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Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar has criticized the Trump administration for its record on gay rights and says he will bring up the topic with Trump when they meet on Thursday of this week. “What I intend to say is that for the vast majority of people around the world including people from gay lesbian transgender backgrounds, we have always seen America as a beacon of freedom,” the Taoiseach, who is gay, said. “This is the land of the free, the home of the brave. This is where the LGBT rights movement began.” He added: “It is really tough to...

More than nine in ten residents have voted against plans to plant 115 migrants in the small town of Lisdoonvarna, local media reports. The Irish government says there can be “no delay” in beginning to transfer the first batch of asylum seekers it intends to accommodate in a hotel in the town of just 300 people.

An Irish newspaper was forced to retract an article after it admitted that it had published a fake poll about abortion, misleading its readers into believing a majority of Irish doctors support the abortion of pre-born babies in the first trimester. The Irish Examiner splashed the headline "75% of doctors support 12-week access to abortion" over its front page on February 8. The sub-heading read: "Poll of 400 medics shows support for liberalising abortion regime", and claimed that "three out of every four GPs and hospital consultants are in favour of allowing unrestricted access to abortion up to 12 weeks...

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will not be seeking the assistance of US president Donald Trump to help end the ongoing political stalemate in Northern Ireland. Mr. Varadkar was questioned by reporters about Mr. Trump’s book The Art of the Deal and whether the president’s role as a businessman could be put to use in Northern Ireland. Responding, Mr. Varadkar said: “I have read The Art of the Deal, and the basic concept behind that is a good deal is when I win and you lose. That’s not the kind of deal that is going to work in Northern Ireland. So while...

Irish officials have given a cautious response to the proposal by US president Donald Trump to abolish the green card lottery scheme, as the Trump administration continues its clampdown on immigration into the United States. Revelations that the Uzbek suspect in Tuesday’s attack in New York entered the United States on the visa program prompted Mr. Trump to call for the abolition of the visa lottery system on Wednesday. The green card lottery system is offered to 50,000 people from 160 countries every year. […] However, the number of Irish who participate in the scheme is relatively low — approximately...

The Irish Government plans to engage with the United States to secure a deal for Irish immigration following Donald Trump’s announcement in September that the deferred action for childhood arrivals (DACA) program would be dismantled. A new immigration legislation bill is expected to be presented by US Congress by March 2018. President Donald Trump’s controversial move to dismantle DACA, the “dreamers” law protecting the undocumented migrants who were brought to the United States as children, could mean an opportunity for the Irish to secure inclusion into the new legislation. It is planned that the issue of the undocumented will feature...

A mere six men will be starting the classes required to become a priest at the National Seminary at St. Patrick's College Maynooth in County Kildare this fall – the lowest number in the seminary’s more than two centuries of existence. Fifteen men, the Irish Catholic reports, are currently undergoing preparatory work that will allow them to become seminarians in the fall of 2018. Maynooth, which opened in 1795, was once the largest seminary in the world with space for 500 men to train to become priests. Last year there were only 80 men undergoing the necessary studies at the...

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has acknowledged that women in Ireland do not enjoy full equality “in lots of different fields”. His comment came while answering questions in Longford yesterday, about an earlier call by the Children’s Minister for “reproductive justice” for Ireland. Mr. Varadkar told Shannonside FM that he welcomed Katherine Zappone’s contribution to the abortion debate. …

The Canadian PM urged his Irish counterpart to support 'reproductive rights'Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has told his Irish counterpart that abortion in Ireland should be a “human right”. At a three-day meeting between Mr Trudeau and Leo Varadkar, the Irish taoiseach, the two leaders spoke about Mr Varadkar’s plan to hold a referendum next year to repeal the Eighth Amendment to the Irish constitution, which protects the right to life of the unborn child. “We discussed the issue of abortion, which I know is an important issue for a lot of campaigners for women’s rights in Canada,” the taoiseach...

Meet Dr Matt Barrett - the rock behind Leo Varadkar as he strives to become leader of Fine Gael. Although the pair have been an item for the last 18 months, they have so far shunned the spotlight - although that could change should Mr Varadkar become Taoiseach. The couple have holidayed together, met each other's families and even shared a joint birthday bash. As chaos continues within the Government about Enda Kenny's resignation as Taoiseach, attention has turned to Mr Varadkar as a future leader. As tensions rise, Mr Vardkar is seen to have a strong partner by his...

“I’d like any contest, whenever it does happen, to be about not personalities but people’s vision for the future of the country and how we can move on from a situation where we’ve crawled out of a very difficult recession into one where we can be much more ambitious about the future of our country. I’m not going to make my personal life and my family life an issue in any campaign, and I hope and trust that others won’t do either,” he added. The speaker is Leo Varadkar, favorite to be the next leader of Fine Gael in a...

Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar has thrown his political weight behind indexing welfare payments to inflation. Speaking at MacGill Summer School in Donegal, the Dublin TD struck a socially aware tone throughout his speech — referring to the period of economic downturn as “Ireland’s lost decade” and bemoaning a stalling in living standards. “Were it not for social welfare payments over half of the country would be at risk of poverty,” he said, before he emphasized the need to “protect the value of these payments now and into the future”. “I believe this can best be done by indexing...