The winner of a Seat Arona worth over €30,000 on last Friday’s Late Late Show was… a Fine Gael senator

Rather inevitable that the FAI, who asked for Israel to be suspended from UEFA, are drawn against them in this autumn’s Nations League. Austria and Kosovo also in Group B3.

The Dáil has voted to approve the Government’s major overhaul of tenancy rules by 79 votes to 70 (though the vote is about to be repeated, at SF’s request, by a roll call). Danny Healy Rae once again voting against the government, and his brother, in opposing the law. @virginmedianews.bsky.social

There will be one more vote on a specific amendment to the housing bill - Labour is seeking a three-year blanket evictions ban, similar to those enacted during Covid-19. (It actually tries to resurrect the dormant piece of pandemic-era legislation, which may be legally dubious but politically novel)

Four hours in, and they’ve just concluded the FIRST vote - the government defeating a proposal for the new tenancy law itself to be subject to a mandatory review after two years. TDs have spoken at such length that there’s now one hour left for 65 other amendments to be discussed.

Not sure which is worse: the Government curtailing debate on all the (69) amendments to the Residential Tenancies Bill to five hours… …or the fact that opposition TDs insist on speaking at such length, they’re now 2.5 hours in and they haven’t yet progressed to a vote on the very first one.

Much narrower result than the government might have expected… 73-68 in favour of passing the rental tenancies overhaul at second stage. Danny Healy-Rae votes against the government he’s supporting (and his brother has a ministry in), and Gillian Toole abstains. Govt to force a final vote tonight.

The Taoiseach has named former IRA man Freddie Scapaticci as the British informant 'Stakeknife'. Micheál Martin was speaking during Dáil statements on the Report of Operation Kenova, in which he called on UK authorities to formally confirm Scapatticci as the informant. @virginmedianews.bsky.social

FF’s Mary Fitzpatrick has ruled herself out of the Dublin Central by-election. The senator, who has run in that constituency for the last five general elections, has written to FF members saying she wants to see out her term in the Seanad. Cabra-Glasnevin councillor John Stephens now likely to run.

The Taoiseach tells the Dáil that Brad Pitt is on his way to Timoleague.

This confirmed by the Taoiseach in the Dáil just now – a significant backtrack by the Government in the midst of an acute housing shortage, now allowing more properties to stay in use for short-term lettings without needing to register/amend their property designation as 'commercial'

Keir Starmer's chief of staff and right-hand man Morgan McSweeney resigns in the wake of the Peter Mandelson controversy. The Macroom man was said to have pushed for Mandelson's appointment as Washington ambassador despite internal and institutional unease about his associations with Jeffrey Epstein

Sanae Takaichi's gamble of a winter election pays off - the LDP (…again) wins Japan's election, with enough seats to govern without its former coalition partners in Komeito. The PM tells Japan's NHK there will be no cabinet reshuffle – i.e. that her party intends to govern alone.

A very eye-opening follow-up: the account owner openly admits they were posting hateful content simply to develop, and monetise, a big TikTok account bsky.app/profile/jim....

Interesting contribution on AI from the Social Democrats (who support Mícheál Martin accepting the invite to the White House): they say they will draft legislation so that everyone enjoys “copyright-like ownership” of their own image and voice, so as to effectively ban deepfakes by stealth

🚨 Micheál Martin confirms he has received, and accepted, an invitation to the White House for St Patrick’s Day. The Taoiseach said Donald Trump’s invite was “an opportunity to celebrate the special relationship between our two countries”. @virginmedianews.bsky.social

A reminder for #Speirgorm users with visual impairments that this season’s League of Ireland coverage (just like our Six Nations coverage) on @virginmediatv.bsky.social will be available with audio description commentary - here’s how to switch it on if you’re a Virgin Media cable TV customer. ⚽️🎧

Received this text message from my father yesterday. Panicked that he had had a stroke, or similar. Turns out it was my iPhone trying to transcribe the Irish language.

Bord Bia chair Larry Murrin tells Oireachtas Ag Cmte his company Dawn Farm Foods only imports about 1% of its beef, solely to ensure it can fulfil orders if Irish supplies were interrupted. Farmers' groups and opposition say his importing of Brazilian beef is incompatible with being Bord Bia chair.

POLL: Irish Times/Ipsos B&A (Jan 30-Feb 3, MoE 2.8%) Sinn Féin 24 (-3 since October) Fianna Fáil 19 (+2) Fine Gael 18 Social Democrats 7 (+2) Labour 4 (-2) Ind Ireland 4 (+2) Aontú 3 Greens 3 PBP-Solidarity 2 Inds/others 16 (-1)

The Greens have selected Cllr Janet Horner to contest the Dublin Central by-election

Ahead of the Dáil today debating reforms to the rental sector… a Maynooth University survey of tenants of three major institutional landlords finds evidence of poor standards and rents appearing to rise beyond RPZ limits. Challenges idea that professionalising landlords means higher quality housing

Cabinet will be told today that Ireland’s EU presidency (and special ministerial meetings on AI) will include plans to ban all AI models within the EU from having undressing/nudification features All of Ireland’s ‘official’ concern thus far has been about Grok-as-an-X-account and not Grok-as-app

POLL: Sunday Independent/Ireland Thinks (Jan 30, MoE 2.8%) Sinn Féin 20 (-2 in six weeks) Fianna Fáil 18 Fine Gael 18 (+1) Social Democrats 10 Aontú 6 (+1) Ind Ireland 6 (+1) Labour 4 PBP-Solidarity 4 (+1) Greens 3 (-1) Inds/others 11

Spent the day away from papers/polls but posting the following for future reference anyway…

Seats currently marked as filled for today's Irish screenings of the new 'Melania' documovie: Vue, Liffey Valley: 0/344, 0/47, 5/47 Cineworld, Parnell St: 11/137, 4/137, 7/137

36,284 homes completed in 2025, per CSO figures this morning. That is the highest figure for new housing delivery since the property collapse in the late 2000s. @virginmedianews.bsky.social

Shenanigans already at Oireachtas Sport committee, which was due to hear from Rowing Ireland about treatment of athletes in high performance prog. The CEO is a no-show, having rang vice-chair Evanne Ní Chuilinn (who she’d have known from her time in media) last night looking to speak in confidence…

Some Gardaí due to graduate from Templemore next week can’t enter service straight away… because they don’t have Garda vetting. The process has been changed so that trainees are now vetted during college, not beforehand - but the new process seems to have hit some teething issues…

Nine ministerial visits to the United States for St Patrick’s Day - the Taoiseach slated to visit Philadelphia as well as the traditional trip to Washington. @virginmedianews.bsky.social

Manchester United are the lineal world champions of football (# you’ll never sing that #)

Fianna Fáil at 15 is some drop from the 22% in the GE only fourteen months ago Social Democrats on 10, that party’s highest ever poll rating

POLL: Business Post/Red C (circa Jan 15-20, MoE 3%) Sinn Féin 24 (+2 in two months) Fine Gael 18 (+1) Fianna Fáil 15 (-3) Social Democrats 10 (+2) Labour 5 (+1) Aontú 5 (-1) Ind Ireland 4 PBP-Solidarity 3 Greens 2 (-1) Other parties 1 Independents 13 (-1) www.businesspost.ie/politics/fia...

This is an *exceptional* piece of work, and ought to be borne in mind when looking at literally any online ragebait in future. A TikTok account that professed to be highlighting how 'illegal immigrants get free housing in London' was… well, not that at all. www.londoncentric.media/p/tiktok-lon...

Cannot fathom the acres of thinkpieces about the supposed Musk/O'Leary rivalry. Folks, it's two lads having a slagging match on a website. Both are delighted with the notoriety and, when this stops getting limelight in another day or two, neither will enter the consciousness of the other ever again

James looks like the reincarnation of a 1980s Tour de France participant. You’d be 99% sure he’s in the background of one of those Stephen Roche and Charlie Haughey pictures. #TheTraitors

The Oireachtas internet system blocks traffic to GAA+ on the basis that the site has a "bad reputation"... which is arguably down to how it has previously been criticised by Oireachtas members

Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen not giving much away ahead of this evening's short-notice EU summit. Then again, it seems her country isn't giving much away either.

🚨 Ireland will not join Donald Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ “as currently constructed”, Simon Harris tells the Dáil (only an hour or two after Mícheál Martin said it was being considered) @virginmedianews.bsky.social

SF raises this at Leaders’ Questions today - Simon Harris says “due process” is to allow the board of Bord Bia itself to make a decision about the chair’s future Pearse Doherty in reply says under the law, the board doesn’t have the authority to remove a chair - the minister does

Thank you Mr President, that clears things up.

1.67 Jack Grealishes

He walked away from his own tariff deal last summer. He could walk away from this one too. All prior agreements are collateral for the next one. Eurasia has always been at war with Oceania.

🚨 Trump announces Greenland security deal with NATO; European tariffs off the table @virginmedianews.bsky.social

🚨 A delay to the EU-Mercosur trade deal: MEPs have voted by a narrow majority (334 to 324, 11 abstentions) to refer the deal to the European Court of Justice, over whether it’s legally permissible to split the deal into two separate treaties as the Commission has tried. @virginmedianews.bsky.social

Mary Lou McDonald has written to the Taoiseach seeking the resignation of Larry Murrin as chair of Bord Bia. Sinn Féin says it’s inappropriate for him to chair an Irish food promotion board after it emerged that Dawn Farms, of which he is CEO, imports beef from Brazil to be sold in the Irish market

“Today, I’ll talk about the rupture in the world order, the end of a nice story, and the beginning of a brutal reality where geopolitics among the great powers is not subject to any constraints.” www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/spee...

Only 17 hours to the next televised marquee speech from Donald Trump

Question: "How far are you willing to go to acquire Greenland?" Trump: "You'll find out."