Tuesday’s Top Stories: Most complained about issues by Irish Rail customers; Irish ‘ghost student’ visa scam raises alarm in Dublin language schools

Alcohol consumption, drug-taking, vaping, playing loud music among Irish Rail passenger complaints

Alcohol consumption and drunkenness are the anti-social behaviours most complained about by Irish Rail customers on Dart, commuter and intercity services.

They are followed closely by drug-taking, smoking/vaping and abusive, racist, intimidating or threatening behaviour, according to complaints lodged via text message over three months to the middle of last month.

The playing of music, podcasts or videos at loud volumes is also a significant concern for passengers.

Top News Stories

• Irish ‘ghost student’ visa scam raises alarm in Dublin language schools: Felipe shows The Irish Times a letter saying he is going to a Dublin language school – only he has never attended a class, and he paid a scammer €1,150 for the false documentation before his arrival in Ireland. “It’s very risky,” Felipe says. Despite being granted an Irish residence permit, he says he “would never go through that again”.
• Cannabis link to psychosis under spotlight after series of murder trials: When he killed his wife at their home in Finglas, Dublin in November 2021, Diego Costa Silva held several delusional beliefs.
• Dublin publican shuts down inner city lane: A Dublin publican has shut down an inner city laneway by erecting gates at a cost of €20,0000 because of persistent drug use, assaults and illegal dumping.
• Couple on career break from teaching to become this year’s caretakers on Great Blasket Island: A couple who met while teaching at the same secondary school and have been living “on a shoestring” for the past year travelling around Ireland in a camper van are this year’s new caretakers on the Great Blasket Island.
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News from around the World

• Israeli delegation to visit Washington to discuss planned offensive on Rafah: Israel will send a team of officials to Washington to discuss its planned offensive on Rafah, the White House has said, as the Biden administration insists that an attack would be a “mistake” and seeks to persuade Israel to allow in more aid in the face of an imminent famine in Gaza.

The Big Read

• Hiring cleaners, childminders or carers: what you need to know: Failing to understand whether you are an employer or they are contractors can land you in hot water.

The best from Opinion

• Fintan O’Toole: Lidl wants MetroLink redesigned so it can build apartments. And can you pay the bill please?
• The debate: Have the referendums killed citizens’ assemblies?
• Eoin Jackson: Ireland has a chance to influence the world’s response to the climate emergency

Top Sports news

• Gerry Thornley’s Six Nations review - No turning back for England as Wales emerge as the problem child: After three rounds it was an unexceptional Six Nations, whereupon suddenly words such as vintage and exhilarating have been used liberally to describe the 2024 edition of the competition.

Picture of the Day

Culture and Life & Style Highlights

• Neurodivergence: Understanding your child’s unique needs: Autism and ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) are spectrum conditions, meaning that children are affected in a wide variety of different ways. Children are likely to come with a “spiky” profile, meaning that they might have high ability and strengths in one life area, but experience challenges and disability in another.
• Liam Cunningham: ‘I tell people I’m a migrant. It messes with them. You can see them getting a twitch’: The gunfire started just as Liam Cunningham was thinking about bed. He was in South Sudan not long before filming was due to begin on the final season of Game of Thrones. He hadn’t told HBO he was going to the country, as it was a dangerous place to visit. “They would have said, ‘Absolutely no way’,” says the Dublin actor. “There was gunshots outside the compound, and all I could think of was, ‘I don’t want to be f**king killed here. How are they going to finish the show?’”
• Jason Smyth wins Dancing with the Stars on a night of high emotion: Paralympian Jason Smyth and his dance partner Karen Byrne have been crowned the winners of Dancing with the Stars 2024.

Podcast Highlights

• In the News: Why did it take so long to convict prolific sex offender Bill Kenneally?

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