Naomi O'Leary
@naomiohreally
Irish Times Europe Correspondent currently on assignment in Paris. I have reported from around Europe for some of the world’s most trusted news organisations. Podcaster.
The wildfire outside Bordeaux showed the risks of highly flammable pine plantations - the native tree growth was much more fire resistant
The megaphone given to an extreme-right framing of this incident by supposedly centrist politicians is a gift to their harder right political competitors
A playbook repeated from Turkey to Norway to Belarus. Rather than recognising it Europe’s right took an opportunity to pile on to a centre-left leader they resent: domestic troubles aside, Sanchez has outperformed them on economic growth while seeing a green energy switch pay off
I joined a night watch patrol with some of the army of volunteers working to keep the Gironde wildfire outside Bordeaux from reigniting.
Some depictions of the Forest of Fontainebleau in art: Two Renoir landscapes Monet’s Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe in the Musée d’Orsay Forest of Fontainebleau (1834) by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, in the National Museum of Art in Washington
Can you identify who is meeting Pope Francis in these photos? Grateful for any tips. www.vatican.va/content/fran...
This statement from Spain (with Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay) points out the kind of statement the EU -could- have made…
"Ireland’s neutrality does not make it immune to hostile actions" 👀 From the website of the European Commission's representation in Ireland - a page explaining Ireland's participation in EU defence projects, added to the site December 4. The office told me they began writing the page in September.
"The character" of Ireland is apparently "strategically important" to the Trump administration, according to its new national security strategy. The sentence comes after a section about what it wants in Europe: "patriotic" parties in power
I see it's time for me to make the point again that the poppy is a fundraising campaign for the Royal British Legion, a specific, mundane entity that is not exempt from scrutiny and does not own the concept of remembrance. You can read its 2024 accounts here: storage.rblcdn.co.uk/sitefinity/d...
A spooky Samhain single for the day that’s in it by my sister Molly May. Amazing what she’s achieved with a budget of zero. Check it out mollymayoleary.bandcamp.com/track/ghost?...
Really interesting piece on the 26-year-old designer behind Catherine Connolly's distinctive visual branding. It was obviously a strength of the campaign that they were able to attract talented young people and trusted them to do what they did best www.thejournal.ie/designing-a-...
I compiled a database of incidents across Europe as part of my reporting. It's far from comprehensive - it's just a sample really of some of the incidents that have been attributed with most confidence as being part of a Russian hybrid war. You can explore it here: www.irishtimes.com/world/europe...
Statement from Tánaiste Simon Harris: “Officials remain in contact with family members who have requested our support.”
The small boats were the last to be intercepted and one, the Mikeno, appears to have got very close to Gaza, but it’s unclear what has happened to it as there are no comms.
Some of the last images from the live-streaming cameras on the Global Sumud Flotilla captured images of the Israeli forces boarding early this morning before the feed was cut
Reading the Turkish submissions to a UN panel of inquiry into the Israeli storming of the Mavi Marmara aid flotilla in 2010 :(
The 'EU responsibility to prevent - atrocity prevention toolkit' is quite interesting to read, it's here: www.eeas.europa.eu/sites/defaul...
The Commission's response and my follow up question - what about Xtend, when the Cordis (EU website for research projects) page for the Xtend project links directly to the current Xtend website selling "military grade drones"?
My question to the European Commission: given that the EU member states disagree so their proposal for a partial suspension of Israel from Horizon is stalled, will they go ahead with action themselves, eg take back grant money misused for military ends?
F2 Venture Capital says on its website that Regulus’ GPS Ring system, a drone-repelling technology, “emerged as a go-to solution” in Israel’s war with Hamas and that Regulus’s technology was used “extensively” in the so-called 12-day war this June with Iran www.irishtimes.com/world/middle...
The “Respondrone” project ran 2019-2022 to develop drones for first responders to find people in emergency situations. Grant recipients included Israeli state-owned defence company Israel Aerospace Industries(€1.4mln), which supplies drones to the IDF, and the Israeli defence ministry (€140,000)
Israel’s Ministry of Defence received a grant of €100,000 and the Israel state-owned defence company Rafael received €442,750 in EU Horizon funding for a currently ongoing project running until 2026 to develop an under water security system www.irishtimes.com/world/middle...