Catherine Connolly, an independent candidate, won a landslide victory in the Irish presidential election, Reuters reported on Saturday.
Connolly, who was backed by left-wing opposition parties, received more than 64.7% of the vote.
Heather Humphreys of the centrist Fine Gael party came in second with 28.2%.
Connolly, a 68-year-old lawmaker from Galway, built her campaign around messages of “peace,” “unity,” and “neutrality.” She comes from the far left of the Irish political spectrum and was supported by Sinn Féin, the Labour Party, the Social Democrats, and other left-wing parties.
Connelly has been highly critical of the United States and the European Union, even though Ireland is largely supportive of the EU. She has expressed her disagreement with the increase in military spending in the EU since the start of the war in Ukraine. Connelly has also criticized the US, the UK, and France for their role in the war in Gaza.
“The Irish president is largely a figurehead who rarely uses her powers to review the constitutionality of legislation, but often speaks on the world stage and invites other heads of state to the country,” Reuters notes.
On Thursday, Irish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Simon Harris confirmed the arrival in Poland of two convoys with vehicles from the Armed Forces’ reserves, which will be transferred to Ukraine as aid.
“Operation Carousel 3, led by the Armed Forces Transport Corps, ensured the safe arrival of 34 vehicles at the International Donor Coordination Center in Rzeszów, Poland, as part of Ireland’s contribution to the European Peace Fund. In addition to… vehicles, the convoy also transported three Reacher robotic manipulators, which will be transferred to the Mine Action Coalition… as part of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG),” according to a statement on the country’s government website.
According to the information, Ireland transferred two Ford Transit vehicles, three Mercedes ambulances, five Scania 8×8 DROPS trucks, eight 15-seat Ford Transit minibuses, and 16 Ford Ranger double cab vehicles.
It is noted that the vehicles meet Ukraine’s needs, and their transfer will be confirmed in Poland by the Armed Forces and Defense Forces of Ukraine.
As reported in March, the Irish government approved an additional aid package for Ukraine worth EUR 100 million, which will be used to purchase non-lethal military equipment.
The eurozone economy grew by 0.1% in the second quarter of 2025 compared to the previous three months and by 1.4% year-on-year, according to revised data from the EU statistics office (Eurostat). The figures were in line with previous estimates and analysts’ expectations.
In January-March, the eurozone’s GDP grew faster, by 0.6% quarter-on-quarter and 1.1% year-on-year.
Ranking of eurozone countries by GDP growth in Q2 (quarter-on-quarter)
Overall, the EU economy grew by 0.2% in the second quarter and 1.5% year-on-year.
Among the largest economies in the eurozone, Germany and Italy showed a moderate decline, while France and Spain showed significant growth. The largest increase was recorded in Romania, and the largest decline was in Ireland.
This is the second estimate of the change in eurozone GDP out of three; Eurostat will present the final data on September 5.
Earlier, the information and analytical center Experts Club made a video analysis of the prospects for the Ukrainian and global economies. For more details, see the video — https://youtu.be/kQsH3lUvMKo?si=F4IOLdLuVbYmEh5P
On March 27, 2025, under the patronage of the Embassy of Ireland in Ukraine and in cooperation with Project Dandelion, a global campaign for climate justice led by women, a special screening of the film Mrs. Robinson about the first woman President of Ireland, Mary Robinson, took place in Kyiv.
The screening was attended by numerous distinguished guests: heads of diplomatic missions of foreign countries accredited in Ukraine, representatives of the government, including Deputy Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications Andriy Najos, members of the Verkhovna Rada, educators and representatives of the Irish community in Kyiv.
Before the session began, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ireland to Ukraine, Jonathan Conlon, addressed the audience and briefly outlined the main achievements of the first female President of Ireland, Mary Robinson (1990-1997), a head of state who was and remains extremely popular with the people.
A reformist lawyer and senator at the beginning of her career, Mary Robinson provoked an electoral earthquake by winning the Irish presidential election in 1990.
Later, as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (1997-2002), she built a strong legacy and fought fearlessly for human rights around the world.
She subsequently became Chair of the Council of Elders (2018-2024), an independent group of world leaders founded by Nelson Mandela who work for peace, justice and human rights.
She is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom from U.S. President Barack Obama.
For half a century, Mary Robinson has been a passionate advocate for gender equality, women’s participation in peacebuilding, human dignity and climate justice.
Source : https://www.facebook.com/UkrDiplomatic?locale=ru_RU
Vienna, 31 July 2024 — The ICMPD is growing with another member: Ireland is the 21st Member State to join ICMPD’s work in finding innovative solutions to regional migration challenges. Ireland’s accession is the latest after Germany (2020), Greece (2021), and the Netherlands (2023) joined the ICMPD in recent years.
“Global migration is increasingly complex and multifaceted. Ireland cannot go it alone; effective migration policy cannot be developed or implemented in isolation. Ireland becoming a member of the International Centre for Migration Policy Development is very welcome, and brings a wealth of expertise which will be an invaluable resource to Irish policymakers,” Irish Minister for Justice Helen McEntee TD, said.
Ireland and the ICMPD have been working together for the past 20 years, collaborating on a number of migration governance projects through research. These include studies around irregular migration and trends and outcomes of regularisation policies, as well as analysis of various policy implementation (MIrreM); evaluating the framework and practice of the Common European Asylum System (CEASEVAL); and producing evidence to support policy in the EU on complementary pathways to admit adult refugees through technical and vocational skills (REF-VET), among many others.
Furthermore, Ireland also holds an active role in migration dialogues supported by the ICMPD, such as the Budapest Process and Prague Process; as well as developing a guide to integrate recently arrived migrants in the region (SPRING); policy research, information sharing, and capacity-building on the Medical Country of Origin (MedCOI) initiative; and in developing methods and strategies to assist survivors of trafficking, sexual abuse, and exploitation of children particularly those committed using online channels (HEROES).
“We are happy to welcome Ireland as our newest Member State. ICMPD’s Member States represent a group of countries highly relevant to and uniquely positioned in tackling issues around migration; and Ireland has been an active stakeholder in these efforts. As a Member State, Ireland will further strengthen the strategic dimension of our engagement with the broader European Union and beyond,” said the ICMPD Director-General Michael Spindelegger.
“Beyond being a destination country for migrants, Ireland’s active collaboration with the ICMPD and the country’s experience in responding to various migration themes, will strengthen our possibilities to respond jointly and more effectively to the opportunities and challenges, and work towards improved migration systems at the regional level,” Mr Spindelegger added.
The ICMPD was founded on the initiative of Austria and Switzerland in 1993, when the migration reality in Europe was dramatically altered by the political changes in Eastern Europe and the Balkan conflicts. The ranks of its Member States saw their first growth in the 1990s with the addition of Hungary in 1995 and Slovenia in 1998. Czechia then followed in 2001; Sweden, Poland and Bulgaria in 2003; Portugal and Croatia in 2004; and Slovakia in 2006.
Romania and Serbia were the next to join in 2011 followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2012 and North Macedonia in 2015. Malta and Türkiye both joined in 2018 followed by Germany in 2020 and Greece in 2021.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to pay a visit to Veliobritain next week, The Guardian reports.
According to the publication, Zelensky will also make his first visit to Ireland on Saturday morning. He is scheduled to meet with Irish Foreign Minister Simon Harris there.
Ireland, which has long maintained a policy of military neutrality but has provided non-lethal aid to Ukraine, is expected to offer more support. In particular, it will support Ukraine’s efforts to return some 20,000 children who were forcibly displaced to Russia and Belarus.
The Ukrainian president met with British Prime Minister-designate Keir Starmer at the NATO summit in Washington last week, but this will be his first opportunity to meet with a wider delegation from the Labor government, which will be keen to confirm further UK support.
The conference is reportedly the fourth meeting of the European Policy Community, a collective set up after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, which was the brainchild of French President Emmanuel Macron.
“It is designed to foster stronger ties between EU and non-EU leaders in an informal setting. Previous conferences have been held in Spain, Moldova and the Czech Republic,” it said.
In addition to the UK, non-EU countries invited include Norway, Iceland, Georgia, Kosovo, Serbia, Albania and Turkey, although Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s president, who has not attended previous summits, has not confirmed his participation.
