A captain's suspension has sparked a row between Aer Lingus and its pilots' union. Photograph: Naoise CulhaneTwo Aer Lingus pilots at Manchester Airport have resigned safety roles in support of a suspended colleague, it has emerged. “The processes referred to by Aer Lingus are in regard to an individual pilot and are not the subject of the no-confidence motion,” he said. Their manager complained to Aer Lingus in Dublin as such crews normally sit in business class. Aer Lingus is investigating the safety report, while its fact-finding exercise follows a subsequent complaint from one of the positioning crew.

Tadhg Beirne with his Guinness Rugby Writers of Ireland Men’s Player of the Year award. Photograph: Ben Brady/InphoTadhg Beirne and Aoife Wafer have been announced as the winners of the Player of the Year awards from the Guinness Rugby Writers of Ireland for the 2024/25 season. Ireland’s unconvincing Japan job Listen | 37:21Beirne and Wafer were presented with their awards at Tuesday night’s ceremony at the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin. Aoife Wafer with her Guinness Rugby Writers of Ireland Women’s XV’s Player of The Year award. Carr, an 11-times capped Irish openside flanker, was an important member of Ireland’s 1985 Triple Crown-winning team.

George Ford returns at outhalf for England's game against the All Blacks at Twickenham on Saturday. Ford comes back in at outhalf after sitting out the 38-18 victory over Fiji while Steward returns at fullback. But Borthwick has kept Tom Curry on the bench and opted to name Genge as well as fellow Lions Luke Cowan-Dickie and Will Stuart among the replacements. – GuardianENGLAND (v New Zealand, Twickenham, Saturday, 3.10pm): Freddie Steward; Tom Roebuck, Ollie Lawrence, Fraser Dingwall, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso; George Ford, Alex Mitchell; Fin Baxter, Jamie George, Joe Heyes; Maro Itoje (capt), Alex Coles; Guy Pepper, Sam Underhill, Ben Earl. Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge, Will Stuart, Chandler Cunningham-South, Tom Curry, Henry Pollock, Ben Spencer, Marcus Smith.

Cade Carmichael made a half-century on his Test debut for Ireland on the opening day of the first Test against Bangladesh in Sylhet. Photograph: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile1st Test, Day 1: Ireland 270-8 (P Stirling 60, C Carmichael 59, C Campher 44, L Tucker 41, J Neill 30, B McCarthy 21no; M Hasan Miraz 3-50, H Murad 2-47) v Bangladesh. Cade Carmichael marked his Test debut with a battling half-century as Ireland closed on 270 for eight after the first day of their series opener against Bangladesh in Sylhet. Off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz was the pick of the bowlers with three for 50. The plan includes a 4,240-capacity ground, with a player and match official building, a high-performance centre, plus additional supporting infrastructure and parking facilities.

Catherine Connolly’s inauguration as the 10th President of Ireland took place on a day of ceremony, celebration and a firm assertion of principle. Her inaugural address, delivered in both English and Irish, did not shy away from the positions that have defined her political career. She also promised to place the Irish language at the centre of her presidency, pledging that Irish would not be spoken in a low voice in Áras an Uachtaráin. On early evidence Connolly may prove a more low-key orator than her immediate predecessor, though that does not imply timidity. In that context any intervention by a President known for strong views has the potential to cause discomfort for the Coalition.

What’s your favourite comfort food? What’s your ultimate food indulgence? Everybody has different answers when it comes to personal food choices, and sometimes it might even be better to keep them to yourself. Our Irish Times writers have no such reservations, however, generously sharing here some fascinating and, quite honestly occasionally chilling, insights into their domestic food lives. [ 100 great restaurants, cafes and places to eat around Ireland for winter 2025Opens in new window ]

Photograph: Dave MeehanA disqualified driver was so drunk he has no recollection of his involvement in a garda pursuit, a court has heard. Gardaí ran a check on the registration plate of the Renault Fluence and noted it had been stolen the previous evening. Garda Dean O’Donnell told Marc Murphy, prosecuting, how at one point Carroll swerved around a pedestrian who was crossing the road. The chase came to an end when Carroll drove straight into a wooden pillar. The passenger was arrested immediately, but Carroll ran off and jumped over the wall of a nearby house.

Cullie Tucker will take over as Ireland Under-20 head coach for the 2026-27 season. Photograph: EJ Langner/Inpho/Steve Haag SportsThe IRFU have confirmed Connacht scrum coach Cullie Tucker as the new Ireland Under-20 head coach from the start of next season. Tucker took charge of the Ireland XV for their victory over Spain in Madrid last weekend as was an assistant coach on Ireland’s summer tour to Georgia and Portugal and with Ireland ‘A’. He also acted as interim Connacht head coach last season when Pete Wilkins stepped down from the role. “Cullie is an outstanding home-grown coach who has gained a huge amount of experience both at provincial and national levels.

Markets rose on Tuesday but Softbank’s €4 billion-plus Nvidia sale prompted more nerves about AI stocks. Upbeat results prompted a 7 per cent rise in the company’s stock on Monday. The index closed up 112.45 points, 1.2 per cent, at 9,899.60, raising the prospect of it hitting the 10,000-mark. Swiss stocks hit a two-week high, with Richemont climbing 1.6 per cent and Swatch Group gaining 3.6 per cent. Health stocks rose 1.6 per cent, with drugmakers Eli Lilly, Merck and Amgen up between 2.1 per cent and 3.6 per cent.

Drug-driving has surged in the Republic this year, with Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly saying cocaine was the substance of choice for most drivers caught, and he was now “really concerned” about it. The popularity and availability of the drug was behind the record drug-driving figures, the sources said. Mr Kelly said the Garda organisation was projected to increase to 16,000 sworn members by the end of 2029. Mr Ward said while Garda visibility had improved around Dublin city centre, this needed to be replicated in the suburbs. He said the Dublin west area was a priority region to be allocated more gardaí as numbers in the force increased.

Investors have been selling off the debt of US tech heavyweights, showing how jitters over Silicon Valley’s boom in spending on artificial intelligence have spilled into the bond market. The widening spread highlights how investors are increasingly concerned with the way tech groups are turning to debt markets to finance their investments in AI infrastructure. It raised an additional $30 billion in bonds at the end of October, the biggest corporate bond deal since 2023. Meanwhile, Alphabet sold $25 billion of bonds in early November, $17.5 billion of which were raised in the US and $7.5 billion in Europe. Oracle sold $18 billion of bonds in September to fund infrastructure leases such as OpenAI’s “Stargate” data centre in Abilene, Texas.

‘They have given their President a powerful mandate to articulate their vision for a new Republic.’There was no mistaking the political nature of President Catherine Connolly’s first address. She argued that, despite that, a new “hope” emerged and said that as president she would ensure all voices were represented. She said Mary Robinson was president at a time the Berlin Wall had fallen and there was a big shift in geopolitics. Mary McAleese had been president at a time when the Belfast Agreement was signed, setting out a shared vision for the future. ‘Ligimis don Ghaeilge blathú.’In a long passage of the speech in Irish, the President made it clear that Irish will have a central role in her presidency.

In the actual text, meanwhile, Bloom is merely repelled by the sights and smells of men eating meat. The company behind the Burton hotel plan is called Lucky Park Ltd. And sure enough, the old Burton did often take out small ads in this newspaper, one of which shouted “Oysters! As for the old Burton, it was on the way out when Bloom pushed in the door. Another Irish Times small ad, in September 1905, announced it would shortly be the subject of an “administratrix sale”.

But if the darkest hour is just before dawn, then the sun was about to appear again for Trump. He urged them to end the filibuster rule - predicting that Democrats would do so whenever they return to power. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP via GettyIn addition, Republican cohesion had begun to show signs of weakening as Trump gathered Republican senators for a breakfast meeting last week. It was defeated when two Democratic senators, Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, voted against their party to preserve the tool of obstruction. Trump referenced that failed vote when he predicted that the Democrats would themselves end the filibuster if and when they return to power.

In the battle for hearts and minds, the question of a united Ireland is nearly all heart and too little mind. A united Ireland is both deeply desired and consigned to Irish dreamtime. Not one of those two thousand involves a united Ireland. I recently did a piece of work for the ARINS Project and the Royal Irish Academy, a short book called For and Against a United Ireland. There is and will be plenty of emotion – many people on the island know exactly how they feel about a united Ireland.