Irish

Taoiseach Micheál Martin will travel to China beginning tomorrow for a five-day visit, the first by an Irish leader since 2012, as Beijing moves to shore up ties with individual European Union members amid deepening trade and security frictions. China’s foreign ministry announced the trip, which runs through Thursday, saying Beijing “is willing to take this visit as an opportunity to enhance political mutual trust and expand mutually beneficial co-operation with Ireland.” Martin is due to meet Premier Li Qiang and Zhao Leji,…

Irish troops to spend Christmas on peacekeeping duty in south Lebanon as UNIFIL observes fragile Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire More than 300 Irish soldiers will spend Christmas Day on peacekeeping duties at Camp Shamrock in south Lebanon, serving with the UNIFIL mission to observe the fragile ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah in the region. The deployment means hundreds of service members will mark the holiday away from home. Their work will continue through the day, focused on maintaining stability and…

Ireland’s Taoiseach Michéal Martin will press Lebanon’s prime minister for accountability in the killing of Private Seán Rooney during talks in Beirut on Friday, while delivering a Christmas message of thanks to Irish peacekeepers serving with the U.N. in south Lebanon. Martin is expected to raise the case directly with Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, underscoring Dublin’s concern that justice remains incomplete nearly two years after Rooney was shot dead while his UNIFIL convoy came under fire on Dec. 14, 2022, as it traveled…

Ireland’s prime minister rejected Donald Trump’s latest broadside against the European Union, after the U.S. president described the bloc as “weak” and accused member states of letting Ukraine fight “until they drop.” Speaking in Dublin, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said, “Europe is strong, not weak,” pointing to the EU’s pandemic response and ongoing work on defense and security as evidence of resilience. “New challenges” have emerged on defense and security, Martin said, but he added he was “confident” they would be overcome.…

BEIRUT — The Lebanese army said it arrested six people after gunmen opened fire on an Irish United Nations patrol in southern Lebanon on Thursday, in the latest flare-up along the volatile border region. United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) reported that six men riding three mopeds approached a patrol vehicle near Bint Jbeil at about 6 p.m. and one of the men fired “approximately three shots into the back of the vehicle.” The UN peacekeepers were not injured, UNIFIL said. The Irish Defence Forces confirmed its…

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…