Latest news with #IrishTimes
Irish Times
a day ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Minister seeks to ease fears of Airbnb hosts over new short-term letting rules
Minister for Housing James Browne has said Airbnb hosts on the west coast will have 90 days per year where they will not need planning permission under a new law. Mr Browne claimed that many people in parts of Kerry, Clare and Mayo who will come under new short-term letting rules this weekend live in the homes that they are renting out and so will be unaffected by a new law. Earlier this week The Irish Times revealed that when Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) become national, popular tourist destinations that had not previously required planning permission for short-term lets now will. It prompted concern from Minister of State Michael Healy-Rae, as all of Co Kerry will now require planning permission for Airbnb-style accommodation when it did not previously. READ MORE Mr Browne told RTÉ radio's Morning Ireland 'that's the current law'. 'Every time a rent pressure zone is extended, the planning requirements kick in for short-term lets,' he said. Asked about the effect this would have on big tourism areas like Kerry, Clare, Galway and Mayo, Mr Browne said: 'a lot of them actually, the families live in the homes'. 'It's really important for those families to know that if you live in the home and you're renting out rooms, that [planning permission rule] doesn't apply,' he said. 'When this law passes, you have 90 days within a calendar year that you can rent your property out, that you don't need planning permission, so you're not going to see anybody even considering it for several months.' He said that he and Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke are bringing in 'very strict new laws' for short-term lets that will ban new planning permission for short-term lets in towns with a population of more than 10,000. 'So all of this is going to be resolved over the coming months anyway under the short-term lets plan,' he said. The Minister was also interviewed on Newstalk Breakfast where he said the new legislation would give more protection to renters. 'Renters are going through an awful lot of pain at the moment – rents are too high and I have to think of not only the renters that are currently renting but those who are home in their box rooms, in their parents' homes, who need somewhere to rent where there is no housing for them to go out and rent or to buy for that matter. So what we've taken is measures to increase that supply level. 'If we continue doing what we're doing, the pain will continue to grow as well. So I'm very conscious of the pain that everybody's going through out there who are renting and those who need somewhere to buy as well,' the Minister said. 'So the decisions I'm making this week is about increasing supply, because the only way we're going to address the cost of houses, the only way we are going to adjust the cost for renting, the way we were going to get homeless numbers down is by increasing that supply,' he told Newstalk Breakfast.
RTÉ News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Behind the Story: Kneecap court scenes, Iran, and EuroMillions advice!
Westminster Magistrates' Court had never seen a scene like it - that's what one reporter told the Irish Times after a massive crowd turned up to support Kneecap's Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh as he appeared charged under the UK's anti-terror legislation. Tunes were blaring, chants were sung, and there was a bit of humour inside the room after the rapper's legal team suggested he might need an Irish interpreter for his trial. In the latest episode of Behind the Story, RTÉ's man in London, Tommy Meskill, helped Fran McNulty, Katie Hannon and David McCullagh unpack it all. The trio also took a look at Iran, as Donald Trump has proclaimed "I may do it, I may not do it" when asked if the US was going to join Israel in striking the country. As all this happens abroad, there's also the smaller matter of Tuesday's €250 million EuroMillions jackpot, which we now know was sold at a retail outlet in Munster. The trio wade through some of today's articles on the big win, and what newsreader Sharon Tobin might do with all of that money.
RTÉ News
3 days ago
- Politics
- RTÉ News
Watch: 5 key takeaways from Reuters news study
The annual Reuters Digital News Report for Ireland 2025 shows that 5% of Irish people say they are getting their news from AI chatbots. This is one of the most eye-catching figures revealed in the annual report published today, and it offers a fascinating, if sobering, snapshot of media consumption. What is your 'level of interest' in news? The report shows that 56%, more than half the adult population in Ireland, is "extremely" or "very interested" in news. This figure, which is up 3 points from last year, is heartening for Irish newsrooms when compared to our neighbours in the UK (39%), and (51%) in the US. However, when we flick back ten years, to the report in 2015, the level of interest in news was 71% amongst adults. The report also notes wider trends over the years that show that engagement with news is clearly on shifting terrain. Rónán Ó Domhnaill, from Coimisiún na Meán, said that "what we are looking at is a gradual but managed decline in the amount of trust and interest in news". Who do you trust? At a time when fake news and misinformation are constant themes in newsrooms when faced with newsgathering and verification challenges, editors will be reassured that trust levels are solid. When asked about trusted sources of news, RTÉ News came out on top, at (72%), with local radio news in total clocking up (72%) trust levels too. They are followed by the Irish Times, with 70%, with the same percentage for the BBC, levels of 68% for the Irish Independent, and 66% for Newstalk, Today FM and Sky News. At a time when there are endless options available for people to consume their news, and when questionable content bleeds through our online world, these figures will bolster those who argue that resources should continue to be channelled to trusted news-gathering sources. For newspapers, there was good news for local papers as, at 71%, they emerge as the most trusted source, however Dave O'Connell, editor of the Connacht Tribune, said "it's great to have these trust levels," but "with the good news with trust level, it's not so great news in relation to sales". He asked "how do we leverage this trust into surviving as an industry?". For Dr Eileen Culloty from DCU who was involved in the research for this report, she said that the figures show that "local media enjoys strong public trust" however, in tune with Dave O'Connell she added, "trust alone doesn't pay salaries or sustain newsrooms so the big challenge is to convert trust into viable careers in local journalism so that local media can continue informing communities". Mr O'Connell pointed to Coimisiún na Meán, saying that their support with schemes such as the recent local journalism and court reporting schemes were vital to plug the gap between the cost of providing quality news coverage and funding. He believes that the need for external funding is key in this area. Are you worried about fake news? All age groups shows concern about fake information online with 68% of respondents saying that deciding what is 'real' and what is 'fake' is a factor in their consumption of news. This figure will be considered a strong mandate for journalists to continue to be vigilant in their news-gathering and verification processes. In an era when everyone can go 'live' on their phones to an audience, these figures will be seen as demonstrating the resilience and importance of verified content for news providers. The standards for good quality, well-researched journalism is important to Irish people and this figure from across the age groups reinforces that work. Will you pay for news? The report said that one in five people, 20%, are now paying for subscriptions for their news content. Casting an eye back to 2015, a decade ago, the figure for digital news subscriptions stood at 7% and the only national news title that had moved behind a paywall then was The Irish Sun which was followed by a 'soft paywall' from the Irish Times. Scroll on ten years and the levels of subscription have moved on, with Irish Independent publisher Mediahuis recently celebrating reaching 100,000 paid subscribers this year. Samantha McCaughren from Mediahuis spoke at the launch of the report today and she said that "what we did 20 years ago, we don't do now". Ms McCaughren explained that their processes have moved on and that "when we think about a story, we think about all the angles. Is there a podcast element, a video element, can our journalists talk to each other about a story? We have completely changed how we look at stories," she told RTÉ News. This describes the approach that any vibrant newsroom has to adopt now to stay relevant. Multi-platform approaches to a story is considered the norm now, but with shrinking resources across newsrooms, the perennial question remains - how do you monetise your content and stay on top of the financial demands of managing a multi-platform model? As more and more content goes behind paywalls, this report will offer some comfort as it seems that Irish people are more willing to pay for content so the juggling act of balancing commercial realities with the quality news content gathering continues across news organisations. The Reuters Digital News Report finds that 5% of people are turning to chatbots for their content. This one line in a report of thousands of words was for many, the break-out news line. The figure emerged in response to the question "which platforms you have used in the last week as a source of news" and it was the first time that this digital platform had emerged and is a new entry into the charts. Top of the choices was television with 58% saying that this was a platform they turned to. That same figure also said they turned to online news. Meanwhile, 47% of Irish people said social media was a source, while radio was a news source for 36%. This figure has been pointed to as a sure sign of the resilience of this platform with the Irish people's long celebrated affinity with radio continuing to power where audio offerings have changed significantly in recent years. Back ten years ago in 2015, the reach for 'traditional' newspapers was 69%. That has declined significantly with 20% of respondents in this report saying they went to printed newspapers for their information. Down the bottom are the two entries from the digital platforms with 12% saying podcasts provided them with news and the eye catching 5% stating that AI chatbots was a source. The figure may have just snuck into the bottom of the list but it is a figure that is sure to rise over the coming years. The figure just above it too is worthy of note as 12% point to podcasts as a platform they use for news sourcing. This figure is higher than the UK (7%) and USA (15%). When we consider that 19% of people said that they were either "very" or "somewhat" comfortable with the use of AI for news with some human oversight and the under 35s almost twice as comfortable when considering the same measure, it is clear that digital platforms will continue to steer future developments in newsrooms. Ms McCaughren discussed the pivotal role that podcasts play in the Mediahuis newsroom now with a full time team of 16 people working on their podcast content. From daily news, to sport to crime, the appetite for podcasts is clearly growing and is yet another new frontier that this report tracks. This evening I asked an AI chatbot for a short one line summary of this report, and it offered the following words of wisdom: "Irish audiences remain highly engaged and trusting in news at 56%, and strong local radio/newspaper trust levels at 72% but they are cautious about AI." Humble. Cautious for now, but when next year's report is published, checking the figure for use of AI chatbots as a source will be one of the first things I will watch out for.
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
More people paying for news than ever before
Irish people are paying for news more than ever before, as podcasts experienced a 'surge in popularity' last year according to the Digital News Report Ireland. Interest in news increased in Ireland this year, with 56 per cent of people 'extremely' or 'very' interested in news, an increase of 3 percentage points from last year. Despite the rise, it was down from a peak of 70 per cent during the Covid pandemic. This rate of interest places Irish audiences far ahead of the UK at 39 per cent, and ahead of the European average at 45 per cent. US audiences stood at 51 per cent reporting that level of interest. Rónán Ó Domhnaill, media development commissioner at Coimisiún na Meán said it is 'encouraging to see that interest in news remains high in Ireland when compared internationally, even as the formats used to consume news continue to change.' READ MORE One in five people, 20 per cent, are now paying for news content - up from 7 per cent in 2015 and coming after a flatline in the years since the pandemic. This stands at twice the rate in the UK, and 5 per cent higher than the European average. The most read newspapers were The Irish Times and the Irish Independent, though those publications recorded a decline in overall weekly online reach since 2015. The report noting that may be caused by 'targeting a smaller (paying) audience and not trying to be all things to all people.' [ Four in 10 people in Ireland 'worn out by the amount of news there is these days' Opens in new window ] Consumption of podcasts in Ireland has risen to 12 per cent each week, higher than the figure for Europe at 9 per cent and the UK at 7 per cent. US audiences still lead the way at 15 per cent. Despite this, just 2 per cent use podcasts as their main source of news. Of the 2,000 person sample for the report, 36 per cent had subscribed to The Irish Independent and 33 per cent had subscriptions to The Irish Times. The New York Times had increased its share from 9 per cent last year to 22 per cent in 2025, The Guardian similarly increased its market share from 10 per cent to 21 per cent in the same period, the Guardian relies on donations from readers rather than subscriptions. 'Without a sustainable business model - we can have all the reports, talk about nostalgia all we like - but journalism will not survive unless there is a model there to support it,' said Tom Felle, Dublin City University (DCU) associate professor of journalism, at the launch of the report. Audience attitudes towards the use of artificial intelligence (AI) have changed in recent years. The share of respondents that were comfortable with AI-produced news grew from 15 per cent to 19 per cent, with under-35s nearly twice as comfortable with its use. Will rent reform make building apartments viable? Listen | 40:12 Despite this, 45 per cent of people said AI would make news less trustworthy and 40 per cent thought it would make news coverage less accurate. 'I don't see AI as a threat at all, I see a lot of potential for AI to work really well in terms of supporting how journalism is created,' Mr Felle said. 'I think the public values trust in journalism and they are wary about what [ai generated content] might look like.' The most trustworthy news sources this year were RTÉ News, at 72 per cent, local radio and local newspapers, at 72 and 71 per cent respectively, as well as The Irish Times and the BBC at 70 per cent. Social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, was seen by the public as the biggest threat for false and misleading information at 54 per cent, alongside TikTok and Facebook at 53 per cent. The report, which was published by Coimisiún na Meán, was undertaken by Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford with data from the DCU Institute for Future Media, Democracy and Society.
RTÉ News
3 days ago
- Business
- RTÉ News
Interest in news among Irish adults remains high
The annual Digital News Report for Ireland 2025 shows that at 56%, more than half the adult population in Ireland is 'extremely' or 'very interested' in news. The figure for Irish people is higher than for the UK (39%), the US (51%) and above the European average (45%). The figure is included in the 11th edition of the annual report published today in Galway by Coimisiún na Meán. Up 3 points from last year, the figure represents the highest level of interest in news since 2022, but down from a peak of 70% in 2021, during the Covid pandemic. When asked about trusted sources of news, RTÉ News (72%), local radio news (72%) and local newspapers (71%) emerge as the most trusted brands. Meanwhile 70% of Irish respondents described the Irish Times as trustworthy, with the same percentage for BBC News; 68% for the Irish Independent and 66% for Newstalk, Today FM and Sky News. When asked for their thoughts about online news, 68% of Irish respondents said they are concerned about what is real and what is fake online. All age groups showed concern about fake information online, with the highest rate (72%) among those aged 65+ and the lowest rate (62%) among those aged 18-24. The report also reveals that one in five Irish people are now paying for their news. Digital news subscription figures in Ireland now stand at 20%, which is a three-point increase from this time last year. When asked which digital news service they subscribed to, 36% of people said they paid for the Irish independent and 33% paid for the Irish Times' service. Rónán Ó Domhnaill, Media Development Commissioner at Coimisiún na Meán, said that they recognise that An Coimisiún's ambition for developing the media landscape requires "ongoing and sustainable levels of funding for media outlets to support high-quality journalism, and news that people can trust". When asked if Irish audiences trust the news "most of the time", 50% of respondents in Ireland 'agreed' or 'strongly agreed', compared to 35% in the UK, 30% in the US, and 39% for merged data from Europe. In response to the questions "which platforms you have used in the last week as a source of news", the results reveal that 58% of Irish respondents said television, with the same percentage (58%) citing online media (excluding social media and blogs). Meanwhile, 47% said they have used social media as a source of news in the last week, with 36% saying radio, 22% saying printed newspapers, 12% saying podcasts, and 5% citing AI chatbots. In 2025, 11% of Irish respondents said they use radio as their primary source of news, which is significantly higher compared to the UK (8%), and when asked about the use of radio as a source of any news consumed, this figure increases to 36%. Figures for podcast listenership are growing as 12% listened to podcasts as a source of news in the last week, higher than in the UK (7%) and the European average (9%) but lower than the US (15%). Audiences' attitudes to the use of AI for news are changing. Last year, those 'very' and 'somewhat' comfortable with news mainly produced by AI with some human oversight were 15%. This has increased to 19% this year, with under-35s almost twice as comfortable as over-35s when considering the same measure. Commenting on the report, Dr Eileen Culloty, Deputy Director of the DCU Institute for Future Media, Democracy and Society (FuJo) who worked on the survey, said: ''Local media enjoy strong public trust, But trust alone doesn't pay salaries or sustain newsrooms. "The big challenge is to convert trust into viable careers in local journalism so that local media can continue informing communities." Earlier this year, Coimisiún na Meán awarded €5.7m through new journalism schemes, funded by the Department of Arts, Culture, Communications, Media and Sport and which covered local democracy and courts reporting. These schemes have facilitated over 100 new or enhanced journalism roles in Ireland to date.
