Slugger Team

It hasn’t been an easy few days for the Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael coalition in Dublin, particularly on the Fianna Fáil component and maybe particularly on the Taoiseach. The aftermath of the fuel protests, which saw the Irish Government deploy both the Gardaí and the Defence Forces to clear blockades, has seen turmoil on the floor of the Dáil, inside the coalition and within Fianna Fáil itself. Following the Dáil’s return after Easter, Sinn Féin tabled a motion of no confidence …

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An interesting report in the Irish News this morning as politics correspondent John Manley informs us that ‘Revenue raising by Stormont ranks lowest in the developed world’ and that is according to an Assembly research paper… The briefing document also highlights how the devolved administration is almost £1bn worse off in the current financial year due to a shortfall of £400m and the ending of the so-called stabilisation funding worth £520m that the Executive received after its restoration in February 2024. The …

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Northern Ireland has become the first part of the United Kingdom to offer paid leave to women and their partners who endure a miscarriage. As per the ‘Belfast Telegraph’ article by Niamh Campbell The new regulations, which came into place on Monday, mean that people who experience a miscarriage are now entitled to up to two weeks’ leave and pay. This applies at any stage of pregnancy, whereas before, support was mainly for stillbirths after 24 weeks under parental bereavement …

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Irish President Catherine Connolly this week made her appointments to the Irish Council of State. According to its page on the Presidential website, the Council is described as follows… The Constitution provides for a Council of State to aid and counsel the President on all matters on which the President may consult them. The circumstances when the President must consult the Council of State are specified in the Constitution. The Taoiseach, Tániaste and other senior officials are automatically included on …

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A very Good Friday indeed for Sisters Bernadette, Regina and Rita of the Scholoss Goldenstein convent outside Salzburg as they maybe about to secure the right to remain in their long-time home. From the Guardian report on the topic… Three nuns who escaped from a care home to return to their convent in a castle close to Salzburg where they had spent most of their lives are a step closer to being able to stay there, sources close to them …

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A court in the US has found that Meta (the company behind Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp) and Youtube) deliberately built addictive social media platforms. According to the BBC A Los Angeles jury has handed down an unprecedented win for a young woman who sued Meta and YouTube over her childhood addiction to social media. Jurors found that Meta, which owns Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, and Google, owner of YouTube, intentionally built addictive social media platforms that harmed the 20-year old’s mental …

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Slugger had decided not to cover the civil case against Gerry Adams until a verdict was reached, where a post would be written summarising the trial in its entirety as well as the verdict and inviting comment both on the process and on the outcome. That is not to be however as earlier today the civil case collapsed when the claimants withdrew from the case. The cause of the collapse, according to the Irish Times, lay in the fact that …

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Happy St.Patrick’s Day to All! If you’re attending a parade, going to a service, staying at home or even working we at Slugger hope you’ve a grand old day. Feel free to discuss what you wish below the line but if you could let us know how things are going in your area for the day or if there are any special activities planned, that would be appreciated. Comments will close at 12 pm on Wednesday. Slugger TeamOur mod team …

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The deterioration of Lough Neagh seems to continue unabated and it now threatens to intersect with another public health crisis, the rise of bacteria resistant to antibiotics, the so called ‘Superbugs’. As the linked WHO article puts it Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites no longer respond to antimicrobial medicines. As a result of drug resistance, antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines become ineffective and infections become difficult or impossible to treat, increasing the risk of disease …

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On Monday the SDLP laid a motion before the assembly calling for the the titles of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister to be ‘equalised’ (presumably as Joint First Minister). Party leader Claire Hanna is quoted in the Irish News as saying Parties stress the importance of being top dog to distract from their failure to actually use power to improve people’s lives, and to scaremonger about what could happen if another party or tradition seizes control the role. …

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The origins of this story go back to last week when the Irish language advocacy group Conradh na Gaeilge decided to move to a position of supporting a united Ireland. The organisation’s President Ciarán Mac Giolla Bhéin hailed the decision, saying As a result of the constitutional change adopted this morning, the organisation will now be “working towards a United Ireland for the benefit of the Irish language and the Gaeltacht,” and furthermore that “stronger normalisation of Irish can be …

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A persistent story in recent years has been the decline of Catholic recruits into the PSNI. Recent figures have thrust that story back into the headlines. The Derry Journal reports that The number of Catholics applying to join the PSNI as part of its student officer recruitment campaign has fallen by 20.1 per cent year on year.Just 1,096 (26.7 per cent) of 4,104 total applicants to the PSNI’s 2026 student officer recruitment campaign self-identified as Catholic, according to figures released …

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The U.S. Supreme Court has found that President Trump does not have the power to unilaterally impose tariffs on imported goods as he wishes. The dispute centred around Trump’s interpretation of a 1977 law, the ‘International Emergency Economic Powers Act‘. The act was designed to allow US Presidents to take actions during declared national emergencies that would otherwise be the preserve of the United States Congress. Trump has declared multiple national emergencies since retaking office many of which appear to …

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Plans to establish an independent environmental protection agency in Northern Ireland have fallen through after the DUP opposed the measure. As John Manley writes in the Irish News Andrew Muir has effectively conceded there will be no independent environmental protection agency (EPA) established within this mandate due to blockage by the DUP, which the minister claims is “without rhyme or reason”…His party is now exploring the possibility of a private member’s bill to bring Northern Ireland’s environmental governance in line with Britain …

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‘Into the West‘ is a campaign group whose goal is the restoration of the railway network in the west of Northern Ireland. Last week they unveiled their proposal, the creation of ‘Metro North-West’. Garrett Hargan in the ‘Belfast Telegraph‘ says that the idea… …takes the existing rail network that runs between Derry, Coleraine and Portrush, and branches out. It would expand in ways that are already progressing following the All-Island Rail Strategy, with routes re-opening to Letterkenny, Strabane, Omagh and …

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Irish President Catherine Connolly is currently on a tour of Northern Ireland. It is her first official trip across the border since her victory in the Irish Presidential election late last year and fulfils an election promise that Northern Ireland would be her first official destination as Irish President. The previous two days have been eventful. Her first stop on Wednesday was with the local branch of the Peaceplayers. On their website the Peaceplayers mission statement says… Founded in 2003, …

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According to the BBC in this news report… “Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) assembly member Timothy Gaston is facing a two-day suspension from the Northern Ireland Assembly after telling the chairwoman of a Stormont committee to “breathe”. He made the remark during a tense exchange with Alliance Party assembly member Paula Bradshaw, who chairs the Executive Office scrutiny committee. She complained to Stormont’s standards commissioner, who found Gaston’s comment was an “unreasonable and excessive personal attack”. Gaston said he apologised at …

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So we have an American President who attacks his allies and then also has a framed photo of himself and Putin on the wall of the White House. Strange times indeed. Also something I noticed in a vestibule area that connects the West Wing to the residence that I hadn’t see before: a framed photo of Presidents Trump and Putin at their summer summit in Alaska. Lower photo is President Trump with one of his grandchildren. pic.twitter.com/jabUEmZyay — Elizabeth Landers …

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Communities Minister Gordon Lyons has been found to have breached the ministerial code over a Facebook post he made during the rioting last June. As this report from the BBC says, “…Gordon Lyons breached the ministerial code over a social media post which led to complaints he inflamed tensions over immigration in County Antrim last year, Stormont’s standards commissioner has found. An independent investigation said Lyons’ actions fell short of standards on leadership, accountability and community relations. The commissioner found …

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