Ray McAdam, the 41-year-old Fine Gael politician and Lord Mayor of Dublin, is gearing up for the Dublin Central by-election on May 22, aiming to secure the Dáil seat left vacant by Paschal Donohoe.
I was not involved in any way in the planning, preparation or conduct of any of the bombings, and have never been a senior, let alone most senior figure, in the IRA. I had no involvement in or advance knowledge of the Old Bailey bombing (1973), the Canary Wharf bombing (1996) or the Manchester bombing (1996).
'Old age,' Bette Davis once said, 'is not for wimps.' There's nothing wimpy about the formidable team of Terry Prone (77) and Fergus Finlay (75). The communications doyenne and the former Barnados CEO are about to launch Grey Matters, a new podcast which is billed as 'a long overdue conversation about ageing'.
Even unionists would struggle to object to such a move, even if the Irish Government has shied away from it Why is there no Irish passport office in Belfast? Once, such a question would only have been asked by the most ideologically committed northern nationalists. Demand for Irish passports was limited, the issue was seen as controversial and even if those objections were overcome, security considerations would have made such a proposal problematic.
I was absolutely delighted to welcome Uachtarán na hÉireann Catherine Connolly to Belfast today. She's here for a packed visit over the next couple of days, many community events. It was my honour as First Minister to welcome her to Stormont Castle. She is very much fulfilling her pledge that she made to be a president for all, to make her first official visit to the north. It was just great to have her here today. I believe that her whole campaign was about hope, about opportunity. It was about inclusion, it was about unity, it was about building for the future, and I think that we are going to enjoy a very good relationship with her throughout her tenure as Uachtarán na hÉireann.
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
When the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky first addressed the Dáil via video link back in 2022, Mary Lou McDonald was amongst his most ardent supporters. It was the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Sinn Féin leader hit out at the "ferocious violence" and the "shameful disinformation war" being waged by the Putin regime "to justify the savagery of its military invasion".
The resignation of Morgan McSweeney, Sir Keir Starmer's chief of staff and the man credited with orchestrating his path to Downing Street, has left the prime minister isolated, rudderless and at the mercy of events he is in no position to control. Mr McSweeney fell on his sword after taking responsibility for backing the appointment of Lord Mandelson as US ambassador, despite what was known about the peer's friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.
