RealIrishNews

Malachy Steenson and Gerry Hutch kept off RTÉ election debate despite performing better in previous election results and having larger profile then Sinn Féins Boylan who was invited. In last night's edition of RTÉ's The Week in Politics, a special constituency debate focused on the upcoming Dublin Central by-election featured a predictable lineup. Sinn Féin councillor Janice Boylan, alongside candidates Daniel Ennis of Social Democrats, Dublin Lord Mayor Ray McAdam of Fine Gael, and Marie Sherlock of Labour. Conspicuously absent were two independents with proven local draw Dublin City Councillor Malachy Steenson and Gerry Hutch known as "The Monk". This exclusion stands out given the 2024 election results in the same constituency. In the general election, Gerry Hutch secured 3,098 first-preference votes nearly 10% of the tally and substantially more than Janice Boylan's 1,257 first preferences. Malachy Steenson, running as an independent, polled 1,602 first preferences in Dublin Central, again outperforming Boylan's showing, while also winning election to Dublin City Council in the North Inner City ward with strong local support (over 8% in his local electoral area). Steenson has built a visible profile through community activism and council work, often exceeding Boylan's local recognition on key issues like housing and immigration. Yet RTÉ, the state broadcaster, chose to platform the Sinn Féin candidate whose party vote share has declined nationally while sidelining independents who demonstrated greater voter appeal in the very constituency under discussion. This was not an oversight. With a crowded field including other independents and smaller parties, the broadcaster curated a panel that reflected only "acceptable" establishment voices. Evidence of Sinn Féin's Establishment shift. The decision serves as fresh evidence that Sinn Féin has firmly transitioned into an establishment party. Once positioned as outsiders challenging the political elite, the party now benefits from the same institutional protections once reserved for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Boylan's inclusion, despite weaker 2024 numbers, underscores how Sinn Féin has integrated into the mainstream, gaining invitations to state mediated debates while genuine challengers are filtered out. RTÉ's role here is particularly telling. As a publicly funded broadcaster, it acts as a gatekeeper, presenting only candidates the state apparatus deems palatable. By excluding Steenson and Hutch figures who have tapped into widespread dissatisfaction with housing failures, cost-of-living pressures, and uncontrolled immigration the broadcaster appears to be doing the state's bidding: managing public discourse and shielding the consensus from disruption. The fear of allowing Steenson's nationalist leaning voice or Hutch's raw anti-establishment appeal on air speaks volumes. These candidates represent unfiltered local discontent that threatens the controlled narrative. Voters in Dublin Central, and across Ireland, increasingly see through such manoeuvres. When state media curates debates to favour Sinn Féin alongside traditional parties while airbrushing stronger-performing independents, it reinforces the perception of a closed political cartel. The message is clear: certain profiles and certain critiques of the status quo remain off-limits, no matter the electoral evidence. This isn't neutral journalism it's managed democracy in action, and it risks further alienating those who already feel unrepresented.

Acclaimed Irish Actor Gary Lydon has passed away aged 61. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam

Ireland Grants Record 5,085 Asylum Claims in 2025, Fueling Housing Crisis, Soaring Costs, and Social Strain In a stark illustration of Ireland's open door asylum policies, the country handed out international protection status to a record 5,085 asylum seekers last year an almost 8% jump from 2024 and surpassing the previous high from 2022. This surge bucks the broader EU trend, where successful asylum grants fell by 18% overall. Ireland now ranks 9th among EU states for positive decisions (up from 11th), with a dramatically higher approval rate of 63.4% compared to the EU average of just 39.1%. In plain terms, Ireland is approving claims at a far more lenient rate than most of its European neighbours. High success rates were recorded for applicants from countries like Nicaragua, Myanmar, Sudan, Somalia, and others over 90% in several cases alongside strong approvals for those from Zimbabwe, Palestine, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Ukraine. By contrast, claims from Albania, India, Brazil, Morocco, and Egypt were largely rejected. A record 145 unaccompanied minors were also granted status. This record granting of status comes as Ireland grapples with an acute housing emergency, where native Irish families and young people are priced out of the market or stuck on lengthening waiting lists. Tens of thousands remain in taxpayer-funded hotels and centres, diverting resources from Irish citizens facing homelessness (now at record levels exceeding 17,000 people). The pressure on public services, schools, and healthcare is intensifying, while local communities report rising tensions and incidents linked to the rapid influx. Even as the government claims to be "processing faster" and talks about returns, the reality is a system that continues to approve the majority of claims and imposes enormous long-term costs on the Irish taxpayer. Minister Jim O’Callaghan has warned of risks to "social cohesion," yet positive decisions keep flowing at record pace, alongside high appeal success rates (32% in Ireland vs. 20.9% EU average). Ireland is a small island nation with limited capacity. Prioritising mass asylum approvals over the needs of its own people amid a housing shortage, strained infrastructure, and cultural pressures risks serious long term damage to the fabric of Irish society. Many citizens rightly question whether this level of generosity is sustainable or fair to the host population bearing the burden. Tougher controls, genuine vetting, and a firm focus on Ireland's own citizens first are long overdue.

Helen Ogbu, who entered Ireland and claimed Asylum under false pretenses in 2004/2005, claiming her husband was killed in Nigeria when infact he died in 2010. Ogbu had previously had a baby in Ireland on a short trip in 2001 to utilize for later citizenship purposes. Here she is begging 'New Citizens' to register to vote in Galway West, one of the most remote and ethically Irish parts of the country.

Fuel Protests Set to Return Before Budget as Public Anger Boils Over Further major fuel protests are expected before the October Budget, protest spokesmen have confirmed, with strong public backing driving the momentum. James Geoghegan (Co Westmeath contractor) and John Dallon (Kildare farmer and agricultural contractor) — key voices behind last month's disruptive actions that brought Dublin to a standstill made it clear at a Breaking Point event in Dublin on Saturday night that the fight is far from over. Geoghegan slammed the government's latest fuel subsidy package as "too late" and "a drop in the ocean," noting payments won't arrive until late June or July — after critical farming periods — while oil prices continue rising. He warned that failing to extend support into a busy autumn could be "the straw that breaks their back" for the grain sector and working families. Dallon echoed the frustration, highlighting broader cost-of-living pain: USC tax burdens, pressures on nurses, disability supports, and homelessness. "The voice of the people of the island of Ireland" is demanding more action for the working sector, he said, adding that these protests "are not going away." The original protests, which blocked O’Connell Street, fuel depots, and even threatened Whitegate refinery, already forced government attention and exposed deep public discontent. With polls showing rising support for independent and right-leaning voices, ordinary hardworking Irish people are clearly rallying behind this cause. The message is loud and clear: the government must listen to the public before frustration turns into even bigger action.

Cork Healthcare Heroes Targeted by Utter Scumbags: Tyres Slashed After Gruelling Shifts. Cork's dedicated healthcare workers the ones keeping our hospitals running through long, exhausting overnight shifts are furious after lowlife vandals slashed their car tyres while they cared for patients. One CUH nurse returned to her vehicle after a tough night shift to discover all four tyres deliberately destroyed. The repair bill runs into hundreds of euros she can barely afford amid the cost-of-living squeeze, and she's now terrified it'll happen again. These aren't isolated pranks. Multiple healthcare staff and local residents in the Wilton area have fallen victim to this mindless criminal damage, with Gardaí confirming reports of the latest outrage overnight on April 29-30. With limited parking at the hospital, workers are forced to leave cars in nearby residential streets only for these pathetic scumbags to strike. This is pure cowardice. attacking the vehicles of people who spend their nights saving lives. The total cost is already in the thousands, and if it continues, these heroes may be left relying on unreliable public transport just to get to work. Enough is enough. These low-life thugs need to be caught, named, and given the full force of the law. Our frontline workers deserve better than this disgraceful disrespect.

Dublin Lord Mayor Ray McAdam’s €24,000 Taxpayer-Funded Junket to California Smacks of Waste and Entitlement. In a blatant display of fiscal recklessness, Dublin’s Lord Mayor Ray McAdam has defended a lavish €24,000 taxpayer splurge on a five-person trip to California in March Money that could have been spent fixing potholes, housing the homeless, or tackling the city’s spiralling problems rather than padding expenses for a “sales pitch” abroad. McAdam’s own flights alone cost nearly €5,900, while Dublin City Council chief executive Richard Shakespeare’s travel racked up €4,185. The full bill covered flights, luxury accommodation, and other costs for five council staff and councillors. One person didn’t even bother showing up, forcing a belated €1,775 refund a small mercy for hard-pressed Dublin ratepayers. Rather than apologising for this grotesque misuse of public funds, McAdam doubled down in comments to the Irish Independent, claiming he was simply following in the footsteps of previous Lord Mayors by visiting San Jose, Dublin’s twinned city. He boasted about the 40 year old partnership supposedly delivering Silicon Valley giants like Meta and Dropbox to Dublin, employing 15,000 people, and insisted the trip was vital to “secure further US investment.” This is the classic defence of the out of touch political class, every foreign jaunt is reframed as vital economic diplomacy, no matter how eye-watering the cost or how vague the returns. Twinning agreements and junkets like this have been happening for decades, yet Dublin still grapples with chronic housing shortages, crumbling infrastructure, and strained public services. If these trips are so miraculously effective, why do the results feel so invisible to ordinary citizens footing the bill? This episode reeks of the kind of casual corruption and entitlement that has long eroded trust in Irish local government public money treated as a personal travel fund under the guise of “promoting Dublin.” At a time when households are squeezed by high taxes and poor services, blowing €24,000 on business-class flights and California hotels is indefensible. Ray McAdam should resign as Lord Mayor immediately and withdraw from any upcoming election. A politician who cannot exercise basic restraint with taxpayers’ money has no business holding high office. Dublin deserves better than leaders who treat the public purse like their own expense account. Enough is enough.

Dublin Lord Mayor Ray McAdam’s €24,000 Taxpayer-Funded Junket to California Smacks of Waste and Entitlement. In a blatant display of fiscal recklessness, Dublin’s Lord Mayor Ray McAdam has defended a lavish €24,000 taxpayer splurge on a five-person trip to California in March Money that could have been spent fixing potholes, housing the homeless, or tackling the city’s spiralling problems rather than padding expenses for a “sales pitch” abroad. McAdam’s own flights alone cost nearly €5,900, while Dublin City Council chief executive Richard Shakespeare’s travel racked up €4,185. The full bill covered flights, luxury accommodation, and other costs for five council staff and councillors. One person didn’t even bother showing up, forcing a belated €1,775 refund a small mercy for hard-pressed Dublin ratepayers. Rather than apologising for this grotesque misuse of public funds, McAdam doubled down in comments to the Irish Independent, claiming he was simply following in the footsteps of previous Lord Mayors by visiting San Jose, Dublin’s twinned city. He boasted about the 40 year old partnership supposedly delivering Silicon Valley giants like Meta and Dropbox to Dublin, employing 15,000 people, and insisted the trip was vital to “secure further US investment.” This is the classic defence of the out of touch political class, every foreign jaunt is reframed as vital economic diplomacy, no matter how eye-watering the cost or how vague the returns. Twinning agreements and junkets like this have been happening for decades, yet Dublin still grapples with chronic housing shortages, crumbling infrastructure, and strained public services. If these trips are so miraculously effective, why do the results feel so invisible to ordinary citizens footing the bill? This episode reeks of the kind of casual corruption and entitlement that has long eroded trust in Irish local government public money treated as a personal travel fund under the guise of “promoting Dublin.” At a time when households are squeezed by high taxes and poor services, blowing €24,000 on business-class flights and California hotels is indefensible. Ray McAdam should resign as Lord Mayor immediately and withdraw from any upcoming election. A politician who cannot exercise basic restraint with taxpayers’ money has no business holding high office. Dublin deserves better than leaders who treat the public purse like their own expense account. Enough is enough.

Jim O’Callaghan Should Resign Over Apparent Conflict in IPAS Accommodation. Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan, who oversees Ireland’s International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS), faces serious questions about his direct involvement in the controversial asylum accommodation system. Property records show that a residential house in the Forgehill estate, Stamullen, Co. Meath recently prepared for use as IPAS accommodation for international protection applicants is officially listed with O’Callaghan as the full owner. While the house is held on behalf of the Department of Justice (transferred via the Housing and Sustainable Communities Agency in late 2025), the optics are poor. Locals only learned of its intended use for five male IPAS residents after observing furniture deliveries and renovations. No prior community consultation occurred, and there appear to be no planning applications for the change of use. O’Callaghan’s department is responsible for IPAS policy, contracting, oversight, and now direct ownership of residential properties repurposed for asylum accommodation. This creates an unavoidable perception of personal and ministerial entanglement in a system already plagued by high costs (over €1 billion annually), overpayments to providers, and widespread local opposition. As the public face of transfers, contract terminations, and efforts to manage the portfolio, his name on the deed blurs the line between policymaker and property holder. In politics, even the appearance of a conflict undermines public trust. Ministers in sensitive roles like Justice must avoid any situation where their official duties could be seen as advancing arrangements they are directly associated with. Placing asylum seekers into a suburban family estate near a primary school, without transparency, only fuels resentment especially amid Ireland’s broader housing crisis.O’Callaghan has pushed reforms, renegotiated contracts, and emphasized moving people out of IPAS once granted status. Iowever, owning (in an official capacity) the very type of accommodation his department is expanding raises legitimate doubts about impartiality. For the sake of public confidence in both the justice portfolio and the handling of immigration accommodation, Jim O’Callaghan should step down. Ireland needs a Justice Minister who can address the IPAS challenges without any shadow of personal or departmental overlap in the properties involved.

Parachute Socialist “Bigfoot” Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin Runs in Dublin Central By-Election Locals Have Had Enough of Wealthy Pretend Lefty Outsiders Lecturing Them. Dublin Central is once again being treated as a playground for trendy, out of touch leftists. This time the People Before Profit candidate is Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin – a tall, unkempt, bedraggled folk singer locals have wryly nicknamed “Bigfoot” for his towering frame and wild appearance. The irony is thicker than the hair on his head, here is a man who has only lived in Dublin 7 for seven short years, yet he’s suddenly the expert on the grinding poverty, housing crisis, and everyday struggles of the north inner city and Cabra. Ó Ceannabháin hails from leafy south east Dublin the affluent, comfortable world of private education and middle class ease that couldn’t be further removed from the working class streets he now claims to champion. He lectures locals about public housing shortages and “poverty” while his own background is one of privilege most Cabra and north inner city families could only dream of. The man who couldn’t speak English properly until he went to school he claims, now pontificates about “the community” as if he’s one of them. Spare us.North inner city and Cabra residents are fed up with these parachute socialists well-heeled activists from wealthier parts of the country (or the comfortable pockets of Dublin and Ireland) who descend on working class areas, gentrify what little is left, and then block the very housing developments ordinary Irish people desperately need. Their brand of “solidarity” means more redundant woke protests, more open borders rhetoric, and more denial of basic reality, mass immigration and left-wing planning failures have turned once stable communities into pressure cookers. Yet Bigfoot and his PBP comrades offer nothing but the same failed slogans that have delivered exactly zero solutions for years. It’s the same old story. Trendy leftists from privileged backgrounds flood into areas like Dublin Central, wrap themselves in the language of the working man, and proceed to ignore what locals actually want, secure borders, proper housing for Irish families first, and an end to the woke virtue signalling that has done nothing but erode community cohesion. Ó Ceannabháin may strum a guitar and sing in Irish, but his seven-year stint in Dublin 7 doesn’t make him a local champion, it makes him the latest carpetbagger in a long line of PBP abd other opportunists. North inner city voters aren’t buying it. They’re tired of being lectured on “housing justice” by people who grew up in the leafiest parts of Dublin and whose policies have only made life harder for the very communities they pretend to serve. The nickname “Bigfoot” is telling, he’s hard to miss, but even harder to take seriously. As the by-election approaches, Dublin Central deserves better than another imported socialist experiment. Locals know the score: real solutions come from putting Irish people and Irish communities first not from tall tales spun by Bigfoot and the PBP circus.

Parachute Socialist “Bigfoot” Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin Runs in Dublin Central By-Election Locals Have Had Enough of Wealthy Pretend Lefty Outsiders Lecturing Them. Dublin Central is once again being treated as a playground for trendy, out of touch leftists. This time the People Before Profit candidate is Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin – a tall, unkempt, bedraggled folk singer locals have wryly nicknamed “Bigfoot” for his towering frame and wild appearance. The irony is thicker than the hair on his head, here is a man who has only lived in Dublin 7 for seven short years, yet he’s suddenly the expert on the grinding poverty, housing crisis, and everyday struggles of the north inner city and Cabra. Ó Ceannabháin hails from leafy south east Dublin the affluent, comfortable world of private education and middle class ease that couldn’t be further removed from the working class streets he now claims to champion. He lectures locals about public housing shortages and “poverty” while his own background is one of privilege most Cabra and north inner city families could only dream of. The man who couldn’t speak English properly until he went to school he claims, now pontificates about “the community” as if he’s one of them. Spare us.North inner city and Cabra residents are fed up with these parachute socialists well-heeled activists from wealthier parts of the country (or the comfortable pockets of Dublin and Ireland) who descend on working class areas, gentrify what little is left, and then block the very housing developments ordinary Irish people desperately need. Their brand of “solidarity” means more redundant woke protests, more open borders rhetoric, and more denial of basic reality, mass immigration and left-wing planning failures have turned once stable communities into pressure cookers. Yet Bigfoot and his PBP comrades offer nothing but the same failed slogans that have delivered exactly zero solutions for years. It’s the same old story. Trendy leftists from privileged backgrounds flood into areas like Dublin Central, wrap themselves in the language of the working man, and proceed to ignore what locals actually want, secure borders, proper housing for Irish families first, and an end to the woke virtue signalling that has done nothing but erode community cohesion. Ó Ceannabháin may strum a guitar and sing in Irish, but his seven-year stint in Dublin 7 doesn’t make him a local champion, it makes him the latest carpetbagger in a long line of PBP abd other opportunists. North inner city voters aren’t buying it. They’re tired of being lectured on “housing justice” by people who grew up in the leafiest parts of Dublin and whose policies have only made life harder for the very communities they pretend to serve. The nickname “Bigfoot” is telling, he’s hard to miss, but even harder to take seriously. As the by-election approaches, Dublin Central deserves better than another imported socialist experiment. Locals know the score: real solutions come from putting Irish people and Irish communities first not from tall tales spun by Bigfoot and the PBP circus.

Parachute Socialist “Bigfoot” Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin Runs in Dublin Central By-Election Locals Have Had Enough of Wealthy Pretend Lefty Outsiders Lecturing Them. Dublin Central is once again being treated as a playground for trendy, out of touch leftists. This time the People Before Profit candidate is Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin – a tall, unkempt, bedraggled folk singer locals have wryly nicknamed “Bigfoot” for his towering frame and wild appearance. The irony is thicker than the hair on his head, here is a man who has only lived in Dublin 7 for seven short years, yet he’s suddenly the expert on the grinding poverty, housing crisis, and everyday struggles of the north inner city and Cabra. Ó Ceannabháin hails from leafy south east Dublin the affluent, comfortable world of private education and middle class ease that couldn’t be further removed from the working class streets he now claims to champion. He lectures locals about public housing shortages and “poverty” while his own background is one of privilege most Cabra and north inner city families could only dream of. The man who couldn’t speak English properly until he went to school he claims, now pontificates about “the community” as if he’s one of them. Spare us.North inner city and Cabra residents are fed up with these parachute socialists well-heeled activists from wealthier parts of the country (or the comfortable pockets of Dublin and Ireland) who descend on working class areas, gentrify what little is left, and then block the very housing developments ordinary Irish people desperately need. Their brand of “solidarity” means more redundant woke protests, more open borders rhetoric, and more denial of basic reality, mass immigration and left-wing planning failures have turned once stable communities into pressure cookers. Yet Bigfoot and his PBP comrades offer nothing but the same failed slogans that have delivered exactly zero solutions for years. It’s the same old story. Trendy leftists from privileged backgrounds flood into areas like Dublin Central, wrap themselves in the language of the working man, and proceed to ignore what locals actually want, secure borders, proper housing for Irish families first, and an end to the woke virtue signalling that has done nothing but erode community cohesion. Ó Ceannabháin may strum a guitar and sing in Irish, but his seven-year stint in Dublin 7 doesn’t make him a local champion, it makes him the latest carpetbagger in a long line of PBP abd other opportunists. North inner city voters aren’t buying it. They’re tired of being lectured on “housing justice” by people who grew up in the leafiest parts of Dublin and whose policies have only made life harder for the very communities they pretend to serve. The nickname “Bigfoot” is telling, he’s hard to miss, but even harder to take seriously. As the by-election approaches, Dublin Central deserves better than another imported socialist experiment. Locals know the score: real solutions come from putting Irish people and Irish communities first not from tall tales spun by Bigfoot and the PBP circus.

These are the faces of the scumbag father and two sons who attacked a 14 year old girl with a machete. Three Athlone Men Arrested Over Brutal 2019 Machete Attack on Teenage Girl. In a significant development, Gardaí have arrested three men from Athlone, Co. Westmeath. Bernard Joyce (55), his son John Joyce (33), and another son Alan (also referred to as Allen) Joyce (28) in connection with a horrific machete attack on a 13/14-year-old girl in Lisnaskea, Co. Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, in November 2019. The attack, which shocked Ireland, targeted the home of bare-knuckle boxer David “Gramsey” Joyce. Three masked men armed with machetes burst in, allegedly seeking Gramsey. Instead, they encountered his family. Heroic Victim Shields Baby Nephew 14-year-old Geraldine Maughan (then 13) became a national symbol of bravery as she used her body to shield her 11-month-old nephew, John Joyce, from the blades. She was repeatedly slashed, suffering devastating injuries to her back and body that required around 300 stitches. Her lung reportedly collapsed from one wound. Geraldine spent weeks in hospital recovering and faced a long rehabilitation. Her aunt, Elizabeth “Lizzy” Joyce (41), Gramsey’s wife and the baby’s grandmother, was also attacked and suffered leg wounds while trying to fight off the assailants with a glass picture frame. The family linked the assault to a Traveller feud. Recent Arrests and Court Appearance The three Joyce men from Blackberry Lane, Athlone, appeared in court after their arrest on a European Arrest Warrant. They were pictured publicly for the first time in connection with the case. The incident remains under investigation as attempted murder by PSNI detectives. Earlier, Bernard and John Joyce had received suspended sentences for related online death threats against the victim’s family. This case highlights the ongoing dangers of feuds within the Traveller communities and the extraordinary courage shown by a young girl protecting an infant.

“Every single individual who is rejected in their asylum application should be deported” Aontú Party President and TD Peadar Tóibín

Tipperary Farmer Permanently Banned from Family Lands In a heartbreaking ruling that highlights the often merciless side of Ireland’s property and banking system, a Tipperary farmer has been permanently barred from lands that were in his family for decades. Patrick Heffernan can no longer enter or trespass on the 83 hectare farm near Fethard, which receivers sold in 2022 for €1.5 million to US businessman Maurice Regan. The High Court has upheld the ban, dismissing Heffernan’s latest attempt to appeal. The lands, once central to his life and livelihood, were mortgaged to banks and seized amid debt. Despite Heffernan’s deep emotional and historical ties including keeping cattle and poultry there the new owner secured a restraining order after serious disputes, including lock-cutting, signage, and police interventions. Heffernan has already spent time in prison over the conflict.The court described the situation as involving risks to safety, with the new owner claiming Heffernan’s actions had “put people’s lives in danger.” This case exposes the raw cruelty of how family farms can be ripped away through financial mechanisms, leaving lifelong farmers locked out of the very soil they worked for generations. Heffernan must now watch from neighbouring property as outsiders control what was once his heritage. The permanent ban stands, with costs awarded against him.

Disgraceful Insult: Kemi Badenoch’s Bloody Sunday Video Exposes British Arrogance and Strengthens the Case for British Withdrawal from Ireland. In a shocking display of insensitivity and historical amnesia, British Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has been forced to apologise after her party’s social media channels posted a video using footage from the Bloody Sunday massacre to defend British soldiers and criticise Irish related legacy legislation. The now deleted clip featured images of the Parachute Regiment in Derry’s Bogside on January 30, 1972 the day British troops shot dead 13 unarmed civilians and wounded many more during a peaceful civil rights march. This atrocity, long recognised as a defining act of state violence against the Irish people, was cynically repurposed to portray British forces as victims needing protection from accountability. Badenoch claimed she did not personally approve the video, blaming “very young people” on her team who supposedly failed to recognise the infamous footage. She apologised after fierce backlash. This episode is not a mere “error.” It is profoundly disgraceful. It reveals a persistent British establishment mindset that refuses to confront the ugly realities of its military occupation in Ireland. Using the blood soaked images of a massacre to “trumpet the service” of the very soldiers responsible for it demonstrates contempt for Irish suffering and a refusal to acknowledge historical truth. Such tone deaf propaganda only deepens the wounds of the past and reminds us why British involvement in Ireland remains toxic. The North of Ireland Troubles legacy issues, the heavy handed military record, and repeated failures of respect show that Britain’s presence continues to poison relations and stability. Events like this provide yet more compelling evidence that Britain should finally leave Ireland to its own people. Full British withdrawal from the Six Counties would allow genuine reconciliation, free from the interference and insensitivity of London politicians who treat Irish history as a disposable prop in their domestic culture wars. The Irish people deserve justice, not recycled propaganda that glorifies killers while erasing victims. Badenoch’s apology changes nothing the damage is done, and the case for ending British rule in Ireland has never been clearer.

Dublin Court Hears Case of Chinese Origin Waiter Yap Yang in Cannabis Possession. In a recent Dublin District Court case, 30-year-old waiter Yap Yang appeared charged with possession of cannabis for sale or supply after gardaí discovered over €5,000 worth of the drug at his south Dublin home. Yang, a name of Chinese ethnic heritage, told the court he had fallen under a "negative influence," struggled with addiction, and faced financial hardship. The search of his residence uncovered the cannabis, leading to the charges. Judge imposed community service as an alternative to jail time, taking into account his personal circumstances, addiction issues, and lack of prior serious offending. No details emerged on how long Yang had lived in Ireland or his immigration status, but he worked as a waiter in the hospitality sector a common employment path for many in Dublin’s growing Asian immigrant communities. Another soft touch in the courts especially when it comes to those from other ethnic communities.