Tag: ireland

Family horror: Relatives get told on social media their mother is dead, by ‘assisted suicide’

A family in Ireland is working through the shock notification, on social media, that their mother is dead – by “assisted suicide,” in a situation about which they knew nothing.

According to the Christian Institute, Maureen Slough, 58, from County Cavan, left, telling family members she was going on holiday to Lithuania.

Instead, she went to the death-dealing Pegasos clinic in Switzerland.

Her family was notified shortly later, via social media platform WhatsApp, that she was dead.

The institute reported, “She had struggled with mental health and previously tried to commit suicide after the death of her two sisters.”

Pegasos officials claimed her daughter, Megan Royal, had confirmed her mother’s intentions, Megan said the “acknowledgment letter” probably was forged.

Writing in the Sunday Independent, columnist David Quinn stated: “It is a sad part of the human condition that nearly all of us will face very significant struggles at various points in our lives. Maureen Slough clearly did, but she had a loving daughter willing to help her,” the institute explained.

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Why Are the Irish Media Ignoring an Apparent Islamist Knife Attack?

On July 29th 2025, a member of the Irish police (Garda Siochana) was attacked by Abdullah Khan, a second-generation Pakistani Muslim immigrant in Dublin city centre. Ireland’s state broadcaster, RTE, in the immediate aftermath of the knife attack was quick to assert that the attacker had Irish citizenry: “The man, who is an Irish citizen and born in Ireland, can be questioned for up to 24 hours.”

However, those of us of a more cynical disposition across these islands have noticed in recent years that when the media rush to assert the Irish or British identity of a violent criminal, it usually signifies he’s from a non-European ethnic minority background. If last week’s Dublin knife attacker had been an indigenous Irish man, we wouldn’t have been informed of what passport he’s entitled to or where he was born. Similarly, the Welsh choirboy status of the Southport murderer Axel Rudakubana would never have been immediately asserted had he been a Welsh choirboy. Unfortunately for Ireland’s biased liberal-Left media and political establishment, there’s a thing called reality that people can now record on smartphones and see with their own eyes. So, as footage emerged online of last week’s knife attack, people noticed that the perpetrator wasn’t ethnically Irish and they pointed this out on social media. The media and police response was to accuse the people who noticed that the man wasn’t ethnically Irish of spreading misinformation.

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Irish High Court Rejects X’s Challenge to Online Censorship Law

The Irish High Court has thrown out a legal challenge by X, dealing a blow to the company’s pushback against Ireland’s new censorship rules for online video-sharing services.

X had taken aim at Coimisiún na Meán, the country’s media watchdog, accusing it of stepping beyond legal limits with its Online Safety Code.

The rules demand that platforms hosting user-generated videos take active steps to shield users from “harmful” material. The company had described the regulator’s actions as “regulatory overreach.”

Mr Justice Conleth Bradley, delivering judgment on Wednesday, found no merit in X’s application for judicial review. The court concluded that the regulator’s code was lawful and that its provisions fell within the scope of both the EU’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) and Ireland’s 2009 Broadcasting Act.

According to the ruling, the code does not clash with the Digital Services Act and can function in tandem with EU law.

Responding to the outcome, Coimisiún na Meán said it welcomed the decision and intended to examine the ruling closely before offering more detailed comment.

The case comes as X begins rolling out new age verification systems to meet obligations under the Irish code, alongside compliance efforts aimed at satisfying UK and wider EU digital censorship regulations.

The ruling marks a significant moment in the ongoing struggle over who decides the boundaries of online speech and content moderation.

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Ireland’s Dangerous War on Encryption

The Irish government’s proposed Communications (Interception and Lawful Access) Bill would significantly expand the state’s ability to monitor digital communications, thereby striking at the very foundation of end-to-end encryption. 

This form of encryption, used by services like WhatsApp, iMessage, and Signal, ensures that only the sender and the recipient can access the content of a message. Under the new bill, Gardaí, the Defence Forces, and the Garda Ombudsman would be allowed to intercept private messages in real time. Achieving this would require altering or bypassing encryption entirely.

Such a measure would introduce a permanent vulnerability into digital infrastructure. Once a system is designed to allow access for one party, others can and will exploit it. 

Backdoors do not stay private. They create a single point of failure that can be used by cybercriminals, hostile foreign governments, or commercial spyware operations. 

The government claims that oversight and warrant requirements will ensure the powers are used responsibly. However, no legal safeguard can address the underlying technical risk created by breaking encryption. 

The presence of a backdoor makes every message on a platform more exposed, whether or not it is the target of surveillance. Encryption cannot be selectively weakened. Any interference compromises the security of the system for all users.

Major technology companies have already taken strong positions against laws that would force them to degrade encryption. 

Apple recently removed some of its data protection features from the UK rather than comply with legislation that would have weakened user privacy. 

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Kneecap vs. the Israel Lobby: How a Rebel Band Shook Britain

ABelfast rap group with no record deal, no security detail, and no filter is now the target of British counter-terror police, tabloid smear campaigns, and the full force of the Israeli lobby. Their crime? Saying ‘Free Palestine’ too loudly.

Over recent months, Irish rap trio Kneecap has been embroiled in a series of public controversies. In late April, the band was placed under official investigation by British counter-terror police, over a comment made by one of its members at a November 2023 concert—“The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.” A month later, another was formally charged for displaying the flag of Hezbollah, a proscribed terror organization under British law, at a London gig.

These developments have led to a welter of cancellations of Kneecap concerts and condemnation from mainstream sources. Yet, fans have forcefully rallied behind the group, and subsequent publicity has introduced the band to new audiences the world over, who are highly receptive to Kneecap’s outspoken, unrepentant anti-Zionism and infectious tunes. Furthermore, the band remains scheduled to perform at Glastonbury Festival in late June, a major British cultural institution, despite calls from parliamentarians to ban them from appearing.

Pressure has been brought to bear on the BBC not to feature Kneecap’s performance in its regular broadcast of the festival, which reaches tens of millions of people globally every year. The state broadcaster has so far stood firm. But there are palpable indications the Israeli lobby is undeterred, and has activated pro-Israel actors in Britain to torpedo the group, if not others, in the process. The stakes are high for Tel Aviv—Kneecap’s loud and proud Palestine solidarity represents an international public relations nightmare.

On June 2, Irish garage punk band Sprints revealed via Instagram that their management had been contacted by a reporter from The Daily Mail, asking if they intended to play at Glastonbury if Kneecap were “banned from the festival.”

The reporter added:

It would be really useful if you could clarify your views on Kneecap and how you feel about them performing at Glastonbury later this month. Do you feel comfortable sharing a platform with them? Will you protest if Glastonbury prevents the band from performing? Do you have any free speech concerns if they are banned, or safety concerns if they perform? It would be really helpful if you could respond with your thoughts by [June 5].”

Accompanying commentary from Sprints stated, “Daily Mail rats trying to drum up support to ban [Kneecap] from Glastonbury. Kneecap are not the story, the genocide in Palestine is the story. Let us be unequivocally clear, we will forever be comfortable sharing the stage with people who use their platform for good and to speak up for those who can’t. Free Palestine.”

The Daily Mail reporter in question was Sabrina Miller. A product of various Israeli lobby Hasbara training programs since high school, over the past five years, she—first as a student, then as an award-winning mainstream journalist—has racked up a lengthy, unpardonable record of targeting public figures in Britain for personal and professional destruction. While accusing Israel’s critics of antisemitism, Miller has also sought to foment anti-Muslim animus. Now, it appears she and the vast lobbying infrastructure behind her have focused their efforts decisively on Kneecap.

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Dublin considers introducing tourism tax

Dublin is considering introducing a tourism tax that could bring in ‘significant’ funding. 

At a press conference on Tuesday, Michael Martin, the head of the Irish government, said he was backing the proposal made by the Dublin City Taskforce, which said last year that the city has become ‘less welcoming’ since the financial crash. 

‘It could provide additional revenue raising powers, so that will be examined. Because, let’s be honest, there’s going to be significant investment here’, the Taoiseach said. 

He added that the actual amount of money expected to be brought in varied widely, depending on the rate applied if the tourism tax comes to pass. 

‘It will be examined in more detail. Estimates varies between depending on rate of fee applied, it would range from four million to 41 million.’

But Martin claimed that no matter what rate the city lands on, ‘there’s going to be significant additional expenditure to make the city more attractive.’ 

Dublin is already considered one of the most expensive cities in Europe for eating and drinking, and there are fears that the proposed tax will further burden tourists visiting the already expensive city. 

Simon Harris, the deputy leader of the Irish government, said that the plans were far from set in stone, and that Dublin City Council will have a significant role to play in deciding whether to implement it. 

He said: ‘Fundamentally, I believe, massively in local government, empowering councillors and providing revenue streams, there needs to be a sensitivity around the timing.’

Cities across Europe are beginning to place daily taxes on visitors. Rates vary from just a few cents per day to up to €7 per day in places like Rome. 

In the UK, Manchester is the first and currently only British city to charge a tourist levy, requiring visitors to pay £1 per day in hotels or rented flats in the centre of the city. 

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Nearly 800 infant remains found in septic tank at nun-run Irish unwed mother and baby home

Crews in Ireland began work this week to excavate the site of a former church-run home for unmarried women and their babies to identify the remains of around 800 infants and young children who died there.

Many of the remains were found in a septic tank, according to authorities. 

The backstory:

The long-awaited excavation at the former Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, County Galway in western Ireland, is part of a reckoning in an overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country with a history of abuses in church-run institutions.

The home, which was run by an order of Catholic nuns and closed in 1961, was one of many such institutions that housed tens of thousands of orphans and unmarried pregnant women who were forced to give up their children throughout much of the 20th century.

In 2014, historian Catherine Corless tracked down death certificates for nearly 800 children who died at the home in Tuam between the 1920s and 1961 — but could only find a burial record for one child.

Finding a mass grave

Dig deeper:

Investigators later found a mass grave containing the remains of babies and young children in an underground sewage structure on the grounds of the home. DNA analysis found that the ages of the dead ranged from 35 weeks gestation to 3 years.

A major inquiry into the mother-and-baby homes found that in total, about 9,000 children died in 18 different mother-and-baby homes, with major causes including respiratory infections and gastroenteritis, otherwise known as the stomach flu.

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Anti-Migrant Riots Erupt in Northern Ireland After “Romanian Teenagers” Charged With Sexual Assault

Anti-migrant riots have erupted in Northern Ireland, leading to 15 police officers being injured and four houses being set alight, after two teenagers, thought to be Romanian, were charged with the sexual assault of a girl. The Telegraph has more.

Two 14- ear-old boys appeared at a local court by videolink on Monday charged with attempted rape. The charges were read to them by a Romanian interpreter.

Violence erupted in Ballymena in County Antrim on Monday night after a peaceful vigil of hundreds of people was held in the town centre.

North Antrim MP Jim Allister said Ballymena had been “overburdened” by “unchecked migration”, which was a source of “past and future tensions”.

The victim’s family condemned the riots, which were reminiscent of the disorder sparked in England and Northern Ireland after the murder of three girls at a dance class in Southport.

Asking that justice be served “in the correct manner”, the family said that they were in “no way involved or condone any trouble that happened” after the peaceful protest.

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Irish Government Admits No Free Speech Impact Assessment for “Misinformation” Laws

Irish authorities have moved ahead with extensive legislation aimed at tackling “misinformation,” yet they have not examined whether such measures might undermine free expression. The Department responsible for communications, media, and environmental policy has acknowledged that no analysis has been carried out to assess the consequences for free speech.

Responding to a media query from Gript, the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications plainly admitted: “The Department has not undertaken any analysis or research on the potential impact of mis/disinformation laws on free speech.”

Despite this lack of evaluation, the government continues to defend its strategy. Speaking outside Government Buildings, Taoiseach (Prime Minster) Micheál Martin insisted the effort to curb online falsehoods is justified, arguing that some speech doesn’t merit protection. “It’s not freedom of speech, really, when it’s just a blatant lie and untruth, which can create a lot of public disquiet, as we have seen,” he said.

Martin downplayed the idea that regulating disinformation represents any serious threat to expressive freedoms, stating: “There are very strong protections in our constitution and in our laws and freedom of speech.” He added, “I wouldn’t overstate the impact on clamping down on blatant lies online as a sort of incursion or an undermining of freedom of speech.”

When pressed on whether the absence of impact studies was irresponsible, Martin referenced a recent RTÉ radio segment about social media claims related to a shooting in Carlow. “There was a researcher on identifying the blatant misinformation on truths and lies surrounding what happened in Carlow,” he said. “So I do think it’s absolutely important that government focuses on this issue.”

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Stunning breakthrough in infamous case of eight women who have been missing for 28 years raises hopes that one of Ireland’s biggest mysteries could finally be solved

One of Ireland’s biggest unsolved cases may finally find a resolution after three decades thanks to a new witness.

Between the late eighties and early nineties, eight women went missing from across the Emerald Isle – in what’s became known as Ireland’s Vanishing Triangle.

One of the women, Fiona Pender, was 25 and seven months pregnant when she went missing from her flat in Tullamore in August 1996. 

The cases have baffled police from years, but in a major update the Gardai have upgraded Fiona’s disappearance to murder.

This week they searched a new area of land at Graigue, close to the village of Killeigh, around 8km from Tullamore, County Offaly, in the middle of Ireland. 

It is understood Gardaí received new information deemed credible enough to warrant the latest search and the upgrading of the investigation. 

The search of a remote area of bogland started on Tuesday as gardaí hoped for a breakthrough in the nearly 30-year investigation.

However it quickly moved to a second location on Wednesday and continued well into the night. 

The force told The Irish Independent: ‘Gardaí investigating the disappearance and murder of Fiona Pender in August 1996 have today, Wednesday 28th May 2025, commenced another search operation on open ground at a location in Co. Laois.   

Fiona was last seen leaving home by her boyfriend John Thomson. 

In 2008 a small cross bearing her name was found along the The Slieve Bloom Way, but her body has never been recovered.

She was just one of a string of disappearances that haunted Ireland in the 1990s commonly referred to as the Vanishing Triangle, none of the women have ever been found so investigators have very little evidence to link the disappearances. 

In a major update on the case, police have upgraded Fiona’s disappearance to murder and have decided to search a new area of land at Graigue, close to the village of Killeigh, around 8 km from Tullamore, Co Offaly.

 ‘This area of land will be searched and subject to excavation, technical and forensic examinations.

‘This search forms part of a sustained investigation carried out by Gardaí in Laois/ Offaly Garda Division over the last 28-years to establish Fiona’s whereabouts and to investigate the circumstances in which Fiona disappeared.’

Gardaí have since concluded the search operation in Co Offaly, however the results are not being released for operational reasons. 

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