Irish

Overview: a surge in Irish passport applications from the UK Nearly a quarter of a million people living in the United Kingdom applied for Irish passports in 2024, the highest number recorded since the UK formally left the European Union. The wave of applications cuts across Britain and Northern Ireland and reflects both practical responses to Brexit and longer-running family ties. Department of Foreign Affairs figures show 242,772 applications in 2024. Just over half (53%) of those applications came from people living…

Israeli navy intercepts international aid flotilla; at least eight Irish citizens detained An international flotilla attempting to bring food and medicine to Gaza was intercepted and boarded by Israeli naval forces on Wednesday, organisers and officials said, in a tense standoff that recalled a deadly raid more than a decade ago. Video livestreams from the boats showed passengers in life jackets sitting on deck, hands raised, as military vessels closed in. Detentions and immediate reactions Global Sumud Flotilla…

As tensions escalate in Lebanon, the Irish peacekeepers find themselves ensnared between two opposing factions. While clashes erupt on the ground, an intense battle for narrative and public sentiment unfolds online, compounded by widespread anxieties regarding the reliability of information circulating in the digital realm. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has raised alarms about the proliferation of false narratives, emphasizing the tangible repercussions such misinformation can impose on peacekeeping…

An Irish family recently found themselves caught in the chaos of Israeli missile strikes while in Lebanon, but they have safely returned home after a harrowing evacuation. Munir Zabad, aged 53, alongside his wife Ghada, 47, their 24-year-old daughter Ghadir, and 12-year-old son Hassan, touched down in Kilkenny on Saturday after making a stop at Eindhoven Airport in the Netherlands. The family had journeyed to Lebanon for two poignant reasons: to honor the memory of Mr. Zabad's late father and to celebrate Ghadir’s nuptials…