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Ireland
Irish regulators on Wednesday hit Facebook parent Meta with hundreds of millions in fines for online privacy violations and banned the company from forcing European users to agree to personalised ads based on their online activity. Ireland's Data Protection Commission imposed two fines totalling 390 million euros (USD 414 million) in its decision in two cases that could shake up Meta's business model targeting users with ads based on what they do online. The watchdog fined Meta 210 million euros for violations of the European Union's strict data privacy rules involving Facebook and an additional 180 million euros for breaches involving Instagram. It's the commission's latest punishment for Meta for data privacy infringements, following four other fines for the company since 2021 that total more than 900 million euros. The decision stems from complaints filed in May 2018 when the 27-nation EU's privacy rules, known as the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, took ...
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is aiming to repair frayed relations with Britain's European Union neighbours and with highly skeptical leaders in Scotland and Wales when he attends a summit of leaders from across the UK and Ireland on Thursday. It's the first time since 2007 that a UK leader has gone to the British Irish Council, which brings together government representatives from the UK, Ireland and semi-autonomous administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Self-governing British dependencies the Channel Islands and Isle of Man are also represented at the council, which was set up after Northern Ireland's 1998 peace agreement. Sunak's office said he would urge political leaders to be pragmatic and work together in our shared interests. Let's deliver for all our people across these great islands and build a future defined not by division, but by unity and hope, he said. It's a marked change of tone if not yet of substance from Britain's Conservative government. Su
The death toll in an explosion at a gas station in a small village in northwest Ireland has risen to nine, police said on Saturday, as emergency workers combed piles of rubble for more victims. Irish police said they did not expect to find more survivors from Friday's explosion in Creeslough, County Donegal. Eight people are in hospitals after a blast tore through the Applegreen service station in the community of about 400 people. The search and recovery for further fatalities continues," said the police force, An Garda Siochana. The cause of the blast is under investigation. Emergency responders from Ireland and neighbouring Northern Ireland are involved in what police said was now a search and recovery operation. Sniffer dogs combed the debris, and a mechanical digger lifted piles of rubble from the site. The explosion levelled the gas station building, which holds the main shop and post office for the village, and damaged an adjacent residential building. Irish Prime Minister
Britain and Ireland hailed a new spirit of compromise on Friday in a grinding feud over post-Brexit trade rules, expressing hope of making enough progress in the next three weeks to avoid a destabilising new election in Northern Ireland. It comes as new British Prime Minister Liz Truss seeks to improve relations with the UK's neighbours after the country's long, acrimonious divorce from the European Union. UK Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said Britain and the EU were negotiating in good faith and good humour a marked contrast from the bitter tone that has marred relations since the UK voted for Brexit in 2016. Speaking to reporters in London after a meeting of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference, he said he was very positive about the chances of getting a negotiated solution. Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said political leadership is about making things happen and sometimes surprising people, and I think that's what we need to do over the next fe
Tata Consumer Products (TCP), the FMCG arm of Tata Group, on Thursday announced the appointment of David Atkinson as Senior Vice President and Head of its UK and Ireland business. In his new role as Country Head, Atkinson will be responsible for leading the business and teams in the UK and Ireland, TCP said in a statement. He will be based in London and report to the President of International Business, Gharry Eccles, TCP said, adding that the announcement is in line with its commitment to strengthening business in key international markets. "This includes developing and executing a growth roadmap for the company as well as enhancing operational excellence. Combining its interests in tea and ready-to-drink products, TCP will be focusing on strengthening and growing its three key beverage brands -- Tetley, Good Earth and teapigs in international markets," it added. Atkinson, who comes with over two decades of experience, joined TCP from Hain Daniels Group, where he served as Managin