Riots in Dublin Bring ‘Shame’ on Ireland, Prime Minister Says

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Officials have condemned violence that broke out in the capital after a knife attack. The police said 34 people were arrested and a police officer was seriously injured.

Riot police in Dublin on Thursday. | Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters
A violent clash between rioters and police in central Dublin on Thursday injured several police officers, one seriously, and prompted the arrests of 34 people, according to the Garda Síochána, the Irish police force.

Rioters set fire to police vehicles, destroyed public buses and looted or damaged more than a dozen shops, the Garda said. A mob had gathered in the city center following a knife attack that had seriously injured a female schoolteacher and three young children.

The escalating unrest appalled the authorities, who blamed a far-right faction for fueling tensions by spreading misinformation about the knife attack.

Unconfirmed speculation about the nationality of the knife-wielding attacker spread online in the hours after the stabbings, with one protester telling the Agence France-Presse news service that “Irish people are being attacked by these scum.” » | Isabella Kwai | Reporting from London | Friday, November 24, 2023

Leo Varadkar Nightclub Footage Triggers Privacy Debate in Ireland

THE GUARDIAN: Leaked clip of deputy leader also fuels moves to tighten social media regulation

Leo Varadkar has said he does not wish to comment on a personal matter. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho/Rex/Shutterstock
A video of Leo Varadkar, Ireland’s tánaiste, socialising in a nightclub has triggered a debate about the right to privacy and regulation of social media.

The brief clip of the deputy prime minister was clandestinely recorded in a Dublin nightclub earlier this month and has racked up millions of views on multiple platforms.

Varadkar told reporters this week he did not wish to comment on a personal matter but hinted at regret. “Everyone makes errors in judgment. You wouldn’t be a human being if you didn’t.” He defended his record in office, saying he got the big calls – the Covid pandemic, Brexit, the economy – right.

The taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader, Micheál Martin, branded the video a violation of his colleague’s right to a private life. » | Rory Carroll, Ireland correspondent | Tuesday, December 13, 2022

"Brexit Makes Me Furious Sometimes", Says EU Council President Donald Tusk

Ireland to Build One of Europe's Largest Mosques
GATESTONE INSTITUTE: The Emir of Qatar, who has long cultivated an image as a pro-Western reformist, has vowed to "spare no effort" to spread Wahhabi Islam throughout Europe. Wahhabism — which not only discourages Muslim integration in the West but actively encourages jihad against non-Muslims — threatens to radicalize Muslim immigrants in Ireland.

City planners in the Irish capital, Dublin, have given the go-ahead for the construction of a sprawling mega-mosque complex that will cater to Ireland's burgeoning Muslim population.

The massive €40 million ($50 million) "Islamic Cultural Center" will be built on a six-acre site in Clongriffin, a new and as yet unfinished suburb at the northern edge of Dublin.

According to the Dublin City Council, which approved the project on March 7, the Clongriffin Mosque will consist of: (a) a three-story domed mosque and cultural center with towering minarets; (b) a two-story conference center including a reception foyer, conference room, restaurant, banquet hall, kitchens and ancillary accommodation; (c) a three-story 16-classroom primary school and a two-story 12-classroom secondary school; (d) a two-story fitness center with a gym, sauna, steam room and an Olympic-sized indoor swimming pool; (e) a bookshop, library and mortuary; and (f) three four-story blocks of two-bedroom apartments with ground floor shops.

The Clongriffin Mosque will cater to some of the 30,000 Muslims living in Dublin, which is home to around 60% of the estimated 50,000 Muslims living in Ireland. » | Soeren Kern | Tuesday, April 02, 2013

Bomb Threatens Queen's Visit to Ireland
THE GUARDIAN: Irish army forced to make safe a viable bomb found on bus near Dublin on eve of historic royal visit

A bomb has been found near Dublin as the Queen is due to arrive inIreland for a historic visit that has been hailed as an "extraordinary moment" in the country's history.

The Irish army was forced to make safe a viable improvised explosive device found on a bus in County Kildare late on Monday night.

The discovery threatens to overshadow the Queen's four-day visit, the first by a British monarch to the Republic of Ireland, although the Foreign Office has said she will still travel to Dublin on Tuesday.

An unprecedented security operation, costing about €30m (£26.2m), is in place to safeguard the Queen and Prince Phillip. It includes land, air and sea patrols and a "ring of steel" around the centre of the Irish capital, where the main thoroughfare, O'Connell Street, has been closed to traffic.

The bomb was discovered in the luggage compartment of the vehicle at a bus stop on the outskirts of Maynooth. An engineering unit from the Irish Defence Forces arrived at 11.10pm after receiving a request from the Garda Síochána.

An Irish military spokesman said a controlled explosion was carried out close to a hotel and the scene was declared safe at 1.55am. The remains of the device were handed over to the Gardai for investigation. » | Adam Gabbatt, Henry McDonald and agencies | Tuesday, May 17, 2011

First Irish Public Civil Partnerships Take Place
PINK NEWS: Ireland’s first public civil partnership ceremonies were due to take place this afternoon.

The law came into force on January 1st, although the vast majority of couples were required to give three months notice of their intent to tie the knot.

Six couples who obtained a special court exemption have had civil partnerships since February 7th. The couples, who all requested privacy, will have been granted exemptions on compassionate grounds, for example, when one partner is terminally ill.

Today, Dublin couple Hugh Walsh and Barry Dignam will be the first to have a civil partnership without a court exemption. Another couple is expected to follow them. » | Jessica Geen | Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Protesters Demonstrate at Egyptian Embassy in Dublin
Reaction to unrest in Egypt has spread internationally, including the United States and Europe. In this amateur video, Egyptians demonstrate in front of their country's embassy in Dublin.

You Trust This Guy If You Want To; This Guy’s Not For Trusting! Blair Heckled At Book Promotion

Four Men Arrested After Shoes and Eggs Are Thrown at Tony Blair at Book Signing
THE TELEGRAPH: Four men have been arrested after shoes and eggs were thrown at Tony Blair as he promoted his controversial memoir in Dublin on Saturday.



The former prime minister was heckled and jeered by anti-war protesters at his first book signing in the city’s O’Connell Street. >>> Michael Howie | Saturday, September 04, 2010

Shoes and Eggs Thrown at Tony Blair as He Attends Book Signing
THE TELEGRAPH: Tony Blair, the former prime minister, has had shoes and eggs thrown at him as he attended his first book signing in Dublin.



The missiles, which were thrown by anti-war protesters, did not hit Mr Blair as he arrived at a bookshop in Irish Republic at about 10.30am.

Activists clashed with Gardai as they tried to push down a security barrier outside the Eason store.

Campaigners, who turned out in the pouring rain, were chanting: "Hey hey Tony hey, how many kids have you killed today?"

They also shouted: "Tony Blair war criminal" and "blood on your hands". >>> Michael Howie | Saturday, September 04, 2010

Internet Campaign Launched to Move Tony Blair's Book
THE TELEGRAPH: It has already been panned by the critics and lampooned by his political opponents but now Tony Blair’s controversial autobiography has become the target of a mischievous internet campaign.

Hundreds of people have joined a group on the social networking site Facebook calling for his memoirs, entitled, A Journey, to be placed in the crime section of all bookstores.

The group urges shoppers to surreptitiously move all copies of the book, which was released on Wednesday, in protest at the former Prime Minister’s record on Iraq.

A number of bookstores have already reported finding Mr Blair’s book in “inappropriate sections” including fantasy and true crime.

The Facebook group called “Subversively move Tony Blair's memoirs to the crime section in book shops" claims it wants to “make bookshops think twice about where they categorise our generation’s greatest war criminal”. >>> Martin Evans | Saturday, September 04, 2010

THE TELEGRAPH: Tony Blair's memoirs: a strange book by a gifted man – Tony Blair's memoirs are unlike those of any previous prime minister, not least because of the space devoted to settling scores with his arch rival. But they fail to tell the whole story, says Simon Heffer. >>> Simon Heffer | Thursday, September 02, 2010

Uni Pays for Banned Cleric to Preach Hate
SUNDAY EXPRESS: BANNED Muslim hate preacher Anjem Choudary has sparked outrage after he was flown to Ireland to spout his ­bigoted views to 250 university students.

Choudary’s Islam4UK group and its parent organisation al-Muhajiroun were banned last month by Home Secretary Alan Johnson under legislation to outlaw the glorification of terrorism.

However, the student law society of University College Dublin paid for him to fly over to be a guest speaker at a ­debate with the motion that ­women’s rights should trump religious doctrine. The society also paid for his hotel.

Father-of-four Choudary opposed the motion, saying Muslim women were not suppressed or subjugated.

“There is nothing like Islam to emancipate women from slavery and servitude to men, from the cosmetics industry, fashion and pornography and all the other ways in which man tries to dehumanise ­women,” he claimed.

Maryam Namazie, who proposed the motion, hit back saying women’s rights were being denied under Sharia law, citing a woman’s inability to sign her own marriage contract and that women can be stoned for being ­unfaithful. >>> James Murray | Sunday, February 07, 2010

Islamists at Dublin's Trinity College

Accord bilatéral sur Schengen/Dublin ratifié
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: L'accord Schengen/Dublin pourra entrer en vigueur fin février. Les Etats membres de l'Union européenne (UE) ont donné leur feu vert à sa ratification à Bruxelles. Les préparations pour l'adhésion de la Suisse à l'espace Schengen peuvent officiellement commencer. Accord bilatéral sur Schengen/Dublin ratifié >>>

Schengen Agreement

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