Members of the Indian Irish community and others protest outside Department of Justice on St Stephens Green in July in the aftermath of the attack on an Indian man in Tallaght, Co Dublin. Photograph: Alan BetsonTwo people have been arrested in connection with a suspected racist attack on an Indian man in Tallaght in July. The man, who is in his 40s, was attacked at Parkhill Lawns, Kilnamanagh, Dublin 24 on July 19th. [ Hundreds gather in Tallaght for antiracism protest after Indian man stripped and stabbed in attackOpens in new window ]Gardaí arrested a man in his 30s and a male juvenile teen on Friday morning. They are being held under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 at Garda stations in South Dublin.

Making grass greener has been the core business of Germinal for the past 200 years. Ever open to new business opportunities, he and fellow Belfast merchants noticed a burgeoning industry in southwest Scotland producing grass seed. They tried to replicate the business in Ireland but, in Gilbert’s words, they failed miserably. I can’t imagine the difficulties he went through and how hard it must have been for him.”William Gilbert: 'Germinal Ireland’s been probably our singular biggest success. While agriculture accounts for the majority of the business, Germinal has diversified into other areas, which now account for around 20 per cent of its turnover.

“We had the Feng Shui master in and we have to do a big job that means knocking down walls and replacing floorboards,” the husband said. “We had the Feng Shui master in and we have to do a big job that means knocking down walls and replacing floorboards,” the husband said. The Feng Shui master thought this could be the cause of a succession of misfortunes the couple have suffered recently, and the husband agreed. For more than 3,000 years, Chinese people have used Feng Shui as a system to arrange spaces in a way that promotes balance, harmony and the flow of positive energy. Feng Shui masters charge anything from RMB1,000 (€121) to RMB100,000 (€121,000) for a consultation, depending on how famous they are and how extensive the survey.

Scion Asset Management this week terminated its registration with US securities regulators, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission database. The move to close Scion comes as some investors have become concerned that markets are trading at frothy levels after years of strong returns. Burry disclosed a short position against defence group Palantir using derivatives that increase in value when share prices fall, according to a US regulatory filing earlier this month. The investor previously closed Scion Capital in 2008 following successful bets against mortgage-backed securities that Burry correctly deemed were worth far less than official ratings and market sentiment suggested. He reopened his hedge fund under the name Scion Asset Management a few years later.

Fewer than one in 10 Irish businesses say they have broadly adopted the technology. The remainder say their adoption is limited or that they are exploring the use of AI agents – applications that can autonomously carry out tasks. PWC, the consultants who carried out the study, see lower levels of adoption and trust here as a “pivotal opportunity” for Irish companies that embrace AI more enthusiastically. The survey found that a little over half of Irish firms had seen “measurable productivity gains” from using AI agents and only 38 per cent said it translated into cost-savings. A separate report from consultancy McKinsey found that while two-thirds of organisations globally are exploring AI, only 40 per cent of them reported an improvement in earnings.

Musicians, designers, dancers and writers across Ireland are busy curating arts festivals to energise small towns and villages over the winter season. “What Dingle’s Other Voices has done for music, we’d like to do for design,” O’Sullivan says. “We like to think of it as a cosy, intimate conversation festival,” Bulger, the festival’s director, says. You definitely master the art of the follow-up email.”Deeper into the winter season, Gweedore in northwest Donegal comes alive with cosy traditional Irish music sessions and workshops during Scoil Gheimhridh (December 27th-January 1st), which is now entering its 31st year. The community céilí in Carrick-on-Shannon during Leitrim Dance Festival.

The children of the Paris Agreement grew up with the promise that the climate crisis would be sorted by the time they left college but a decade on, the job is only starting. He’s referring to the global heating limit meant to have guided global climate action since 2015 but which has already been breached. “One of our roles is to bridge the gap between young people in Ireland and the Government in regard to climate issues,” says Ismail. They’re maybe not talking about reusable straws any more, but they’re talking about more detailed climate issues, such as the links between the climate crisis and conflict. The passion hasn’t fizzled – if anything, it’s become more concentrated.”Social media was crucial in mobilising youth climate activists, and Ismail says it still helps, but she places enormous value on person-to-person communication.

The asset is tied to Michael Lynn, who was convicted in December 2023 of stealing about €18 million from six financial institutions, including INBS, during the Celtic Tiger era. Photograph: Collins CourtsThe special liquidators of Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) have put the company’s final property asset on the market: a Dublin 4 apartment once owned by disgraced former solicitor Michael Lynn. IBRC housed the remains of Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide Building Society (INBS), after both were nationalised during the financial crisis. Anglo Irish Bank and INBS required a combined €34.7 billion bailout before they collapsed. The IBRC liquidators have so far handed over €360 million of surplus cash to the exchequer from the wind-up.

The depth of the housing crisis means any plan to address it seems inadequate. The Government has sidestepped this to some extent in its new housing plan by deciding not to have annual targets. The extent and breadth of the measures in the plan do suggest that the Coalition realises the importance of the issue. There is a coherent set of measures involved covering the different stages of the housing process. It remains to be seen, however, if the different parts of the system can work effectively together to really accelerate housing provision.

Remote and flexible working is probably here to stay, but further changes to employee arrangements may come in 2026. Photograph: Getty ImagesRemote working and its cousin, flexible working, look like they are here to stay, despite the criticism of some senior business figures such as Denis O’Brien. There is also a trend, the survey shows, towards greater central control in organisations of remote working policies, rather than leaving it to line managers. Flexible working refers to those who have caring responsibilities for young children or other family members requiring care. The remote working rules, meanwhile, are intended to set down a framework for the post-Covid working world.

World Cup qualifier: Armenia 0 Hungary 1 (Varga 33)Hungary are a step closer to securing a spot in the playoffs for next year’s World Cup, beating Armenia 1-0 in their penultimate Group F qualifier in Yerevan. Barnabás Varga offered up the match winner, captain Dominik Szoboszlai supplying the assist for the Ferencváros centre-forward’s strike. Bottom of the group with just three points, a win for Armenia would have seen them leapfrog into the coveted second-place spot behind Portugal. Hungary sit second on eight points heading into Sunday’s game against Ireland in Budapest, while Armenia must endure a trip to Porto to play Portugal. HUNGARY: Dibusz; Négo, Orbán, Szalai, Kerkez (Nagy 86); Schafer, Styles (Vitális 71), Szoboszlai (capt); Bolla (Lukács 61), Varga, Sallai (Tóth 71).

The Government today announced a new housing plan to tackle the crisis. Wait, I thought we already had a housing plan? Yes, in 2021, the then government published Housing for All – A new Housing Plan for Ireland. The new plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities, envisages 300,000 new homes in the period to 2030, with no specified annual target. The State has experienced the fastest rate of population growth in its modern history, Minister for Housing James Browne says in the plan’s foreword, and housing supply has lagged.

Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA WireA secret recording of a conversation between a property developer and a businessman currently on trial for fraud over the sale of the National Asset Management Agency’s (Nama) Northern Ireland loan book was played in court in Belfast on Thursday. He told Mr Miskelly that Mr Wilson was a keen gardener who wanted to buy a nursery and that he told Mr Wilson “if this comes off wee Frank will make sure you get a nursery”. During the recorded conversation, Mr Cushnahan told Mr Miskelly he “will be out of Nama” as he “will be resigning at the end of the month”. Mr Cushnahan also told Mr Miskelly if the deal was completed in December or January “you f*****g sell nothing.”At one point during the conversation, Mr Cushnahan talked about Ian Coulter and said he had a “great commercial mind”. Mr Cushnahan also told Mr Miskelly: “You know who’ll get a few pound because I think he played a blinder at the start, Sammy Wilson”.

Harvey’s parents, Gillian Sherratt and Stephen Morrison, arriving at Government Buildings for their meeting with the Tánaiste. Photoagraph: SAM BOAL/Collins PhotosThe mother of Harvey Morrison Sherratt has said that effectiveness is more important than speed of an inquiry into the care of children with scoliosis and spina bifida. Politicians met advocacy groups and the parents of the late Harvey Morrison Sherratt on Wednesday evening. Harvey, who had scoliosis and other health issues, died aged nine in July after waiting a number of years for surgery. When asked about the protected disclosure that alleged that Harvey was removed from a surgery list because he was listed as palliative, Ms Sherratt said it was like “a gut punch”.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin at St Teresa’s Gardens in Dublin for the launch of a new housing plan titled Delivering Homes, Building Communities. Photo: Sam Boal/Collins PhotosA new €100 million capital fund to buy second-hand homes to lift children out of homelessness will likely have to be repeated for each of the next five years, under a landmark Government housing plan. According to the most recent figures, there were 5,238 homeless children in Ireland at the end of September. You have families in there with one child, you have families in there with six children. Under the new plan, it will no longer set itself annual housing targets for each of the next five years.