Your top stories on Friday: Gardaí ‘attacked’ at Wicklow asylum seeker site; tributes to young cyclist killed in Dublin

Gardaí ‘attacked’ at Wicklow site earmarked for asylum seekers

Six people have been arrested after gardaí “came under attack” by a group of protesters at a site earmarked to accommodate international protection applicants in Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow, on Thursday.

Video footage posted on social media showed a large Garda presence and a number of protesters grappling with members of the force. Other protesters chanted “shame on you” towards gardaí.

News

‘She will live on in the hearts of her family and friends’: Cyclist killed in Dún Laoghaire crash named: The 22-year-old cyclist who was killed in a traffic collision in Dún Laoghaire has been named locally as Greta Price-Martin.
Motorcyclist (30s) killed in hit-and-run, with car involved allegedly found burnt out at the scene: A motorcyclist was killed in a hit-and-run in Co Carlow on Wednesday night with a car involved allegedly found burnt out at the scene, gardaí say.
‘Catastrophic decline’ in numbers of wild salmon returning to Ireland: There has been a “catastrophic” collapse in the numbers of wild salmon in Irish rivers and lakes, Inland Fisheries Ireland has told TDs and Senators.
Audit raised concerns about €1.25bn ‘golden visa’ scheme for millionaire immigrants: An internal audit raised concern about weak controls in the €1.25 billion “golden visa” scheme for millionaire immigrants years before it was scrapped, saying the legality of funds behind 18 sample applications could not be verified.
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World

After a constructive start, Trump yawns, sits back and surrenders control: Thursday in Manhattan began early for Donald Trump with an arranged visit to construction workers on a Park Avenue project before his security cavalcade escorted him to another drear day in court, writes Keith Duggan.

The Big Read

Aviva's entry into the Irish health insurance market offers hope or cheaper cover and higher benefits for consumers seeking private cover.

Will consumers benefit from Aviva entering the Irish health insurance market?: It wouldn’t be a stretch to compare Ireland’s private health insurance market to a particularly convoluted and long-running game of musical chairs, albeit with a lot of money on the table for the winners, writes Conor Pope.

Opinion

Business

Electricity customers to foot €5bn bill for offshore grid: Homes and business face a bill of at least €5 billion for the new network needed to run electricity from planned offshore wind farms to customers, according to a paper issued by regulators on Thursday.

Sports

Paris Olympics organisers must apply the same standards to Israel that they do to Russia: Sports are politics by other means. Just look at the Paris 2024 Olympics, which, in light of Russia’s ongoing war on Ukraine and Israel’s aggressions in Gaza, promise to be the most politically charged Games since the cold war, writes Jules Boykoff.

Life & Style

An Irish stonemason: ‘I want to upskill homeowners to carry out some of the work themselves’: “I’m a sixth-generation stonemason. I was fortunate enough to learn from my mother. She was a letter cutter, so from an early age, I was running around graveyards and watching her.”