Latest Ireland News
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Tenancy Deposits in Northern Ireland Higher than Earlier Estimates New Figures Show
BELFAST, Northern Ireland, May 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- New figures released by the Tenancy Deposit Scheme Northern Ireland show tenants are paying higher deposits than previously estimated, at an average 558 per tenancy. ...
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Happy new ear campaign demand meeting with Taoiseach
The parents of deaf children who are campaigning for cochlear implants are demanding a meeting with the Taoiseach Enda Kenny.The Happy New Ear campaign said the Health Minister James Reilly has refused to meet them.The parents want reassurance from Minister Reilly that EUR7m will be ringfenced to pay for double implants.Currently children in Ireland who receive the treatment - only have cochlear ...
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Leading barrister says government will need to rethink proposed abortion laws
A leading barrister said the government will need to rethink the proposed abortion laws when it comes to appeals such as if a woman is refused a termination under the suicide ground. Dr Simon Mills - who drafted his own abortion bill at the last oireachtas committee hearings - is appearing before the final day of hearings on the legislation. The draft heads of the bill allow for an appeal by a ...
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Eurovision a ratings hit for RTE
Ireland may have come last in this year's Eurovision - but it seems the show was a ratings hit for the state broadcaster. An average of over 799,000 people watched the entire three hour show on RT on Saturday night. This beats Jedward's 2012 final, which was watched by an average of 764,000. Viewership peaked when Ireland's entry - Ryan Dolan - took to the stage - with viewer ...
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Government urged to clamp down rogue construction operators
The government is being urged to clamp down on people who are working in construction while drawing the dole.According to the Construction Industry Federation, tax compliant contractors are losing tenders because they are being undercut by rogue operators.The CIF said that the black market economy is damaging the Exchequer and something must be done to tackle the situation.The Federation's ...
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Bank of Ireland eases mortgage hikes policy
The Bank of Ireland today partially backtracked on a steep rise in mortgage rates for customers who thought their repayments were fixed for life.It has written to 1,200 of the 13,500 homeowners facing sharp increases - despite taking out tracker deals linked to the historically-low Bank of England base rate - to tell them they will no longer be applied in their cases.The bank said the Financial ...
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Final day of hearings on abortion legislation
The Oireachtas Health Committee is hearing submissions from legal experts on the final day of its hearings into the Government's proposed heads of the Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill. Retired Supreme Court judge Catherine McGuinness and Professor William Binchy from Trinity College Dublin are among those who will appear before the committee. It will report to Minister for Health ...
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Celebrating 150 years of the Lodge that was born in Belfast
AS George Chittick and I make our way out of Schomberg House, the Orange Order’s headquarters based at the top of Belfast’s Cregagh Road, I stop to lean in and admire several of the medals adorning his remarkably pristine collarette - which I had described only a few moments earlier as one of the most orange I had ever seen. He explains the symbolism behind them; one was given to ...
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Tobacco smoke is biggest home pollutant in Ireland EPA study finds
Living in a damp and cool climate, it is not surprising that people in Ireland spend 90 per cent of their time indoors, and the majority of that in their own ...
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Danny Healy-Rae set for TV
Danny Healy-Rae is to be the subject of a German documentary.The Kerry County Councillor came to the attention of the media there, after he called for rural dwellers in isolated areas to be allowed a higher drink-driving limit.The story gained international notoriety after some council colleagues supported his motion to raise the alcohol limit.According to ...
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Call for information campaign on new climate change laws
The head of the Oireachtas Committee on the Environment has warned that new climate change laws need to be introduced in tandem with an information campaign.Hearings are taking place in Leinster House this afternoon where the Government will get feedback on the bill from a range of environmental groups.The new legislation aims to help Ireland become more environmentally friendly and to reduce ...
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Gatland expects Irish pair to be fit
Warren Gatland expects Leinster duo Brian O'Driscoll and Sean O'Brien to be on board Monday's flight to Hong Kong, where the tour opens against the Barbarians on 1 June. O'Driscoll should play in this weekend's RaboDirect PRO12 final against Ulster after making progress in his recovery from the back spasm that ruled him out of Friday's victory over Stade Francais. ...
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Charity targeted by credit card fraudsters
The Founder of the Jack and Jill Foundation has warned that his charity is being exploited by credit card fraudsters. Speaking to RTÉ's Morning Ireland, the children charity's founder Jonathan Irwin said that the organisation has been forced to return €132,000 in donations within the last 15 months as fraudsters test their latest credit card scam on the charity. Irwin ...
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Sinn Fein accused of hiding abortion talks at conference
Sinn Fein has been accused of hiding the fact that study days in Ireland which it helped host involved lobbying for abortion to be legalised here. The party issued a press release a week ago to say that its MEP, Martina Anderson, was hosting a "major MEP conference" to discuss topics such as the economy and "challenges for left politics". The week of study days - held both ...
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Drugs crisis organisation call for decriminalisation of drug use
A drugs crisis organisation is urging the Government to treat drug use as a health issue instead of a criminal one.The Citywide Campaign group are holding a conference in Dublin today, looking at alternatives to our current drugs policies.Among the suggestions being discussed will be the decriminalisation of addiction, but spokesperson for Citywide Anna Quigley said that is not the same as ...
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Parents warned about letting their baby sleep in the bed
Parents are being warned sharing a bed with their baby increases the risk of cot death. A study from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has found that breastfed babies under the age of three months who sleep in their parents' beds - face a five-fold increased risk of cot death."For the first few months they have the baby in a cot beside the bed so that they can bring it ...
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Tit Bonhomme survivor to give evidence at inquest
The inquest is due to open today into the deaths of the skipper and four of the crew of the fishing trawler Tit Bonhomme. The five men died when the trawler hit rocks and sank at the entrance to Glandore Harbour in west Cork in January of last year. The only survivor of the tragedy, Abdelbaky Mohammed, is expected to give evidence at the ...
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Press Digest - Ireland - May 21
Tue May 21, 2013 3:07am EDT These are some of the leading stories in Ireland's newspapers on Tuesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and cannot vouch for their accuracy: THE IRISH TIMES - Apple has used a complex web of offshore entities, including two Irish subsidiaries which it claims are not tax-resident anywhere, to avoid paying billions of dollars in U.S. - The government last ...
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Ireland accused of being a tax haven for Apple
A committee of the US Senate has accused Ireland of being a tax haven for computer maker Apple. The committee said the Irish Government has since the early 1990s negotiated a special tax arrangement with Apple, resulting in it paying corporation tax of less than 2%, and avoiding some $44 billion in US tax over the last four years. The Senate sub-committee led by democrat Carl Levin and ...
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Two in custody in connection with murder of Cavan man
Two men remain in Garda custody this morning over the murder of a man in Cavan last year. 49-year-old John Kerins - a former Senior Detective - was found shot dead at his home in Cornaveagh on the outskirts of Bailieboro on the 9th of November 2012. At the time garda sources indicated they were looking into his links to a gang suspected of involvement in stealing machinery and drug dealing.Two ...
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Committee to hear from junior health minister on proposed abortion laws
The final day of hearings on the proposed abortion laws will hear from lawyers and the junior health minister today. The Committee will then report back to the Government ahead of the final drafting of the proposed new laws. Yesterday psychiatrists differed on whether the coalition should be including the threat of suicide in the law. Last night medical experts outlined their views on possible ...
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Inquest to begin into West Cork trawler tragedy
The inquest is due to open today into the deaths of five men who died when their trawler sank at the mouth of Glandore Harbour in West Cork over a year ago.The Skipper and four crew died when the Tit Bonhomme sank as it was returning to Union Hall on the 15th of January 2012.One man survived the sinking after spending over two hours in the water.The 21 metre long French-made trawler was ...
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Lengthy talks at LRC on public service pay deal
Talks have gone on throughout the night and into the morning at the Labour Relations Commission in an attempt to finalise a new public service pay agreement. Representatives of public service management and unions from most sectors have been negotiating since 10am yesterday morning. The parties are understood to be concentrating on the health and education sectors. It is understood that most ...
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Looted Irish treasures recovered in England
They include three 'gun money' coins, the emergency war money coined by James II from 1689-91 to pay his forces to fight William of Orange.The items, including a Bronze Age axe and spearhead and hundreds of medieval coins, will go on display today, then be stored for research.They were recovered after a tip-off from ...
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Legal minefield looms if Northern Ireland opts out of new Same-Sex Couples Bill lawyers warn
A new vaccine is being made available to prevent a disease which causes severe birth defects and miscarriages in livestock, it has been ...
Ireland Digest
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Is Ireland living beyond its means?
Ireland is highly developed and has experienced rapid and constant economic growth in the last few decades, with many calling the country the Celtic Tiger. But recent events in the world economy and the financial situation of Europe may mean changes are afoot for the Tiger.
Ireland is one of the most developed countries in the world and has a high tax high government service economic model, it has for the last few decades substantially reduced the socio-economic inequalities in the economy and had a Gini coefficient score of 30.1 in 2000 while The Economist says we have the best quality of life in the world. This has come at a cost though, government deficits are running at over 10% of GDP, public debt accounts for over 40% of all revenue generated in the economy and the Irish population has a debt level, in relation to disposable income, that is the highest in the developed world – our personal debt in 190% more than our disposable income. All this begs the question, are we living within our means or is Ireland’s economic model unsustainable? Read more
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