National unions issued a statement last month warning that the breakaway competition would be “enormously harmful”. Photograph: Billy Stickland/InphoThe British & Irish Lions have confirmed players who sign up for the breakaway R360 competition will be ineligible for selection for the Lions women’s team’s first tour in 2027. Last month, a group of national unions, including the IRFU, issued a statement urging players away from R360, warning it would be “enormously harmful” to the health of the sport. The national unions added that men’s and women’s players who opt to participate in R360 would be ineligible for international selection, with the Lions now following suit. “As we continue preparations for the inaugural Lions Women’s Tour in 2027, the British & Irish Lions wishes to outline its position on the proposed R360 competition and provide clarity to players,” a statement issued on Wednesday read.

The sector spans 438 registered approved housing bodies, which manage 68,000 homes with €1.95bn in annual rent and nearly €10bn in assets. Photograph: Chris Ratcliffe/BloombergMore than half the not-for-profit housing bodies that underwent regulatory assessment were “non-compliant” with sectoral rules, said housing supervisors in a new report calling for improvements in the way many groups are run. The 2024 annual report from the Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority set out the need for action in the areas of governance and risk, finance, property and asset management and tenant management. The authority oversees hundreds of not-for-profit approved housing bodies (AHBs) that receive public funds to provide affordable housing to tenants. Another 13 housing bodies, comprising 40 per cent of those assessed, were found to be “non-compliant working towards compliance”.

Photograph: Carl Court/Getty ImagesBritain’s chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves has once again resorted to large tax increases to fund the Labour government’s spending plans, after previously promising a year ago that a tax raid then was a “one-off”. Added to the £40 billion in tax hikes in her first budget a year ago, it amounts to one of the biggest tax increases in the history of any UK government. This year, however, Ms Reeves avoided hitting employers with tax increases, after criticism last year. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said the leak was a “shambles” while Ms Reeves told the Commons she was “deeply disappointed”. “These are Labour choices,” Ms Reeves said repeatedly throughout her budget speech.

The issue will come into focus when the Government holds its second offshore wind energy auction. Of the four winners of the first offshore wind auction held in June 2023, one has abandoned its project and the other three are still embroiled in the planning process. The other three projects are still in the planning process. The North Dublin Array – backed by Norway’s Statkraft – had planned to begin generation in 2030 based on a 12-month planning process. Frustrated though they may be, it is unlikely that the backers of these projects did not anticipate a lengthy planning process and factor it into their bids.

The photograph of Verona Murphy with Sinn Féin politicians and others, since deletedCeann Comhairle Verona Murphy has strongly denied that she was photographed in support of a Sinn Féin Bill, after she appeared with the party in a picture used to promote the proposed legislation. On Tuesday, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald posted a photograph to X of Ms Murphy and the main Opposition party outside Leinster House. The photo also included sexual violence survivors Sonya Stokes, Leona O’Callaghan and Shaneda Daly - who are all backing a Sinn Féin Bill designed to create new protection orders for victims of sexual violence. Ms Murphy is flanked by women Sinn Fáin TDs and Ms Stokes, Ms O’Callaghan and Ms Daly, who are all holding a copy of the Sinn Féin Bill, though Ms Murphy is not. That is most unfortunate.”Neither Sinn Féin nor Ms Murphy responded to an offer to comment on or respond to Ms Cahill’s correspondence.

Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill will seek Cabinet approval for amendments to the proposed legislation. Photograph: The Irish TimesElectro-convulsive therapy for those under 18 will be prohibited under amendments to the mental health Bill to be considered by Cabinet on Wednesday. Minister for Mental Health Mary Butler and Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill will seek Cabinet approval for 300 amendments to be introduced at the Seanad committee stage of the Bill. Meanwhile, Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan is to seek Cabinet approval for reforms to the State’s immigration system. Listen | 48:05Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke will seek Cabinet approval to stand up a flooding scheme for Wexford in the aftermath of Storm Claudia.

UK borrowing costs spiked when she cried, as markets fretted Ms Reeves could quit and take her fiscal discipline with her. Labour gave a solemn pre-election commitment that it wouldn’t raise income tax rates. Income tax thresholds will be frozen – bringing in more tax but allowing Labour to cling to the argument that it kept its promise. If he goes, the conventional wisdom is that surely Ms Reeves will too, assuming she hasn’t already gone before that. No matter which way she turns, Ms Reeves struggles to escape the brutal uncertainties enveloping UK politics.

Ireland fans celebrate Troy Parrott's winer against Hungary. AIB saw a spike in card spending in Budapest around the match earlier this month. Photograph: INPHO/Ryan ByrneSpending on flights to the Czech Republic took off in the minutes after the World Cup play-off draw was made last week while sales of replica football jerseys soared as fans suddenly found themselves freed from almost a decade of miserable mediocrity. According to fresh data from AIB, around €250,000 was spent on flights by its customers between 1pm on 2pm last Thursday just after the boys in green were handed a play-off semi-final in Prague. “The buoyant mood sweeping the country in the wake of the Irish football team’s achievements is palpable,” said AIB’s head of consumer, Adrian Moynihan.

There are more than 1,000 social houses in Donegal that are visibly cracked due to defective concrete blocks, including 89 council-owned homes lying empty because of the scale of the damage. It said the survey identified 300 social houses where cracks were visible due to defective concrete blocks on more than one side of the house. “Of these 300 houses, 89 were vacant due to the damage caused by defective concrete blocks. “In total there are 1,048 of Donegal County Council’s social homes exhibiting pattern cracking consistent with the presence of defective blockwork. The council is now updating its survey of affected social homes every quarter, and has carried out tests on the vacant social homes that appear to be affected.

Former taoiseach Enda Kenny after he was presented with the Trinity European Laureate Award in Dublin on Tuesday night. Photograph: Paul Sharp/SharpixFormer taoiseach Enda Kenny has said that as Europe finds itself “a little bit removed from the United States”, the Continent will become more realistic in the decisions it makes over the coming decades. “You learn after 40 years in politics almost to be infallible in reading faces.”Speaking after the event, Mr Kenny reiterated the collective approach that he believes is needed to tackle climate-driven migration and immigration in years to come. “Either because of sea waters rising and floods or because of climate change with severe drought and an inability to live in those places,” Mr Kenny said. Thanking the room, Mr Kenny supposed that “in a sporting sense, this is the only gold medal that Mayo people have got”.

Profits at the Irish arm of social media giant, Meta, jumped by 57 per cent to €2.9 billion last year. “Substantially all revenue is generated from advertising, which has continued to grow during the year,” the directors of the Irish business said. During the year, the company paid a dividend of €1.5 billion to parent company, Facebook International Operations Ltd. Meta Ireland slashed one in five jobs during the year, having cut headcount by 18 per cent the previous year. The dividend payout, offset by the post-tax profits, saw accumulated profits rise to €2.59 billion from €891 million.

Jim O'Callaghan speaking at Government Buildings, Dublin, on Wednesday as he unveiled new migration restrictions. Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA WireMinister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan has said Ireland’s rate of population growth is too high and the Government’s new restrictions on family reunification and citizenship grants are intended to reduce it. Mr O’Callaghan said that population growth was a good thing and the Government wanted to see it continue. The Department of Justice is preparing a national migration strategy that will set out the Government’s position on population growth, he said. “So when you look at the statistics overall, the overwhelming majority of people who apply for asylum and international protection are not granted,” he said.

A fire spread across multiple high-rise apartment buildings in a Hong Kong housing complex on Wednesday, killing 13 people and leaving others trapped inside. Flames engulf scaffolding across multiple buildings at Wang Fuk Court housing estate in Tai Po, Hong Kong. Photograph: Tyrone Siu/ReutersSmoke rises at Wang Fuk Court, a residential estate in the Tai Po district of Hong Kong. Wang Fuk Court is one of many high-rise housing complexes in Hong Kong, which is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Fire engulfs several apartment blocks at the Wang Fuk Court residential estate in Hong Kong.

Any assessment of the Government’s efforts to introduce auto-enrolment for personal pension schemes must begin with the numbers. According to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) more than a quarter of Irish adults have no financial plan in place for their retirement. Anyone without a private pension scheme will be reliant on the State pension system, the finances of which look set to become increasing precarious if demographic changes are not arrested, most likely through immigration. We are the last member of the OECD club of rich nations to introduce such a scheme. But Ministers need to underline the longer-term imperative that pension auto-enrolment is a success.

Asked about Mr Witkoff’s approach, Mr Trump said he hadn’t reviewed the call but that he heard it was a “standard negotiation”. Mr Trump said Tuesday he was directing Mr Witkoff to meet Mr Putin, in the hopes of finalising a peace plan. “I don’t know why he continues with this war,” Mr Trump said on October 14th, the same day that Mr Witkoff spoke with Mr Ushakov. The US envoy mentioned Mr Zelenskiy’s upcoming visit and suggested that Mr Putin could speak to Mr Trump in advance of that meeting. Those are some of the conditions that Mr Witkoff and Mr Ushakov appear to preview during their call last month.