The judge said the defendant was the mother of a young child and had a long history of drug addiction. Photograph: Noel Bennett/Getty ImagesA “vulnerable” mother and cancer survivor who was caught with an arsenal of weapons “secreted” under the stairs of her home has been jailed by the Special Criminal Court for four years. The judge said the defendant was the mother of a young child and had a long history of drug addiction. She said the court had received evidence that Byrne’s addiction resulted in her being compelled to leave the family home. Having considered the mitigation and the guilty plea, the judge imposed a sentence of four years’ imprisonment for that offence.

One of the most pernicious and intellectually lazy arguments is the familiar nugget – that “Ireland’s emissions are too small to matter”. That is precisely what international legal and diplomatic efforts on climate action are designed to achieve. The global climate imperative aligns perfectly with our national interest in energy security, biodiversity recovery, public health and economic modernisation. It’s correct that cutting Ireland’s emissions will not, on its own, protect Ireland from climate impacts. So the next time you hear someone claim “we’re too small to matter”, ask if they pay their taxes.

Hong Kong Police Force officers in hazmat suits work at the Wang Fuk Court residential estate in Hong Kong's Tai Po district on Monday. Hong Kong security chief Chris Tang also declined to comment on specific operations at a press conference on Monday. “I’ve noticed that some people with malicious intent, aiming to harm Hong Kong and national security, have taken advantage of this painful moment for society,” he said. Mourners lay flowers as they pay their respects at a makeshift memorial outside the Wang Fuk Court apartment blocks on Monday. “We sternly warn the anti-China disrupters who attempt to ‘disrupt Hong Kong through disaster’,” the office said in a statement.

A seagull culprit checks over the spilling contents of black rubbish bags on a street in Dublin city. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw/The Irish TimesBin bags have finally been banned from streets across Dublin’s south inner city, more than a year after the measure designed to clean up the city’s streets was announced. In September 2024, Dublin City Council announced plans to ban the use of refuse sacks by about 1,500 businesses and residents on some 90 southside streets. The area includes Grafton Street, Temple Bar, College Green, Dame Street, Exchequer Street, Fleet Street, Aungier Street, Baggot Street Lower, Chatham Street, Kildare Street, Molesworth Street, Nassau Street, Parliament Street and surrounding areas. However, the plan was delayed due to difficulties surrounding the installation of waste compactors, where customers of waste companies can deposit bags.

Tourism is worth more than €6 billion to the Irish economy, making it one of the State’s great resources. More tourists in the lean months will boost revenue from overseas visitors without putting undue strain on our natural resources and a hospitality and accommodation sector under considerable pressure at high season. Overseas tourists rarely talk about bad weather or bad value for money, but we rarely talk about anything else. This should easily deliver the envisaged bounce of 7 per cent bounce in tourism numbers to these areas. Tourism Ireland is to support these efforts by “elevating international perceptions” through its campaigning efforts and, if done right, it will be a winner.

Dromoland Castle Hotel wants to add 13 new rooms and other facilities ahead of Ryder Cup in 2027. Photograph: Laurence LambrechtThe five-star Dromoland Castle Resort has unveiled plans for “significant upgrades to its hotel and grounds”, including a cellar speakeasy bar, lakeside sauna cabins, new bedrooms, a restaurant and bar extension – and a new roost for the protected lesser horseshoe bat. In her 46-page report, Ms Donnelly says “the timing of these works is driven by the Ryder Cup’s return to Ireland in 2027”. As part of phase one, Dromoland Castle Holdings Ltd is seeking planning permission to convert stables into 13 additional bedrooms, the installation of three sauna huts on a lake island accessed by a footbridge along with an enhanced wellness area. On the conversion of the stables into 13 visitor rooms, the planning report states that an ecological assessment of the site confirmed lesser horseshoe bat activity within the stables building.

The aim of the plan is to bring overseas tourism revenue up to €9 billion by 2031. The aim is to bring overseas tourism revenue up to €9 billion by 2031, an increase of 50 per cent on last year. Tourism Ireland will market “standout seasonal events” such as Winter in Dublin, Home of Halloween and St Patrick’s Day across overseas markets to attract visitors beyond the “summer peak”, it says. A total of 568,900 people made visits to Ireland last month – a 4 per cent increase on October 2024. Caroline Bocquel, chief executive of Fáilte Ireland, said the focus on driving tourism into the regions and lengthening seasonality was welcome.

Food prices are now one of the main drivers of overall inflation. Inflation in Ireland has climbed to more than 3 per cent again, driven by higher energy and food prices. Food prices were estimated to be unchanged in the month but are up 4.2 per cent over the past 12 months, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) said. Retail analysts Worldpanel by Numerator estimates food inflation here is now running at more than 6 per cent. The Irish HICP figure will feed into wider inflation numbers for the euro zone as a whole due out on Tuesday.

Photograph: Ronan McGreevyA group of residents living in Ranelagh, Dublin 6 are willing to enter mediation in an effort to settle their legal challenge to the MetroLink rail project, the High Court has heard. The multibillion euro project would run from Swords in north Dublin to Charlemont, close to Ranelagh, in south Dublin. Following a planning application submitted by Transport Infrastructure Irelandm (TII), MetroLink was approved by ACP through a railway order signed on September 30th. An artist's impression of the proposed entrance to the Charlemont Metrolink station. This led to “predetermination” of the Charlemont site as the terminus for the proposed MetroLink.

US president Donald Trump with Alina Habba in 2023, when she represented Mr Trump during a civil fraud trial. In its ruling, the three-judge panel, based in Philadelphia, affirmed an earlier ruling by a US district court judge, shooting down each of the government’s arguments for why Ms Habba could continue to serve. They added that the manoeuvres undertaken to keep Ms Habba in charge exemplified the difficulties it had faced. Ms Habba (41) had represented Trump in several civil cases and played a public role in his 2024 presidential campaign. “Relying on a chimera of at least seven different statutes, the government has, at various times, described Ms Habba as ‘interim US attorney,’ ‘acting US attorney,’ ‘first assistant US attorney’ and ‘special attorney,’” they wrote.

Builders began work on fewer than 8,000 new homes in the Republic over the first nine months of the year, a new report claims. Photograph: iStockBuilders began work on fewer than 8,000 new homes in the Republic over the first nine months of the year, a new report claims. Work began on “just 7,896 new homes” in the first nine months of this year, industry analyst firm, CIS, says in a report published on Monday. That total is almost 2,300 short of Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage figures, which state that builders began work on 10,193 new dwellings in the first nine months of the year. The firm calculates that developers began work on 138,120 new dwellings in 2025.

Ian Coulter leaving Belfast Crown Court in September, where he had been appearing charged with fraud linked to a property deal involving Nama in Northern Ireland. Some the debts that Nama took over were owed by both individuals and in respect of properties in Northern Ireland. Mr Bullick was cross-examined by Mr Cushnahan’s barrister Frank O’Donoghue KC. The defence barrister asked Mr Bullick about “political concerns” around the deal in the spring of 2013. Mr Bullick spoke of concerns about Stormont having no statutory power.

Photograph: Pat LanganWho was Chaim Herzog and why is a park in Dublin named after him? Chaim Herzog was Israel’s president from 1983 to 1993. Herzog Park was named in 1995 in his honour, recognising the former Israeli president’s local roots. Herzog Park is located in Rathgar, in an area that has long been at the centre of Jewish life in Dublin. In 1948, Chaim Herzog worked for the IDF in the Arab-Israeli war in an integral intelligence capacity.

Donald Trump confirmed on Sunday that he has spoken to Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. But by Sunday, after six airlines suspended flights to the country, he was playing down the significance of his comments. Recent weeks have seen a massive build-up of US military power in the Caribbean, with the USS Gerald R Ford, the world’s biggest aircraft carrier, arriving two weeks ago. But the Miami Herald reported that Trump demanded that Maduro should resign immediately and that the Venezuelan leader refused. But the military build-up is creating a momentum that Trump may find hard to resist.

Tánaiste Simon Harris says An Garda Síochána has questions to answer about how a civilian member of the force’s National Cyber Crime Bureau, who allegedly made online threats against him, ended up working for the organisation. Mr Harris said it was “very concerning” that any civilian member of the Garda would be suspended from duties as a result of such behaviour. The Fine Gael leader was speaking after the Irish Mail on Sunday reported that a member of the bureau had been suspended after making online threats against him. “As this assessment is ongoing An Garda Síochána cannot make any further comment. A member of Garda staff in the Dublin Region has been suspended from work,” the force said in a statement.