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☆ Biden Irish tour moves to Dublin for parliamentary address, castle banquet
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] U.S. President Joe Biden holds a toy Air Force One as he meets with U.S. embassy staff families in Dublin, Ireland April 12, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin LamarqueDUBLIN, April 13 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden, a proud Irish-American, took his three-day tour of Ireland to Dublin on Thursday for an address to parliament and a banquet at Dublin Castle as his focus shifted from Northern Irish peace to celebrating his heritage. It feels like I'm coming home," Biden told journalists on Wednesday afternoon as he toured Carlingford Castle, near the home of one of the Irish branches of his family. Biden will be guest of honour at a banquet at St Patrick's Hall in Dublin Castle on Thursday evening, an honour previously given to Queen Elizabeth II and U.S. President John F. Kennedy. Biden will be accompanied for some of his Dublin engagements by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is visiting Ireland before travelling to Vietnam and Japan.

Ambassador to the United Kingdom Jane Hartley greet U.S. President Joe Biden next to Joe Kennedy upon Biden's arrival at RAF Aldergrove airbase in County Antrim, Northern Ireland April 11, 2023. Ahern said he knew from experience that "knocking heads together" did not usually work in Northern Ireland and that Biden should point out the obvious case that, in any democracy, institutions of parliament were essential. Biden will travel later on Wednesday to County Louth - midway between Belfast and Dublin - where his great-grandfather was born. Biden will meet relatives from another side of his family in the western county of Mayo on Friday. Writing by Padraic Halpin; Additional reporting by Conor Humphries; Editing by Peter Graff and Alex RichardsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Biden heads to Northern Ireland at delicate political juncture
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Conor Humphries | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

BELFAST, April 11 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden arrives in Belfast on Tuesday at a delicate political time in Northern Ireland as he helps mark the 25-year anniversary of a peace deal that largely ended 30 years of bloodshed there. Biden was expected to meet representatives from five Northern Irish parties in advance of his speech at Ulster University but was not planning to pressure them, a senior administration official said. Biden, who will float the possibility of closer investment ties between the U.S. and Northern Ireland to try to encourage an end to the impasse, clashed with the British government at times during the Brexit talks, drawing a rebuke from the DUP. Britain's MI5 intelligence agency recently increased the threat level in Northern Ireland from domestic terrorism to "severe" - meaning an attack is highly likely. "Since (Jonh F.) Kennedy there hasn't been as Irish American a president as Joe Biden and we're really looking forward to welcoming him home," Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Sunday.

☆ Petrol bombs thrown at Northern Irish police on eve of Biden visit
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDONDERRY, Northern Ireland, April 10 (Reuters) - A number of masked people attacked police with petrol bombs and other objects at a parade opposing the Good Friday peace accord in Londonderry, police said on Monday, a day before U.S. President Joe Biden visits Belfast. A Reuters photograph showed four young people in the mainly Irish nationalist area of Creggan throwing petrol bombs at an armoured police vehicles, which was covered in flames on one side. "Our officers have come under attack in Creggan with petrol bombs and other objects thrown at their vehicle while in attendance at an un-notified Easter parade. Monday marked the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement that largely ended three decades of sectarian bloodshed in Northern Ireland. Reporting by Clodagh Kilcoyne, writing by Padraic Halpin in Dublin; editing by John Stonestreet and Barbara LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Irish PM seeks to restore Northern Ireland power-sharing within months
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DUBLIN, April 9 (Reuters) - Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar pledged on Sunday to intensify efforts with his British counterpart Rishi Sunak to restore power-sharing government in Northern Ireland and hopes to break the deadlock there in the next few months. London has said it will not renegotiate any part of its the new agreement. The latest suspension of the assembly is casting a shadow over Monday's 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. U.S. President Joe Biden will visit Northern Ireland on Tuesday to mark the peace accord that ended three decades of bloodshed. Power-sharing has collapsed a number of times for different reasons since its introduction as part of the peace deal, each time being restored after long political talks.

☆ U.S. President Biden to visit Ireland, Northern Ireland next week
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Padraic Halpin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Summary Political stalemate awaits president in Northern IrelandBiden to underscore U.S. support for N.Ireland economyWill visit ancestral homes on both coasts of IrelandDUBLIN, April 5 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will visit Ireland and Northern Ireland on April 11-14 to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday peace accord on one side of the Irish border and visit his ancestral home on the other, the White House said on Wednesday. However the anniversary has been overshadowed by a year-long boycott by Northern Ireland's largest pro-British unionist party of the power-sharing devolved government central to the 1998 deal. The British government and the European Union reached a deal in February to ease post-Brexit trade rules between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K. There is still some sporadic violence in Northern Ireland by small groups opposed to peace. The 1998 deal was partially brokered by the U.S. government of then-President Bill Clinton, who will travel to Belfast a week later with his wife Hillary for an event marking the anniversary.

☆ Ireland to consult public on military neutrality in wake of Ukraine war
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Padraic Halpin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"The international security environment has changed significantly over the last year. "Ireland's commitment to a rules-based international order and our traditional policy of military neutrality do not inure us from the need to respond to this new reality." The forum will hear from security, defence and foreign policy experts, as well as political representatives, civil society, academics and other relevant bodies. Martin told national broadcaster RTE that there is "no preconceived outcome" to the discussions and that the government has no plans to change its policy of military neutrality. Critics say the policy, and the country's low level of spending on defence, leaves it dependent on the good will of allies.

In a short section, the deal said it was essential to address the suffering of victims as a necessary element of reconciliation. The bill is opposed by all Northern Ireland political parties, the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the Irish government and victims' groups. "It toys with what is a very delicate peace settlement here," said Amnesty International Northern Ireland deputy director Grainne Teggart. KEEP GOING[1/4] Andrea Brown, daughter of Royal Ulster Constabulary officer Eric Brown who was killed in 1983, holds a portrait of her father in Moira, Northern Ireland, March 29, 2023. In 2019 a Northern Ireland court ordered an independent investigation into alleged collusion between security services and the gang suspected of the killing.

[1/4] Andrea Brown, daughter of Royal Ulster Constabulary officer Eric Brown who was killed in 1983, holds a portrait of her father in Moira, Northern Ireland, March 29, 2023. In a short section, the deal said it was essential to address the suffering of victims as a necessary element of reconciliation. The bill is opposed by all Northern Ireland political parties, the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the Irish government and victims' groups. "It toys with what is a very delicate peace settlement here," said Amnesty International Northern Ireland deputy director Grainne Teggart. In 2019 a Northern Ireland court ordered an independent investigation into alleged collusion between security services and the gang suspected of the killing.

☆ Northern Ireland's 'peace babies' desperate for more progress
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Amanda Ferguson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Born in December 1998, Moore is one of Northern Ireland's so-called "peace babies", the generation born just after the Good Friday Agreement was signed and considered the embodiment of hope for the region's post-conflict future. said Moore, a social policy and communications worker from Derry, referring to the barriers besieged residents erected to protect themselves. Stormont (the Northern Irish assembly) not being up and running is ridiculous," said Jessica Keough from Bangor, County Down, who is from a unionist background but sees herself as Irish and Northern Irish, "and not British at all." More than 90% of schools in Northern Ireland remain segregated along religious lines, as is housing in many areas. "There is something special about being a peace baby so people born around (that time) feel protective about the peace and the Good Friday Agreement."

[1/3] Prime Minister Tony Blair (R) embraces Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern after all parties reached a historic peace agreement April 10, 1998. The peace has utterly transformed the region, largely ending three decades of bitter violence that killed 3,600. "Nothing's ever irresolvable" said Blair, summing up the stubborn optimism many developed working in Northern Ireland at the turn of the millennium. Nationalists, who are mostly Catholic, say Northern Ireland was wrenched from the EU in a UK-wide vote even though its smallest region voted 56% to 44% to remain. "There is an exhaustion and frustration," at the DUP's repeated objections, said Ahern, Irish prime minister from 1997-2008.

☆ Germany could block ChatGPT if needed, says data protection chief
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, April 3 (Reuters) - Germany could follow in Italy's footsteps by blocking ChatGPT over data security concerns, the German commissioner for data protection told the Handelsblatt newspaper in comments published on Monday. "In principle, such action is also possible in Germany," Ulrich Kelber said, adding that this would fall under state jurisdiction. Privacy watchdogs in France and Ireland said they had also contacted the Italian data regulator to discuss its findings. "We are following up with the Italian regulator to understand the basis for their action and we will coordinate with all EU data protection authorities in relation to this matter," said a spokesperson for Ireland's Data Protection Commissioner (DPC). The privacy regulator in Sweden said it has no plans to ban ChatGPT nor is it in contact with the Italian watchdog.

☆ Northern Ireland's Orange Order says new Brexit deal needs improvement
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

However, it does not resolve the fundamental concerns," the Orange Order said in a statement on Tuesday. The Windsor Framework continues to treat Northern Ireland as a place apart within the United Kingdom and equal citizenship has not been restored." The statement said the Orange Order would not endorse the deal without "substantial and tangible progress which resolves these fundamental issues". As part of Brexit, Northern Ireland effectively remained in the bloc's single market to avoid a hard border with EU-member Ireland. Business groups have overwhelmingly supported the Windsor Framework, seeing it as removing damaging uncertainties over trading relationships.

☆ Imperious Ireland beat England to clinch Six Nations Grand Slam
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( Padraic Halpin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

DUBLIN, March 18 (Reuters) - Ireland completed their fourth Six Nations Grand Slam with a 29-16 victory over England at a pulsating Aviva Stadium on Saturday, emphatically underlining their status as the world's top-ranked team heading into September's World Cup. What a group of coaches," Ireland captain Johnny Sexton, playing in his final Six Nations game, said in a pitchside interview. If it looked like Ireland would cruise towards a Grand Slam in Dublin, following success in Twickenham (2018), Cardiff (2009) and Belfast (1948), England had other ideas and another Owen Farrell penalty after the break made it 10-9. "We've built some foundations over the course of the Six Nations but clearly we want to be a better team." The defeat consigned England to fourth place in the table and a third successive Six Nations with more defeats than victories after winning the championship in 2020.

☆ Oscar success puts 'endangered' Irish language centre stage
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( Padraic Halpin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

DUBLIN, March 12 (Reuters) - Thousands of miles from the glitz of Sunday's Oscars, the first Irish language film to earn a nomination is sparking renewed interest in a native tongue spoken by so few it is considered endangered by the United Nations cultural agency. Competing for best international feature, "An Cailín Ciúin" (The Quiet Girl) last year became the first Irish language film to gross more than 1 million euros ($1.06 million) at the UK and Irish box office. Director Colm Bairéad says the success feels like it is boosting a language he grew up feeling self-conscious about because of its rarity. Mac Conghai's production company, which creates everything from Irish language children's programmes to dating shows, has more than doubled its number of staff in the past decade. "I think it's a way of seeing the language isn't just something academic or something historical in a museum.

☆ Ireland to vote on removing 'outmoded' references to women from constitution
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBLIN, March 8 (Reuters) - Ireland plans to hold a referendum in November to delete references to a woman's place being in the home from its constitution, the government announced on Wednesday. While a wave of social change in the once deeply Catholic nation has seen the 86-year-old constitution amended in recent years to remove bans on abortion and permit same-sex marriage, "outmoded" references to womens' role in society remain. A citizen's assembly - a forum used to debate potential constitutional changes - in 2021 recommended removing those references and replacing them with gender-neutral and non-discriminatory language. Any constitutional change in Ireland must be appoved by popular vote. Both referendums to liberalise highly restrictive abortion laws and allow same-sex marriage were approved by large majorities.

☆ Flutter profit at lower end of guidance, U.S. outperforms
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBLIN, March 2 (Reuters) - Flutter on Thursday reported full-year core profit at the lower end of its guidance range but its fast growing U.S. business outperformed expectations as it became the betting company's largest division by revenue. Full-year core profit excluding the U.S. grew 4% to 1.295 billion pounds ($1.55 billion) versus the forecast range of 1.29 billion pounds to 1.39 billion pounds. Customer-friendly sports results hit profitability in December, it said, but $3.2 billion in revenue at its U.S. FanDuel business was at the top end of a range that it upgraded in November. The U.S. operation made a core loss of $313 million, compared with expected losses of $300 million to $360 million. ($1 = 0.8352 pounds)Reporting by Padraic Halpin Editing by David GoodmanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Profits, guidance up at Ireland's PTSB on NatWest loan deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DUBLIN, March 1 (Reuters) - Ireland's permanent tsb (PTSB) (IL0A.I) posted a jump in annual profit on Wednesday reflecting what it has called its "once-in-a-generation" purchase of loans from rival Ulster Bank. It posted a profit before tax of 267 million euros for 2022 versus a loss of 21 million euros a year earlier. Some 222 million euros of that arose primarily from taking on Ulster's mortgage and SME loan books, it said. Analysts at Davy Stockbrokers said the guidance indicated low- to mid-teen percentage upside to its forecasts and that the pace of European Central Bank interest rate rises could result in further upside. NatWest took a 17% share in PTSB as part of the loans deal, diluting the Irish government's holding to 62%.

☆ Factbox: UK says 'Stormont Brake' gives UK unequivocal veto over some EU laws
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Padraic Halpin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

In a British government document setting out details of the deal, London said the mechanism gives it an "unequivocal veto" on EU rules when 30 members of Northern Ireland's devolved government from two or more parties object. "Once the UK notifies the EU that the brake has been triggered, the rule in question is suspended automatically from coming into effect," the document published on the British government website said. "This would give the UK an unequivocal veto - enabling the rule to be permanently disapplied - within the Joint Committee." If the UK accepts these conditions have been met, it would commence intensive consultations at the joint committee. This would be because of a divergence in trade rules between Northern Ireland and Ireland - and thus the broader EU, London noted.

☆ Ireland sees inflation averaging 4-5% this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBLIN, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Irish inflation is expected to average between 4% and 5% across 2023, lower than the 7.1% the finance ministry most recently forecast last September, Finance Minister Michael McGrath said. Annual Irish inflation slowed to 7.8% in January after posting the sharpest monthly decline in seven years. "The good news is that inflation has now peaked, and is falling back," McGrath said in a speech late on Friday, citing a sharp fall in wholesale energy prices. In its last forecasts, the finance ministry saw modified domestic demand - its preferred measure of activity - slipping by 0.6 in the first quarter before expanding by 0.8% from April to June and averaging 1.2% for the year. The government has deposited 6 billion euros ($6.3 billion) in the reserve fund in recent months, setting aside some of its corporate tax receipts that it considers windfall in nature after an enormous rise in recent years.

☆ UK, EU inching towards Northern Ireland deal, Irish prime minister says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Momentum has been building for weeks towards a deal to ease checks on trade that were introduced under the Northern Ireland Protocol - the arrangements agreed to avoid a hard border with EU member Ireland when Britain exited the EU in 2020. Lawmakers in British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservative party have been told to be in parliament on Monday, in a sign that a deal could be imminent. Certainly the deal isn't done yet, but I do think we are inching towards a conclusion," Leo Varadkar told reporters. While an agreement would mark an end to a two-year standoff between Britain and the EU, Sunak could face a battle with pro-Brexit Conservative lawmakers and pro-British Northern Irish politicians to make the deal work. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), the region's largest pro-British party, has said it will not end its boycott of the assembly unless all checks on goods bound for Northern Ireland from Britain are removed.

[1/3] A road sign at a roundabout on the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland with directions to Belfast and Dublin is seen in Carrickcarnan, Ireland, May 19, 2022. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne/File PhotoLONDON/BELFAST, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Britain's foreign minister James Cleverly said London would not sign off on a deal with the European Union over changes to Northern Ireland's post-Brexit trading arrangements without the backing of its biggest unionist party. Cleverly told Times Radio on Friday that Britain's negotiations around the Northern Ireland Protocol were focused on addressing the concerns of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). But London needs the support of the DUP if a deal is to restore Northern Ireland's power sharing government that the DUP is currently boycotting over its opposition to the protocol. Naomi Long, the head of the province's cross-community Alliance Party, told Reuters it was wrong to give any individual party what appeared to be a veto on Northern Ireland's future.

☆ Northern Irish police suspect New IRA behind shooting of detective
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Amanda Ferguson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The gunmen continued to fire while the detective was on the ground, McEwan said. The primary focus is on violent dissident republicans and within that there is a primary focus as well on New IRA," McEwan told BBC Northern Ireland. While the peace agreement largely ended three decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland, police officers are still sporadically targeted by splinter groups of mostly Irish nationalist militants opposed to Britain's rule over the region. The last time a police officer was shot in Northern Ireland was 2017 and the United Kingdom last year lowered its Northern Ireland-related terrorism threat level for the first time in more than a decade. "Unfortunately this is a stark reminder for our colleagues that 25 years on from the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, policing in Northern Ireland is still a very dangerous occupation and carries extreme risk," Kelly said.

☆ Northern Ireland post-Brexit talks nearly done, EU says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Johanna GeronDUBLIN, Feb 21 (Reuters) - The European Union's Brexit chief said on Tuesday that the finishing line was in sight for talks on easing post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland ahead of a second successive day of discussions with his British counterparts. After weeks of intense London-Brussels talks, momentum has been building towards a deal to revise the Northern Ireland Protocol - the arrangements agreed to avoid a hard border with EU member Ireland when Britain exited the EU in 2020. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told his cabinet that intensive talks continued, his spokesman said, as his foreign and Northern Irish ministers prepared to speak to European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic later on Tuesday. But in such a negotiation, being close doesn't mean being done", Sefcovic told a press conference, declining to say when exactly an agreement might be reached. The DUP, Northern Ireland's largest pro-British party, has boycotted the region's devolved power-sharing parliament for the last year in protest at the protocol.

☆ Explainer: Talks on post-Brexit Northern Ireland trade edge closer to deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

WHAT IS THE NORTHERN IRELAND PROTOCOL? Northern Ireland also remains part of the UK's customs territory. That effectively created a customs border in the sea between Britain and Northern Ireland, which pro-British communities say erodes their place within the UK. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), Northern Ireland's biggest unionist party, also says the province should not have to follow laws without having a say. According to so-called dynamic alignment, this also means that any new EU acts may also be added to those that apply in Northern Ireland.

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