Tesco agrees €10m contract with four Irish food producers
Tesco has agreed €10m in new contracts with four Irish food producers to stock their products in supermarkets across the UK and Europe. The new contracts are in addition to existing contracts for each supplier with Tesco Ireland. The Irish products will now be sold through Tesco outlets across the UK, Czechia, Hungary and Slovakia. Irish food and drink producers are continuing to grow their international footprint, with more than €900m worth of Irish products exported each year to Tesco stores outside Ireland. “Irish suppliers are playing an increasingly important role in bringing high-quality Irish food to customers across the UK and Europe,” said Tesco Ireland CEO Geoff Byrne.
Source:Irish Examiner
March 18, 2026 14:45 UTC
New mortgages cost £788-a-year more than before Iran war as 'Trumpflation' hits cash-strapped Brits
The price of a £250,000 two-year fixed-rate mortgage over 25 years has been calculated to have spiked by £788. Buyers taking out a new mortgage, as well as homeowners with a fixed-rate mortgage due to refresh, will be hit by the hikes. The 5.28 percent figure applies to two-year fixed rates, while five-year fixed rates have jumped from 4.95 percent to 5.32 percent. On Tuesday morning, it counted just nine fixed-rate deals with rates below four percent - nosediving from a count of 490 deals on March 9. Across the mortgage market generally, there were 689 fewer products on Tuesday morning, compared with March 9.
Source:Daily Mail
March 18, 2026 14:38 UTC
Rugby fans who engage in racial abuse could be denied access to games
Rugby fans who engage in racial abuse of players could find their season tickets suspended, and they could be denied access to games. The occasion was marred by online racist abuse directed at the player on the Irish Rugby social media channels. Signify's Jonathan Sebira said it had been contracted by the IRFU to monitor the online threat or abuse of players. The online abuse of Edogbo ranged from “explicitly racist” to debate on the “nature of Irishness”, he said. “In this case, the majority (of the abuse) was actually coming from Irish accounts or from fans of the Ireland rugby team.
Source:Irish Examiner
March 18, 2026 14:38 UTC
Aussies slam popular Vietnamese restaurant after spotting bizarre detail in staff's response to online reviews
Aussies have called out a Vietnamese restaurant for appearing to use artificial intelligence to respond to Google reviews. The unhappy customer wrote that their soup at Saigon Square in Melbourne 'wasn't hot enough' in an online review later shared on Reddit. A Saigon Square staff member began their public response with what appeared to be AI giving them advice on how to reply. 'This 1-star review is focused on a very common and immediate issue in restaurant dining: temperature,' the staff member said. The staff member apparently continued to copy and paste from an AI prompt formatted like an SEO‑focused response.
Source:Daily Mail
March 18, 2026 14:34 UTC
Iran war, European immigration, and Kier Starmer dominate discussions between Donald Trump and Taoiseach
He repeated a previous quote about Mr Starmer being “no Churchill”. Asked about the Irish public’s concerns about the war in Iran and its impact on energy prices, Mr Trump said he has many Irish friends who support the war. Mr Trump also said he believed the threat from Iran would have lead to a “nuclear holocaust”. Mr Trump said said he was a “nice guy” but criticised him as being “very weak on security”. You just said [Taoiseach], ‘I hope you get to go’,” Mr Trump said.
Source:Irish Examiner
March 18, 2026 14:32 UTC
My surprise pregnancy at 45: ‘When I told my mam she was going to be a granny again, she told me I was having a change-of-life baby’
My surprise pregnancy at 45: ‘When I told my mam she was going to be a granny again, she told me I was having a change-of-life baby’When Davina Taylor realised she was carrying her third child in her mid-forties, she was concerned about the higher risk of complications – but she ended up sailing through the pregnancy, and her surprise baby changed her life perspective in a positive wayDavina Taylor and her son Max (8). Photo: Gerry MooneyFilomena Kaguako Today at 06:30It’s no secret that the women of Ireland are waiting much longer to embark on the journey of motherhood for the first time.
Source:Irish Independent
March 18, 2026 14:32 UTC
Specialist created unit to investigate domestic and sexual abuse complaints against gardaí
A specialist unit has been set up within the office of the garda ombudsman to handle complaints of domestic and sexual abuse by gardaí. The ombudsman office, Fiosrú, said a “specialist services unit” was established to investigate incidents, including public complaints, where a garda is accused of domestic violence, coercive control, abuse of power for sexual purposes, child sexual abuse or sexual assault. The woman says her arrests relate to breaches of a domestic violence order her husband secured against her. She also has a domestic violence order in place against her husband. "These include both complaints about the adequacy of An Garda Síochána’s response to domestic abuse/sexual violence incidents and also complaints about Garda members as perpetrators.”
Source:Irish Examiner
March 18, 2026 14:29 UTC
Mikel Arteta says Eberechi Eze’s thunderbolt is ‘the reason why he’s here’
Mikel Arteta claimed the wonder goal scored by Eberechi Eze to fire Arsenal on the way to the Champions League quarter-finals is “the reason why he’s here”. Eze hit spectacular 20-yard thunderbolt before Declan Rice added a classy second to seal a 2-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen for a 3-1 aggregate success. “We needed a magical moment from Ebs to score a wonderful goal, a wonderful strike to give us the lead,” said the Gunners boss. “Especially his level of activity with the ball, without the ball, in the spaces that he moves, the purpose that he’s showing every time he’s in and around the box as well, which is the reason why he’s here, to create those kind of moments. “I’m comparing the minutes that he’s ever played in his career.
Source:Irish Examiner
March 18, 2026 14:18 UTC
Man in his 40s arrested after fatal stabbing in Cork city centre
Gardaí in Cork have arrested a man in his 40s in connection with a fatal assault in the Lower John Street and Knapp’s Square area of Cork city on Monday evening. The man was arrested on Wednesday morning and is currently being detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984, at a garda station in Cork city. “She was in bits this morning,” one resident in the Camden Court apartment complex on Carroll’s Quay said of the deceased man’s partner. One resident, Andrew Zammit, who is originally from Malta, said residents of Camden Court were both saddened and frightened by news of the suspected stabbing. I was scared for my partner thinking of it.”The apartments at Camden Court are “peaceful, quiet, and full of professionals,” Mr Zammit said.
Source:Irish Examiner
March 18, 2026 14:09 UTC
Taoiseach presents shamrock bowl to Donald Trump as St Patrick's Day visit wraps up
Taoiseach Micheál Martin presented a bowl of shamrock to US President Donald Trump, as he wraps up his trip to America for St Patrick's Day. It is a symbol of friendship, a friendship between our peoples which is older than our Republics," Mr Martin said. Mr Trump said they were gathered to celebrate the "incredible feat of friendship" between Ireland and the US. The Taoiseach said Ireland is a small country and needs free trade to "make our way in the world". "We also need a just and sustainable peace in Ukraine.
Source:Irish Examiner
March 18, 2026 14:09 UTC
Video: Farmers dressing as bears to try to scare off potato-eating monkeys
Video: Desperate farmers start dressing as BEARS and growling in attempt to scare off potato-eating monkeysDesperate Indian farmers have begun to dress as bears and growl to try and scare off monkeys, who have been stealing their potatoes. The farmers, in Sambhal district, Uttar Pradesh, had tried running after the monkeys with brooms, banging drums and pans and using scarecrows.
Source:Daily Mail
March 18, 2026 14:05 UTC
Mullin makes his case as a steady hand for DHS but faces Senate pushback over his temperament
Support local journalismLocal news, sports and entertainment when you want it. Please consider subscribing so we can continue to bring you the best local news, sports and entertainment coverage.
Source:The Herald
March 18, 2026 14:01 UTC
Boys should not be told by people with 'a toxic view' what masculinity is, Tánaiste says
The definition of masculinity should not be “outsourced to people putting forward a toxic view”, Tánaiste Simon Harris has warned. There was confusion in Government last month about whether a blanket ban on under-16s using social media was set to be announced. “I'm really worried about the impact of it from a digital media age, from a social media age. Read More Giving smartphones to infants is morally wrong“Social media, digital media is not going away, but we need to have an honest debate around appropriate usage, around algorithms, and around age. He said consideration needs to be given to how to promote a "positive view" around men and boys.
Source:Irish Examiner
March 18, 2026 14:00 UTC
PSG leave Chelsea humbled as European champions flex their power
Never mind the garish gold badge that adorns Chelsea's shirts, a tacky touch after they beat PSG to win the Club World Cup in front of Donald Trump last summer. Chelsea will not be challenging for the biggest trophies this season, nor for a while yet the way things are going. Never mind the PA announcer imploring home supporters to get behind the 'world champions' before kick-off. They had a three-goal deficit to overturn, and within six minutes PSG were 6-2 ahead on aggregate. The trio made a mockery of their Chelsea counterparts, including €100m men Fernandes and Moises Caicedo, who barely had a kick.
Source:Irish Examiner
March 18, 2026 14:00 UTC