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The Minister for Justice has said too many people are being sent to jail for minor offenses by the district court. Simon Harris told RTÉ’s This Week that support needs to be provided to district court judges about the sentencing options available to them. “I have spoken to district court judges during my tenure in terms of the suite of options available to them,” he said. However, the minister defended plans to increase prison capacity, as a means of dealing with overcrowding. He said increased capacity was required to modernize prison facilities, and also to recognize that people need to...

Good Morning Patriots! Russian freedom fighters withdraw from Billorod (say the name!). Russians forced to spread around troops in response to the Billorod incident, prompting Ukraine to target these moving forces via drones and HIMARS.

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin stresses importance of collaboration between intelligence services in visit to US. France's Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said that the primary risk for Europe and France is "Sunni Islamist terrorism” Ashleigh Furlong May 20, 2023 There’s a risk of a “resumption” of the “Islamist terrorist” threat in Europe, France’s Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said during a visit to the U.S. Stressing the importance of anti-terrorism collaboration between intelligence services from both sides of the Atlantic, Darmanin said in an interview with Agence France-Presse that “for Europeans and for France the primary risk is Sunni Islamist terrorism.” While...

Romania must legalise same-sex civil unions, Europe's top rights court ruled on Tuesday, in a victory for LGBTQ+ campaigners in the socially conservative southeastern European country. Twenty-one same-sex couples took Romania to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), arguing the lack of legal recognition of their relationships "deprived them of their dignity as spouses". In a ruling on Tuesday, the ECHR found the country had violated Article 8 of the European Convention, which protects the right to respect for family life, by not giving LGBTQ+ couples any means of legally safeguarding their relationships. The Romanian couples cited the disadvantages...

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo on Monday (22 May) criticized the idea of not growing the economy for environmental reasons, joining calls to stop environmental and health-related regulation to prevent overburdening companies. As EU industry transforms towards net-zero emissions, it should not be burdened with additional regulation, De Croo (Open VLD/Renew) told a conference hosted by the Wirtschaftsrat der CDU, a business group with close ties to the German conservative CDU party (EPP affiliated). “Let’s not try to do everything at the same time. Let us focus on what is the most important,” De Croo said, calling for a...

The practice of “greenwashing” is set to be targeted by the European Union, with a new directive to protect consumers. Lots of companies make claims about their environmental sustainability, but there is no simple way for consumers to know if what is claimed is true or may qualify as “greenwashing”. There are many definitions of what greenwashing is, but it basically involves entities making inaccurate or even false claims about the environmental impacts of their businesses, services or products. In Ireland, consumers can complain to the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland (ASAI) if they think a claim is untrue. The...

Gardaí feel "abandoned" when it comes to policing anti-migrant protests, according to the General Secretary of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors. Speaking to journalists outside Garda Headquarters in Dublin, Antoinette Cunningham said it was a matter of “extreme urgency” that Garda Commissioner Drew Harris meets the AGSI to discuss its concerns. Earlier, Ms. Cunningham said the organization had written to Commissioner Harris about the policing of anti-immigration protests. This afternoon, she said that if the AGSI does not get a response to its request to meet Commissioner Harris by the end of the day, the Association’s National Executive...

Four asylum seekers have left the site of accommodation that was provided for them in Co Clare, during an ongoing blockage of access routes by locals to the site. A group of 34 asylum seekers was accommodated at three holiday homes on the site of Magowna House Hotel in Inch on Monday evening. However, access roads to the the site were then blocked by local protesters using tractors with another gate being blocked by a silage bail. On Tuesday, some asylum seekers expressed fear over the ongoing situation. One of the drivers of the tractors, who did not want to...

This is not a job. It’s a mission. A calling. That’s how Dr. Amal Jadou Shakaa, Palestinian Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, describes her role. You might roll your eyes at a politician describing their job as a vocation. But perhaps not with Dr. Jadou. Firstly, young, female politicians are relatively rare in the Arab world, but also Dr. Jadou, who was a graduate fellow at Harvard Law School, was born in a refugee camp. […] Dr. Jadou is calling on Ireland to formally recognize the state of Palestine, as agreed on by both houses of the Oireachtas. “We want...

There have been confrontations between anti-immigration protesters and gardaí after protesters marched to the International Protection Office on Mount Street in Dublin city centre. Since March, a growing number of tents have been pitched outside the office and in surrounding streets. The protesters shouted at asylum seekers, telling them they were not welcome; and there were also confrontations with gardaí as some pursued a man they objected to. A number of garda units, including one Public Order unit, attended the scene. No arrests were made. “All persons present later dispersed from the scene,” An Garda Síochána said in a statement....

Gardaí had to be called to remove controversial priest Fr Seán Sheehy and a group of protesters from the constituency office of Education Minister Norma Foley at a recent rally in Tralee. The online video shows the priest, who denounced homosexuality during a sermon in a Kerry church in November 2022, and a group of around 20 people part of a rally against sex education in schools. The group initially gathered outside the Tralee office before eventually going inside to confront the staff. One member of staff said she was assured that a peaceful protest would be held outside the...

Ukraine will now celebrate “Europe Day” on Russia’s “Victory Day,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Monday. The Kyiv leader decreed that Ukraine will celebrate Europe Day May 9, the same day Russia celebrates the end of World War II. “Now, as 80 years ago, Ukraine is fighting against total evil. Now, just like 80 years ago, Ukraine is fighting for the future – its own and that of the whole of Europe, the whole free world. Now, as 80 years ago, we rely on the common strength of free nations and know that together with them we will always be...

New analysis by Greenpeace has ranked the affordability of public transport in 30 European countries, concluding that in most places prices are too high. Apart from Luxembourg and Malta, which have made domestic public transport free, only Austria, Germany and Hungary have introduced relatively affordable nationwide tickets, costing less than €3 per day, according to the data published on Thursday (4 May). Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece and Norway scored worst in the ranking, while Dublin, London, Paris and Amsterdam ranked worst in the list of capitals, offering tickets above €2.25 per day. In Amsterdam, for example, the price of a yearly...

EU Displays Satanic Anti-Christian Artwork by Godless Lesbian in ParliamentThe Last Supper depiction by Elisabeth OhlsonThe EU displayed the satanic artwork by Anti-Christian activist Elisabeth Ohlson in the Parliament this week.Ohlson’s artwork mocks Christianity and insults Christians by its vulgar nature.An exhibition at the EU Parliament featuring an LGBT Jesus (in the background) has sparked protests from MEPs who say it is 'blasphemous and disrespectful'. Here is how the artist, Elisabeth Ohlson, responded to the critics. pic.twitter.com/1w7q8hZ0CGThis is what the European Union officials think of the continent’s Christian roots.The Catholic News Agency reported:An art exhibit at the European Union’s Parliament...

WowThe European Union is officially insane. The buyout scheme prohibits Dutch farmers from moving to other countries and starting up farms abroad, meaning that their knowledge and expertise would be lost.— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 4, 2023With something this draconian, this beyond all comprehension, I guess “Wow” is about all you can say, huh?Holy smokes. But it’s for real. The European Commission on Tuesday said it had approved two Dutch plans worth a combined 1.47 billion euros ($1.61 billion) to buy out livestock farmers to reduce nitrogen pollution, saying they are permissible under state aid rules.The Dutch need to reduce...

I hate to say this, I really do, but Bud Light parent company AB Inbev is going to be just fine, even after this whole fake woman fiasco. I also hate saying that even the Conservative side has #fakenews, and the constant pounding of Bud Light by Conservative media outlets is kind of outrageous, and only serves to further rile us up. Here's the truth: I've been watching the AB Inbev stock since this whole thing started. As of March 31, the stock was sitting at $66, slightly under the 52 week high, $20 above the 52 week low. Since...

Hungary’s populist prime minister likened liberalism to a “virus” in an opening speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in the Hungarian capital on Thursday, painting a picture of a global right-wing movement mobilizing to defeat “progressive elites.” Viktor Orban’s speech at CPAC Hungary centered around battling what he frequently described as “woke culture,” and delved primarily into hot-button cultural topics such as transgender and LGBTQ+ rights, migration and the content of education for children. After receiving a standing ovation, Orban said Hungary had become “world-famous” for its hard-line migration and cultural policies, and offered those in attendance a recipe...

Have you ever been to a densely populated, unfamiliar city and struggled to find a parking spot? It happened to me today when I visited a nearby college town for a “Mom’s weekend” when parents of all college students descended there. Parking was so hard to find! If the World Economic Forum (“WEF”) gets its way, you will have trouble finding parking every day, everywhere! It turns out that the WEF has found a new enemy: parking spaces. You see, parking spaces slow down climate progress and “hold back urban mobility.” While it is hard for me to understand why...

Ukraine's Ambassador to Ireland has called for people to boycott Jameson Irish Whiskey after the company decided to continue trade in Russia.Larysa Gerasko alleges that Jameson is playing a part in financing Russian aggression in Ukraine by resuming trade in Russia.

Christine Anderson, a member of the European Parliament, believes that COVID passports and QR codes that became widespread during the pandemic were only test runs for implementing “15-minute cities” aimed at tightening government control over people.A 15-minute city is a neighborhood where a resident can reach everything they need, like a grocery store, doctor, and so forth within a 15-minute walk. According to Anderson, such cities are the beginning of tighter government control of people. The administration can exert control by deciding “you are no longer allowed to leave your 15-minute immediate area. They don’t have to fence it in...