"ABSOLUTELY NO EMPATHY": A People Before Profit candidate has made her social media private following backlash to a viral video in which she mocked Ryan Casey, the boyfriend of murdered schoolteacher Ashling Murphy:

https://gript.ie/pbp-candidate-makes-account-private-amid-ryan-casey-backlash/

JOHN MCGUIRK: The ESRI claimed yesterday that fuel duty cuts "disproportionately benefit the rich". That is outrageously misleading, and the Irish media letting the ESRI away with it shows that misinformation doesn't bother them at all:

https://gript.ie/the-esris-ludicrous-fuel-tax-criticism/

"Government members are out lauding these stingy cuts as if they were personally out filling up people’s cars or replenishing their home heating oil tanks. It is beyond farcical to witness this level of gaslighting," she said.

https://gript.ie/td-says-govt-expects-thanks-for-slap-in-face-on-fuel-cuts/

A teen girl and a woman in her 40s have been arrested in connection with a serious assault which took place in Co. Tipperary last week, as victim, Scarlett Faulkner, remains in a critical condition.

https://gript.ie/two-women-arrested-in-birdhilll-assault-investigation/

JOHN MCGUIRK: On the same day as the Irish Penal Reform Trust were arguing for lower sentences (again), the Hennessy gang got just over five years after remission for burning a man with a hot iron and breaking his arms:

https://gript.ie/hennessy-sentencing-iprt/

Paivi Rasanen MP was convicted for authoring a pamphlet in which were contained passages the court deemed to be “insulting” to a group of people on the basis of its sexual orientation.

https://gript.ie/finnish-mp-convicted-of-insult-over-22-year-old-church-doc/

MATT TREACY: Slavery was long a feature of African societies and the main suppliers of the slaves to the slave traders were the African tribes which captured and sold them. And it remains a virtually unbroken tradition in many parts of the continent.

https://gript.ie/the-duplicity-behind-the-african-demand-for-slavery-reparations/

The International Olympic Committee has announced a ban on transgender athletes competing in female events. The IOC said in a statement today that the policy, informed by an athlete survey, "protects fairness, safety and integrity in the female category":
 https://gript.ie/transgender-athletes-to-be-banned-from-female-events-at-olympics/

MEP for Ireland South, Michael McNamara, has described the Irish Medical Council’s inquiry into Wexford-based GP Dr Billy Ralph for posting ‘inappropriate tweets’ and undermining public health guidelines during the Covid-19 response as an “inquisition”.

https://gript.ie/mep-describes-medical-council-inquiry-on-ralph-as-inquisition/

O’Flynn warns child benefit system exposed as payments continue after people leave Ireland.

https://gript.ie/oflynn-calls-for-action-on-child-benefit-paid-after-departure/

A Congolese man who came to Ireland in 2002 before defrauding the taxpayer of €258,340 in social welfare payments has been jailed for two years and nine months.

https://gript.ie/e258340-social-welfare-fraudster-from-congo-jailed/

BREAKING: Riad Bouchaker (52) who is accused of attempted murder in relation to a stabbing outside a school on Parnell Sq. in 2023, is fit to stand trial.

https://gript.ie/parnell-school-stabbing-accused-fit-to-be-tried/

Farmers have warned that food prices may rise “exponentially” if cost pressures on producers persist, with the ICMSA linking the pressure in part to carbon tax on green diesel:

https://gript.ie/carbon-tax-blamed-as-farmers-warn-of-sharp-food-hikes/

The Irish Hotels Federation has rejected a proposed Dublin bed tax, warning it would raise costs for tourists and reduce Ireland’s competitiveness as a destination:

https://gript.ie/hotel-federation-warns-against-new-dublin-tourist-levy/

THOMAS O'REILLY: Maria Walsh was the sole Fine Gael MEP to reject the measure, one of just six EPP members to oppose migrant return hubs plans largely authored within her own group. Sinn Féin & Fianna Fáil MEPS also voted against the migrant return hubs. https://gript.ie/fine-gael-mep-maria-walshs-opposition-to-migrant-return-hubs/

PREMIUM: Noelia Castillo, a 25-year-old Spanish survivor of multiple sexual assaults and suicide attempts, died yesterday evening via euthanasia. She should have been helped, not killed, writes JASON OSBORNE

https://gript.ie/the-total-failure-of-noelia-castillo-by-the-spanish-state/

The European Commission has ordered some of the world's biggest pornographic websites, including PornHub, to implement age verification measures, or run the risk of racking up multi-million euro fines for allowing children to access their platforms:

https://gript.ie/porn-sites-ordered-to-improve-age-checks/

"It seems more like the Wild West than Citywest". Local Cllr reacts to revelations that Citywest asylum centre NEVER had necessary planning for that use - contrasts that to treatment of ordinary citizens in breach of planning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jncIFN_nKyU

Cllr Pepper’s intervention in the intended eviction has gone viral, and while the councillor says he understands the City Sheriff was carrying out a court order, he said he could not simply stand by and watch a family being put out during a housing crisis:

https://gript.ie/eviction-halted-after-cllr-pepper-intervention-goes-viral/

"There has been a spike in the use of drugs right now in Portugal": The Head of National Police in North Portugal has told an Oireachtas Committee examining decriminalisation that the country has seen a resurgence of public consumption of drugs.

https://gript.ie/portugal-oireachtas-committee-hears-of-drug-use-in-public-spaces/

THOMAS O’REILLY: “Breastfeeding Individuals”:  Billy Kelleher’s EU Health Report gets strong pushback From Women’s Groups, including one which pointed to Kelleher’s support for a European Parliament motion affirming “full recognition of trans women as women”.

https://gript.ie/irish-meps-report-slammed-trojan-horse-for-gender-ideology/