TheLiberal.ie

The Taoiseach has acknowledged concern over the proportion of tax revenue coming from corporation tax. Micheál Martin spoke after Exchequer returns showed corporation tax rose again in August, up a third year-on-year to €2.8 billion, reports RTE.

With autumn now well established and daylight hours becoming shorter, with darker evenings arriving earlier, Ireland’s next clock change is approaching, reports Dublin Live. People throughout Ireland will gain an extra hour in bed later this month as the country marks the official end of the year’s longer daylight period. Across all EU member states, clocks go back on the final Sunday in October and move forward again on the final Sunday in March.

Image source: TheLiberal.ie Community events representing both sides of the Drumcree parade dispute are due to take place as the stand-off between the Orange Order and Garvaghy Road residents enters its seventh day, reports RTE. The deadlock has continued since the Parades Commission approved the Portadown District of the unionist Orange Order – supported by the DUP and TUV – to complete its traditional route along Garvaghy Road for the first time in almost three decades, reports RTE.

Russia is not preparing for “any kind” of confrontation with Europe, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said, following warnings from several European NATO members about possible Russian attacks on alliance territory, reports RTE. The Kremlin leader also said Russia had “no real motive” to increase tensions and criticised European nations that had made such suggestions.

The Government appears set to approve a €10 increase in the State pension and core welfare payments as negotiations over Budget 2027 continue, reports RTE. Several departments are expected to finalise the details of their budget allocations over the next 24 hours. Tuesday’s Budget is being prepared against a backdrop of record tax receipts alongside increasing energy and grocery costs, reports RTE.

Fuel Allowance payments are due to begin on Monday, with almost 500,000 households expected to benefit following a major expansion of the scheme, reports Dublin Live. Fine Gael said the expansion means around one in four homes nationwide now qualifies. Chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection, Deputy John Paul O’Shea, said, “The 2026/27 Fuel Allowance season started on September 28th, and every eligible household should apply, as it is still not too late,” reports Dublin Live.

Image source: Sky OpenAI has said its agents leaked 53 images belonging to ChatGPT users as the company continues examining cases involving its AI agents behaving improperly, reports RTE. The company has not disclosed whether the images were AI-generated or showed real people, nor has it said when the images were uploaded. Most of the affected images have been removed, while OpenAI said it was working with hosting providers to have the remaining material taken down, reports RTE.

The latest row on the Garvaghy Road is a reminder of how quickly Northern Ireland can be pulled back toward the habits of the Troubles, and of why that pull has to be resisted. For nearly three decades the Portadown Orange Order was refused permission to complete its Drumcree church parade along the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road. In late September 2026 the Parades Commission reversed that long pattern, allowing a restricted march of about 35 men, without bands, early on a Sunday morning.

European Union energy officials held an emergency meeting on Friday as a dispute with the United States over diesel supplies threatened to disrupt transatlantic fuel trade and push already record European pump prices higher. US President Donald Trump had been reported as threatening a 90-day ban on American diesel exports unless France and Germany released 120 million barrels from strategic reserves to ease prices at home.

Image source: BBC Christa Pike is critically ill and undergoing “life-saving medical care” at a Nashville hospital after surviving two attempts to execute her through lethal injection, her lawyers have said, bringing renewed attention to the use of ⁠capital punishment in the US, reports RTE. Pike, 50, received a death sentence in the 1990s after being found guilty of a murder she committed when she was a teenager.