Minister for Transport Darragh O'Brien said he said he would bring forward development of the Finglas Luas and that construction would start before 2029. Photograph: Alan BetsonDart and Luas projects, delayed in the review of the National Development Plan (NDP) published this week, could be accelerated Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien has said. Under the plan, €24.3 billion has been allocated for transport projects from 2026 to 2030. The previous government had a 2:1 ratio in favour of public transport funding over roads, when the Green Party’s Eamon Ryan was minister for transport. However, the new plan has allocated €10.1 billion for public transport projects and €9.7 billion for the road network and road safety.

Mr O’Brien and Mr Morrissey were ordered to pay the lawyers €411,750 each to compensate the damage done to the solicitors’ reputations arising from the defamation. The jury’s award of damages fell within the category for “very serious” instances of defamation. At the time of the report, Mr O’Brien owned substantial stakes in Irish media companies. Mr Lehane noted that the jury’s award was one of the largest payouts in a defamation case in recent years. Counsel said Mr O’Brien side must convince the Court of Appeal that no reasonable jury should have made such an award.

The man will appear before Coleraine Magistrates’ Court on Friday. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA WireAn alleged child sex offender was remanded into custody in Northern Ireland on Friday after he was extradited from Spain. Florin Mihali (45), who was arrested in Las Palmas in April, appeared at Coleraine Magistrates Court where a police officer executed the arrest warrant. Mr Mihali, with an address listed on court papers as Chichester Park West in Ballymena, was assisted by a Romanian interpreter during the short proceedings. District Judge Peter King remanded Mr Mihali into custody, adjourning the case to December 4th at Ballymena Court.

Officers from the PSNI stand with riot shields during a night of disorder in Ballymena, Co Antrim, last June. Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA WireTwo Romanian teenagers accused of attempting to rape a schoolgirl in Ballymena, Co Antrim, are to have the charges against them withdrawn, a judge ordered on Friday. At Belfast Youth Court on Friday, the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) was granted permission to end criminal proceedings against the defendants, based on “significant evidential developments”. Both teenagers will now be released from the juvenile detention centre where they have been held for more than five months. The pair were jointly charged with the attempted rape of the girl on June 7th this year.

France and Germany are to bring back military service to bolster national defence, part of a historic reversal of decades of gradual reduction in armed forces since the end of the Cold War. The programmes typically recruit young people as they finish school and put them through basic military training. France’s president Emmanuel Macron unveils plans for a new national military service. Currently, Germany’s Bundeswehr has around 182,000 troops, a significant drop in size since Germany ended compulsory conscription in 2011. The issue is more contentious in Germany and the government decided to pursue voluntary rather than compulsory military service after a bitter debate.

Ukraine's president recently appointed Andriy Yermak – a polarising figure who has accumulated unprecedented power as head of staff – to lead his team in peace talks with the Trump administration. Photograph: Elodie Le Maou/AFP /Getty Images)Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday evening that his powerful and polarising chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, had resigned from his post after anti-corruption officials raided his residence and offices earlier in the day. The development is likely to further weaken Zelenskiy at a pivotal moment for Ukraine, as he seeks to reassure western partners that he is rooting out entrenched corruption. It also comes as US president Donald Trump puts renewed pressure on Kyiv to accept a peace deal. The case has heightened concern among Kyiv’s western allies over persistent corruption as Ukraine continues to seek substantial financial and military support.

The number of mortgages approved in October stood at 4,783 after a 0.5 per cent increase on September’s figures, BPFI said. The value of mortgages approved in the year to date, meanwhile, is the highest since the group began to collect such data in 2011. BPFI said the number of mortgages approved in October stood at 4,783 after a 0.5 per cent increase on September’s figures. Of the mortgages approved in October, 2,869 were to first time buyers, accounting for 60 per cent of all approvals in the period. Looking purely at purchase mortgage approvals, volume fell by 5.9 per cent and value dropped by 1.3 per cent year on year in October.

A young Palestinian woman has described her new life in Dublin as “a miracle” but said she feels “stuck between two worlds” as most of her family remains in Gaza. After surviving 23 months of violence in Gaza, Ashour said she is very grateful for her newfound freedom in Dublin but is still adjusting to the “normalcy” of her life now. It is hard for me to normalise the normalcy of my life.”Her sister Heba also lives in Dublin. [ Hugh Linehan: Anatomy of a photograph: Gaza, starvation and the battle for truthOpens in new window ]Their home was “destroyed, it was levelled down to the ground”. More than 69,000 Palestinians have been killed in the last two years, Gaza health officials say, including 20,000 children.

Wren Dennehy (left), Emmet Kirwan (centre), Lloyd Hutchinson (at back) and Fiona Bell in A Christmas Carol at the Gate Theatre. I’m currently starring in A Christmas Carol, at the Gate Theatre. Speaking of Focus Ireland, Dublin does actually kind of mirror Victorian London. Left to right are Lloyd Hutchinson, Wren Dennehy, Michael Tient, Emmet Kirwan and Fiona Bell in A Christmas Carol at the Gate Theatre. A Christmas Carol runs at the Gate Theatre from November 21st to January 18th.

Business reporter Hugh Dooley explains how to avoid getting taken for a ride while shopping online for deals this Black Friday. Video: Hugh DooleyIrish consumers are being targeted by increasingly sophisticated scams involving fake websites, cryptocurrency deals, bogus social media ads and even vulnerable puppies, the consumer watchdog has warned. It said common red flags included unusually large discounts, unfamiliar websites, recently created social media profiles, and across-the-board five-star reviews. She said online scams had become more and more sophisticated, using convincing images and stories and carefully tailoring ads to make them appear like a trustworthy business. “For the sake of your finances and your safety, take care when shopping online.

Photograph:Getty ImagesThe death toll from the Hong Kong apartment complex fire that began on Wednesday has risen to 128 with as many as 200 missing, officials have said, as rescue operations were declared over. Four people died of their injuries in hospital, Chris Tang, the city’s security secretary told the media on Friday afternoon. Firefighters had to carry out operations unit by unit, floor by floor, and the units were cluttered with a large amount of items,” he said. Apartments burn in the Wang Fuk Court complex in Hong Kong's Tai Po district on Thursday. “A 41-year-old man went missing at 16.45,” said one report from block F, where the fire began.

The aftermath of the fire that swept through several apartment blocks at the Wang Fuk Court residential estate in Hong Kong's Tai Po distric. Photograph: Philip Fong/AFP via Getty ImagesAs firefighters finally extinguished the last remaining hotspots on a few floors in two blocks at Hong Kong’s Tai Po housing estate on Thursday night, the death toll continued to climb. People with missing family members react after checking photographs of the deceased in Tai Po, Hong Kong. Hong Kong’s government said the firm is currently working on 11 other projects in the city. Hong Kong’s chief executive, John Lee, has ordered inspections of all housing estates in the city undergoing major renovations.

In late September, a notorious far-right agitator shared a video of Cork Street in Dublin city centre showing newly erected Irish Tricolours fluttering on almost every lamp-post. [ Dublin City Council will not remove Tricolours erected by anti-immigration groupsOpens in new window ]In some ways this is nothing new. Authorities, including Dublin City Council (DCC), have been unsure how to act. It will work with local communities to “promote a deeper understanding of the Irish flag – its history, its meaning and its enduring message of inclusion, equality and respect”. Given DCC’s decision to take no action over the Tricolours, these flag wars look set to continue in Dublin.

First proposed in the 1990s, the science centre project was the subject of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General earlier this year. Photograph: Andrej Ivanov/AFP via Getty ImagesA project to deliver a children’s science museum in Dublin city centre at a potential cost more than €70 million has been described as an “absolute shambles” at the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC). The science centre project was the subject of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) earlier this year. First proposed in the 1990s, the project led to the OPW reaching an agreement in 2003 with a registered charity, Irish Children’s Museum Limited (ICML), to build a children’s science museum. It does need resolution, I fully agree.”[ Explorium takes off, having missed out on being part of national children’s science museumOpens in new window ]

An illustration picture taken on April 21, 2022 in Moscow shows a smart phone screen bearing the Google Play store application logo. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP) (Photo by KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images)The Irish company behind the Google Play Store saw turnover rise marginally to €2.9 billion in 2024, new accounts show. The bulk of Google Commerce Ltd’s revenue comes from transactions on the Google Play Store application platform across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Fellow group company Google Ireland Ltd saw revenues grow 12 per cent in 2024 and paid a €4.5 billion dividend to its parent company. Google Ireland was contacted for comment.