Many critics said the Scotland team would be better off without Gregor Townsend after a bad start to this year's Six Nations. After a third Six Nations in four years that delivered just two wins, Townsend was getting it in the neck. Gregor Townsend watches his Scotland team lose to Ireland at the 2023 World Cup. Under Townsend, Scotland have played 880 minutes of Test match rugby against Ireland and they’ve been ahead for only 65 of those. Photograph: InphoHe was in the last Scotland team that won a championship.

He really brings the leadership and he does that as well in Man United. "Of course, we can't compare his leadership to Roy Keane's because that was completely different, but he knows the rules at Man United. I think he is happy at Man United, but the club has never been in a good position. He is always working hard and plays up to the level you expect from a Man United player. Man United used to have a lot of those players, but they don’t have these players anymore.

Among the most popular and fiercely contested categories was Best Vanilla Ice Cream, which went this year to Arran Ice Cream, a fourth-generation family business based on the Isle of Arran. Arran Ice Cream has been delighting locals and visitors alike on Arran since 1999, when the family first started producing ice cream at their small dairy on the shores of Brodick Bay. Arran Ice Cream has been producing handmade ice cream since 1999 (Image: LDRS)Jubilant Alastair Dalton, Managing Director of Arran Ice Cream, Arran Dairies, who manufacture the ice cream and a Taste of Arran said: “We are absolutely delighted to have won the Best Vanilla in the UK and Ireland and to be delighted to be judged by our peer group. He said: “They have worked really hard at Arran Ice Cream and went to the Scottish Parliament to promote it. “At a time when the ferries are struggling it’s fantastic that Arran Ice Cream are doing so well.

Xi Jinping, China's president, at the closing session of the National People’s Congress in Beijing. Inspired by the Soviet Union under Stalin, China’s first five-year plan in 1953 sought to industrialise the country rapidly while collectivising farming to increase agricultural production. This week, the same paper described the five-year plan as a metronome of China’s development that translates long-term strategic goals into phased, practical steps. It generates a cascading architecture of annual plans, sector-specific plans and regional plans, each with its own targets. “With tech self-reliance having evolved from a policy goal into a national imperative, the narrative of China’s tech ascent is entering a new chapter.

‌The country's sports minister announced on Wednesday that 'under no circumstances' can Iran compete at the World Cup, despite FIFA President Gianni Infantino insisting that Trump would 'welcome' them. "The World Cup is a historic and international event, and its organiser is FIFA - not any single country," they said. Latest news, analysis and much more on Mirror Football's Facebook pageWorld Cup cancellations: Why tournament has been called off in the past as Iran withdraws READ MORE :Who can replace Iran at the 2026 World Cup? Certainly, no one can remove the Iranian national team from the World Cup. Should Iran be allowed to play at the 2026 World Cup?

The gap between the speed of development in artificial intelligence and the strength of governance has always been worrying. The extraordinary standoff between Anthropic and the US government suggests it is getting worse. It is being used right now to select bombing targets in Iran and to process intelligence at a scale no human analyst could match. The designation, unprecedented for an American company, is a significant act of economic coercion against a private firm. Anthropic’s main competitor, OpenAI, then stepped in within hours to sign its own deal with the Pentagon, claiming to have secured the same protections Anthropic could not.

Strong momentum in homebuilding and government partnerships saw revenue at Glenveagh rise by 7% last year to €926m, the developer said on Friday. Publishing its annual results for 2025, the company saw its operating profit grow by 9% to €144m in what was a "strong, productive year with record output." The homebuilder delivered 2,568 new homes last year, up from 2,309 in 2024, which it said reflected "strong execution" across both Homebuilding and Partnerships. The group saw revenue from its scaled partnerships business rise significantly to €381m, up by over 60% compared to the previous year. Record output“2025 was a strong, productive year for Glenveagh, with record output enabling the delivery of affordable, conveniently located homes," said Glenveagh chief executive Stephen Garvey.

The new “Superfan” Can of Coca-Cola is bigger at 500ml and has been launched to celebrate the brand’s Premier League matchday role. Fans can win Premier League experiences by buying their own cans in stores now. The new packaging can be found on a few products - Coca‑Cola Original Taste, Coca‑Cola Zero Sugar and Diet Coke cans. Where you can buy the new Coca-Cola canLook out for the new can in Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Co-op. This person shared: “500ML CANS?!

Big powers are now deploying incentives, restrictions and subsidies at unprecedented levels, reshaping global investment flows in the process. Screening mechanisms, once used sparingly, have expanded significantly, with national security considerations now stretching across data, technology, supply chains and talent flows. Investment decisions often follow trade patterns, with firms investing abroad to secure market access, stabilise supply chains and hedge against trade policy risks. Even when these issues do not ultimately determine investment decisions, they occupy an increasing share of boardroom attention. If we remain agile and forward-looking, and address our domestic weaknesses, we can continue to be a place where global companies choose to innovate, invest and grow.

World-famous pottery firm on brink of administrationDenby Pottery Company has more than 500 employeesView 2 Images Inside Denby Pottery Company HQ in 2024 (Photo by Darren Staples - WPA Pool/Getty Images) (Image: Darren Staples - WPA Pool/Getty Images)A 217-year-old pottery firm is today fighting for survival after filing a notice of intention to appoint administrators. ‌Denby Pottery Company has an outlet store at Trentham Shopping Village. The search for a suitable partner will continue whether for the Denby Group as a whole or for the brands individually. View 2 Images Denby Pottery Company HQ (Image: Denby Pottery)‌GMB union, which represents workers at Denby Pottery Group, has reacted to the news, reports DerbyshireLive. GMB organiser Craig Thomson said: "Denby Pottery is a British icon, producing some of the world's finest ceramics.

We broke free of the crowds to do a loop of the Sydney Opera House. I was lost in thought, counting how many views I would get if the opera house people let me have a little go with the power washer. But he has never set foot inside the Sydney Opera House. The opera house hosts opera, talks, comedians, New Order and Fontaines DC. With Rugby League being for blokes who couldn’t hide their injuries sitting behind a desk.

The cyberattack on the global medical technology company Stryker — which employs thousands of people in Cork, Limerick, and Belfast — is a reminder that modern conflict no longer respects geography. The country has built a successful economy by embedding itself deeply in global supply chains — particularly in pharmaceuticals, technology, and medical devices. Companies such as Stryker have made Ireland a centre of advanced manufacturing and innovation, sustaining thousands of highly-skilled jobs across the country. A cyberattack launched on the far side of the world can halt operations in Cork or Limerick within minutes. The escalating global energy crisis — driven by conflict in the Middle East and the resulting volatility in oil markets — has laid bare the weakness in Ireland’s energy system: Dependence on imported fossil fuels.

Visible green technologies such as solar panels encourage neighbours to adopt the technology, according to the report. Photograph: Getty ImagesA “green divide” has emerged among Irish households with electric vehicles, solar panels and heat pumps strongly concentrated in affluent areas. Research from Trinity College Dublin shows clean technologies are much more likely to be adopted in well-off areas inhabited by people working in management roles who own their homes rather than in lower-income areas with many renters. EVs and heat pumps are five to seven times more prevalent in better-off places than in lower-income neighbourhoods, but the difference is as much as 13-fold between the highest and lowest income areas. There are ways in which we can address inequalities.”The study reveals other trends, including the “neighbour effect” where visible green technologies such as solar panels, EVs and home chargers encouraged other people to adopt them.

An independent expert panel has not yet reviewed any children who may have had unnecessary hip surgery, despite a pledge for this process to begin “no later than January 2026″. Last May, a random audit of 147 children who had hip dysplasia surgeries across Temple Street, Crumlin and Cappagh hospitals between 2021 and 2023 was published. In a recent parliamentary question, the Health Service Executive (HSE) said the external expert panel (EEP) have all been appointed and the work has “formally commenced”. The HSE said the terms of reference for the review have been drafted and are under “final review” before publication. We expect them to begin their formal review of cases shortly,” the spokeswoman said.

Celebrating Irishness sometimes holds a bigger sense of pride and emotion for emigrants, bringing to the fore that idea of a shared sense of belonging. Many Irish people around the world will celebrate St Patrick’s Day in their own areas across the coming days. We’d love you to send us a photograph of your celebrations where you are living abroad. We’ll display them in a gallery at the end of this article and elsewhere on IrishTimes.com over the St Patrick’s Day weekend. Let us know where your photograph is taken and include short description of what is happening in the photograph.