Latest news with #Shiels
Irish Independent
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Kerry festival featuring top musicians and cultural events promises to be ‘magical experience'
'Rewild' will be held in a beautiful forest at the old Gap of Dunloe Golf Course near Killarney on Saturday, July 12. Up to 900 revellers, foodies and culture enthusiasts from across the county and beyond are expected to go to the one-day event. Those who attend will be able to witness performances from talented local and international musicians, including folk band Jiggy, 90s dance and R&B collective The Circus Ponies and house and techno DJ Shiels. Talks on rewilding and the Irish language, a host of engaging art and markets offering a range of quality food will also be major features of the event. Organiser Kevin Leahy told The Kerryman the one-day festival will be a phenomenal day. 'There will be loads of art on display. It will be a magical experience,' Mr Leahy said. 'The location and setting are outstanding. It's a small festival that has developed authentically. It's eco-friendly and it has a very small carbon footprint.' 'Rewild' has grown from the 'Eats and Beats' festival which started out as a pop-up event at various Killarney venues in 2021. Mr Leahy said the festival was rebranded this year to reflect the importance of rewilding, a subject close to his heart, and its scenic venue at the entrance to the Gap of Dunloe. The aim of the festival is to bring people together and help them to connect with kindred spirits to 'ground and rewild' themselves in an era of disconnection. Mr Leahy has urged those interested in attending to get their tickets now while they are still available. Tickets for 'Rewild' can be purchased for €70 each at Festival-goers can also avail of free tent camping when purchasing their tickets for the event. More information on the festival is available at
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Gold's Cheaper Precious Metals Peers Surge to Multi-Year Highs
(Bloomberg) -- Silver extended gains to trade just below a 13-year high while platinum hit highest level in more than two years, signaling growing investor appetite for precious metals used by the industrial sector. Next Stop: Rancho Cucamonga! ICE Moves to DNA-Test Families Targeted for Deportation with New Contract Where Public Transit Systems Are Bouncing Back Around the World US Housing Agency Vulnerable to Fraud After DOGE Cuts, Documents Warn The Global Struggle to Build Safer Cars Spot silver rose on Friday, following a 4.5% move in the previous session that saw it edge above $36 an ounce for the first time since February 2012. Platinum's rally continued, gaining as much as 1.2% to a high of $1,154.73 an ounce. The commodities were aided by technical momentum across the metals complex as well as improving fundamentals, with strong appetite for physical silver in India and resurgent Chinese platinum demand reinforcing the rallies, according to a note from Nicky Shiels, head of metals strategy at Geneva-based MKS PAMP SA. Silver — and oftentimes platinum — tend to trade in tandem with gold, which is seen as a time-honored haven in times of geopolitical uncertainty. Gold is up more than 40% in the past 12 months, as an expanding US-led tariff war boosted its safety appeal and central banks maintained elevated levels of buying. While silver and platinum — up 19% and 13%, respectively, in the 12-month period to Thursday — have lagged behind their more expensive precious metal peer, they are also valued by the industrial sector. Silver is a key ingredient in solar panels, while platinum is used in catalytic converters and laboratory equipment. Both markets are heading for a deficit this year, following several years where demand has outstripped supply. A hold above $35 remains a 'critical inflection point' for silver, and if sustained should reignite sidelined retail interest, MKS PAMP's Shiels said. Meanwhile, a potential renewal in demand for platinum-backed exchange-traded funds could produce a speculative rally, given sticky and elevated lease rates indicate the market is tightening, she added. Platinum ETF holdings are showing signs of picking up, and have expanded more than 3% since mid-May, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Meanwhile inflows into silver-backed ETFs have continued to grow since February, with holdings up by nearly 8%. Meanwhile, palladium also benefited from growing positive sentiment across the precious metals complex, climbing as much as 1.2% on Friday. Gold rose 0.5% to $3,368.79 an ounce as of 11:40 a.m. in Singapore, putting it on track for a weekly gain of around 2.4%. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed. Elsewhere, investors will be looking ahead to a key US jobs report due later on Friday, following an unexpected jump in unemployment claims that boosted investors' bets the Federal Reserve will cut rates at least twice this year. Lower borrowing costs tend to benefit gold and other precious metals, as they do not pay interest. Cavs Owner Dan Gilbert Wants to Donate His Billions—and Walk Again YouTube Is Swallowing TV Whole, and It's Coming for the Sitcom Millions of Americans Are Obsessed With This Japanese Barbecue Sauce Is Elon Musk's Political Capital Spent? Trump Considers Deporting Migrants to Rwanda After the UK Decides Not To ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Gold's Cheaper Precious Metals Peers Surge to Multi-Year Highs
(Bloomberg) -- Silver held near a 13-year high, supported by a technical breakout that also drove platinum to the highest level since 2022, signaling growing investor appetite for precious metals used by the industrial sector. Next Stop: Rancho Cucamonga! ICE Moves to DNA-Test Families Targeted for Deportation with New Contract Where Public Transit Systems Are Bouncing Back Around the World US Housing Agency Vulnerable to Fraud After DOGE Cuts, Documents Warn The Global Struggle to Build Safer Cars Spot silver rose as much as 4.5% on Thursday to $36.06 an ounce — the highest since February 2012 — while platinum surged 4.8% to above $1,146 an ounce. Prices on Friday held close to those peaks. The metals were aided by technical momentum across the metals complex as well as improving fundamentals, with strong appetite for physical silver in India and resurgent Chinese platinum demand reinforcing the rallies, according to a note from Nicky Shiels, head of metals strategy at Geneva-based MKS PAMP SA. Silver — and oftentimes platinum — tend to trade in tandem with gold, which is seen as a time-honored haven in times of geopolitical uncertainty. Gold is up more than 40% in the past 12 months, as an expanding US-led tariff war boosted its safety appeal and central banks maintained elevated levels of buying. While silver and platinum — up 19% and 13%, respectively, in the 12-month period to Thursday — have lagged behind their more expensive precious metal cousin, they are also valued by the industrial sector. Silver is a key ingredient in solar panels, while platinum is used in catalytic converters and laboratory equipment. Both markets are heading for a deficit this year, following several years where demand has outstripped supply. A hold above $35 remains a 'critical inflection point' for silver, and if sustained should reignite sidelined retail interest, MKS PAMP's Shiels said. Meanwhile, a potential renewal in demand for platinum-backed exchange-traded funds could produce a speculative rally, given sticky and elevated lease rates indicate the market is tightening, she added. Platinum ETF holdings are showing signs of picking up, and have expanded more than 3% since mid-May, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Meanwhile inflows into silver-backed ETFs have continued to grow since February, with holdings up by nearly 8%. Meanwhile, spot gold edged up 0.2% to $3,358.53 an ounce as of 8:52 a.m. in Singapore, on track for a weekly gain of around 2%. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was down 0.1%. Palladium was steady. Elsewhere, investors will be looking ahead to a key US jobs report due later on Friday, following an unexpected jump in unemployment claims that boosted investors' bets the Federal Reserve will cut rates at least twice this year. Lower borrowing costs tend to benefit gold and other precious metals, as they do not pay interest. Cavs Owner Dan Gilbert Wants to Donate His Billions—and Walk Again YouTube Is Swallowing TV Whole, and It's Coming for the Sitcom Millions of Americans Are Obsessed With This Japanese Barbecue Sauce Is Elon Musk's Political Capital Spent? Trump Considers Deporting Migrants to Rwanda After the UK Decides Not To ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Sign in to access your portfolio
Powys County Times
08-05-2025
- Powys County Times
BBC did not mention Adams allegation, Donaldson family's former solicitor says
Gerry Adams was not mentioned in interactions between the solicitor representing the family of a man who was killed and a BBC team making a documentary on the matter, a libel trial relating to the programme has heard. Mr Adams is suing the BBC over accusations contained in a broadcast of the Spotlight documentary series and an accompanying online article which alleged he had sanctioned the killing of Denis Donaldson. Mr Donaldson was shot dead in 2006, months after admitting his role as a police and MI5 agent for 20 years. In 2009 the Real IRA admitted killing Mr Donaldson, and the Spotlight programme was broadcast in September 2016. At the High Court in Dublin on Thursday, Mr Adams' barrister Tom Hogan brought the family's solicitor from the time of the programme as a witness. Ciaran Shiels, a solicitor and partner at Madden and Finucane Solicitors, told the court that the BBC was not only 'barking up the wrong tree' but was in the 'wrong orchard' over the claims against Mr Adams. Mr Shiels said he represented Mr Donaldson and his family from a period before his death until a period after the broadcast. He said he came to act as a spokesperson for the family after Mr Donaldson's death but said he no longer does so. Mr Shiels, who works mainly in criminal defence work, told the jury about his interactions with the BBC team in the months up to the broadcast – including journalist Jennifer O'Leary. He said he did not represent Mr Adams and said his concern was about the relatives of Mr Donaldson. Asked if there was any mention of Mr Adams in any of his interactions with the BBC, Mr Shiels said: 'I don't think his name was even suggested. 'Nowhere, and I would have remembered if it had.' Asked by Mr Hogan what he would have said to Ms O'Leary if she had put forward the allegations against Mr Adams, Mr Shiels said: 'I would have said to her that not only was she barking up the wrong tree, she wasn't even in the right orchard.' He said the idea that Mr Adams somehow authorised the murder or that it was the Provisional IRA that carried it out 'did not marry' in any way with the lines of inquiry being followed by police, the understanding of the family, or 'common sense'. Mr Shiels said it was a 'pretty perverse statement and depiction as to what happened'. He added that the family did not accept or believe in any way that Mr Adams had anything to do with it. Mr Shiels added: 'Mr Adams was seen as a family friend, he was trusted by the family, the family would have felt that he had integrity, the family would be streetwise enough to know that the persons who the guards had identified as people who would be – they believed to be involved in the murder would have no truck with Mr Adams and Mr Adams would have no truck with them.' Earlier in the proceedings, Mr Shiels said he had been contacted by Ms O'Leary from the BBC on April 4 2016 – the 10th anniversary of Mr Donaldson's death. He said they wanted to speak to him about a number of issues, including the 'Stormontgate' affair which involved an allegation that Sinn Fein was operating a spy ring in which Mr Donaldson was arrested, how that resulted in the collapse of powersharing institutions, and the circumstances under which he had outed himself as an informant. Mr Shiels said he was also 'concerned' after being asked if he knew why Mr Donaldson had become a British agent and there were discussions about indiscretion in his private life – that there may have been an affair or that he may have been a homosexual. He said the family had a right to privacy and that there had been a previous 'quite sensationalist and gory' documentary which featured a reconstruction of the murder that 'hurt the family'. Mr Shiels said that Mr Donaldson's location had been front page news in a newspaper three weeks prior to his killing, and added that the family were 'concerned about further irresponsible journalism taking place'. He said: 'People were still grieving, people were still trying to get on with their lives. 'It was very difficult to see what possible good could come from this.' Mr Shiels added: 'Previously when this subject was looked at in the media, this ended in disaster.' At the same time, he said the family were demoralised that an inquest into Mr Donaldson's death was not commencing substantively. Under questioning from Mr Hogan, Mr Shiels outlined a series of correspondence and interactions between him and the BBC about the upcoming programme. He said it was made clear that the family did not want to take part in the documentary but it was put forward that he would be interviewed on their behalf. He said at some point relationships between the BBC and the family 'went south'. Mr Shiels said the family had five years prior put out a press statement outlining frustrations that Irish police, An Garda Siochana, were primarily focused on who had pulled the trigger to kill Mr Donaldson rather than the circumstances around him being 'burned as an agent'. He said this involved him being notified there was a threat to his life, and interactions with his handler known as 'Lenny'. Mr Shiels said the family were 'credulous' that gardai could not see a linkage between the two and that that was where the inquiry should be starting.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Yahoo
BBC did not mention Adams allegation, Donaldson family's former solicitor says
Gerry Adams was not mentioned in interactions between the solicitor representing the family of a man who was killed and a BBC team making a documentary on the matter, a libel trial relating to the programme has heard. Mr Adams is suing the BBC over accusations contained in a broadcast of the Spotlight documentary series and an accompanying online article which alleged he had sanctioned the killing of Denis Donaldson. Mr Donaldson was shot dead in 2006, months after admitting his role as a police and MI5 agent for 20 years. In 2009 the Real IRA admitted killing Mr Donaldson, and the Spotlight programme was broadcast in September 2016. At the High Court in Dublin on Thursday, Mr Adams' barrister Tom Hogan brought the family's solicitor from the time of the programme as a witness. Ciaran Shiels, a solicitor and partner at Madden and Finucane Solicitors, told the court that the BBC was not only 'barking up the wrong tree' but was in the 'wrong orchard' over the claims against Mr Adams. Mr Shiels said he represented Mr Donaldson and his family from a period before his death until a period after the broadcast. He said he came to act as a spokesperson for the family after Mr Donaldson's death but said he no longer does so. Mr Shiels, who works mainly in criminal defence work, told the jury about his interactions with the BBC team in the months up to the broadcast – including journalist Jennifer O'Leary. He said he did not represent Mr Adams and said his concern was about the relatives of Mr Donaldson. Asked if there was any mention of Mr Adams in any of his interactions with the BBC, Mr Shiels said: 'I don't think his name was even suggested. 'Nowhere, and I would have remembered if it had.' Asked by Mr Hogan what he would have said to Ms O'Leary if she had put forward the allegations against Mr Adams, Mr Shiels said: 'I would have said to her that not only was she barking up the wrong tree, she wasn't even in the right orchard.' He said the idea that Mr Adams somehow authorised the murder or that it was the Provisional IRA that carried it out 'did not marry' in any way with the lines of inquiry being followed by police, the understanding of the family, or 'common sense'. Mr Shiels said it was a 'pretty perverse statement and depiction as to what happened'. He added that the family did not accept or believe in any way that Mr Adams had anything to do with it. Mr Shiels added: 'Mr Adams was seen as a family friend, he was trusted by the family, the family would have felt that he had integrity, the family would be streetwise enough to know that the persons who the guards had identified as people who would be – they believed to be involved in the murder would have no truck with Mr Adams and Mr Adams would have no truck with them.' Earlier in the proceedings, Mr Shiels said he had been contacted by Ms O'Leary from the BBC on April 4 2016 – the 10th anniversary of Mr Donaldson's death. He said they wanted to speak to him about a number of issues, including the 'Stormontgate' affair which involved an allegation that Sinn Fein was operating a spy ring in which Mr Donaldson was arrested, how that resulted in the collapse of powersharing institutions, and the circumstances under which he had outed himself as an informant. Mr Shiels said he was also 'concerned' after being asked if he knew why Mr Donaldson had become a British agent and there were discussions about indiscretion in his private life – that there may have been an affair or that he may have been a homosexual. He said the family had a right to privacy and that there had been a previous 'quite sensationalist and gory' documentary which featured a reconstruction of the murder that 'hurt the family'. Mr Shiels said that Mr Donaldson's location had been front page news in a newspaper three weeks prior to his killing, and added that the family were 'concerned about further irresponsible journalism taking place'. He said: 'People were still grieving, people were still trying to get on with their lives. 'It was very difficult to see what possible good could come from this.' Mr Shiels added: 'Previously when this subject was looked at in the media, this ended in disaster.' At the same time, he said the family were demoralised that an inquest into Mr Donaldson's death was not commencing substantively. Under questioning from Mr Hogan, Mr Shiels outlined a series of correspondence and interactions between him and the BBC about the upcoming programme. He said it was made clear that the family did not want to take part in the documentary but it was put forward that he would be interviewed on their behalf. He said at some point relationships between the BBC and the family 'went south'. Mr Shiels said the family had five years prior put out a press statement outlining frustrations that Irish police, An Garda Siochana, were primarily focused on who had pulled the trigger to kill Mr Donaldson rather than the circumstances around him being 'burned as an agent'. He said this involved him being notified there was a threat to his life, and interactions with his handler known as 'Lenny'. Mr Shiels said the family were 'credulous' that gardai could not see a linkage between the two and that that was where the inquiry should be starting.
