Tag: ireland

The storm that shattered Ireland’s energy security

One of the most powerful weather events in Ireland’s history plunged the country into chaos last week. Bet you didn’t hear much about it, either, as it was hardly mentioned in the North American press. Still, the implications of its aftermath and what it reveals about the ‘green’ movement are a warning for any nation still gripped by obviously flawed climate ideology.

Storm Éowyn wreaked havoc across Ireland, with winds of over 100 mph downing power lines, flooding roads, and damaging renewable energy infrastructure. Hundreds of thousands of people were left without electricity for days in freezing winter conditions. Many people — up to 168,000 — are still without heat or light as of this writing, exposing the nation’s alarming dependence on electricity to meet basic needs.

More poignantly, the storm laid bare the vulnerabilities of renewable energy infrastructure. Thousands of wind turbines in the North Sea were forced offline because the power generated by the storm’s extreme winds risked overwhelming the electricity grid. “Constraint payments” were made to wind farm operators, compensating them for halting production — a cost ultimately passed on to consumers. This system, which guarantees profits for renewable energy companies regardless of output, highlights the flawed economic model underpinning Europe’s green energy push.

This inefficiency underscores a glaring and paradoxical tension: current energy generation systems being pushed under the banner of climate change are far from ready to meet the demands of extreme weather events, which climate activists frequently remind us are expected to increase.

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Ireland’s New Online Censorship Rules Face Showdown With X in Court

X has initiated a High Court challenge against Ireland’s media authority, Coimisiún na Meán, over a newly introduced censorship code that imposes stringent regulations on video-sharing platforms.

The contentious safety code, finalized in October, emerged following the enactment of Ireland’s Online Safety and Media Regulation Act. Rooted in the European Commission’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD), the code obliges platforms under Irish jurisdiction to implement measures shielding users—particularly children—from harmful content. Platforms found non-compliant could face severe penalties, including fines of up to €20 million or 10% of annual revenue, whichever is greater.

For platforms like X,  Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and more, the code signals a dramatic shift away from self-regulation and gives Ireland’s regulators more control over online speech.

According to Coimisiún na Meán, the rules are designed to curtail the dissemination of “harmful” material. Criminal content, such as child exploitation or terrorism-related media, also falls within the prohibited categories but was already covered by previous laws.

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Irish Leader Suggests ‘Illegal Migrants’ Don’t Even Exist

The Prime Minister of Ireland suggested during an interview that illegal migrants don’t even exist, refusing to even acknowledge that the term has any meaning.

The head of the Taoiseach was asked by the host, “So do you know how many illegal migrants we have in the country at the moment?”

He responded by acting completely baffled, before suggesting that there is no such thing.

“What does the phrase illegal migrants mean? Because that’s a phrase that is used by some but that’s not a phrase in law,” said Simon Harris.

“Anybody has a right to come here and seek international protection, it is the job then of the Department of Justice to assess the validity of that application,” he added.

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IDF in ‘Outrageous Threat’ to Irish UN Troops in Lebanon

An Irish-Israeli diplomatic crisis has been defused after Israel withdrew its invasion force from firing positions metres from a U.N. post in south Lebanon staffed by Irish peacekeepers.

Irish President Michael D. Higgins had called Israeli demands for U.N. peacekeepers to abandon their posts as its invading army crossed deeper into Lebanese sovereign territory “an outrageous threat.”

The incident underlined how Israel is increasingly alienating itself on the international stage while continuing to undermine institutions and instruments of international humanitarian law.

Satellite images published by Irish state broadcaster RTE showed two dozen Israeli Defense Force (IDF) military vehicles, including tanks, located just 60 metres from the boundary of U.N. outpost 6-52 last Saturday as it exchanged fire with Shia resistance group Hezbollah.

[The Washington Post reported Friday that Israel has wounded U.N. peacekeepers after Al Jazeera reported Thursday that “United Nations peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix tells UN Security Council that safety and security of peacekeepers in Lebanon is ‘increasingly in jeopardy’ as Israeli forces open fire on UNIFIL posts in country’s south, injuring two.”]

Since Monday 30 Irish soldiers stationed at UNP6-52, approximately 1km from the Lebanese town of Maroun El-Ras, had been bunkered down and isolated from their 300-odd comrades at Camp Shamrock, which lies West of Bint Jbeil and 7km from the border with Israel. 

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Ireland drops controversial “hate speech” legislation to criminalise online speech deemed as “incitement to hatred”

On Saturday, The Irish Times reported that the Irish government will drop the incitement to hatred section of the bill, focusing instead on hate crime legislation that provides for tougher sentences when hate is proven as a motivation for an offence.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee said that the “incitement to hatred” element of the bill does “not have a consensus” and will be dealt with at a later time.  She is “adamant” that hate crime legislation would be enacted.  In the meantime, she plans to include committee stage amendments to the Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022 in the Seanad.

The decision comes after increased opposition from within the government, opposition parties and free speech groups, including tech billionaire Elon Musk, who vowed to fund legal challenges against the proposed legislation.

The controversy surrounding the bill highlighted concerns about the potential for vague definitions and overreach, with critics arguing that it could criminalise memes, books or videos deemed politically offensive.

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Under the radar, Ireland is helping illegal Israeli settlements do business

Ireland has been called the most pro-Palestinian country in Europe. So this might surprise you: at the same time – largely under the radar – it has been playing a pivotal role in connecting businesses in illegal Israeli settlements with consumers around the world.

Take the case of Etsy, the popular platform for more “ethical” artisanal and vintage shopping online. The company’s business outside the Americas is handled by its Irish subsidiary. This business includes hosting dozens of shops that explicitly list illegal settlements as their locations (as documented in a recent investigative report I worked on).

Etsy has a big Dublin office not far from Ireland’s parliament, which has been discussing a new bill to prohibit state investment in settlement businesses. It is the latest but not the only example of such contradictions. Airbnb has been challenged for years for listing properties in settlements, also through its Dublin-based subsidiary.

What is going on here? Two Irish trends seem to be colliding with each other. For decades, Ireland has worked to make itself a particularly “attractive” base for expanding multinational companies. Meanwhile, it has a long history of opposing occupation and it has been on the global stage for supporting Palestinian rights and statehood.

This is why people of conscience around the world should keep an eye on the Emerald Isle. It has an opportunity to help protect global consumers from complicity in Israeli war crimes. There also seem to be some clear ways in which the country could take action against settlement businesses, including under anti-money laundering legislation.

Illegal Israeli settlements have been expanding amid Israel’s war and “plausible genocide” in Gaza. They have also been in the news for increasing violence by some settlers against Palestinians who live nearby. The United Nations human rights office said that the establishment and expansion of these settlements amounts to a “war crime”.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in July 2024 also confirmed that these settlements go against international law. It was clear that all countries are obliged “not to render aid or assistance in maintaining” this unlawful situation.
Ireland, which additionally officially recognised Palestine as a state earlier this year, is not a country that you’d expect to be enabling illegal Israeli settlements. But it has worked since the 1950s to become a hub for thousands of multinational corporations – including those with connections to these settlements like Etsy and Airbnb.

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Number of illegal cigarettes in Ireland hits 10 year high as one in five packs smuggled in

The level of illegal cigarettes in Ireland was at its highest level in over a decade last year with almost 1 in 5 packs smuggled into the country, according to research by Revenue.

However, there is no evidence of any counterfeit tobacco products being sold to consumers in the Republic.

The latest annual survey commissioned by the tax authorities to assess the scale of illegal tobacco products being sold in the Republic found 19% of cigarette packs analysed last year were classified as illegal. It is the highest rate since the annual survey was introduced in 2009 and up from 17% the previous year.

Revenue has estimated the potential loss to the Exchequer from the consumption of 32.9 million illegal cigarette packs last year is approximately €422 million – up €38 million on 2022 estimates.

However, the survey found that none of the illegal packs detected last year were counterfeit cigarettes. The figure for counterfeit tobacco products had peaked at 7% in 2021.

The survey showed 99% of illegal packs analysed in 2023 were categorised as “contraband” – normal commercial brands of cigarettes which were bought either duty paid or duty-free abroad and smuggled into Ireland. The remaining 1% of illegal packs were “illicit whites” which are classified as cigarettes manufactured for the sole purpose of being sold illegally in another market.

The level of cigarettes brought into the country from abroad by smokers for personal use was also at its highest ever rate last year. The survey found 15% of cigarette packs were legal but without duty paid in Ireland which indicates they were legally purchased in another jurisdiction and brought into Ireland by the smoker.

The rate had been below 10% for most of the past decade. “The 2023 results suggest that the prevalence of both illegal and legal non-Irish duty paid packs has increased in recent years,” said Revenue.

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Ryanair CEO: “It’s a Complete Scam, These People Are Not Refugees”

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary asserted that the asylum system was “a complete scam” and that such individuals “are not refugees” because they are arriving from safe countries and then flushing their passports down the toilet.

O’Leary made the comments during an appearance on the Newstalk radio station.

The airline boss was asked how people are able to arrive in Ireland on Ryanair flights without proper documentation or being able to prove their identities.

“Yeah because they flush them down the toilet, they arrive at Dublin airport and they flush them down the toilet,” he responded.

O’Leary said non-EU visitors to Ireland had to have their passports photographed at the border control desk so the details could be sent to the government, but that this was impossible with economic migrants.

“They show up here…it’s a complete scam and these are not refugees, one of the things that drives me nuts in Ireland is we treat people as refugees who are coming from the UK or from France,” he complained.

“Nobody got to Ireland from Afghanistan or from Kenya or from Nigeria or from Syria on a direct flight because there aren’t any, so you’re not fleeing persecution in the UK or in Germany, O’Leary added.

“We should look after refugees, I have great sympathy for the Ukrainians, but people who are arriving here from the UK, France or other EU countries, we should be turning them back saying, here back to the EU countries where you came from.”

O’Leary said it was difficult to track what flight the migrants were on or what seat they were sitting in “because they tear up or flush their documentation down the toilets, and all of them have documentation when they board the RyanAir flight at the other side.”

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Public Art Portal Intended to Dismantle Argument For Borders Needs a Border to Protect It

The Portal, a public art installation intended to demonstrate how borders hinder human affinity and connectivity, now needs a border and 24/7 security to protect it from undesirables.

Oh, the irony.

The continuous live video feed, which allows Dubliners and New Yorkers to see each other and interact, has been beset with a deluge of anti-social behavior, including people flashing their private parts and engaging in other lewd, drunken and offensive behavior.

That wasn’t the intention of the artist behind the project, with Lithuanian Benediktas Gylys asserting that, “Portals are an invitation to meet people above borders and differences and to experience our world as it really is – united and one.”

“The livestream provides a window between distant locations, allowing people to meet outside of their social circles and cultures, transcend geographical boundaries, and embrace the beauty of global interconnectedness,” he added.

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Irish Government Wants Pre-Election Pact With Tech Giants To Counter Online “Disinformation”

Many governments around the world are no longer at least pretending they don’t see Big Tech as a major political asset, or that they will not try to use that asset to their advantage. Instead, this behavior is slowly being normalized – albeit always qualified as a democracy-preserving, rather than undermining policy.

In other words, something driven by the need to combat “disinformation” and not what critics suspect it is – the need to harness and control the massive reach, influence, and power of major social platforms.

Judging by reports out of Ireland, it is among those countries, with big words like “supercharged disinformation threats to democracy” flying around as the government looks to use what some might call “supercharged fearmongering” to secure no less than a “pre-election pact with tech giants.”

Some of this is yet to be enacted through the Electoral Reform Act, so in the meanwhile Big Tech representatives have been summoned to a meeting, via lobbyists representing them, Technology Ireland, to discuss the said “threats.”

The Electoral Reform Act is supposed to formalize new rules for both platforms and those buying ads, while during the meeting, set to take place in late April, tech companies will be expected to sign “the Irish Election Integrity Accord.”

A letter signed by Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien and Minister of State Malcolm Noonan explained that the Accord will be new, but based on the Electoral Reform Act from 2022, and always focusing on “disinformation,” and advertising. What the giants are expected to sign up to is “a set of principles for the sector and the state to work by to safeguard our democracy over these crucial next few months.”

The Accord appears to have been put together to bridge the gap between the time of campaigning and elections, and the full enactment of the Electoral Reform Act, envisaged to complement and “reaffirm” similar legislation in the EU and member countries.

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