‘The naked party was joyful and relaxed’: End of an era as legendary Berlin queer club closes
People party at the 'Last Cheers, Queers' closing event at the SchwuZ club on November 1st in Berlin. “The Schlager naked party was always more joyful and relaxed than elsewhere, like the SchwuZ in general. In recent years the SchwuZ became a lightning rod for growing culture wars in the queer community over diversity, inclusivity and visibility. Previous regulars, in particular white German gay men, reported being turned away. “Everyone talks about the queer community,” said Dirk, “but I don’t think we all even want to party together.”
Source:The Irish Times
November 03, 2025 22:09 UTC
Number of babies born to women aged 45 and over rises 80% in 10 years - CSO
Photograph: Getty ImagesA record high of 408 babies were born to women aged 45 years and above in 2023, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO). [ Births to women aged 40 and over increased by 21.5% in 10 yearsOpens in new window ]A record number of babies were born to women aged 45 years and above in 2023, the CSO report said. Twin children and singleton children had similar levels of daily physical activity. Almost a quarter of twin children reported exercising to lose or avoid gaining weight, compared to 31 per cent of singleton children. Almost two-thirds of twin children said they had never engaged in disruptive behaviour at school, compared to 57.6 per cent of singleton children.
Source:The Irish Times
November 03, 2025 21:58 UTC
Man appears in court over false social media claims about migrant
The social media content was created and shared in June last year. File imageA man has appeared in court charged in connection with the alleged sharing of false information on social media relating to an international protection applicant. He was granted bail and is scheduled to appear at Bray District Court again on December 8th next. The social media content at the centre of the case was allegedly shared in June 2024. The post claimed the man was a migrant and had exposed himself to women and girls on the bus journey before falling asleep.
Source:The Irish Times
November 03, 2025 21:49 UTC
Ukrainian refugees coming to Ireland will have State-provided accommodation cut to 30 days
Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan said there has been 'a significant increase in the number of Ukrainians arriving into Ireland since September this year'. Photograph: CollinsNewly arrived Ukrainian refugees are to have their time in State-provided accommodation cut to 30 days under plans agreed by Ministers on Monday evening. A Cabinet committee meeting on migration agreed to cut the number of days that the State offers to new arrivals from Ukraine from 90 days to 30. Ministers were also due to consider proposals for accommodation charges for asylum seekers who have permission to work in Ireland. He told RTÉ he was proposing to reduce the length of time new arrivals are provided with accommodation.
Source:The Irish Times
November 03, 2025 21:47 UTC
Powerful earthquake kills at least 20 in Afghanistan
Locals in Samangan, Afghanistan, walk among debris of a partially collapsed building following an earthquake that devastated the region. The US Geological Survey said the earthquake hit at a depth of 28km near Mazar-e Sharif, a city of about 523,000 people famous for its shrines and historic sites. The Blue Mosque sustained significant damage following an earthquake in Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan. The earthquake disrupted power across the country, including to the capital Kabul, national power supplier Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat said in a statement. Aid group Save The Children said the latest earthquake added to the humanitarian burden on the country, arriving just before winter when temperatures can drop below freezing.
Source:The Irish Times
November 03, 2025 21:41 UTC
You can’t buy your way out of the terrible situation we have all created – The Irish Times
In the same way that not all drivers can be, as most of us apparently imagine ourselves, better or safer than average, not everyone can live in areas with lower than average air pollution. We shouldn’t have school playgrounds next to big highways, but also we shouldn’t have anywhere it’s not safe to breathe. Even if you don’t care about social justice or the lives of children poorer than yours, air pollution moves. Their weight grinds down the roads, producing more particulates than lighter vehicles, they’re environmentally costly to make – and also, air pollution still moves. The structural problems are so big they’re painful and frightening to consider, but the answer isn’t to buy more stuff or try to spend your way to individual protection.
Source:The Irish Times
November 03, 2025 21:40 UTC
Lessons for Ireland from German unification
The process of German unification was poorly managed because it happened so rapidly. Unification has not produced a unity of minds, and the former East and West Germany continue to have very different political preferences. Those who advocate for an early referendum on Irish unification can learn lessons from the German experience. Reunification and adoption of the euro would mean rapid price convergence North and South, with northern prices rising rapidly. Any move to unification in the near future could prove very serious for an unprepared Northern Ireland economy.
Source:The Irish Times
November 03, 2025 21:34 UTC
Ryanair profits surge 42% to €2.54bn as airline increases fares 13% over last year
Ryanair profits topped €2.5 billion in the six months to the end of September. The carrier’s profits climbed 42 per cent to €2.54 billion in the six months to the end of September. Passenger numbers rose 3 per cent to 119 million over the same period and revenues increased 13 per cent to €9.82 billion. Mr O’Leary (64) said he is open to staying at the airline beyond the end of his current contract. The airline also announced a dividend of 19.3 cent a share which will be paid to shareholders in February.
Source:The Irish Times
November 03, 2025 20:34 UTC
Object permanence
#20yrsago Sony releases de-rootkit-ifier, lies about risks from rootkits https://web.archive.org/web/20051126084940/http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/?p=921#20yrsago Pew study: Kids remix like hell https://web.archive.org/web/20051104022412/http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/166/source/rss/report_display.asp#15yrsago How I use the Internet when I’m playing with my kid https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/nov/02/cory-doctorow-children-and-computers#15yrsago Bedtime Story: Supernatural thriller about the dark side of “getting lost in a good book” https://memex.craphound.com/2010/11/02/bedtime-story-supernatural-thriller-about-the-dark-side-of-getting-lost-in-a-good-book/#10yrsago America’s a rigged carnival game that rips off the poor to fatten the rich https://web.archive.org/web/20151104012651/http://robertreich.org/post/132363519655#10yrsago As America’s middle class collapses, no one is buying stuff anymore https://web.archive.org/web/20151105142153/http://uk.businessinsider.com/the-disappearing-middle-class-is-threatening-major-retailers-2015-10#10yrsago Irish government to decriminalise personal quantities of many drugs https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/injection-rooms-for-addicts-to-open-next-year-in-drug-law-change-says-minister-1.2413509#10yrsago Book and Bed: Tokyo’s coffin hotel/bookstore https://bookandbedtokyo.com/en/#10yrsago Kim Stanley Robinson’s “Aurora”: space is bigger than you think https://memex.craphound.com/2015/11/02/kim-stanley-robinsons-aurora-space-is-bigger-than-you-think/#5yrsago Trustbusting Google https://pluralistic.net/2020/11/02/unborked/#borked#5yrsago Trump billed the White House $3 per glass of waterhttps://pluralistic.net/2020/11/02/unborked/#beltway-bandits#5yrsago Trump’s electoral equilibrium https://pluralistic.net/2020/11/02/unborked/#maso-fascism#1yrago Bluesky and enshittification https://pluralistic.net/2024/11/02/ulysses-pact/#tie-yourself-to-a-federated-mast
Source:The Irish Times
November 03, 2025 15:33 UTC
Five German climbers killed in Italian Alps avalanche
The climbers had set out on Saturday to scale Cima Vertana in the Ortler mountain range. Photograph: EPAFive German climbers have died after being caught in an avalanche in the Italian Alps, local authorities said on Sunday. The climbers had set out on Saturday to scale Cima Vertana in the Ortler mountain range near the village of Solda. The avalanche struck as they headed for the summit. The Ortler massif, part of the Italian Alps close to the Swiss border, is a popular destination for experienced hikers and climbers.
Source:The Irish Times
November 03, 2025 02:29 UTC
Ballygunner keep up dominance over Limerick sides as strong finish sees off Na Piarsaigh
Munster SHC: Ballygunner (Waterford) 0-18 Na Piarsaigh (Limerick) 0-15And on they go. In all the hand-wringing about their autocratic dominance of the Waterford championship, very little heed is paid to Ballygunner’s extraordinary appetite. Na Piarsaigh took the lead for the only time in the game with eight minutes remaining and having led by five points early in the second half, Ballygunner had lost all momentum. The Limerick champions suddenly needed a goal and that had been a troublesome task all afternoon. According to Shane O’Neill, the Na Piarsaigh manager, they had 32 attempts at goal and scored with just 15 of them.
Source:The Irish Times
November 03, 2025 02:22 UTC
Ireland’s Fionnuala McCormack finishes 10th in New York City Marathon
Fionnuala McCormack produced another fine run to finish in 10th place in the New York City Marathon, just seven weeks after finishing in ninth place at the World Championships. The testing 26.2-miles through the five city boroughs is no place for fast times, still McCormack clocked 2:27:00 – over three minutes faster than she ran at those World Championships in Tokyo. Last December McCormack improved her lifetime best to 2:23:46 in Valencia, four months after she became the first Irish woman to compete in five Olympics. The previous best Irish women’s finisher in New York was Sonia O’Sullivan, who finished in 12th place back in 2002, running 2:32:06, after dropping from the leaders around the 16-mile mark. Given New York’s testing course, McCormack was unlikely to challenge Catherina McKiernan’s Irish record of 2:22:23, which was set in Amsterdam back in 1998.
Source:The Irish Times
November 03, 2025 02:14 UTC
Should I risk disturbing the hungover young woman or meekly go look for another seat?
She slumped back into her arms, folded across the carriage table, joining three sets of folded arms already there. My seat was at a window among a similar set of folded arms. Should I disturb the suffering young woman in my seat to claim what was mine and risk the terrifying wrath of a disturbed hangover, or meekly pass by hoping to find a seat elsewhere in the packed train? Above seat A23 my name winked back at me, a seeming challenge to claim what was mine. “Girls, I’m in the wrong seat,” she announced, urbi et orbi (to the city and to the world).
Source:The Irish Times
November 03, 2025 01:31 UTC
Message from the Editor: John Collison’s intervention
A bespoke collection of Irish Times journalism exclusively for subscribers featuring previews and the best of the week that wasIt’s a while since a single opinion piece generated as much discussion as John Collison’s essay in The Irish Times last week. “It’s not okay for our society to forget the basics of running a country: we’ve forgotten how to build sufficient housing for our population, we’ve forgotten how to sensibly organise population growth, we’ve forgotten how to attract foreign manufacturers, and we’ve forgotten how to build infrastructure to support our population,” Collison wrote. Within Government, where the piece was a frequent topic of conversation, ministers lined up publicly to agree with Collison’s analysis. In The Irish Times, the debate continued in news stories, columns and in Letters to the Editor all week. Here’s how we closed out our editorial on their story this weekend:“The McGee couple were people of modest means facing the weight of decades of Catholic moral interests.
Source:The Irish Times
November 02, 2025 19:54 UTC
Piotr Torng was held in the Dublin city morgue for six months. No one came forward
And like almost everyone who lives in a city like Dublin, I do a lot of not seeing, a lot of not hearing. There’s an ingenious fantasy novel called The City & The City by the English writer China Miéville that I think about quite frequently when I consider this aspect of living in Dublin. Piotr Torng died last year, but no one came forward to claim his bodyAll this is on my mind because of a report published earlier this week about an inquest into the death last year of a 41-year-old homeless man. The man was known as Piotr Torng, and was believed to be from Lithuania, but his actual identity remains unconfirmed. According to that news report, Piotr Torng largely spent his days in the south inner city.
Source:The Irish Times
November 02, 2025 19:42 UTC