybe that parent doesn't speak English as their first language, or maybe they just need to get their children to the Children's Hospital,' she said, adding that the 'simplest possible name' is best. Related Reads The country's new children's hospital will be called (drumroll) – the National Children's Hospital Ireland Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill The minister said she believes it is important to reflect on the different conversations that have been had around Kathleen Lynn, calling her an extraordinary woman, medic and patriot. 'She was a ferocious, very brave, very fantastic woman, and I would love to see her commemorated in different ways. So I'm going to speak to the youth advisory committee in the National Children's Hospital Ireland. I would like to name something within the hospital after her,' said the minister, who said perhaps a wing or auditorium within the hospital could be named after her. 'I would like to find a way to acknowledge and commemorate her extraordinary work. But in respect of the overall name of the hospital, I just had to go with A, what was chosen by the young people themselves, and B, what I thought would be just the simplest thing for a stressed out parent,' she concluded. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
