UK politics

UK politics

Councillor Fionnán Fitzgerald asked for an update on improved safety measures at Knockaderry National School in Farranfore. He said there had been an issue there for a 'long number of years' with children crossing at a busy junction. Cllr Fitzgerald said that waiting for the construction of bypass to divert traffic away from the junction was 'not good enough' and would be 'too slow'.

For years, the DUP wallowed in gratuitous attacks on the Irish language. Sammy Wilson called it a "leprechaun language". Gregory Campbell said Sinn Féin's entire wish list, which included an Irish language act, would be treated as "toilet paper".

Funding for primary school sport in England is to be slashed by Labour, including the abolition of a grant designed to cement the 2012 Olympic legacy, to the dismay of school leaders. The Department for Education said that the 320m fund paid directly to primary schools each year through its PE and sports premium will be scrapped and replaced by a sport partnerships network worth 193m a year to cover both primary and secondary schools.

A two-tier entry system would fundamentally undermine our commitment to universal access and risks projecting the UK as a nation lacking in confidence and generosity of spirit.

The Green Party said its former Makerfield by-election candidate has apologised for sharing social media posts which described an attack on ambulances run by a Jewish charity as a “false flag”. Chris Kennedy was announced as the party's candidate on Thursday but withdrew hours later, with the Greens citing “personal and family reasons”. The Times newspaper later reported it had approached Kennedy about social media posts he shared that were linked to the arson attack on four ambulances operated by the charity Hatzola in Golders Green, north London.

Irish Rail has now reportedly reduced the carrying value of the asset by €50 million in its 2025 accounts, after years of delays, technical concerns, and apparent doubts over whether contractor Indra can deliver a workable system at all. The system was initially expected to cost less than €20 million and launch last year, before the usual gravitational forces affecting large public sector IT projects took hold.