The last time a Pope visited Ireland, it was John Paul II in 1979. Almost half the population turned out to see him. Back then around nine out of ten Irish Catholics would attend weekly mass. Contraception, divorce and abortion were illegal. It will be a very different Ireland Pope Francis will visit this time. While there…
Michelle O’Neill is the Deputy Leader of Sinn Féin and heads up the party in the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Theresa May has congratulated Irish voters on their decision to liberalise abortion laws – but she’s now under pressure to reform Northern Ireland’s strict laws too, with MPs across the political spectrum calling for the “anomaly” to be resolved.
Ireland votes a resounding ‘Yes’ to liberalising its strict abortion laws. Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said the country was united – calling it the “culmination of a quiet revolution”.
Speaking at an event in Dundalk, Michel Barnier said the UK must soften its red lines if there was any chance of breaking an impasse on the Irish border issue. And he denied accusations from unionists that he wasn’t an “honest broker”. Matt Frei reports from Dundalk.
Liam Dutton
Earlier this week, I criticised the Irish Met Service, Met Eireann, for naming Storm Fionn. Here’s why I did this and how I think Met Eireann and the Met Office can improve the storm naming system.
Gary Gibbon
Leo Varadkar’s Fine Gael government is pleased with a concession wrung out of the UK promising continued regulatory alignment on regulations between Northern Ireland and Ireland.
The decision to double the amount Britain pays for the divorce bill now leaves the issue of the Irish border as the last remaining stumbling block preventing the EU moving on to Brexit trade talks. But those talks were threatened by the Irish government’s insistence that Britain needed to confirm in writing that there wouldn’t…
Gary Gibbon
Jeremy Corbyn made a rare PMQs foray into Brexit focusing in his first question on Ireland.
