Europe Correspondent for @IrishTimes based in Brussels. Got a story/tip? Get in contact in confidence [email protected]

Brussels, Belgium
Joined June 2011
In good company shortlisted in the @newsbrandsirl journalism awards investigative category
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A story I spent some time investigating: Former Nato chief Anders Rasmussen didn’t disclose government lobbying contracts in op-eds praising Taiwan and Japan. Oddly, Rasmussen’s lucrative work advising former-Ukrainian president Poroshenko was paid for by a pro-western oligarch
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If a surge of people fleeing conflict similar to the 2015 migration crisis happened today, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the EU suspend the right to claim asylum at its southern borders. My column on Europe’s hard right shift on asylum policy irishtimes.com/world/europe/…
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Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke in Brussels this morning. Given shipments from Aughinish to Russia have increased substantially since the invasion of Ukraine. I asked him what does he think the Russians are using all the alumina for?
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I wonder what Ursula von der Leyen was saying to Billy Kelleher, Thomas Byrne and James Browne here in the European Parliament (they’re in the chamber to see Mark Carney’s speech)
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Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar responds to comments from Kaja Kallas in our interview, where the EU foreign rep said settlements in Occupied Palestinian Territories should face a trade ban, in the same way the EU blacklisted occupied Crimea after Russia’s invasion
The comparison drawn by @kajakallas has no factual or legal basis whatsoever and is completely unacceptable. The Jewish people’s connection and right to Judea and Samaria and the Land of Israel are more extensively documented than those of any other people in human history. Contrary to the comparisons drawn by Ms. Kallas, Judea and Samaria have never belonged to a Palestinian state, which never existed. Even the Palestinians themselves signed on a negotiated solution for the disputed territories. And finally - what does the high representative for foreign affairs and security policy is trying to do? Comparing the only democracy in the Middle East, that contributes in so many ways to Europe’s defence and security, to Russia? Did she stop to think about what she was actually saying?
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EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas tells @IrishTimes the union should treat illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank the same as Crimea after Russia invaded the Ukrainian territory and an Occupied Territories trade ban would be a “principled stance”. Story below
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/2 Here’s a link to the story if you what to read exactly what Kallas said irishtimes.com/world/europe/…
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Here’s a link to the story if you want to have a read of exactly what Kallas said: irishtimes.com/world/europe/…
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Here’s the note of a 2023 meeting (obtained by @IrishTimes under FOI) where Aughinish Alumina told the Government the Ukraine war was creating a “challenging environment” for the Limerick plant because of its links to sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska and Rusal
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