Top Stories

Maternity in figures: How much private care costs – and why some mothers decide to pay

Choosing a private consultant costs thousands of euro per pregnancy, with only a fraction covered by insurance.

Olivia Napier
23rd Sep, 2026 - 5 min read

How Harley-Davidson, an American icon, became a tariff punching bag

U.S. motorcycle maker’s politically sensitive profile keeps it on tariff payback list, writes John Keilman, The Wall Street Journal.
The Wall Street Journal.
22nd Sep, 2026 - 3 min read

Investment firm Broadlake’s new foundation is teaming up with FoodCloud

Broadlake has invested in everything from healthcare to soap companies, but it now wants to help social enterprises grow. The investment firm plans to commit €1m a year to Irish charities, alongside providing 2,000 hours of its expertise and services.
Tom Lyons
22nd Sep, 2026 - 5 min read

As Ireland prepares the next stage of EU budget talks, MEPs are clinging to big-tech taxes

Powerhouses like Germany want smaller contributions from member states. Some are afraid a new EU digital levy will only enrage Donald Trump after Google's latest GDPR fine. Where is the middle ground?
Jonathan Keane
22nd Sep, 2026 - 5 min read

Trump ramps up bid to dismantle International Criminal Court

Administration prepares sweeping sanctions that would cut the court off from much of the global financial system, writes Matthew Dalton and Alexander Ward, The Wall Street Journal.
The Wall Street Journal.
21st Sep, 2026 - 3 min read

How AI is reshaping election campaigns in Israel

Lawmakers are hiring AI advisers, working to influence chatbot results and churning out AI-generated ads faster than regulators can keep up, writes Anat Peled, The Wall Street Journal.
The Wall Street Journal.
21st Sep, 2026 - 5 min read

$473m and an intractable state: Inside Smurfit’s years-long battle with Venezuela

Stripped of its assets by Chávez and Maduro, packaging giant Smurfit has spent years hunting down hundreds of millions in compensation. Then Trump came along.
Jonathan Keane
21st Sep, 2026 - 23 min read

“When we post events for ages 23-32, they sell out immediately”:  The Irish start-up acting as an antidote to Tinder

Catering to singles in their mid-20s to mid-60s, Your Friend My Friend is tackling the loneliness epidemic with good old-fashioned in-person events. And they’re selling out.
Kate Demolder
21st Sep, 2026 - 6 min read

“On the bank guarantee… He was protecting the people who used their money, who had overdrafts, who had mortgages, who had savings in the banks.”

Dion Fanning
19th Sep, 2026

Brian Cowen was considered one of Irish politics’s brightest lights. He was elected as a TD when he was 24, but by the age of 51, he had retired from office. Gary Murphy’s new biography looks at Cowen in the round. He talks to Dion Fanning about how Cowen feels about his time in office and the calamities that befell him and the country.

Top Voices

Safeguards, beef, and smoke and mirrors: The Mercosur debate is back

The European Commission recently suspended Brazilian beef imports into the bloc, reigniting a fierce debate over the EU-Mercosur trade deal and how its safeguards are working.
Jonathan Keane
23rd Sep, 2026 - 3 min read

Ronan Lyons: Crisis over, mission accomplished, and everything in between

I genuinely hope that we get to mark the end of the housing crisis within the next couple of years. But we will be living with an unhealthy housing system for some time to come – and the political system needs to remember that and not get distracted. 
Ronan Lyons
22nd Sep, 2026 - 6 min read

Europe can regulate mad and bad AI. Now we must build the ability to make it safe

The Government will host the International AI Summit in October. We should seize this opportunity to create a practical and safer vision for AI that serves the people of Europe, our businesses, and public institutions.
Sean Blanchfield
21st Sep, 2026 - 5 min read

Can Metrolink change the State’s spending culture?

Jack Chambers is getting bored of just spending money and more excited at increasing the return he can get from it. Beyond the €17bn metro test, transferring early capital successes into current expenditure will be the bigger challenge.
Thomas Hubert
20th Sep, 2026 - 6 min read

The game-time conundrum: How to fix Irish rugby’s production problem

Leinster are still sore about losing Joey Carbery to Munster eight years ago, but behind that individual story is a wider and ongoing issue about talent circulation – and the lack of it.

Brett Igoe
19th Sep, 2026 - 6 min read

A pillar on shaky foundations: Ireland’s ratification of CETA is back on the agenda

Could Canada become the EU’s first “associate member”? Maybe. But first, EU officials are talking about how to “persuade” the likes of Ireland to ratify the EU-Canada trade deal, Jonathan Keane reports from Strasbourg.
Jonathan Keane
18th Sep, 2026 - 4 min read

Why Ireland is attracting private equity in a more cautious market

With deal activity across Europe slowing, investors are looking harder at the quality of earnings, growth prospects, and value creation. Ireland possesses many of the characteristics they seek.

Ronan Murray
17th Sep, 2026 - 4 min read

Byron Fry: AI is reshaping defence – a realm known for rule-bending

Globally, there seems to be a desire to keep the genie in the bottle around autonomous weapons. Ireland, for its part, wants to prohibit the development of systems that do not comply with international humanitarian law.
Byron Fry
16th Sep, 2026 - 9 min read

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