Michelle Traynor

#howth words fail me.

Two German tourists went on holiday to Hawaii for 3 weeks. But they never left the airport. They were arrested, interrogated for 7.5 hours, accused of intending to work illegally with zero proof. They were held in prison for 3 days then deported. DO NOT TRAVEL TO THE USA.

Fianna Fáil has selected Dublin City Councillor John Stephens, a staunch supporter of renaming Herzog Park, to contest the upcoming Dublin Central by-election. Don't believe Micheál Martin when he claims his party is opposed to the renaming.

@antooconnell They should have their own recycling bin for hundreds of bottles. It’s just time wasting for the average person to wait to get 4 or 5 euros back.

@minnyshell It’s industrial scale! Most likely a night club or bar

I absolutely hate and despise the deposit return scheme and these type of people make it significantly worse. The sooner this DRS thing ends

The same HSE that sent Irish children to the now utterly disgraced Tavistock gender clinic in the UK is concerned about three minutes on a sun bed? Spare me.

Irish MEP’s earn over €120,000 per annum to represent us in Europe, I’m not happy with their performance, are you

Irish Govt have played this so so badly. All they had to do was cut carbon taxes for a few weeks. Pretend they care and make industry happy. By mid-April/May there’s going to be limited fuel anyway. A competent Govt would lift all bans on exploration + fastrack LNG & solar

More than 1,600 'asylum-seekers' were paid to leave Ireland in last two years 'Asylum-seekers' have been paid more than €1m by the State over the last two years to leave Ireland as part of a scheme enticing them to drop their claims to stay. The revelation comes amid a significant increase in the number of enforced deportations carried out in 2025, with an additional €3m paid for flights last year alone. Since the start of this year, €1.3m has been spent on deportation flights under an immigration crackdown by Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan — more than the €1.2m spent in all of 2024. The total since 2021 is €6.3m. In addition, more than 1,600 asylum-­seekers were paid between €1,200 and €10,000 — the second figure for a family — for leaving the country in the last two years. The number of asylum-seekers who left the State when given a payment rose from 573 in 2024 to more than 1,600 last year, when a larger payment was introduced. Officials in the Department of Justice are examining the “most ­appropriate means” of how Ireland can take part in the EU’s new plans to crack down on immigration. Migrants with no right to remain in the EU could be detained for up to two years or sent to “return hubs” outside the borders of the bloc under proposals voted on by the European Parliament last week. Non-EU nationals can be detained for up to two years if they do not co-operate with authorities or are considered a security risk under the plans. The proposals would also allow member states to provide alternatives to detention, including electronic monitoring. Negotiations will now begin with the European Council and member states on the final draft of the new rules. Critics have compared the plans for ­return hubs with the UK’s scrapped “Rwanda scheme”, which would have sent asylum-­seekers to the ­east African country for application processing, ­regardless of their country of origin. Figures obtained by the Sunday ­Independent show the €3m spent on deportation flights last year includes the cost of economy and business flights on commercial aircraft and charter flights. The department said business-class flights were used only by gardaí or security staff for their return journey to Ireland. This year, one chartered flight returned 33 people to Poland and Lithuania in January, at a cost of €150,871; 63 people were flown to South Africa in February at a cost of €719,642. Charter flights were reintroduced last year for cases where large groups are deported to the same destination. They had been stopped when a moratorium was placed on deportations during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Government announced last ­September that it would offer increased “reintegration grants” to asylum-seekers if they volunteered to leave the State. The Social Democrats said the policy to incentivise people to leave voluntarily was a “right-wing dog whistle dressed up as efficiency”. Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the criticism was misplaced and insisted the proposals would save money and prevent people spending “a year or two in ­various unsatisfactory accommodations”. The figures obtained by the Sunday Independent show spending on this scheme increased to €855,723 last year, three times the €284,995.94 spent in 2024. The department said these figures may increase because grant payments are availed of only after a migrant has left Ireland. Some may not pursue payment immediately, or there can be delays in recording and reporting payments. Under the scheme, asylum-seekers are offered €2,500 if they drop their international protection claims and leave the country. A family can claim €10,000 if they voluntarily leave before their asyl­um claim is processed. Before the Government increased the payments last September, they stood at €1,200 for single applicants and €2,000 for couples and families. The move was criticised at the time, with the Irish Refugee Council saying it was an attempt to “coax” people to leave.

@Independent_ie Two twats.

In the battle for the soul of the left, can Ivana Bacik beat Holly Cairns? buff.ly/seFmFG3

A Muslim woman tells a ‘Queer for Palestine’ that he’s not welcome in the movement and to get out. “Get out of here, we don’t want you here. We are Muslims and you disgust us. You don’t belong in our cause.” LGBT who support Palestine have to be the dumbest people ever!

A Giraffe's head was stuck in the railing, so the giraffe's head could have been taken out by cutting the railing with a drill machine, what kind of method is this to take out the neck by hitting a hammer on a stone, the giraffe must have suffered a lot due to this. #DontBuyATicket 🎟️🚫!

...while Ireland imported 400 tons last year of it 🚨🤮

A new curriculum is being taught in EVERY secondary school in Ireland. It tells children that GENDER is not a biological fact but a FEELING. Most parents have never read it. This Mail writer did - and what she discovered may SHOCK you trib.al/9cV8Hz8

How are the achievements of Ireland’s 14 MEP’s measured? Other than portraying the illusion of representative democracy what’s the actual point of them?

Abandoned horse left dying for two days before being euthanised irishtimes.com/ireland/2026/0…

This is a battery caged chicken the day she was let out of her cage - and the same chicken 3 months later. Animals flourish in freedom.

@Independent_ie Great pub

Popular Dublin city pub ran ‘shebeen’ and ‘had blatant disregard for the law’ – judge hears buff.ly/73Fj7nw

Independent Ireland and McNamara abstaining is wild. Just complete disregard for their own voters.

When you next decide to go to KFC look out for this sign it means the KFC you’re entering serves Halal meat. It’s not clear and most people wouldn’t even know what that sign meant.

@griptmedia I still firmly believe that we need to treat the EU elections with as much focus and importance as the locals... 50% + of our laws come from there... And this is the calibre deciding them... It's not good