Age of stupid update: ‘In January, recording his podcast in a studio in Austin, Texas, the host, Joe Rogan, and the actor Mel Gibson merrily dissed climate science. At the same time, about 1,200 miles away in California, Gibson’s $14m home was being incinerated’ www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Memorials lit up today in Valletta for Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Bizarre carry on www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Excellent reporting here www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/w...

A billion-euro medtech plant in Athlone is moving into the hands of private equity thecurrency.news/articles/211...

Palmer Luckey's Anduril bought Dublin firm Klas earlier this year. The Irish company has been quickly integrated into the US defence tech company and continues to see its revenues rise. thecurrency.news/articles/211...

Timaero, an aircraft lessor linked to sanctioned Russian bank VEB, has been locked in a legal battle against Boeing in the US for six years. Now the case has rumbled into the Irish courts. thecurrency.news/articles/211...

ICYMI. Begs the question about Rumble and the DSA.

Rumble, the controversial streaming platform, is planning to establish an Irish holding company for its merger with Northern Data thecurrency.news/articles/211...

“Tel Aviv judge’s settlement proposal, based on state document admitting unlawful data extraction from citizen’s phone, may open door to dozens more claims & millions in potential compensation as police #Pegasus use faces renewed scrutiny.” www.ynetnews.com/business/art...

And there's the response www.politico.eu/article/elon...

Some EU stories on The Currency today. First up, housing. The Commission is plotting a major affordable housing programme and Ireland's housing department has seconded officials to Brussels to help in its crafting. thecurrency.news/articles/209...

RTÉ to boycott Eurovision Song Contest over Israel participation www.rte.ie/entertainmen...

Perplexity has moved its EU rep out of Ireland to Austria. The $20bn AI firm had used an Irish company as a point of contact for EU tech laws on compliance measures such as GDPR, but in recent weeks it shifted that function to an Austrian outfit. thecurrency.news/articles/210...

Enjoyed this piece, especially as someone who spent a not insignificant amount of his teen years painting Warhammer models. (But it still blows my mind that Games Workshop's market cap is 5bn) www.ft.com/content/e11e...

Perplexity has moved its EU rep out of Ireland to Austria. The $20bn AI firm had used an Irish company as a point of contact for EU tech laws on compliance measures such as GDPR, but in recent weeks it shifted that function to an Austrian outfit. thecurrency.news/articles/210...

Irish Distillers registered new trademarks for Jameson in Russia as it contends with fakes on the market after pulling out of the country two years ago. thecurrency.news/articles/210...

It's a massive red flag when companies give their staff nicknames like this. That goes for corporates and start-ups alike. It smacks of "we're a family".

Breaking: the EU has formally terminated its WTO case against China over the coercion of Lithuania This blockbuster case came after Lithuania opened a controversially named Taiwanese Representative Office in Vilnius

A Russian aircraft lessor that first entered liquidation in 2017 has finally been wound up. During the lengthy process, its main financial backer PSB was sanctioned in the West and most recently embroiled in sanctions evasion crackdown Operation Destabilise. thecurrency.news/articles/209...

Good god, make it stop.

Exyte has worked on bumper projects in Ireland, such as Intel, but several contracts have wound down and not yet been replaced by others. thecurrency.news/articles/209...

Just arrived this morning. @joannalillis.bsky.social's new book. Her Kazakhstan book from a few years back was excellent, so looking forward to this one.

Sonder went into bankruptcy in the US earlier this month, bringing its European business down with it. We look at how the Irish business performed, how the woes in the US led to its shutting down this week and reveal how it was investing in its European business. thecurrency.news/articles/209...

THREAD. I was in Brussels this week at the European Commission and the Parliament. This morning we published my piece unpicking Michael McGrath's agenda and where it will all fit in with Ursula von der Leyen's vision for the EU and the EU's relations with the US. thecurrency.news/articles/207...

In Brussels this week, there was a growing acceptance from Irish quarters that the Mercosur trade deal is more or less done. Now the attention has shifted to bolstering the safeguards. thecurrency.news/articles/207...

ICYMI yesterday. EU commissioner Michael McGrath is pitching for expanded powers to investigate companies like Shein and Temu.

EU justice commissioner Michael McGrath is pitching for tougher powers for the European Commission to investigate Chinese e-commerce platforms like Shein and Temu. thecurrency.news/articles/207...

Lurking around these parts today.

ASML is a massive cog the world's chip industry and its Irish business has ballooned in recent years - where it largely serves only Intel - with revenues breaching the billion euro mark last year. thecurrency.news/articles/206...

Timaero, the Irish-based aircraft leasing business of Russia's VEB, sued Boeing six years ago over aircraft safety. All these years later, Boeing is accusing the company of stonewalling on discovery and depositions. thecurrency.news/articles/206...

"it emerged Yates had worked to provide debate preparation for the Fianna Fail candidate" Eh... not exactly a ringing endorsement of Yates' services. www.businesspost.ie/news/exclusi...

Not the first time Navan has disappointed. (I'm here all week)

While researching this story I found that if you try to join Truth Social and were born in November you're shit out of luck.

Donald Trump’s Truth Social tapped the Dublin offices of Pinsent Masons to successfully defend its trademark in Europe. thecurrency.news/articles/206...

And people say the British press doesn't know anything about Ireland. They got this scoop, didn't they.

Man, a lot of international commentators are really convinced that the Irish president has hard power. Would be nice if they actually read up on it before posting but maybe that's too much to ask these days.

Playrix, the Russian-founded mobile games giant now HQ'd in Dublin, continues to rake in serious profits and is paying healthy dividends to shareholders. thecurrency.news/articles/205...

The EU, UK and US have all ramped up sanctions on major Russian oil companies, namely Rosneft and Lukoil. It raises fresh questions about these firms' Irish subsidiaries and who has worked with them. thecurrency.news/articles/205...

Interview this morning on The Currency with Julius Baer's chief investment officer Yves Bonzon on the long slog towards EU unity on financial services. thecurrency.news/articles/202...

Dutch intelligence suspends sharing arrangements with the US after concluding that high level intel was routinely being shared by the White House with their friends in the Kremlin. www.volkskrant.nl/binnenland/n...

Chaos in London this week at the IMO meeting where the US and Saudi Arabia have managed to throw a spanner in the works on new emissions rules for shipping. Singapore also pushing for a delay on voting on the rules.

Games studios got a lift in the budget but will it be enough? People have thoughts. thecurrency.news/articles/204...

A Swiss case against one of the executives of controversial spyware company Intellexa once again raises questions about its sanctioned Irish companies. thecurrency.news/articles/204...

A Swiss case against one of the executives of controversial spyware company Intellexa once again raises questions about its sanctioned Irish companies. thecurrency.news/articles/204...

The IMO will likely adopt new climate rules for the maritime sector this week with Ireland on board - despite the Trump administration threatening sanctions against countries that support the framework. thecurrency.news/articles/204...

This one's been brewing for a long time and the fact that companies making this tech have not yet properly considered people with facial differences or people with disabilities speaks volumes. I mean, I wrote a piece about this almost 10 years ago. www.vice.com/en/article/f...?

Next time somebody asks me what Bluesky is like, I'll send them this

Want to read more about the budget? Of course you do. thecurrency.news/articles/203...

Billy Kelleher on hearing the Jim Gavin news 😂