Oscars 2027: Which films will be up for best picture? Donald Clarke predicts the nominees
For the past decade or so we have, after each Oscar ceremony, had a stab at guessing the next year’s best-picture nominees. The OdysseyDirected by Christopher NolanThe Odyssey: Matt Damon as Odysseus in Christopher Nolan's film. We write a few days before release, and this is the sort of film whose Oscar chances depend on box-office returns. Photograph: Niko Tavernise/Universal Pictures and Amblin EntertainmentIs there room for two Spielbergian science-fiction flicks in the list (Project Hail Mary makes explicit reference to Close Encounters of the Third Kind)? Sandra Hüller – also in 1949 and Project Hail Mary, above – co-stars.
Source:The Irish Times
March 17, 2026 08:11 UTC
I’m a citizen of almost everywhere and nowhere. Am I Irish? Taiwanese? Singaporean?
“Anyone could walk the streets at 3 or 4 in the morning in Singapore and nothing would happen to them. I feel I’m a citizen of almost everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Then I went to international school, and developed this international, third-culture kid accent, an American-British sort of accent. This list includes Trinity College, UCD, Copenhagen Business School and Bocconi Business School in Milan, among others. You know, that’s definitely something.”We would like to hear from people who have moved to Ireland in the past 10 years.
Source:The Irish Times
March 17, 2026 08:01 UTC
Taoiseach: Ireland will not join mission to reopen Strait of Hormuz
However, Mr Martin ruled out any Irish involvement. “We don’t have that offensive military capacity in any shape or form, so obviously its not something that’s on our agenda,” Mr Martin said. “Successive Irish Governments have pursued and supported a rules-based approach to global conflict,” Mr Martin said. The Taoiseach said he did not have a specific gameplan for meeting with Mr Trump. The Taoiseach acknowledged that politics is “unpredictable” but said he is looking forward to his engagement with Mr Trump.
Source:Irish Examiner
March 17, 2026 08:00 UTC
Anti-racism advocate to raise large number of foreign-born missing children with Government
The still large numbers of migrant children remaining on Ireland’s missing persons lists are to be raised with the Government by the special rapporteur on racism. Dr Ebun Joseph is to cite research carried out last year by the Irish Examiner, which found more than 130 children and young people who have disappeared across Ireland since 1977 remain missing. While they include the well-known names of Kyran Durnin from Louth, Philip Cairns from Dublin, Ciara Breen from Louth, and Mary Boyle from Donegal, the majority of the missing children are migrants and have not become household names. The missing person reports stopped mentioning the nationality of the missing children in 2017. As special rapporteur for racial equality and racism, Ebun Joseph has recently read the research and said she was “in shock” when looking at the faces of the missing children.
Source:Irish Examiner
March 17, 2026 08:00 UTC
What can Ireland learn from Bodø/Glimt and Norway's sporting model?
NORWAY has consistently performed at a very high level in international sport, particularly in winter sports and endurance disciplines, despite having a relatively small population of just over five million people. Key factors contributing to Norway’s success include a strong child-centered philosophy in youth sport, a focus on late specialisation, a robust community-based club system, significant public investment in sport, close collaborations with academic institutions, and a cultural tradition of physical activity. Children’s rights in sport
Source:Irish Examiner
March 17, 2026 08:00 UTC
Trump’s envoy warned Ireland was losing US business, records show
Photograph: Niall Carson/PA WireDonald Trump’s ambassador to Ireland warned the Government last year that businesses had begun moving their future investments out of Ireland. In response, the Tánaiste told Walsh that Ireland was developing a new liquefied natural gas facility, and flagged reforms to planning laws. I’m looking forward to it ... I’m looking forward to meeting the president. Looking forward to meeting the vice-president. And I’m looking forward to lunch on the Hill ...
Source:The Irish Times
March 17, 2026 07:44 UTC
Andy Farrell's Ireland profits from reduced reliance on Leinster core
The winger was a good 30 metres from the try line but with space to motor. Try Ireland. The players and Johnny Sexton and Andrew Goodman had talked about this sort of snapshot last week. If I see space, I know it's there in front of me and I'm going to take that all day. Darragh Murray’s road to Test rugby with Ireland from Roscommon was, in some respects, even longer.
Source:Irish Examiner
March 17, 2026 07:40 UTC
Twardek hits brace as Galway win seven-goal thriller against Waterford
SSE Airtricity Premier Division: Galway United 4 Waterford 3Kris Twardek was the hero for Galway United as they battled to a 4-3 victory over Waterford at Eamonn Deacy Park on Monday evening. The home crowd were silenced but it was Caulfield’s side who were shell-shocked just two minutes later. Galway took control in the second half and went ahead for a second time when some good work from Lee Devitt found David Hurley in the Waterford penalty area, who laid the ball off for Twardek to smash home his second and give Galway a 3-2 lead. GALWAY UNITED: E Watts, A Parker (W Williams 80’), L Devitt, K Brouder, G Facchineri, A Bolger (F Lomboto 80’), D Hurley, M Wolfe (C Barratt 69’), K Twardek, J Keohane (E McCarthy 45’), S Walsh (F Pierrot 53’). WATERFORD: S McMullan, A Zborowski, B Peixoto Couto, H Cann, H, R Mansfield, L Heeney (D McMenamy 77’), C Noonan, S Glenfield, J Voilas (T Lonergan 69’),, T Coyle (C Carty 69’), P Amond (Capt.).
Source:Irish Examiner
March 17, 2026 07:36 UTC
Should the Tricolour be replaced in a united Ireland? – The Irish Times
It has no place in a united Ireland. Anyone who wants a united Ireland is well advised to hasten slowly. But when it comes to the Irish Tricolour, my own view is clear – the flag of a united Ireland should remain the Tricolour. The green, white and orange flag was not created as the emblem of one tradition over another. A united Ireland worthy of the name will honour that promise.
Source:The Irish Times
March 17, 2026 07:35 UTC
‘Like an overcrowded prison’: Travellers will ‘resist’ forcible removal from Dublin site
The Travellers say, however, they “had to” move vehicles on to the site, known as the Kildonan lands. “Avila Park has become like an overcrowded prison,” says Jerry Collins (53) who has lived there all his life. “No one is complaining about housing being built, but we need some of the site for Traveller housing. Local resident Patrick Collins sits inside his caravan, left abandoned on a plot of land adjacent to the Avila Park estate, Finglas. She did not move a trailer on to the Kildonan lands but thought her neighbours’ initiative was a “brilliant idea”.
Source:The Irish Times
March 17, 2026 07:31 UTC
The Irish Times view on St Patrick’s Day: a celebration for all
It is telling that the first St Patrick’s Day parades took place not in Ireland but in North America, where Irish soldiers in the British army marched in New York as early as 1762, and Irish immigrants in Boston had gathered to mark the feast day a generation before that. The day remains in many ways a celebration and affirmation of the Irish diaspora: its resilience, its pride, and its stubborn insistence on remembering where it came from. The understanding of Irish national identity, as expressed through culture, language and art, is unstable in the best sense of the word: fluid, ever-shifting and always subject to new voices and new perspectives. The expansion of the St Patrick’s Festival may have been driven by tourism marketing than anything else, but it has transformed what was once a rather drab public holiday into a more vibrant celebration. There has been an unwelcome trend in recent months of a small minority using the symbols of Irish national identity as markers of exclusion and prejudice.
Source:The Irish Times
March 17, 2026 07:01 UTC
Almost 200 heroin addicts being treated with alternative to methadone
More than 180 people with a heroin addiction are being treated with buprenorphine — an alternative to methadone — in the south-west and mid-west, figures show. HSE Addiction Service announced last week that it wants to expand the use of Buvidal — a newer form of buprenorphine that can be administered far less often, and more easily, than methadone. This is done at the HSE addiction treatment clinic. The Department of Health provided additional funding of €750,000 in Budget 2026 with the aim of expanding Buvidal treatment for a further 200 people. HSE Mid West told the Irish Examiner that its addiction service has 33 clients treated with Buvidal, accounting for 14% of its 237 clients in total.
Source:Irish Examiner
March 17, 2026 06:58 UTC
Tadgh McNally: Micheál Martin may face storm at the White House
“I’m not behind some counter somewhere or at a desk gaming stuff, I don’t have time for that at the moment,” Mr Martin said. Mr Martin is expected to continue pressing for de-escalation and a diplomatic route to peace in the region. The disgraced former MMA fighter was praised as “great” by Mr Trump during a visit to the White House last year. McGregor used his appearance in the White House press briefing room to slam the Government, claiming it had abandoned “the voices of the people of Ireland”. It is likely Mr Martin will draw on Mr Trump’s Irish links through his hotel and golf resort at Doonbeg.
Source:Irish Examiner
March 17, 2026 06:56 UTC
Net Zero drive has left our home unsellable: Couple who spent £40,000 following government advice to turn house eco-friendly are hit with near rock-bottom energy efficiency rating
A couple who forked out £40,000 to make their house energy-efficient are fuming after being slapped with an F energy rating. The couple put their 1936 ex-local authority, three-bed semi in Horseheath, Cambridgeshire - worth £400,000 - on the market so they could downsize, but were shocked to receive the near-rock bottom energy rating. She added: 'We feel there is a need to expose the ineffectiveness and impact of a very poor EPC system that penalises clean electric energy options. The Government said last year that landlords will have to meet decent energy efficiency standards in homes they rent out by 2030. All private landlords in England and Wales will be required to meet EPC C or above by the end of the decade, up from the lower EPC E level currently required.
Source:Daily Mail
March 17, 2026 06:43 UTC
Spain trip helped shape Pres for Senior Cup push
Now, PBC must take care of domestic business as they aim to go clear atop the Munster Schools Senior Cup roll of honour. Read More Join the Irish Examiner for livestream coverage of Munster senior cup schools rugby finalsThe experience of that international tournament in Spain has been fundamental to Pres’s evolution this year. A week completely separate to the Senior Cup, but a week all of us that were there will cherish forever. “It was just perfect prep for Cup, to be honest.”Their Senior Cup form has been almost faultless, culminating with a 54-0 semi-final victory over rivals CBC. Don Buckley, involved with us here, has lost a couple of Senior Cup finals to Munchin’s.
Source:Irish Examiner
March 17, 2026 06:11 UTC