Irish Times
October 2026
Ireland goes Swedish on investment, but deemed disposal remains a problem
More needs to be done to help home-grown companies scale and offset reliance on FDI
Tribunal upholds complaints against solicitor Declan O’Callaghan over mishandling of funds
No longer forced to live a lie, City fans embraced their club for what it truly is
Cheating bastards, we know what we are.”
Trump and Hegseth’s road to barbarism is a threat to America’s standing
Revulsion at the media frenzy and carnival-style atmosphere led to a US ban on public executions that has stuck for 90 years
People need to understand that there are serious consequences for these type of things,
Our department is, you might say, putting on the full armour of God, because while we wage physical war, we all know the real battle is spiritual,
Are Simon Harris and gen Z about to turn Ireland into a nation of investors?
What happens if 100,000 people go into this and the markets collapse and they lose money? There’s going to be pressure on the Government to bail them out,
Minorities have always known the system was rigged,
62 per cent of Irish women aged 30 to 50 handle the family finances alone. Only 18 per cent of women are investing.”
Fianna Fáil councillor in Co Clare ordered to pay €5,000 after ‘unlawful’ rent review
What if AI prefers CVs written by AI?
One possible explanation is that, because AI capability was itself one of the criteria, the agent may have interpreted signs of AI use in producing the CV as evidence of AI capability,
Roy Keane and Jamie Carragher unmoved by ‘devastated’ Micah Richards on Sky Sports
They are so powerful, so rich, they’ve never been told no before in their lives,
There’s all these lovely stories, ‘I came through the youth team’, lovely, it’s lovely,
Let’s hope they get beaten,
THEY HAD ALL THE BEST PLAYERS — THEY HAD THE TWO BEST PLAYERS IN EVERY POSITION!”
Irish AI firms raise €256m across 75 venture capital deals in 2026
PitchBook’s independent analysis shows the scale of investment now going into Irish AI companies, with almost €1 billion raised since the beginning of 2025,
The International AI Summit will focus on how Europe can turn advances in AI into economic value, while building the skills, infrastructure and trusted regulatory environment needed to support adoption and investment.”
Former swimming coach George Gibney to be sentenced for abusing four girls
You were a person in authority. People respected and trusted you and you abused that position... You took and took as you saw fit without a thought for the immediate or lifelong impact,
Engineer Robert Pether heading home to Ireland after being detained in Iraq for five years
Pether, who had been living in Ireland for a number of years, had been working as a mechanical engineer on rebuilding the Iraqi Central Bank when he was arrested with a colleague from CME Consulting, the Dubai-based company they were working for
The Australian government welcomes the decision by the Iraqi government to allow Mr Pether to leave,
We were aware for some time that minister Wong was keen to be the first to break this fantastic news,
Mr Pether was detained in a [2x2 metre] cell with the lights permanently on,
Trump’s energy ceasefire is unfair to Ukraine but could it bring something better?
Ukraine supports the ceasefire, and it is important that Russia support it as well. We are awaiting details from the American side,
Houthis show military reach with deadly missile strikes on Riyadh
The latest attack on Saturday, the third on the airport in a week, killed 12 people and wounded more than 300, part of a tit-for-tat military escalation by the Houthis against the beleaguered Saudis, who support Yemen’s internationally recognised government
The recent successes that we’ve seen in the last four weeks or so have less to do with having great military equipment and more to do with the weakness of the other side,
Control of this island is potentially quite important,
They didn’t start from scratch, they had a foundation,
Everyone continues to underestimate the Houthis’ military power,
They’re not just guys in flip-flops, they’re actually geeks,
Employers use AI to monitor staff who also don’t benefit from the tech, conference hears
What’s happening varies across different sectors,
So we need to be concerned not just about the jobs that are being or might be lost but also about the way jobs are changing,
They feel they work more and do higher value work but they are not getting more pay or time off so there is a sense the productivity gains are all going to the employer when they could be shared through shorter hours, reduced workloads or investment on worker development,
Tech company Tines to create 100 jobs in Ireland over two years and open new facility
It’s an exciting time for Tines as we build and grow an AI company from Dublin. We believe every employee and every team should be able to use AI to build the software they need, and that’s the opportunity we’re going after with Tines,
Tines is one of a new generation of rapidly scaling Irish technology companies competing successfully on the global stage,
Role of women, married priests and sexuality featured early in the synodal pathway
What does God want from the church in Ireland at this time?”
Is not this what God asks of you?”
France seeks another de Gaulle. The far-right thinks it’s Jordan Bardella
President Franklin D Roosevelt looked down on him as an arrogant fantasist, and barely tolerated his place in the anti-Hitler alliance
Like all successful historical films, La Bataille de Gaulle tells us less about the past than about the needs of the present.”
One day, the United States will try to be the moral authority of the entire world.”
‘Let them live in peace’: Protestants and Catholics alike express relief in Drumcree
We work with people from the other side and we don’t want any tension,
My family wanted the parade at the start but then they got sick of the circus around it. They felt it was dragging on for too long and causing too much tension,
Let them live in peace. Give it up. There was no need for a march,
A lot of people from my background aren’t happy and have a different opinion to me,
In this town now, the amount of hardline loyalists is basically nil. All the old hands are gone,
I don’t trust Irish newspapers,
My wee lad’s school is beside a Protestant school. There’s probably only one person that owns that unionist [Facebook] page but that’s the level of hatred,
Who is affected by next week’s strike and can it be averted in a last-minute deal?
At the time of fuel protests, the congress was very audible and forthright that it undermined those who took the representative route to negotiation,
I’m surprised that we are at the level of a war-of-words on this,
Unexpected school closures will affect all working parents, but even more so for people parenting alone who do not have backup and are already struggling with school drop-offs and trying to find after-school care,
Previously, ambulance and emergency services have largely been unaffected by strike action,
It is awful that a partnership of some kind is not in effect,
There are still some very experienced people around in the unions and you’d be looking at them to do the right thing,
Meet the former garda who found a new role in the Church of Ireland after retirement and divorce
In conscience, I couldn’t make the final step,
Mark and I go back a long way,
The guards were always a community-oriented police force, building on relationships, getting to know people,
But actually, as it happens, Tullow is an incredible fit. There’s a lot of community work going on there with a lot of potential,
Marti decided she didn’t want to be part of a Church. That was fine. So we made a decision to go our separate ways, which is unfortunate, but it just wasn’t for her,
Her family are very involved in the Church,
We had originally planned to go to Spain, buy a house there and looked into schools and all the rest of it, but something was drawing me back towards the Church,
I loved the Brothers and I was actually asked to become a Brother after my Inter Cert,
Bad news for Dublin’s coolest neighbourhoods — there’s a plan to bring them tourists
I’ve nothing against concerts, I love music. One of the things I lost out on a little bit by coming west is that I used to love going to the National Concert Hall, but that’s neither here nor there,
Place-based and neighbourhood-focused tourism development can help disperse visitors and visitor spend, spread the economic benefits of tourism more widely, strengthen local identity, support community participation and contribute to sustainable tourism growth,
The Arts Council is supportive of this project and the ongoing development work as part of the Programme for Government,... The Arts Council continues to support our colleagues in the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport and wider Government as an adviser on many arts and culture initiatives.”
It wasn’t possible to fund and deliver the cultural card for next year,
Ireland may not have the death penalty, but we have no reason for complacency
Born to an alcoholic mother, Pike has foetal alcohol syndrome, was neglected and brutally beaten in childhood, sexually abused from the age of two and subjected separately to at least three rapes by the age of 17
TV guide: the best new shows to watch
Since then he has lived in the glare of the public eye, and in the past number of years that has meant being visible on social media too
Sing for joy: ‘One of the best things you can do for your mental health is join a choir’
I love being able to turn up unprepared,
There’s huge comfort in being part of a big group,
One song, one session. No audition, no sheet music, no commitment”.
We take on outside beliefs so easily,
Members anchor their week around Tuesday evenings,
When we sing, we release oxytocin, the human love hormone,
As Irish people, we’re comfortable with sing-songs, but not necessarily with the idea of a choir,
The science of how singing creates and strengthens bonds between individuals is especially interesting,
People are so inhibited about their voices these days,
Everybody who’s now a regular, or considers themselves part of the group, walked into the room for the first time feeling nervous and worried that they couldn’t sing,