Morning Briefing – Irish Times
Top highlights - Irish Gaza aid flotilla detainees: Fourteen Irish activists among more than 400 people deported from Israel to Turkey after the Israeli navy intercepted their flotilla in international waters; they are due to fly home on Saturday. Israel denies claims of sexual assaults during detention. - DublinBikes overhaul: Dublin City Council will discontinue the 18-year-old DublinBikes scheme operated by JCDecaux next year and launch a new, council-run service with more than double the number of bikes. The current scheme has been loss-making, hit by theft and vandalism, and has not expanded in eight years. - Population growth: Ireland’s population rose by 88,597 (1.6%) last year to 5.44 million, four times the EU average growth rate. The increase is consistent with 2024’s pace but slower than 2022’s 2.2% rise, when Ukrainian arrivals boosted numbers.
Justice and legal - Workplace harassment sentence: A man who subjected a female colleague to “relentless” sexual innuendo, forcing her to leave her job, received a 2½-year suspended sentence and must pay €5,000 compensation. The sentence is suspended on condition he does not reoffend for seven years. - Barrister barred: The High Court prohibited barrister Joseph Sallabi from practising for failing to hold mandatory professional indemnity insurance. The court called his decision not to take out a €235 policy “astonishing.” - Solicitor cleared: Dublin solicitor Anthony Joyce was cleared of misconduct allegations that he helped a bankrupt couple conceal €10,000. A disciplinary tribunal found no wrongdoing.
Security and activism - Garda bravery honoured: Former detective chief superintendent Patrick “Malachy” Shiel and five others received Scott Medals for rescuing an IRA hostage under fire in 1975. Shiel now joins a small group to have been awarded two Scott Medals. - German arms plant trial: Dubliner Daniel Tatlow-Devally told a Stuttgart court that “urgent humanitarian concerns” over Gaza motivated a break-in at Elbit Systems Deutschland in Ulm last September. Five defendants face charges of illegal entry and criminal damage.
Culture and politics - Book launch: Irish Times journalist Sally Hayden released “This is Also a Love Story: Searching for Good in a Divided World,” chronicling love and resilience amid war and crisis across nine countries, including a couple separated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. - Paschal Donohoe honoured: The former minister received the Library Association of Ireland’s annual gold medal for services to libraries, while steering away from questions on his Dublin Central byelection successor.