Tag: ireland

How will hundreds of thousands in Gaza survive this winter? | TV Shows

With hundreds of thousands displaced, winter weather in Gaza is exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.

People carrying the bodies of loved ones through floodwaters, children drenched and barefoot, families huddled around campfires struggling to stay warm. These are just some of the sights we’re seeing in Gaza this winter. With more than 80 percent of the population currently displaced, according to the UN, and many living in tents, the arrival of winter in Gaza makes the already dire humanitarian crisis significantly worse.

Presenter: Anelise Borges

Guests:
Riham Jafari – ActionAid

Youmna ElSayed – Journalist

Dr Mads Gilbert – Physician

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Ireland to launch legal action against UK over Troubles amnesty law | Conflict News

Ireland to argue that aspects of the UK law are incompatible with its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Ireland says it will mount a legal challenge against the United Kingdom over a new law that gives some immunity from prosecution for offences committed during three decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.

Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin said on Wednesday that “after much thought and careful consideration”, his government is launching a legal challenge against the Legacy and Reconciliation Bill, which critics say shuts down access to justice for victims and survivors.

The law, passed in September, stops most prosecutions for alleged killings by armed groups and British soldiers during the Troubles, the three decades of violence in which more than 3,500 people died.

Many groups on the island of Ireland are vehemently opposed to the new law, including victims’ families, human rights organisations and all major political parties.

Martin said Britain had not properly engaged with people affected by the law before passing it.

“The British government enacted this legislation on September 18, 2023, shutting off any possibility of political resolution,” Martin said. “We now find ourselves in a space where our only recourse is to pursue a legal path.”

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said the case would be taken to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. Ireland plans to argue that aspects of the law are incompatible with the UK’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.

The United Nations and the Council of Europe have backed Ireland’s position, Varadkar said.

“It is something that we’re genuinely doing with a sense of regret and would prefer not to be in this position, but we did make a commitment to survivors in Northern Ireland and to the families of victims that we would stand by them,” he said.

The Troubles – a conflict over British rule in Northern Ireland – pitted Irish nationalist armed groups seeking a united Ireland against pro-British “loyalist” paramilitaries and the British military. It eventually came to an end in 1998 through a peace deal.

About 1,200 deaths from that time remain under investigation, according to the UK government.

Victims’ families have already been challenging the new law in the Northern Ireland courts.

Amnesty International Northern Ireland Deputy Director Grainne Teggart said the Irish government’s pushback is essential.

“The U.K. government doggedly pursued this legislation which shields perpetrators of serious human rights violations from being held accountable. It’s important that the Irish government takes this stand,” she said.

“This challenge is vital for victims here and around the world who face the prospect of similar state-gifted impunity,” Teggart said.

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Ireland bids farewell to singer-songwriter Shane MacGowan | Music News

Thousands pay tribute in Dublin to the musician best known as the lead vocalist for The Pogues.

Thousands of people have lined the streets of Dublin to bid farewell to singer Shane MacGowan, the London-Irish punk who transformed Irish traditional music with The Pogues.

A marching band led his funeral procession through central Dublin on Friday as the crowd sang beloved songs like Dirty Old Town, the folk classic MacGowan and The Pogues helped make popular.

The funeral is scheduled to take place in St Mary of the Rosary Church in the town of Nenagh west of Dublin at 15:30 GMT, after which another procession will take place through County Tipperary.

MacGowan changed up Irish folk music by infusing it with punk style and attitude as showcased in the popular 1988 Christmas ballad Fairytale of New York [Charles McQuillan/Getty Images]

MacGowan penned some of the 1980s’ most haunting ballads. He died on November 30 aged 65 after being in and out of hospital since July.

Fellow musicians last week led tributes to MacGowan, who became just as well known for his slurred speech, missing teeth and on-stage meltdowns as his drug and alcohol abuse took their toll from the 1990s on.

“Shane MacGowan, man, meant everything to me,” musician Roland Conroy told the Reuters news agency. “Irish punk rocker, he embodied everything: James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, William Butler Yeats. A poet. Just [brings] a tear to the eye. It’s a sad day. It’s a tragic day in Ireland. The world mourns.”

Prime Minister Leo Varadkar called MacGowan “an amazing musician and artist” whose songs “beautifully captured the Irish experience, especially the experience of being Irish abroad”.

MacGowan, former lead singer of The Pogues, in 1995 [File: Stringer/Reuters]

MacGowan co-formed The Pogues, which fused punk with Irish folk music, in 1982. He was born in England but spent much of his childhood in Ireland with his mother’s family.

The height of his success came in 1987 with Fairytale of New York, which MacGowan sang in a duet with Kirsty MacColl to create an instant Christmas classic in which an estranged couple exchange insults.

The song, which has returned to the UK Top 40 singles chart every year since 2005 but has never made it to number one, climbed to third position in the charts in recent days with a week to go before this year’s Christmas number one is decided.

The crowd at the funeral procession sang beloved songs like Dirty Old Town, the folk classic MacGowan and The Pogues helped make popular [Charles McQuillan/Getty Images]

The Pogues became an international symbol of Irishness, both at home and for the country’s sprawling diaspora, with MacGowan’s contribution recognised in a slew of tributes from political leaders.

The Pogues’ 1988 song Streets of Sorrow/Birmingham Six, which recounted the plight of six Irishmen wrongly imprisoned for deadly pub bombings in Birmingham, was banned from British airwaves.

Mary Lou McDonald, president of the republican political party Sinn Fein, called MacGowan “a poet, dreamer and social justice champion”.

“Nobody told the Irish story like Shane. He sang to us of dreams and captured stories of emigration,” she said.

MacGowan of The Pogues performs on stage at the British Summer Time Festival in London in 2014 [File: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images]

Micheal Martin, Varadkar’s deputy, said he was “devastated” by MacGowan’s death.

“His passing is particularly poignant at this time of year as we listen to ‘Fairytale of New York’ – a song that resonates with all of us,” he wrote.

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Taylor beats Cameron to become two-weight undisputed boxing champion | Boxing News

Ireland’s Katie Taylor added Britain’s Chantelle Cameron’s world super-lightweight titles to her lightweight belts six months after losing to her at the same venue.

Katie Taylor has avenged her only professional loss by beating Chantelle Cameron in a majority decision to become a two-weight undisputed boxing champion.

The Irishwoman improved to 23-1 after the judges scored the bout 98-92, 96-94 and 95-95 at Dublin’s 3Arena on Saturday night, six months after a majority decision went Cameron’s way in the same venue.

The 37-year-old Taylor, whose lightweight belts were not on the line, now adds Cameron’s world super-lightweight titles at 140 pounds.

“That was the longest six months of my life waiting for this rematch,” Taylor said in the ring.

“Tonight, you’ve seen the real me, and when I box like that, nobody can beat me.”

Taylor said she’s open to a third fight with Cameron and named Ireland’s largest stadium as a location.

“Let’s get the trilogy at Croke Park,” she said of the 82,000-capacity venue.

It was Cameron’s first professional loss. The 32-year-old Englishwoman’s record is 18-1.

‘Pride of Ireland’

Politician and leader of the Sinn Fein party Michelle O’Neill congratulated Taylor for her “fantastic performance” in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

“Ireland has a world champion,” she wrote.

Irish Member of Parliament Orfhlaith Begley termed Taylor the “pride of Ireland” in a post.

Former UFC champion Conor McGregor praised both competitors but hailed Taylor for her comeback after losing the title six months earlier.

“What a comeback! What a redemption! What a hero of Ireland!” he wrote in one of his several posts praising Taylor.

Several fans praised the former footballer as Ireland’s greatest-ever athlete.



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Bill Maher Compares “National Divorce” Concept To Ireland’s Partition On ‘Real Time’

Last night on HBO‘s Real Time with Bill Maher, the host celebrated St. Patrick’s Day by comparing America’s “national divorce” concept, promoted by the likes of Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, to Ireland’s partition in the 1920’s.

He noted the parallels between the religious hatred that ignited politics in Ireland prior to its divide and the conflict between Democrats and Republicans in today’s United States.

“You can’t think about the Irish without thinking about the division,” Maher said while referencing “The Troubles” that occurred on the Irish island. Now, the same political strife is occurring here in America, he noted. “We used to pray for the nation. Now each side prays the other side doesn’t destroy the nation.”

Maher then pointed the finger at former President Donald Trump for fueling the hatred, reading excerpts from a recent CPAC speech he gave. He joked that it was “big talk from a guy who can’t even shut up his girlfriends.”

He noted, however: “That’s where we are. Your fellow citizens aren’t just wrong. They are heretics that have to be destroyed.”

The comedian then mentioned that one-third of voters agree with MTG about America needing a national divorce between red and blue states. “She is playing with the kind of fire that made Northern Ireland a living hell,” said Maher.

“Just voicing this idea is dangerous,” he insisted. “It reinforces the idea that you can’t talk to “those people.”

Maher then explained how separating Americans into two countries is not as simple as one might think. There are conservatives who think the wall is “stupid” but support stronger borders, Republicans who support gay marriage, RINOs, liberals who don’t agree with defunding the police, and many more examples where views might clash even within a united province.

“Seems like we need a lot more new countries,” Maher said. “Or we could just stick with the one.”

He concluded by saying you can’t call yourself a patriot if you’re not for the whole “United” part of “United States.”

He suggested that “On this St. Patty’s Day, let’s take that whole ‘we’re all Irish on St. Patty’s Day’ thing and replace it with ‘we’re all Americans every day’.”



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