Dublin City Council came under national and international pressure over the weekend to drop an item on the agenda for Monday’s monthly council meeting which called for the denaming of Herzog Park. The Wheelock family has long rejected the inquest’s verdict and campaigned for a public inquiry. The same commemorations committee recommended the council rename Diamond Park, Dublin 1, as “Terence Wheelock Memorial Park”. The Wheelock family said it was “extremely disappointed” at Monday’s development. Councillors including Lord Mayor Ray McAdam apologised to the Wheelock family, as did Mr Shakespeare.

Plans for a Galway wind farm have now ended up before the Commercial Court. Photograph: iStockA wind farm developer claims that two companies have failed to honour an agreement to facilitate access to privately-owned land in Co Galway where an 11-turbine facility is planned. In an affidavit, Ciaran Donnelly, managing director of GP Joule, said Greencastle owns 100 per cent of the Clonberne Wind Farm Ltd, which holds the rights to the wind farm. Two years after the agreement was entered, there remained insurmountable impediments to the completion of the transaction, he said. The claim was rejected by the defendants which also argued GP Joule requested new option agreements from the landowners, fully aware of the delays it would cause.

A total of 280 new songs were registered with the Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO); 226 music industry professionals were also supported, with 58 engineers and 56 producers engaged across 60 studios. I could fill pages with other Irish musicians doing the same. What we need to do is get funding directly to musicians again, efficiently and at scale. Were the Government to inject more funding into Irish music: “They don’t have to invent any new wheels; the structures to get the money out to those artists exist. This is not a targeted support run through local authorities to support independent Irish hospitality businesses, but a blunt tool.

Men made up two-thirds (67 per cent) of people diagnosed with HIV last year. There were 239 people who received a first-time HIV diagnosis in 2024, a rate of 4.6 per 100,000 of the population. There was a significant drop in HIV diagnoses in 2020 and 2021, with 123 and 126 noted in these respective years. Of people affected born outside Ireland, 39 per cent were noted as likely having acquired HIV outside the State, while 30 per cent likely acquired it here. Stephen O’Hare, Executive Director at HIV Ireland said the increasing number of new diagnoses is a “concern, but not entirely unexpected given the impact of the pandemic on testing in Ireland”.

Aer Lingus is focusing many of its Christmas deals on transatlantic crossings, while Ryanair has Cyber Monday prices across Europe. Photograph: GettyAs a new week begins, the biggest retail event of the year continues with the dawn of Cyber Monday. Irish beauty brand Sculpted by Aimee has a range of deals on products for any fans looking to replenish or try something new. A digital subscription to The Irish Times gives you access to exclusive content, including news, in-depth features, reviews and expert analysis across all topics. Subscribers can choose from a range of weekly newsletters in areas such as food, politics and sport; browse the archives; and access The Irish Times e-paper.

Households in the Republic hold about 38 per cent of their financial assets in deposits and cash, rather than equities, debt securities and other instruments, the Central Bank said. Photograph: iStockInvestment is largely a pursuit for the wealthiest in Ireland, a new report from the Central Bank has indicated, with households here having among the lowest levels of direct participation in markets in Europe. According to the research, retail investors tend to be wealthy people in employment with a “higher level of educational attainment”, the Central Bank said. Colm Kincaid, deputy governor of the Central Bank, said the report suggests that households are not getting the full benefit of what financial services could do to help them provide for the future. Financial literacy is another key barrier, and the Government’s recently published National Financial Literacy Strategy must maintain a “focus on investments and pensions”, the Central Bank said.

llustration: Paul ScottThe Government has dropped a plan to phase out State-funded commercial accommodation for Ukrainian people by March 2026. But the Department of Justice has confirmed there is “no plan to phase out all State-funded accommodation contracts by March 2026”. And “consideration of the phasing out of all State-funded commercial accommodation contracts by March 2026, with exception for the most vulnerable [beneficiaries of temporary protection]”. The Department of Justice confirmed that a policy of ending State-funded accommodation contracts for Ukrainian people is no longer being considered. Due to accommodation shortages, people who have previously held temporary protection status in another EU member state, were also no longer entitled to access State-funded accommodation in Ireland.

Toyota bZ electric car: the Japanese brand is set to be the best-selling new car brand in Ireland for 2025. Photograph: Robertus Pudyanto/Getty ImagesElectric cars have hit their highest-ever share of the new car market. EV sales account for 18.4 per cent of new cars this year, exceeding the previous high in 2023. Volkswagen is the bestselling brand in the EV market, with 3,265 registrations, followed by Kia with 2,821 and Tesla with 2,622. Brian Cooke, SIMI director general, said the growth in new EV registrations has been reflected in every county this year.

Ireland lock Joe McCarthy, right wing Tommy O’Brien and All Black centre Rieko Ioane are all available for selection ahead of Leinster’s opening Champions Cup fixture against Harlequins on Saturday (kick-off 5.30pm). The 28-year-old, who can also play on the wing, has scored 38 tries in 88 appearances for the All Blacks. McCarthy, who missed the Autumn Nations Series, has recovered from a foot injury, while O’Brien has come through the graduated return to play protocols and is expected to train fully this week. Ioane is also expected to take fill part in training having arrived in Ireland last Wednesday following New Zealand’s final November Test, a 52-26 win over Wales in Cardiff. No further updates were given on Cormac Foley, Hugo Keenan, Will Connors, James Culhane, Jamie Osborne and Ryan Baird, who remain unavailable.

Chart-topping US band Maroon 5 have announced a concert in Dublin’s Malahide Castle on June 30th, 2026, their first time playing in Ireland since 2014. Among the band’s best-known hits are This Love, Sugar, Girls Like You, She Will Be Loved, Moves Like Jagger and One More Night. The band formed in high school in 1994 as Kara’s Flowers, and in 2001 they added guitarist James Valentine to their line-up, renaming themselves Maroon 5. In August, the band released their eighth studio album, Love Is Like, which received poor reviews, including from The Irish Times. Tickets for the band’s concert at Malahide Castle cost from €69.90 to €89.90 and go on sale this Friday (December 5th) at 9am via ticketmaster.ie.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrives at the Elysee palace prior to their meeting with France's president Emmanuel Macron, in Paris on Monday. Photograph: Stephane de Sakutin/AFP via Getty ImagesUkrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy will fly into Dublin Airport this evening, beginning his first official visit to Ireland before a day of engagements tomorrow. There will be a press conference at Government Buildings before Mr Zelenskiy is expected to deliver an address to a joint sitting of the Dáil and Seanad. Mr Zelenskiy is likely to meet with representatives of the Ukrainian community in Ireland during the visit. [ Ukraine’s Zelenskiy to visit Ireland amid ongoing efforts to end war with RussiaOpens in new window ]

Waterford-based Dawn Meats has completed its acquisition of a majority stake in New Zealand-based meat processor Alliance Group. Dawn Meats will pay $270 million New Zealand dollars (€133.4 million) to acquire a 65 per cent shareholding in Alliance, with farmer-shareholders retaining a 35 per cent stake in the business. Farmer-shareholders will also benefit from a distribution of up to NZ$20 million in the current financial year and up to NZ$20 million in the next financial year. In addition, up to NZ$26 million will be distributed as a special dividend from the joint venture to the new Alliance Investment Co-operative following a stronger than forecast year-end result for Alliance. Willie Wiese, chief executive of Alliance Group, said the completion of the transaction was an essential milestone.

For more than two years, the chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), Jon Boutcher, has told a story of the mounting financial and recruitment crisis that has engulfed his force. In 2010, the National Health Service in Northern Ireland had a budget of £3.3 billion. His connection with Northern Ireland is now nearly a decade old, beginning in 2016 when he was put in charge of Operation Kenova alongside his work as chief constable of Bedfordshire, England.. PSNI officers in Portadown, Co Armagh, following three nights of disorder in Ballymena in June. Pressed about complaints made by the public along the Border about the near-disappearance of community policing, Boutcher does not even attempt to sugarcoat an answer.

After a challenging period of adjustment, Ireland’s investment market is showing clear signs of stabilisation, and there is now a more optimistic outlook for the coming year. Private rental sector (PRS)The “living” sector is expected to be the most invested sector in Europe this year, accounting for more than 25 per cent of all capital deployed. And after several years of relative illiquidity in Ireland, largely driven by regulatory constraints, private rental sector investment experienced a rebound in the second half of this year and is poised for a significant increase in volumes in 2026. Indeed, we are forecasting yield compression of 25 basis points on prime rental sector properties in 2026. CBRE’s guideline prime office rents are forecast to reach €70 per sq ft by the end of 2026, based on the increased competition for a smaller number of modern city-centre buildings.

Wet weather on the streets of Dublin City Centre as umbrellas are drawn to provide cover from the rain. Photograph: Alan BetsonThe weather in Ireland is set to get very wet this week, with low pressure dominating and an unsettled week promised. A status yellow rain warning lapsed at 9am in Cork, Kerry and Waterford and at 10am in Wexford. Met Éireann forecast those areas would see persistent rain that is heavy at times with risks of localised flooding. There will be spells of rain for the latter half of the week in Munster also, with conditions remaining unsettled.