#Repatriated to Ireland

[stairnaheireann]

#OTD in 1920 – Following a mutiny in India by soldiers of the Connaught Rangers in protest at events in Ireland, Private James Daly is court-martialled and executed by firing squad.

The Connaught Rangers (‘The Devil’s Own’) was an Irish regiment of the British Army originally raised in 1793 as the 88th Regiment of Foot (Connaught Rangers), which gained a reputation both for indiscipline and for its prowess as shock troops and street fighters with the bayonet while serving under the Duke of Wellington during the Peninsular War in Spain. It was one of eight Irish regiments…

[siena-sevenwits]

✨

[dearly]

Under-18s should not be pushed into pop stardom, one of the UK’s leading songwriters has said, in the wake of the tragic death of former One Direction star Liam Payne.

As Payne’s father, Geoff, arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to arrange the repatriation of his son’s body, fans were still taking in the news of the 31-year-old’s fall from a third-floor hotel balcony. Many also joined the Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Tweedy, an ex-partner, in decrying the lurid coverage of Payne’s death scene in some news outlets.

Speaking this weekend, Guy Cham­bers, the songwriter and friend of Robbie Williams, has called for the industry to hold back from working with talent under the age of 18. “I do think putting a 16-year-old in an adult world like that is potentially really damaging. Robbie experienced that, certainly,” he told the Observer.

The need for better protection for vulnerable young male pop stars has gained urgency in the aftermath of Payne’s death, prompted by criticism of the music industry’s treatment of the former teenage star, who had spoken of his struggles to find mental stability after his sudden fame as a member of One Direction.

The band was formed on ITV’s The X Factor in 2010, when a 16-year-old Payne came back for a second audition on the talent show and joined up with Harry Styles and fellow members. One of the show’s judges was Tweedy, with whom he later had a child, Bear, who is now seven. Payne had first auditioned for the show aged only 14.

Louis Theroux, executive producer of the upcoming BBC series Boybands Forever has spoken of the perils of “getting everything you dreamed of, and it not being what you imagined”.

Theroux’s new series, which goes out on BBC2 in the middle of next month and was made with his wife, Nancy Strang, will look at both the dramatic highs of gaining instant fame and the contrasting depths of despair it can prompt. With “searingly honest” contributions from Williams, formerly of Take That, and Brian McFadden of Westlife, it focuses on the earlier years of the boyband ­phenomenon in Britain and Ireland, from the 1990s to the late 2000s.

Talking about his year-long work on the show, Theroux said the artists will discuss their “highs and lows” over three episodes that centre “on a generation of young men and their managers, who were wildly successful and also immensely vulnerable, having the times of their lives and, also, in some cases, cracking up.”

Due to the death of Payne, issues the series examines have already prompted leading names in the British music industry to urge action.

Chambers said: “I have four children, so I think about this a lot. I know in Robbie’s case, with Take That, there wasn’t any proper protection set up to look after what were teenage boys. That was a long time ago, but I don’t see much sign of change. There is not much more real care taken, that I have observed, from people involved in the big television talent shows.”

Chambers, who co-wrote the hits Angels and Let Me Entertain You with Williams, believes the entertainment business should set new standards: “I would suggest that people should not be in a boyband until they are 18, and the industry should stick to that, too.”

These worries are echoed by Mike Smith, the former music industry boss at Warner/Chappell, who has also worked at EMI and Columbia. “I am not sure if it is something for ­legislation, but the longer a young person can postpone a career in music the better,” he said.

“Of course, there is nothing wrong with forming a band in your teens, but my admiration goes out to anyone who comes out of an early professional career in good mental shape. I signed a young Irish band called the Strypes once, and I was uncomfortable with the level of responsibility I felt. People are still immature at 16, so the very thought of going through all that madness when you have no idea who you are yet is alarming.”

However, Smith, who has worked with many bands and singers, including Blur, Robbie Williams, Supergrass and Arctic Monkeys, as well as the X Factor winner Matt Cardle, believes there is now much more caution about handling young singers and songwriters.

“When I was at Warners in 2018, we did improve on this. We set up a fund in the contract of our songwriters to cover their mental health care because we were seeing around 25% of them suffering anxiety or depression – and these were not even the frontline pop stars.

“Around that time, the major music companies were all doing similar things to help – taking people on to the payroll to advise the artists and their staff. That wasn’t around early enough for Robbie, I know, but it is better now, partly because we are having the conversations about it.

“I don’t think I really understood it earlier. But what hasn’t changed, of course, is the incredible pressure these young artists are under. Everyone expects you to be living your best life, but then you find you can’t function. People want you to be happy all the time and you are constantly scrutinised.”

[scifrey]

Listen.

If you've read my fics, you know that I love history. I love pageantry. I love symbolism. I love beautiful clothes, and art, and jewels. I love going behind the scenes and seeing into castles and manor houses. I love parades, and the hidden meaning behind coronations, and the fairytale unreality of the lives of the gentry.

I believe, however, that all of these things should be ARTIFACTS.

I believe there is literally no point in upholding a monarchy or commonwealth any more.

Allow commonwealth countries become republics. Allow Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales to return to being seperate nations if they vote to become so. Allow those republics to create their own network of mutual support, should they so choose to. There's no reason to not keep up Commonwealth ties and festivals even if there's no Commonwealth.

Repatriate artifacts, art and jewels to their nations of origin. Offer monetary compensation/support for cultures violated and impoverished by colonialism. Help establish democracies where needed, and butt the hell out where they're not. (And especially don't establish puppet democracies, ew.)

Let the British royal family become symbolic tourist attractions, let them fund their own charities, and throw their parties, and knight their artists, and uphold their royal orders of garters and baths, and maintain their personal properties--and make them do it with their own wealth and real estate investments. They're multi-billionaires. They can afford it. They'll be fine.

But remove them from the machine of governance. Detach them entirely from public spending, dependance, or influence.

And if they do participate in traditions of parliament (like the Opening, which is actually really cool and fascinating panto, which I quite like and hope they WOULD continue), man, do it without the silly hat. If the King wants to wear the silly hat, make him pay for the upkeep of the silly hat out of his own pocket. It's HIS silly hat, after all. It's not like we all get a turn with it, even though we do pay for it.

(Actually, the Crown Jewels are owned by the British Public so like... if they want to take them along when they go, make the royal family buy them. And then let them charge museums a fee to loan them for exhibition, just like privately owned paintings by famous Masters are loaned to art galleries.)

Let the royals continue to do all the things the royals do, if they want to do them. Just… make them pay for it themselves. Dissolve the Sovereign Grant, and use all that money to pay for things like restitution, repatriation, and hey maybe increasing public spending on health care and social infrastructure.

Turn the public-owned properties into, yeah, tourist attractions in part (gotta fund their upkeep somehow). But also put public offices in there. Maybe some social housing. Maybe hospitals, with well-paid front-line staff. Event spaces. Seniors care homes. Something.

If Hampton Court Palace can do it, so can Buckingham.

Balmoral and Sandringham are privately owned, there's lots of land and buildings for the family to occupy. They won't be homeless.

Keep the royal family, if the royal family wants to be kept. Include the royal family if the royal family wants to be included. Just make them pay for their own stuff with their own money. And do BETTER things with the savings.

Yes, I'm aware that this may be wishful thinking.

Yes, I'm aware that unscrupilous people may take advantage of monetary support given to commonwealth nations and keep it for themselves. (And I'm not unaware that it would happen in ALL the nations, yes, even Canada where I live. There are a LOT of currently-serving politicians who are vile, scummy, self-serving arseholes.) Yes, I'm aware that mutual support between nations of the commonwealth is all that is preventing famine or religious war in some places.

Yes, I'm aware none of this is as easy as I'm making it sound.

But I think it's time to stop celebrating and upholding centuries of brutal militaristic colonialism and the destruction and subversion of so many beautiful cultures for the sake of some tourist bucks. I especially think it's time for the public to stop PAYING for it.

I love history. I love symbolism. I love the stories of royalty and treachery and gallantry and seduction. I love the architecture of great houses, and the meaning behind golden spoons from over a thousand years ago, and the fascination of birthrights and bloodlines. I love paintings, and balls, and the gorgeous work of exceptionally talented artisans that go into making all the amazing silly hats.

I write historical romances for goshsakes.

And I also think it's time to stick it all where it belongs -- in a museum.

[osmanthusoolong]

One of the tree oldest birchbark canoes from North America, recently repatriated from Ireland. We got to talk to a local artist whose ancestor made all three of them, and his work repatriating them, tracking them down, repairing them, and building new ones in the traditional style. It was wonderful talking with him.

[beardedmrbean]

Police began dismantling about 200 tents housing asylum-seekers in Ireland's capital, Dublin, early Wednesday.

The government said police and other authorities were removing the migrants from the tents on Mount Street in the center of the capital and moving them to shelters. Buses were on standby to take the people away.

People will not be allowed to return to the camp once it is cleared, Prime Minister Simon Harrishad said on Tuesday.

"Once we clear Mount Street and provide people with a safer setting and access to sanitation, we need to make sure that the laws of the land are applied and it is not allowed to happen again because we do not live in a country where makeshift shantytowns are allowed to just develop," he said.

The tents first appeared about a year ago on the sidewalks around the office of the International Protection Office, which examines asylum claims.

Housing crisis meets migration crisis

Ireland is trying to accommodate record numbers of refugees while struggling with a housing shortage. After running out of accommodation, the government agency responsible for housing asylum-seekers began handing out tents to some new arrivals last December.

Protests over housing and the added pressure of new arrivals have been mostly peaceful. But far-right activists attacked police last December after three children were stabbed to death by a man identified by Irish media as being born in Algeria.

Six people were arrested last week after a standoff with police at a building in Wicklow, south of Dublin. The building is meant to house asylum seekers.

Dispute with UK over migrants

The number of undocumented asylum-seekers arriving in Ireland, mainly through the open border with Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, has increased significantly recently, according to the Irish government.

According to media reports, more than 6,700 people have applied for asylum in Ireland since January. That's almost 90% more than in the same period last year.

Harris said he would send irregular migrants back to the UK and plans to introduce legislation to do so. However, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak refuses to do so until the EU takes back migrants from the UK.

[dougielombax]

Well, that ghastly old Nazi collaboration myth is still being treated as if it were true by morons.

No change there.

I’ll say it again.

Ireland was mostly neutral during the Second World War. Barring the north, which was very much involved.

I’d know because my great grandpa was in the RAF and Belfast was bombed by the Nazis. Among other things.

Along with many other Irish folk like my great grandpa serving in the allied militaries. Voluntarily. (Conscription was never implemented in the north)

(What did the loyalists do? They all stayed at home because they were frightened of the idea of the native Irish getting their hands on guns! But they don’t like to be reminded of that, it makes them go feral!)

The rest of Ireland stayed out of the war (which I’ll admit is only slightly less worse than collaborating) but did discreetly provide the allies with intelligence and other such things.

That and helping to repatriate any allied pilots what crashed in Ireland, any German ones just got stuck in jail until the war ended.

A few IDIOTS who were in the old IRA (which by then had long since fizzled out to become a sellout reactionary fringe group) tried to forge some sort of alliance with the Nazis, but thankfully nothing came of it.

This is basic stuff.

The Nazi collaboration myth stems from a combination of propaganda from British tabloid newspapers after the war, those aforementioned old IRA idiots, and misinformation.

And FAR too many people still believe it.

Do some basic fucking research!

For fuckness’ sake!

[redeyedroid]

CW for war, disease and mass death.

What's the worst time and place to be a human in history? Julius Caesar's armies killed maybe a million people and enslaved a million others in the conquest of Gaul. Genghis Khan's slaughtered so many people that 700 million tons of CO2 were supposedly scrubbed from the atmosphere. Cromwell's New Model Army followed the laws of war as they were understood in the mid-17th century far better than most of their contemporaries and still embarked on near-genocidal campaigns in Ireland.

Then there are the pandemics. The Plague of Justinian and the Black Death, both caused by a simple bacteria, yersinia pestis. The apocalypse brought to the indigenous peoples of the Americas by European invaders killed 90% of the population of North America and led to a besieged, disease-ridden populace wiped out as Cortes's conquistadors brought down the Aztecs in their capital of Tenochtitlan.

On and on it goes and there is no sign of it ever stopping.

The Second World War gave so many more names to add to the list. Factories of death forever associated with mass murder. Fewer than 10 people are known to have survived Belzec. 67 survived Treblinka. A couple of hundred broke out of Sobibor and made it to the end of the war. Auschwitz was the pinnacle of the Nazi extermination machine and a place of unimaginable horror, but it is known because people survived.

There was brutal combat on numerous small Pacific islands and over jungle-covered mountains where Japanese forces had to be wiped out because they would not surrender and where to be taken prisoner by them was to be tortured to death. After 8 years of war against China, the Japanese repatriated 57 POWs.

There was death in the Atlantic where merchant sailors - civilians, technically - died in oil-covered, burning seas, or froze in arctic wastes, or drowned, or simply vanished, their fates unknown.

And there are so many towns and cities to remember. 350,000 dead before the war is traditionally held to have begun, chronicled in Iris Chang's book, The Rape of Nanking. The freezing, starving siege of Leningrad where maybe a million died and some capitulated to the temptation of cannibalism and survived, or were caught and executed, or starved anyway. The Götterdämmerung of the Nazi state when the Red Army took a devastated Berlin and indulged in mass rape. Dresden. Hiroshima. Nagasaki.

Thousands of places where noone tells the story of the murders that took place, because only the murderers survived. Thousands more where soldiers fought and died over a cluster of buildings, large and small.

Among these, there is the greatest symbol of the struggle of annihilation between Nazi Germany and the USSR. Among these there is Stalingrad.

Today, Feb 2nd 2023 is the 80th anniversary of the end of what is held to be the largest battle in human history. For a war where books have endlessly proclaimed the events the describe to be turning points or decisive, Stalingrad is as close to that actually being true as you find. It was the high water mark of Nazi conquest. After it, they never held the strategic initiative again. 1943 would be a year where it's defeat, inevitable before, would be made clear.

For 6 months the Red Army and German 6th Army fought over a ribbon of urban landscape 10 miles long on the river Volga, named after a tyrant maybe responsible for more dead than his opponent (though not for want of trying on Hitler's part. Had the Germans won, tens of millions more would have died. This is not supposition. This is explicitly what the Generalplan Ost laid out for the conquered east.) until the broken remnants of German forces finally surrendered, weeks after the outcome had been decided.

Maybe a million soldiers were killed in the campaign, either on the steppe outside the city in summer, autumn and winter of 1942, or in the city itself, where they fought over the ruins, men taking and holding buildings with grenade and submachine gun. Bayonet and club. Sharpened shovels wielded like hatchets were preferred weapons in the close, hand-to-hand combat that took place. The Rattenkrieg - rat's war - as the Germans referred to the subterranean, hidden war where to reveal yourself risked dying to a sniper's bullet. The Soviets positioned themselves as close to the Germans as possible, to limit the effectiveness of German firepower. Thousands of civilians were killed in bombing before the 6th Army reached Stalingrad. Thousands would be evacuated across the Volga by the Soviets or deported by the Germans to the living hell of slave labour in Germany. Some, against all odds, survived in the smoke-filled, cacophonous hell the city became.

The Soviets held on, somehow, to tiny areas of the city. They had no choice. To retreat was to die. Stalin made that very clear. He issued orders declaring that to retreat, to surrender, was to commit treason. The NKVD put in blocking detachments to prevent withdrawal. Red Army soldiers arrested by them were executed or sent to penal battalions. Rarely, they might be released. Many more were summarily shot by their officers.

Replacements and supplies were ferried across the Volga, under fire from the Germans on the heights above the western bank. Anthony Beevor says that of the original 10,000 men of the 13th Guards Rifle Division which went into the city in September 1942 only 300 were still alive in February. (I'm not sure I believe that. 300 is a mythic number evoking heroic Spartans at Thermopylae. It's a little convenient for me.) They reorganised and employed small storm groups of infantry to engage the Germans at close quarters. They fought at night, because the impression was that the Germans feared the hours of darkness. They took terrible losses holding on to their tiny enclaves.

The Germans struggled with logistics and replacements. The combat units, ground down by the Soviets were strengthened by rear echelon troops - cooks, supply clerks, maintenance men and engineers. Men who were barely trained in infantry tactics, let alone in the intense urban combat skills needed in the rubble of Stalingrad. And slowly and surely, the combat strength of 6th Army was sucked into the hell of Stalingrad and fell victim to a Soviet strategic masterstroke.

On the 19th November, the Soviets launched a massive counteroffensive to the north of the city. Another attack began to the south a day later. The Soviet armour and artillery cut through weakly defended lines held by Romanian and Italian troops, because the German focus was on the blasted ruins of Stalingrad. On the 23rd, the two prongs of the Red Army met at a village called Kalach, encircling a quarter of a million men.

6th Army requested permission to break out. Hitler, grasping for symbolic victory denied them (though there were strategic reasons, too. 6th Army encircled pinned down Soviet forces and allowed German armies in the Caucasus to withdraw). Göring, hubristic, playing for Hitler's favour promised to supply 6th Army by air. A divisional commander initiated a break out on his own, hoping the rest of 6th Army would follow, but they didn't and his men were cut to pieces. A German operation to relieve the encircled men ground to a halt less than 15 miles from their positions. The Soviets set up loudspeakers opposite the Germans and played the sound of a clock on loop with the message, read by German communists in exile that every 7 seconds a German died in Russia.

Resupply by air failed.

In the New Year the Soviets attacked the pocket and destroyed the 6th Army. It took them weeks of bitter fighting in the cold, snow-covered battlefield. Eventually, what was left was pinned against the Volga, a strange inverse of the position Stalingrad's defenders had found themselves in September. Units collapsed and melded together, but discipline held in most cases. 6th Army's commander, Friedrich Paulus, was promoted to Field Marshal - a poison apple. The unspoken order from Hitler that accompanied it was for Paulus to shoot himself. He refused and surrendered himself on the 31st, leaving a more junior officer to officially surrender the 6th Army two days later.

90,000 men were taken into captivity. half-starved, ill, wounded, exhausted, they were thrown into a prison system that valued human life very little and where they were exposed to not only the vengeance of the authorities, but also of the zeks already there. Only around 6,000 survived to return to Germany. The last German POWs were released from Soviet captivity in the mid-1950s, several years after Stalin's death.

There are far too many places and events to consider, but for a little while at least, Stalingrad was probably the worst place in the world to be.

[billdecker]

darren has gone to ireland this weekend for his dad’s repatriation/memorial service and one minute he’s telling me all the sad touching stuff and the next he’s telling me how happy he is to be able to bring some kimberley biscuits home

[wikifoxnews]

Who is Miller Pacheco ( Charged with murder of Brazilian woman ) Wiki, Bio, Age, Incident details, Death Cause, Arrest, Investigations and More Facts

Miller Pacheco Biography                                          Miller Pacheco Wiki

A MAN Miller Pacheco has been charged with the murder of young Brazilian woman Bruna Fonseca, 28, who was found beaten and strangled to death in a Cork flat on New Year's Day. Breaking News - 29 year old Miller Pacheco has appeared in court charged with the murder of his former girlfriend 28 year old Bruna Fonseca at a flat on Librerty St Cork yesterday. He was remanded in custody until Jan 9th . @VirginMediaNews pic.twitter.com/nfZBpgvAt1 — Paul Byrne (@PaulByrne_1) January 2, 2023

Miller Pacheco Age

Miller Pacheco, 29, also a Brazilian citizen, was charged with the murder of his former partner before a special session of Cork District Court. Pacheco is charged with the uncommon law murder of Ms. Fonseca at 5 Liberty Street in the early hours of New Year's Day. The defendant has an address at Room 3, No 5 Liberty Street, Cork. Judge John King received evidence of the arrest, caution and charge from Det Garda Padraig Harrington. The defendant had been arrested for questioning under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act on 1 January 1984 and taken to Bridewell Garda Station for questioning. Pacheco was formally charged at 2.45pm at Bridewell Garda Station. Det Garda Harrington said that Pacheco has not responded to the single charge. The accused appeared in court in dark trousers and a black sweater. He did not speak during the brief hearing. Judge King granted free legal aid at the request of defense attorney Aoife Buttimer and ordered that Pacheco receive all necessary medical care while in custody. He also confirmed that a Portuguese translator would be made available for future court sessions. Because the charge is murder, bail cannot be dealt with in the district court. Any application for bail must be made in the High Court. Sergeant Pat Lyons requested the defendant be remanded in custody in order to appear via video link before a session of Cork District Court. Judge King remanded Pachecho to appear again in Cork District Court on January 9. Ms Fonseca, who was from Formiga in Brazil, traveled to Ireland for work last year. She was employed by BidVest-Noonan Contractor Cleaners. Her work included duties at Mercy University Hospital (MUH), which is less than 100 meters from where her body was found at 6:30 a.m. on New Year's Day. Gardaí and paramedics visited the Liberty Street flat at 6.30am on New Year's Day, but desperate efforts to revive the young woman failed and she was pronounced dead at the scene. On Sunday afternoon at Cork University Hospital (CUH), Assistant State Pathologist Dr. Margaret Bolster performed an autopsy. Gardaí withheld the autopsy results for operational reasons. However, it did confirm that Ms. Fonseca met a violent death. The young woman had been beaten and strangled. Ms. Fonseca attended university in her native country of Brazil and worked as a librarian. She moved to Ireland last year. Her body was found on Liberty Street just hours after she went out with friends to celebrate New Year's Eve in Cork city centre. The apartment in question is just 100 meters from Bridewell Garda train station and around the corner from the Cork Courthouse on Washington Street. Ms Fonseca's body was found on a bed in an upstairs bedroom of the apartment, which is above Picasso's hair salon. Gardaí have appointed a family liaison officer to support her family in Brazil. It is understood her family are hoping to travel to Ireland to oversee arrangements for the repatriation of their daughter's remains to Brazil. In a tribute, both MUH and Bidvest Noonan praised Ms Fonseca as a hard worker - and said they were "sad and shocked" by her death. “Although she only worked for the company at the hospital for a short time, she was considered a hard and diligent worker and a valued colleague. We extend our deepest condolences to her friends in Cork and to her family and friends in Brazil. May you rest in peace." Read the full article

[nctjpeg]

maybe I will repatriate to Ireland

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 7.21 (after 1950)

1951 – Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 3505 disappears while flying from Vancouver to Tokyo. The aircraft and its 37 occupants are never found. 1952 – The 7.3 Mw  Kern County earthquake strikes Southern California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing 12 and injuring hundreds. 1954 – First Indochina War: The Geneva Conference partitions Vietnam into North Vietnam and South Vietnam. 1959 – NS Savannah, the first nuclear-powered cargo-passenger ship, is launched as a showcase for Dwight D. Eisenhower's "Atoms for Peace" initiative. 1959 – Elijah Jerry "Pumpsie" Green becomes the first African-American to play for the Boston Red Sox, the last team to integrate. He came in as a pinch runner for Vic Wertz and stayed in as shortstop in a 2–1 loss to the Chicago White Sox. 1960 – Sirimavo Bandaranaike is elected Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, becoming the world's first female head of government 1961 – Mercury program: Mercury-Redstone 4 Mission: Gus Grissom piloting Liberty Bell 7 becomes the second American to go into space (in a suborbital mission). 1961 – Alaska Airlines Flight 779 crashes near Shemya Air Force Base in Shemya, Alaska killing six. 1964 – A series of racial riots break out in Singapore. In the next six weeks, 23 die with 454 others injured. 1969 – Apollo program: At 02:56 UTC, astronaut Neil Armstrong becomes the first person to walk on the Moon, followed 19 minutes later by Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin. 1970 – After 11 years of construction, the Aswan High Dam in Egypt is completed. 1972 – The Troubles: Bloody Friday: The Provisional IRA detonate 22 bombs in central Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom in the space of 80 minutes, killing nine and injuring 130. 1973 – In Lillehammer, Norway, Mossad agents kill a waiter whom they mistakenly thought was involved in the 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre. 1976 – Christopher Ewart-Biggs, the British ambassador to the Republic of Ireland, is assassinated by the Provisional IRA. 1977 – The start of the four-day-long Libyan–Egyptian War. 1979 – Jay Silverheels, a Mohawk actor, becomes the first Native American to have a star commemorated in the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 1983 – The world's lowest temperature in an inhabited location is recorded at Vostok Station, Antarctica at −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F). 1990 – Taiwan's military police forces mainland Chinese illegal immigrants into sealed holds of a fishing boat Min Ping Yu No. 5540 for repatriation to Fujian, causing 25 people to die from suffocation. 1995 – Third Taiwan Strait Crisis: The People's Liberation Army begins firing missiles into the waters north of Taiwan. 2001 – At the conclusion of a fireworks display on Okura Beach in Akashi, Hyōgo, Japan, 11 people are killed and more than 120 are injured when a pedestrian footbridge connecting the beach to JR Asagiri Station becomes overcrowded and people leaving the event fall down in a domino effect. 2005 – Four attempted bomb attacks by Islamist extremists disrupt part of London's public transport system. 2008 – Ram Baran Yadav is declared the first President of Nepal. 2010 – President Barack Obama signs the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. 2011 – NASA's Space Shuttle program ends with the landing of Space Shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-135 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. 2012 – Erden Eruç completes the first solo human-powered circumnavigation of the world. 2019 – Yuen Long attack or "721 incident" in Hong Kong. Triad members indiscriminately beat civilians returning from protests while police failed to take action. 2023 – The Barbenheimer phenomenon begins as two major motion pictures, Greta Gerwig's fantasy comedy Barbie and Christopher Nolan's epic biographical thriller Oppenheimer, are released in theaters on the same day and audiences, instead of creating a rivalry between the extremely dissimilar films, instead attend and praise both as an informal, surreal double feature.

[vinit07]

A Comprehensive Guide to the Ireland Tourist Visa for First-Time Travelers

Ireland, the Emerald Isle, beckons with its rolling green hills, charming villages, vibrant cities, and rich history. For many, a trip to this enchanting land is a dream come true. However, for those traveling from countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland, securing a visa is a crucial first step. This comprehensive guide will equip you with all the necessary information to navigate the Ireland Tourist Visa application process, ensuring a smooth and enjoyable journey to the land of leprechauns and Guinness.

Who Needs a Visa to Visit Ireland?

The need for a visa depends entirely on your nationality. Citizens of EEA countries and Switzerland can enter Ireland without a visa, provided they have a valid passport. However, if you are from a country outside this group, you will likely require a visa to visit Ireland, even for a short-term tourist stay.

Types of Irish Visas

There are several types of visas available for Ireland. For tourist purposes, the Short-Stay Visa (C Visa) is the most relevant. It allows you to stay in Ireland for a maximum of 90 days within a 180-day period.

Requirements for the Ireland Tourist Visa

To apply for the Ireland Tourist Visa, you will need to gather the following essential documents:

A Valid Passport: Your passport must be valid for at least six months beyond your intended stay in Ireland and have at least two blank pages for visa stamps.

Visa Application Form: Complete the online application form truthfully and accurately.

Passport Photos: Submit two recent passport photos meeting the specified requirements.

Proof of Financial Means: Provide evidence that you can financially support yourself during your trip. This may include bank statements, payslips, or a letter of sponsorship from a family member or friend.

Travel Itinerary: Include a detailed itinerary with confirmed travel bookings for flights, accommodation, and planned activities.

Travel Insurance: Provide proof of travel insurance covering medical emergencies and repatriation.

Return Ticket: Present a confirmed return ticket or onward travel arrangements.

Invitation Letter (if applicable): If you are visiting friends or family, an invitation letter from your host is required. This letter should include their address and contact details.

Visa Fee: Pay the applicable visa fee online or at a designated visa application center.

Applying for the Tourist Visa

There are two ways to apply for the Ireland Tourist Visa:

Online Application: Submit your application directly to the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) website. This is the preferred method, as it is faster and more efficient.

Through a Visa Application Centre (VAC): If online application is not possible, you can submit your application through a VAC located in your country of residence.

Processing Time

The processing time for an Ireland Tourist Visa can vary depending on several factors, including the volume of applications, your nationality, and the completeness of your application. The typical processing time is about 15 working days, but it can take longer in some cases. It is highly recommended that you apply at least six weeks before your intended travel date.

Visa Application Tips

Complete the application form accurately: Be meticulous and ensure all information is correct.

Provide supporting documents: Gather all required documents and submit them in a clear and organized manner.

Be prepared for an interview: If your application is selected for further review, you may be called for an interview at the Irish embassy or consulate in your country.

Check the visa requirements: Regularly check the INIS website for any updates or changes in the visa requirements.

Additional Information

Multiple Entry Visa: You can apply for a multiple entry visa that allows you to enter Ireland multiple times within a specified period. This is a good option if you plan to visit Ireland frequently.

Visa Validity: The validity of your visa will be indicated on your visa sticker. Ensure you respect the maximum permitted stay and exit Ireland before the expiry date.

Visa Refusal: If your visa application is refused, you will receive a notification explaining the reason. You can appeal the decision but be aware that it may be difficult to overturn the initial decision.

Conclusion

Securing an Ireland Tourist Visa can seem daunting, but with meticulous planning and thorough preparation, the process can be streamlined. This guide has provided you with all the necessary information to navigate the application process effectively. By following these guidelines, you can increase your chances of getting your visa approved and enjoy an unforgettable adventure in the Emerald Isle. Remember to start your application well in advance of your planned trip to avoid any last-minute delays.

Enjoy your journey to Ireland!

[mariacallous]

Albania’s Special Prosecution Against Corruption and Organised Crime, SPAK, and Special Court ordered custody for 31 people accused of involvement in a scheme that enabled Albanian citizens to enter the UK and Ireland illegally.

Some 26 of the 31 suspects have been caught so far and one of them, according to the police, is a police officer. Another 35 people were arrested in Spain in a joint operation.

A laboratory for forging documents was also discovered. The documents being forged were IDs, passports, driving licences, bank and healthcare cards that were used by Albanians entering the UK and Ireland illegally.

“Albanian citizens were leaving Albania with their original Albanian passports to EU countries, inside the Schengen area. The forged documents were then mailed to hotels where they stayed in Spain or residential addresses,” the Albanian police said.

BIRN asked the police if they knew how many people benefited from the scheme, and about the location of the laboratory that produced the forged documents. Police responded that they “do not have this data yet, it will come out of the investigations”.

EUROPOL, SPAK and US Security Office at the US embassy in Tirana collaborated in the operation.

According to the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, some 16,000 Albanians applied for asylum in Britain in 2022; roughly 12,000 arrived by small boats across the Channel.

British authorities say the deal struck between British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Albanian counterpart Edi Rama at the end of 2022 has since cut the flow by 90 per cent.

But BIRN’s reporting in northern Albania shows that a number of those repatriated under the deal have already made it back to Britain again.

[macksamuels]

Reparations – As a 4th generation immigrant from Germany/Switzerland/Hungary/Ireland, that also makes me a 3rd generation native American. If we give America back to the “victims,” to where can I be repatriated? Or maybe they just kill me? Quarter me, and send my quarters abroad?

[msamba]

In 'The Repatriation of King Skellig Mör,' Duke Riley Explores the Bizarre Relationship Between Nature and Institutional Power | Colossal

MAY 31, 2024 JACKIE ANDRES All photos by Robert Bredvad, courtesy of Praise Shadows Art Gallery The most famous goat in the history of Boston was named Skellig Mör. During the early 1900s, Skellig Mör’s name plastered headlines as an arduous legal battle for his custody ensued. The famed goat was born in Killorglin, a town in County Kerry, Ireland. Prior to being bought by Americans and taken…