Ireland - news and events

A desperate rescue on Ireland’s coast has given 12 stranded dolphins a second chance at life. A pod of 21 common dolphins, including adults and calves, came ashore west of Dingle in County Kerry, with nine dying before rescuers could reach them. Local residents, tourists, wildlife specialists and police worked together to return the surviving 12 safely to the sea, an effort described by the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group as an extraordinary piece of teamwork. For one afternoon on a Kerry beach, strangers became a rescue crew - and a dozen dolphins made it back to the ocean.

Fashion treasures hidden in an Irish castle attic for decades are getting a rare moment in the spotlight. Birr Castle is displaying seven dresses created by legendary designer Charles James for Anne, Countess of Rosse, one of his earliest supporters and a familiar figure in the creative circles of 1930s London and Paris. The carefully preserved collection includes the dramatic Coq Noir evening gown and a surprisingly practical terry-cloth dress made for Anne’s year-long honeymoon, with some pieces still accompanied by handwritten notes. Historic clothes are too fragile for permanent display, so for a few days visitors can see what normally stays inside the boxes - a glamorous little time capsule from the 1930s.

The waiting list for children needing spinal surgery in Ireland has fallen below 200, offering a rare bit of encouraging news for families facing long delays. By the end of July, 199 children and teenagers were waiting for surgery, down from 231 a year earlier, while 279 procedures have been carried out since January compared with 229 newly added to the list. The outpatient waiting list has also dropped by more than 22%, from 557 to 431 patients, although a small number of children are still facing waits of more than a year. The numbers are finally moving in the right direction - and in healthcare, sometimes a shorter queue matters almost as much as a bigger target.

Keeping cows fed is costing some Irish dairy farmers an extra €500 a day as prolonged drought leaves fields with almost no grass to graze. Parts of eastern and southern Ireland have seen extremely little rain - some areas of Carlow recorded just 4mm since July 1 - forcing farmers to use winter feed months early, while crop growers are also reporting lower yields, smaller produce and rising costs. The dry spell is hitting everything from maize and potatoes to cattle farms, and some farmers say lost income will force them to postpone spending on machinery, buildings and other improvements. A few weeks without rain can look like a weather problem; on a farm, it quickly becomes a very expensive one.

Ireland is tightening the net on dirty money, with gambling and cryptocurrency among the sectors facing tougher scrutiny. The country’s first national anti-money laundering strategy will strengthen oversight of gambling, crypto assets and transfers, increase transparency around company ownership and improve intelligence-sharing between police, tax authorities, the Central Bank, financial institutions and other agencies. The government says the measures are designed to make it harder for organised crime and terrorist groups to move or disguise illicit funds, while bringing Ireland in line with new EU anti-money laundering rules. The message is deliberately clear: Ireland does not want to become a convenient place for criminal money to hide.

Top grades are becoming slightly more common in Northern Ireland, giving thousands of students an extra reason to celebrate results day. More than 26,000 students received A-level, AS-level and BTEC results, with 30.7% of A-level entries earning an A or above, up from 30.3% last year, while the share of A grades edged up to 8.8%. STEM subjects still account for more than a third of A-level entries, and mathematics remains the most popular subject, representing roughly one in ten. The increases may be small, but on results day, a fraction of a percentage point can change someone’s next chapter entirely.

Weight-loss injections are booming in Ireland, but the growing number of suspected side effects is raising concern. Ireland’s medicines regulator, the HPRA, has received 1,532 reports involving drugs such as semaglutide, liraglutide and tirzepatide, mostly linked to nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and other gastrointestinal problems, as well as nine reports involving people who later died - though regulators stress there is no proof the medicines caused the reactions or deaths. Obesity specialist Prof Donal O’Shea warned that some people are obtaining these prescription-only treatments online without proper medical supervision, and said serious complications have already brought patients to emergency departments and intensive care. The drugs can be valuable treatments, but Ireland’s experience is a reminder that a weight-loss injection is still medicine, not a casual shortcut.

A few one-on-one conversations at school could change how children across Ireland learn to deal with difficult emotions. A government-backed evaluation of a counselling pilot in Irish primary schools found that children with mild to moderate mental health difficulties improved their emotional regulation, resilience, communication and coping skills after receiving individual support in seven counties. Pupils, parents and school staff responded positively, and the programme is now expected to expand to other parts of Ireland. For Irish schools, learning how to cope with life may be becoming just as important as what is taught in the classroom.

Ireland’s unusually dry summer is forcing some farmers to start using winter animal feed months earlier than planned. The Irish Farmers’ Association says there is no national feed shortage yet, but weeks of little rain have slowed grass growth in some areas, increased costs and pushed farms towards winter-style feeding. The group wants the National Fodder and Food Security Committee to meet urgently, assess supplies and make sure feed can be moved to areas that need it most. The concern is simple: if reserves are being eaten in August, there may not be enough left when winter actually arrives.