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LAST UPDATE | 25 Sep 2025
GOOD MORNING.
Here’s all the news you need to know as you start the day.
1. Taoiseach Micheál Martin has ruled out the expansion of the First Home Scheme to second-hand homes in this year’s Budget.
Speaking to The Journal in New York, where he is attending the United Nations High Level Week, the Taoiseach confirmed the election promise made by both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to extend the scheme won’t feature this year.
2. Meanwhile, the ESRI has urged the Government to adopt a “tightened fiscal stance” in Budget 2026 and warned that Ireland’s finances may be as vulnerable now as they were in the lead-up to the financial crisis of 2008.
3. Tánaiste Simon Harris will travel to Washington DC this evening ahead of a meeting US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, who has previously described Ireland as his favourite “tax scam”.
4. Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas will address the United Nations virtually today as the Trump administration, who barred him from attending the General Assembly in person, weighs whether to try to stop Israeli annexation of the West Bank.
5. The Environmental Protection Agency has said that Ireland’s air quality is generally good and compliant with EU legal requirements, but it will be harder to meet stricter standards in the future.
6. Drones flew over multiple airports across Denmark last night and caused one of them to close for hours, just days after a similar incident this week prompted Copenhagen airport to shut.
7. A detainee was killed and two are in critical condition following a sniper attack on a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Dallas, Texas, officials have said.
8. English actor James Norton said he “worked hard” on getting his Irish – or more specifically, Dublin – accent right as he prepared to play a key member of Ireland’s most famous business.
9. Rihanna and her partner ASAP Rocky have welcomed a new baby girl – and her middle name is Irish.
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