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Penalties will be doubled under the new proposals. Stock image

‘Zero tolerance’: Domestic violence sentences will double under new laws

Ireland will double criminal penalties to 10 years for domestic abusers and double the number of refuge spaces under a €360m plan to try to end domestic, sexual and gender-based violence.

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Tom O’Connor on spreading the profit motive at €800m-valued Version 1

Version 1 boss Tom O’Connor put his money where his mouth is on the issue of diversity earlier this year, when a large stake in the digital transformation company was being sold.

Michelle Lynch pictured with her son son Gareth

‘My choices are a 100km school run or homeschooling’ – mother of autistic son struggles to find suitable second-level place

Gareth Barr finishes primary school next Tuesday, but he has no second-level place for September.

Pat and Una Weir of Weir's Bar in Multyfarnham where Johnny Depp had a pint. Picture by David Conachy

When Johnny Depp brought Cillian Murphy and JP Donleavy for a few pints in Multyfarnham

He may be the most written about man in the world at the moment — but in a small village in the Irish midlands, far from the bright lights of Hollywood and the drama of a US courthouse, actor Johnny Depp is fondly remembered as the man who came to lunch, and charmed everyone he met.

Sinéad Pillion (left), head of operations at Ericsson Athlone, with Minister of State Robert Troy and Denis Dullea (right), Ericsson's head of R&D in Athlone. Photo: Naoise Culhane

Ericsson to hire 250 new staff at Athlone R&D hub amid 5G and cloud computing services expansion

Tech giant Ericsson is to hire 250 new staff in Athlone as it expands its 5G and cloud-based services.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin can show leadership to the rest of the world in a peaceful way. Photo: Julien Behal

Letters to the Editor Opinion It’s nice to see us peacefully ploughing our own furrow

Elizabeth Cullen (‘Ireland must be peacemaker to prevent further loss of life’, Letters, May 19) asks for the preservation of Irish neutrality and says we might position ourselves to act as peacemakers between the belligerent countries of the world.

Trained lifeguard and avid sea swimmer Dearbhla O'Moore from Donegal at Seapoint in Dublin. Photo: Frank McGrath

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Seasoned sea swimmers share their golden tips: ‘It resets your buttons’

It was a pandemic trend to rival banana bread and Normal People – but a long winter put paid to sea swimming for many people.

Fuel prices continue to surge. Stock image

Diesel edges closer to €2 per litre after surge in prices at the pumps

Diesel could reach €2 per litre at filling station in the coming days .

Women in Union Square, New York, last week, protesting for the right to choose

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Declan Lynch Opinion We can clearly see that America is not ‘divided’ – it is under attack

The 20th century — the ‘American century’ as they called it — finally came to an end last week in the country which gave it that name.

Avril Conroy was a key adviser for Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin

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Avril Conroy has left Russian energy giant Rosneft, sources say

Irishwoman Avril Conroy has left her senior management role at the Kremlin-controlled energy giant Rosneft, according to sources in Moscow.

The cannabis was found following the search of a shed in Tyrrellspass, Co Westmeath. Photo: Gardaí.

€200,000 of cannabis seized following search of shed in Westmeath

Cannabis worth €206,400 has been seized by gardaí following an operation in Westmeath on Thursday.

Michael Tighe went on three United Nations peacekeeping tours of duty in the Congo

Obituary: Michael Tighe, siege of Jadotville veteran who fought for recognition of fellow soldiers’ courage

Army veteran Michael Tighe, who has died at the age of 83 , was one of the last of the Irish soldiers involved in the September 1961 Siege at Jadotville in the Congo, which was the subject of a widely praised Netflix film in 2016 starring Jamie Dornan as company commander, the late Pat Quinlan.

Ruairí Dooley of BiaSol. Photo: Kirsty Lyons

Introducing: Food entrepreneur Ruairí Dooley, who turns a beer by-product into a health food

Age: 31.

Almost half of local authorities take more than 100 weeks to bring schemes to site

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Red tape delaying new social housing by up to two years

Key social housing projects are taking three times longer than outlined in government guidelines to get through planning processes, delaying the delivery of schemes by years and increasing costs.

Paul Fitzgerald is actively seeking new assets for domestic and UK investors. Picture by David Creedon/Anzenberger

Cliste: Maybe they’re just smarter than the average hospitality group

At the Radisson Blu Hotel & Spa on the outskirts of Limerick City on Monday – almost two years to the day when Covid was first detected in Ireland – Paul Fitzgerald was getting accustomed to not wearing a facemask for a two-day gathering of general managers and senior teams from Cliste Hospitality’s hotels.

Dorothy Creaven of Rent The Runway who are based in the Claddagh in Galway. Picture by Andrew Downes

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Work follows the workers: global giants go down to the country

Lily Haskins, vice president of international transformation at New York-headquartered Diligent Corporation, spent a year examining 25 cities to identify the best location for a European hub for the provider of corporate governance software tools.

Supermac’s founder Pat McDonagh. Picture by Frank McGrath

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Supermac’s threatened Irish Water twice over connection fees

Fast food chain Supermac’s twice threatened Irish Water with legal action over connecting a new restaurant to a mains pipe.

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Chain reaction: house prices up €30k as buyers, sellers struggle

House prices increased by almost €30,000 on average last year, according to new figures underlining the worsening effects of supply constraints on the property market.

Donie Cassidy leaving Galway Courthouse at the conclusion of the Oireachtas Golf Society hearing. Photo: Steve Humphreys

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Weight lifted for Donie Cassidy as his name is cleared in Golfgate trial

Last Thursday morning at 8.30am Donie Cassidy left his hotel in Galway and drove in his ministerial-style black Mercedes to Rahoon Cemetery to visit the grave of his sister-in-law, Stella Carroll, as he does every time he stays in the city.

The New Gaeilgeoirs: Forecasts of the Irish language’s demise are greatly exaggerated

The Irish language is booming. It’s also dying. So what exactly is going on? In the 2016 Census more than 1.7 million people claimed to speak Irish. There are more than 400 gaelscoils and all-Irish colleges on the island and that number is growing year on year.

Kevin 'Boxer' Moran working on his boat on the banks of the Shannon. Photo: Kevin McNulty

‘The hunger is still there’ – ‘Boxer’ Moran back in the political ring

Former minister of state and Longford-Westmeath TD Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran is on the verge of a shock return to the political arena.

‘The hunger is still there’ – Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran makes shock return to frontline politics

Former minister of state and Longford-Westmeath TD Kevin 'Boxer' Moran is on the verge of a shock return to the political arena.

Group Head of Visuals, Mediahuis Ireland David Conachy with Matt Nolan, the winner of the 2022 Irish Independent Calendar Picture of the Year

Irish Independent calendar contest proves a picture paints a thousand words

On the day his photograph was taken, John Conroy, a bachelor farmer, had just come home from getting his pension.

Team-mates of Shane Gilchrist from Castlepollard Hurling Club carry his remains to the cemetery after his funeral mass at St Michaels Church, Castlepollard. Photo: Colin Keegan

‘Our hearts are broken into pieces’ – families say sad farewell to three young people lost in road tragedies

Heartbreaking tributes were paid at the funerals of three young people killed in car crashes after a tragic week on Ireland’s roads.

The Clifden Station House Hotel in Co Galway

Golfgate trial to begin today in Galway with 50 witnesses

The trial of two prominent politicians and two hoteliers over alleged breaches of the Health Act at an Oireachtas Golf Society dinner held during Covid restrictions in August 2020 begins today in Galway District Court.

Sr Winifred Doherty also lobbies the United Nations

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The Irish nun schooling Elon Musk in human rights and child labour

An Irish nun has got the world’s most powerful countries and businesses in her sights as she fights to end the scourge of child labour.

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10 best Irish New Year’s getaways

Perhaps you want to take a post-Christmas breather or spend a few days looking ahead to 2022. Maybe you enjoy ‘Twixmas’ getaways in the days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, or prefer to wait until it’s all over and have a quiet break in early January. Either way, you will need to book now – and cross fingers and toes that the latest Covid surge has abated and hotels remain open.

Dublin’s Broadstone Terminus in 1860, showing the pontoon bridge over the Royal Canal. Picture: Royal Collection Trust

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Who killed George Little? The murder mystery that gripped Victorian Ireland

These days it’s the headquarters of Bus Éireann, but for almost a century, Broadstone was one of Dublin’s main railway stations, the capital’s gateway to the west coast. On the first floor of this imposing neoclassical building in Phibsborough Road, virtually unchanged in 160 years, is an office with a dark secret.

Bus Éireann chief executive Stephen Kent. Picture by Mark Condren

Fare play: Kent plans out a brand new route at Bus Éireann

The vibrantly coloured Bus Éireann-branded decal, featuring catchphrases from a new five-year plan, is perfectly positioned behind Stephen Kent’s head for the many Zoom calls on which he undoubtedly finds himself.

When you’re heavily pregnant your lungs have no space, so if you get Covid breathing can become really difficult, one medic says. Stock picture.

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Pregnant pause for thought: why have 42pc of mothers-to-be chosen not to get Covid-19 vaccine?

Aoife is six months pregnant and afraid to get the Covid-19 vaccine. Her pregnancy journey has already been full of heartbreak and complications, notwithstanding the pandemic. She’s gone through gruelling rounds of IVF and suffered miscarriages over the past two years.