Why did the Irish Constitution not recognise our third language?
Let’s face it, folks: Ireland now has three official languages, not two, and it’s time we adjusted the Constitution accordingly. Article 8 of our Constitution states that: “The Irish language as the national language is the first official language.” And that: “The English language is recognised as a second official language.” No mention there of the vernacular, our unacknowledged, unrecognised, but passionately used “third official language”. It’s even more popular than Polish now, officially, the third most frequently spoken language in Ireland. Even more so was a realisation that it was spoken at all levels of Irish society, among all classes. And of course the F-word, Father, the bad F-word.
Source:The Irish Times
November 10, 2025 00:43 UTC
Disappointment within Fianna Fáil over expected delay into presidential election review
The expected delay in the review into Fianna Fáil’s disastrous presidential election has been met with disappointment by some within the party. His name remained on the ballot paper and the Fianna Fáil candidate got just 7.2 per cent of the vote. [ Fianna Fáil parlimentary party asked to take part in review of presidential election campaignOpens in new window ]Questions have been raised by some Fianna Fáil politicians publicly and privately about Mr Martin’s future as leader. A week later, on October 15th, the parliamentary party agreed the terms of reference of a review of the presidential election. Wicklow-Wexford TD Malcolm Byrne said: “I’m not obsessed by the reporting date [of the presidential election review], though it does need to be soon.
Source:The Irish Times
November 09, 2025 20:55 UTC
BBC director general Tim Davie resigns following criticism over Trump documentary edit
Tim Davie has quit as the director general of the BBC after a week of intense pressure over allegations of bias in its programming, including in a Panorama documentary on US president Donald Trump. The organisation’s chief executive of News, Deborah Turness, also quit on Sunday evening, as she and Mr Davie admitted “mistakes were made”. In a statement released on Sunday, Mr Davie said his decision to quit was “entirely” his own and that he retained the “unswerving and unanimous” support of the BBC’s board. “While mistakes were made, I want to be absolutely clear recent allegations that BBC News is institutionally biased are wrong,” said Ms Turness. The Tories, meanwhile, said it was right that Mr Davie and Ms Turness had “finally taken responsibility”.
Source:The Irish Times
November 09, 2025 20:14 UTC
Weather Ireland: Heavy rain forecast for next week as Met Éireann issues warning
Flooding near Damastown Avenue in Co Dublin: There will be heavy rain and localised flooding in many parts of the country next week. Photograph: Alan BetsonThere will be heavy rain and localised flooding in many parts of the country next week as conditions turn wet and blustery, particularly in the South. However, Monday night will turn wet and blustery, with some of the rain heavy and spot flooding possible. Met Éireann has issued a status yellow rain warning for counties Cork, Kerry and Waterford from Monday night until Tuesday midday, with flooding, poor visibility and difficult travel conditions predicted. Thursday will again see further showers and longer spells of rain, while the outlook for Friday and next weekend is unsettled with further spells of rain.
Source:The Irish Times
November 09, 2025 20:11 UTC
Caelan Doris brings a presence to captaincy which makes Ireland prosper
He brought presence to the process in much the same way that he does in the match environment. Doris demonstrated that leadership isn’t confined to 80 minutes on a pitch. Two tackles in 35 seconds and then as Ireland won possession the first in line to carry the ball. On 46 minutes, Ireland produced a fluent attack that worked Doris free on the threshold of the Japan 22. There is a tipping point in planning to counter the opposition in some capacity and focusing on what Ireland want to do.
Source:The Irish Times
November 09, 2025 19:49 UTC
Harvey Morrison Sherratt’s mother says report alleging mistaken palliative label is ‘huge shock’
Harvey Morrison Sherratt (9), died in July this year following a long battle with scoliosis and other health issues. Photograph: Morrison/ Sherratt familyThe mother of Harvey Morrison Sherratt, the nine-year-old boy who died after waiting a number of years for spinal surgery, has described a report alleging he was mistakenly removed from the waiting list because it was believed he was in palliative care, as a “huge shock”. Harvey’s mother, Gillian Sherratt, said the claims made in the protected disclosure came as a “huge shock” to her and her husband, Stephen Morrison. Whistleblower alleging Harvey was removed from waiting list based on a false assumption by CHI that he was palliative. A CHI spokeswoman said: “We at Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) continue to extend our deepest condolences to the Morrison–Sherratt family on the loss of their son, Harvey.
Source:The Irish Times
November 09, 2025 19:37 UTC
Ukraine strikes cut power and heating in two Russian cities
Russian soldiers shoot at a Ukrainian drone on an undisclosed location in Ukraine. Photograph: Russian Defence Ministry Press Service/APUkrainian strikes have disrupted power and heating to two major Russian cities near the border, local Russian officials have said. A drone strike temporarily caused blackouts and cut heating to parts of Voronezh, regional governor Alexander Gusev said. Ukraine’s long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries aim to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to pursue the war. Photograph: PAUkraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said Russia’s mass drone and missile strikes on Friday hit power substations that supply two nuclear power plants.
Source:The Irish Times
November 09, 2025 17:56 UTC
Cop30: Brazil proposes monetising value of Amazon in new fund
Brazil's president Luiz Lula da Silva, Brazil's president, speaks to members of the media during the Cop30 Leaders Summit. “They are seeds.” And they are not, despite the hype in the nutrition and wellness world, a newly discovered superfood. How to monetise that value in a sustainable way is a central theme of Cop30. Norway is one of the first countries to commit funding to the TFFF, pledging $3 billion over ten years. That’s what I’m afraid of – that you talk, you talk, you talk and nothing gets done.
Source:The Irish Times
November 09, 2025 17:33 UTC
Celeste: ‘When stagnancy is in your life, it can take a lot to shift it’
But Celeste wants to make clear that Woman of Faces is not a break-up record in any conventional sense. But ... the tragedy of a relationship that’s gone wrong, I think a lot of people experience that in their life. I suppose it made this huge shift in me.”She had been sleepwalking through life and was in a place of “stagnancy”. She explains that “stagnancy can be through loss or depression or some huge catastrophic shift that you’re not quite expecting. When stagnancy is in your life, it can take a lot to shift it.”That downward spiral didn’t simply impact on her mentally; it had a physical effect, too.
Source:The Irish Times
November 09, 2025 17:26 UTC
The Irish Times view on the US shutdown: Trump is paying a political price
It is biting, its reach extending, with 900,000 federal workers now on unpaid leave and 700,000 ordered to work without pay. Over the weekend, the Supreme Court temporarily halted a lower court order requiring the administration to fully fund the food stamps programme. Not surprisingly, the Democratic position is popular, with voters consistently blaming Republicans for the shutdown since it began. He appears to be paying the heaviest price politically for the shutdown. Most notably, Supreme Court justices have to rule about the legality of his central policy instrument, his “liberation day” tariffs.
Source:The Irish Times
November 09, 2025 17:22 UTC
Irish athlete Caitriona Jennings breaks 100-mile world record
Caitriona Jennings has broken the world record for 100 miles after running 12 hours, 37 minutes and four seconds to complete the Tunnel Hill 100 Mile, a US ultra-marathon event staged in Illinois. The Donegal athlete was making her debut in a 100-mile race, having already established a series of Irish records over shorter distances. After 80 miles, or about 10 hours of racing, her pace only slightly slowed, and she remained under world record pace the entire way. The Tunnel Hill 100 Mile event consisted of two legs of an out-and-back course, mostly flat, on the Tunnel Hill State Trail, the site of the old train track and tunnel in southern Illinois. When Herron broke the 100-mile world record in 2017, she improved the previous best mark by 63 minutes, and now Jennings has lowered that record again to 12:37:04, with the promise perhaps of faster to come.
Source:The Irish Times
November 09, 2025 17:07 UTC
‘Taking on these old houses is not easy’: Renovating a 19th-century family farmhouse in Wexford
That was owned by Joe Fallon, the architectural technologist behind the Dublin and Wexford-based architectural practice Joe Fallon Design. It was old stone rubble walls and no insulation in the cavity walls in the 1960s extension,” Higgins says. They are now a family of five and this latest generation of the Higgins family is fully enmeshed in the local community. Higgins and Fallon gelled so well that the construction engineer has since worked with Joe Fallon Design on numerous projects. It will hopefully survive for another couple of generations.”Fallon says there is a lot of emotion involved in renovating your old family home.
Source:The Irish Times
November 09, 2025 17:02 UTC
Venezuelan ‘daughter of the forest’ tells Taoiseach all lives depend on their protection
Members of the Warao group of indigenous people left their homes in Venezuela after commercial deforestation made their lives impossible. The Taoiseach and Gardenia Cooper, a member of the Warao indigenous people, who live along the rivers of Venezuela’s rainforests. It also illustrates the link between environmental degradation, climate change and involuntary migration, a connection the Taoiseach was keen to make. She describes herself as a daughter of the forest, held in the forest’s embrace. Without forest there is no oxygen, so all of us here on this planet need to find a way to protect the forest.”
Source:The Irish Times
November 09, 2025 16:36 UTC
The Edmund Fitzgerald tragedy 50 years on: ‘The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead’
Split Rock Lighthouse, which is lit each year for about two hours and 15 minutes to honour the lives of the men who died aboard the Edmund Fitzgerald. It is estimated there are about 500 shipwrecks scattered across Lake Superior alone, whose dimensions run a scarcely fathomable 563km in length and 240km in width. The 729ft ore boat Edmund Fitzgerald, shown in a 1972 file photo, apparently sank with all hands on board during a storm that kicked up 25ft waves on Lake Superior. [ Four historical shipwrecks found at Dublin’s Portmarnock beach amid shifting sandsOpens in new window ]“I was on the Edmund Fitzgerald for four hours in 1973. I was an engineer on the Reserve, a sister ship to the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Source:The Irish Times
November 09, 2025 16:30 UTC