fishing industry
A series of articles about the dying Irish fishing industry - one of Ireland's few remaining indigenous industries.
Do you have a story? Contact me in confidence at reporterneilmichael.ie @ gmail.com
or text +35387 464 5309.
articles
Workplace Relations Commission: Teacher in job interview who lost out to candidate with no registration for subject
A leading secondary school looking for a maths teacher initially selected a candidate who did not have a Teaching Council of Ireland registration for maths, the Workplace Relations Commission has heard.One of the unsuccessful candidates for the job at Waterford's Kennedy College maintains that the fact that the successful candidate was also younger than him amounted to age discrimination.It was in the course of hearing that claim against Waterford and Wexford Education Training Board — which man...
Wind farms: State is missing an opportunity in wind farm development
As we here in Ireland grapple with the necessary adjustments to allow us cope with climate change, it is worth considering if the current Government model aimed at ensuring local communities benefit from windfarms could actually undermine those objectives.As is pointed out by Neil Michael in today’s newspaper, while it might appear Government's plans will deliver more renewable energy, there is a concern it could fail the wider test of a just transition if local communities or the Irish State d...
Wind farms: Kerry and Cork top Ireland's wind power league table
It may not have the largest installed wind energy capacity, but Galway can lay claim to being Ireland’s windiest county.Based on data collected over more than five years, the Atlantic-facing county recorded the highest number of wind warnings over the longest amount of time, as well as the strongest wind speeds.This is according to analysis of Met Éireann wind warnings from January 2020 to November 2025 by weather and hazards alert system MapAlerter.In a study published last November, it noted t...
Wind farms: Less than 2% of Ireland suitable for wind farms
With wind farms frequently making headlines, either through new developments or local objections, it might appear that Ireland is going to be overrun with turbines.The pressure to expand renewable energy is significant, with the Government under increasing pressure to meet legally binding climate targets and avoid potentially huge EU penalties for falling short.Yet despite the scale of planned expansion, there is still potential for enough additional wind energy capacity to power up to 6m homes...
Wind farms: Local communities should get a better dividend from wind farms
Two words often get neglected in discussions about wind energy — “just transition”.The noise from protests about wind farms, the prospect of Ireland being fined billions of euro for missing 2030 climate targets, and the growing chorus in favour of decarbonisation get far more attention than a concept that is actually the cornerstone of EU climate policy.Just transition is effectively a blueprint for how everybody in society should benefit from the transition to clean, renewable energy.It is all...
Wind farms: Why does Ireland still have only one community-owned wind farm?
When John Fogarty addressed the Oireachtas joint committee on climate action in October 2019, he hoped his experience would help make it easier for local communities to develop their own renewable energy projects.By then, the Templederry community wind farm in Co Tipperary had been generating electricity for seven years, following a journey that took more than a decade from conception to operation.Mr Fogarty, 77, a former Merchant Navy radio and electronics officer, appeared before TDs and senat...
WRC hears case of teacher in job interview who lost out to candidate with no registration for subject
A leading secondary school looking for a maths teacher initially selected a candidate who did not have a Teaching Council of Ireland registration for maths, the Workplace Relations Commission has heard.One of the unsuccessful candidates for the job at Waterford's Kennedy College maintains that the fact that the successful candidate was also younger than him amounted to age discrimination.It was in the course of hearing that claim against Waterford and Wexford Education Training Board — which man...
Garda Commissioner condemns reckless behaviour for 'social media likes' in wake of horror crash
Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly has condemned reckless behaviour for "social media likes" in the wake of a devastating crash that has claimed five teenage lives and shattered a family.Gardaí are still trying to identify people involved in a head-on collision on the M9, in which five people died in the early hours of this morning. The deceased were in a car driven the wrong way on the northbound side of the M9, into oncoming traffic at around 3am.The vehicle collided with another car, carrying fo...
Flahavan's workers to vote on possible strike action
Workers at Flahavan's are to vote on possible strike action in a dispute over a new "flexibility agreement" being proposed by management.Unite trade union said members employed at the porridge oats and granola producer in Kilmacthomas, Co Waterford, voted unanimously at an extraordinary general meeting over the weekend to ballot for industrial action.'Pay linked to flexibility deal the union did not see' The union said the move follows what it described as management's "unilateral attempt" to t...
'You must speak up': Defence Forces launches campaign to tackle 'unacceptable behaviour'
The Defence Forces has launched an internal campaign to tackle “unacceptable behaviour” as its chief of staff urged people to "speak up" when witnessing wrongdoing.The See Something, Say Something campaign was formally launched today by Lieutenant General Ross Mulcahy.In an internal memo, he told senior officers and other personnel that the campaign will run for the next year and “will provide clear information on dealing with behaviour that is not in line with our organisation's values”.He rem...
National Symphony Orchestra musician, 71, claims discrimination on age grounds
The Workplace Relations Commission is to investigate a claim that one of Ireland’s celebrated classical musicians has been discriminated against on the grounds of his age.John Finucane, who has been principal clarinet with Ireland’s RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra since 1995 and has been described by Gramophone magazine as "an outstanding virtuoso", claims he is being discriminated against by the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM).The 71-year-old has had a contract of “indefinite duration” wi...
Isme: Ireland's reliance on multinationals is 'a national emergency'
Irish governments have been “sleepwalking” towards a potential economic crisis by failing to reduce the State’s dependence on foreign direct investment, according to Isme, the representative body for small and medium businesses.Chief executive Neil McDonnell said the Government should treat the issue as a national emergency and take urgent action to strengthen indigenous enterprise.“The Government needs to stop kicking the can down the road,” he said. “It needs to come up with a solution.“This i...
Legal aid impasse likely to keep Women of Honour out of next Defence Forces Tribunal module
The Women of Honour group of veterans is unlikely to take part in the next public module of the Defence Forces Tribunal.This is because of ongoing delays in High Court proceedings between the Department of Defence and the abuse survivors’ group.They are challenging the department’s decision to only fund the Minister for Defence and the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces’ ongoing legal costs, and not those of victims of abuse.The two sides were in court last Thursday, but matters were adjourned...
Defence Forces Tribunal: Why it was established, how much it cost, and what's next
The tribunal is a three-year inquiry into how complaints were handled in the Defence Forces from 1983 until 2024.Its establishment in June 2024 was a recommendation of the Independent Review Group (IRG): Defence Forces Report.Published in March 2023, that report detailed disturbing allegations which included the rape of both male and female soldiers.Those abused include the Women of Honour, a group of serving and former members whose allegations featured in an RTÉ documentary by reporter Katie...
Women of Honour call for stronger support for Defence Forces Tribunal witnesses
As the first round of public hearings draws to a close, pending the resumption of evidence in October, there are still a few elephants in the Defence Forces Tribunal room.One concerns the level of appropriate, one-to-one support available to witnesses who have given evidence of alleged rape, sexual assault, and child abuse within the Defence Forces.Another is whether those accused of criminal wrongdoing will face investigation.The Women of Honour group and former members of the Army Apprentice...
Defence Forces Tribunal: Member of press office confirmed to give evidence next week
A serving member of the Defence Forces press office is due to give evidence before the Defence Forces Tribunal next week.Sergeant Rena Kennedy, who has worked in military communications for the past 21 years, is scheduled to appear on Wednesday, July 15. She is expected to give evidence about non-sexual abuse dating from before she joined the Defence Forces press office.Widely known in military and media circles, Sgt Kennedy had spent 11 years in other roles in the Defence Forces before moving...
Defence Forces Tribunal: All records of official officer warnings were deleted in 1992
The Defence Forces Tribunal has been told that the record of all official warnings against every officer in the Defence Forces was deleted in 1992.The decision was given as a reason why the record of a reprimand against an officer alleged to have brutally abused recruits was cleared less than a year after he had been reprimanded.The officer, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is alleged to have bullied one apprentice so badly that he took his own life on June 22, 1991.Known only as 2LT.B in...
The Mick Clifford Podcast: The Defence Forces Tribunal that was two decades in the making
For the last month, a Defence Forces tribunal, that was over two decades in the making, has been hearing shocking evidence about how some officers conducted themselves.
Allegations of sexual, physical and psychological abuse have called to mind the kind of army life that might have existed in a colonial force from the nineteenth century.
Allegations of sexual, physical and psychological abuse have called to mind the kind of army life that might have existed in a colonial force from the nineteenth century.
Defence Forces Tribunal: NCO breaks down as he tells how soldier's suicide 'still affects me to this day'
A non-commissioned officer broke down at the Defence Forces Tribunal as he recalled seeing the body of Oliver Mullaney after he died by suicide.David Henry, a former acting company sergeant in the Army Apprentice School in Devoy Barracks, said what he saw affects him “to this day”.Mr Henry, who retired from the army in 1998, also told the tribunal that he was “ashamed” to have been an NCO in the 34th Platoon where Mr Mullaney had served until his death.The 19-year-old is alleged to have been the...
Meet Ger Deering: Ireland's 'old-fashioned' Ombudsman and Information Commissioner
In an age of apps, AI and increased digital automation, Ger Deering is not ashamed to say he is a bit “old-fashioned”.Instead of direct messaging or emailing people, the Ombudsman and Information Commissioner for Ireland actively encourages his staff to pick up the phone and talk to people.“We use what I call an ‘old-fashioned innovation’. We actually use the telephone,” he said.“You see it now in both the private and the public sector, trying to find a telephone number on a website can be quite...
Defence Forces Tribunal: Senior army officer rejects 'inaccurate' claim junior officers 'ill-equipped' to train recruits
One of the army’s most senior officers has described as “inaccurate” a claim that training for junior officers left them “ill-equipped” to train new recruits.The claim was made on Thursday by a retired officer known as 2LTB, who is alleged to have repeatedly mistreated recruits under his care at the Army Apprentice School in Devoy Barracks, Naas, in the late 1980s and early 1990s.The alleged mistreatment includes 2LTB allegedly getting recruits to dance with each other and sing nursery rhymes a...
Latest from the Defence Forces tribunal
Senior Journalist with the Irish Examiner Neil Michael.
Defence Forces Tribunal: Officer denies abuse allegations at tribunal hearing
A Defence Forces officer accused of ordering a recruit soldier to eat cigarette butts has, for the first time, publicly denied those claims and all other allegations that he mistreated recruits.At a packed hearing of the Defence Forces Tribunal, the officer, known only as 2LTB, was asked to address the allegations against him.They include allegedly getting recruits to dance with each other and sing nursery rhymes — including Silent Night — after a day of firing range training on June 20, 1991.O...
Defence Forces Tribunal: Barrister accuses Defence Forces of 'cover up'
A Defence Forces Tribunal barrister has accused the Defence Forces of a “cover up” in its handling of an investigation into mistreatment of a recruit by a senior officer.Aedan McGovern, senior counsel, said the 1991 investigation into the alleged mistreatment of Damien Traynor — which led to him suffering a nervous breakdown — was handled so badly that he could only conclude that “the entire thing was a cover up”.His assertion was made to retired Defence Forces officer Thomas O’Keeffe who had...
Load More