The Irish Times view on EU tech regulation: trying to strike a difficult balance
Campaigners display a mobile billboard urging the European Commission to stand up to Trump and Big Tech and defend Europe's digital laws, in front of the EU headquarters in Brussels last week. “The EU regulates while the US innovates” has been a popular refrain among senior officials in the Trump administration and at boardroom level among big US tech firms. The European Commission has now unveiled an Omnibus Bill aimed at simplifying regulations covering artificial intelligence, data protection and privacy. He recommended a series of far-reaching reforms across the digital economy, amid concerns the EU was falling behind the US and China in AI. The EU had introduced one of the world’s first attempts to regulate AI through an AI Act in July 2024.
Source:The Irish Times
November 23, 2025 22:32 UTC
European countries propose Ukraine peace plan radically different to Trump’s
Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty ImagesEuropean countries proposed a radical alternative Ukraine peace plan on Sunday that omits some of the pro-Russia points made in the original US-backed document and calls for Kyiv’s sovereignty to be respected. A group of US senators said Mr Rubio told them the text was not an American one. Mr Rubio described the talks afterwards in positive terms as “very very meaningful”. The European counterproposal will be welcomed by Mr Zelenskiy, who has come under enormous pressure to bend to US demands. “We definitely can’t allow all these crazy points in this Trump so-called peace plan.” – Guardian
Source:The Irish Times
November 23, 2025 21:39 UTC
First G20 on African soil undermined by Trump administration
South African president Cyril Ramaphosa had pulled out all the stops with an ambitious agenda, an intensive work programme with a very specific political orientation. For him, as he said in his closing address, the very fact that the G20 was being hosted on African soil represented a chance to reorient priorities towards the Global South. Media reports from the US in the past week have revealed the extent of its administration’s strategy to undercut the South African summit. At the end of each summit the outgoing G20 president publicly hands over the reins to the incoming president. It should come as no surprise that next year’s G20 will take place in President Trump’s own golf resort in Florida.
Source:The Irish Times
November 23, 2025 21:25 UTC
Virgil van Dijk admits Liverpool are in a mess and hits out at team-mates
Van Dijk described Liverpool’s start to the second half as “unacceptable” and admitted “panic kicked in” as soon as Murillo gave Sean Dyche’s team the lead. Forest’s opener was the ninth goal Liverpool have conceded from a set piece in the Premier League this season. “The main thing for me is that everyone has to take responsibility.” Asked whether that is happening, Van Dijk replied: “I don’t know. Van Dijk insisted Liverpool’s issues go beyond the new recruits. Van Dijk said: “Wednesday is another game so what am I going to do, go home and cry?
Source:The Irish Times
November 23, 2025 21:15 UTC
Concern over ‘pull’ factors prompts Government to tighten asylum rules
Photograph: Conor O Mearain/PA WireConcerns over “pull” factors on migration are prompting the Government to plan further tightening of migration and asylum laws, with a package of measures to be unveiled this week. The rules on family reunification – where members of a successful asylum seeker’s family can be granted permission to join them in Ireland – would be tightened and limited to immediate family members only. Those seeking family reunification would have to show they have accommodation available and can support additional family members. Asylum seekers who have jobs – work is allowed for those waiting more than six months for an initial decision – will also be required to contribute to the cost of their State accommodation, a move previously signalled by the Government. Mr Martin said Ireland was an “outlier” in terms of benefits compared to other jurisdictions, including the UK.
Source:The Irish Times
November 23, 2025 20:25 UTC
Activist and artist Margaretta D’Arcy dies aged 91
Margaretta D'Arcy at an Irish Neutrality League national demonstration against Israel's war in Gaza in Dublin in November 2023. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw/The Irish TimesActivist and artist Margaretta D’Arcy died at the age of 91 on Sunday. Margaretta D’Arcy on her release from Mountjoy Prison in Dublin in 2014. D’Arcy had been approached to run by Sentient Rights Ireland, which advocates for animal rights, human rights and the environment. “We in the Galway Alliance Against War feel privileged to have had Margaretta in our ranks for so many years,” the statement said.
Source:The Irish Times
November 23, 2025 19:05 UTC
Social media pressure and fake videos undermining democracy, Taoiseach says
Photograph: Marco Longari/Pool/AFP via Getty ImagesThe negative influence of social media – including the proliferation of fake videos – has caused such stress and pressures to public representatives that it is now undermining the democratic process, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said. It is 24/7, and the onset of social media has had implications – including (the use of) appalling fake videos. “Increasingly that’s creating a pressure and stress on public representatives and those running for election, which is undermining the whole democratic and electoral process,” he said. Mr Martin was speaking to the media on the final day of the G20 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. [ Media outlets need to break ties with XOpens in new window ]“He is the most experienced member of the Fine Gael cabinet.
Source:The Irish Times
November 23, 2025 17:55 UTC
A McCarthyite fervour has overtaken Ireland where Israel is concerned – The Irish Times
Photograph: Maya Levin/AFP/GettyThe ravages of the 2008–2013 period aside, Ireland has proved an economic behemoth since 1995, punching well above its weight. Ireland appears to have become a darker place where antagonism towards some groups, and an entire nation, has prevailed. Ireland has demonised and dehumanised an entire nation – an imperfect nation, yes, with its own fair share of bad actors and extremists. A McCarthyite fervour has overtaken Ireland where Israel is concerned. Ed Abrahamson is an Irish Jew who was born in Dublin and now lives with his husband in Cornwall.
Source:The Irish Times
November 23, 2025 17:16 UTC
Message from the Editor: Exit Paschal Donohoe
It has been an eventful week in Irish politics, with the news that Paschal Donohoe would resign his Dáil seat and leave ministerial office to take up a role at the World Bank. That significance was emphasised when Tánaiste Simon Harris announced that he would assume the finance portfolio himself. As Political Editor Pat Leahy argues in his weekend analysis, this moment demands caution about political certainties. The departure of Donohoe, he suggests, removes from Government a champion of steadiness and perspective at a time when both are badly needed. For Harris, the finance role is a test of political substance.
Source:The Irish Times
November 23, 2025 17:04 UTC
Irish Christmas tree industry set for record year
Sales of Irish Christmas trees, which reached record levels in the run-up to the festive occasion last year, are set to top that in 2025. But there are already early signs that we’ll even outdo last year, and have our best-ever season.”Mr Kavanagh, a former chairman of the Irish Christmas Tree Growers Association, also said he’d love to see more young people set up Christmas tree farms to help boost supply. Co Wicklow is home to the highest concentration of Christmas tree farms, with large numbers also across Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny. Greater Manchester Police release CCTV footage of 190 Christmas trees being stolen from a shop in Chorlton. Video: Greater Manchester PoliceTwo years ago, a long-running operation to safeguard Co Wicklow tree farms from robberies was axed.
Source:The Irish Times
November 23, 2025 17:02 UTC
Cop30: Five things we learned from the Brazil climate summit
Current levels of heating have led to instability in climate patterns and increases in extreme weather events. An attempt by almost 90 countries at Cop30 to reach agreement on a firmer, deadline-driven strategy to end the use of fossil fuels faltered. Little progress was made at Cop30 on how to build on this except for an agreement to keep talking about it. With the actions taken since, under the Paris Agreement, the renewed prediction given at Cop30 was 2.6 degrees. Richer countries agreed at Cop30 to triple adaptation funding for poorer countries by 2035.
Source:The Irish Times
November 23, 2025 16:52 UTC
Cop30: Talks lead to hope but ‘not nearly enough’ action on climate crisis
Photograph: GettyThe outcome of the Cop30 talks has been criticised as “not nearly enough” after countries reaffirmed their commitment to tackling climate change but agreed no immediate actions to follow through. Professor Peter Thorne of the Icarus climate research centre at Maynooth University said countries were “window dressing” on the main problems. Ross Fitzpatrick of Christian Aid Ireland said countries most to blame for climate change had spent most of Cop30 resisting developing countries’ pleas for help. Former president of Ireland and climate campaigner, Mary Robinson, said there were signs of hope in the summit’s imperfect outcome. But at a time when multilateralism is being tested, it is significant that countries continue to move forward together,” she said.
Source:The Irish Times
November 23, 2025 16:24 UTC
The Irish Times view on Cop30: the summit fails to deliver
Brazil’s wish for a commitment to forging a roadmap for fossil fuel phase-out was scuppered by petrostates and Russia – with tacit approval from China and India. Instead, there is a voluntary initiative to speed up climate action to help countries meet existing pledges to reduce emissions. Such actions are the lifeblood of climate action. At least Ireland, along with the EU, pushed for more ambition on fossil fuel phase out, aligning with a coalition of 80 countries. Ireland should also back the global fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty initiative.
Source:The Irish Times
November 23, 2025 16:14 UTC
Step by slimy step, Trump has made us numb to his crudeness and cruelty – The Irish Times
Zohran Mamdani, mayor-elect of New York City, and president Donald Trump speak in the Oval Office. Photograph: Eric Lee/The New York TimesStep by slimy step, US president Donald Trump has made us numb to his crudeness and cruelty. On Air Force One recently, Trump cut off Catherine Lucey, a Bloomberg News journalist pressing him about the release of Epstein files that could further implicate Trump in the lurid mess. By contrast, Trump was his most charming self Friday in his “fascist vs socialist” meeting with New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani. The president, ordinarily a master at recasting reality, had to give up his ludicrous attempt to paint the Epstein files as a Democratic hoax.
Source:The Irish Times
November 23, 2025 14:41 UTC
‘Like the terminator, they refused to die’: South African media reacts to Springboks’ win over Ireland
“The Bok scrum was a force of nature, bulldozing the Irish pack backwards and forcing penalty after penalty.”Tadhg Furlong celebrates after Ireland win a scrum against South Africa. Photograph: Niall Carson/PABut in the midst of his glowing review of the South African set-piece, Koopman joins in the praise of Ireland’s gritty resilience. Jumping to South Africa’s Times, the headline of Luke Alfred’s analysis reads: ‘Springboks smash the curse as power triumphs over Irish chaos’. Halfheartedly commending Ireland for “actually defending quite well”, Xabanisa comes rather close to criticising the Springboks for not running away with the game. Photograph: Brian Lawless/PAOn Ireland’s scrum issues, he singles out Andrew Porter.
Source:The Irish Times
November 23, 2025 13:32 UTC