17 hours agoViral XComments Off on Irish passport wait list hits 36k with 45k using granny rule as Harris confirms 9-month processing time ‘improvement’
AROUND 45,000 people are currently waiting to have their applications for Irish citizenship to be processed under the grandparent or parent rule, according to official figures.
However, the Department of Foreign Affairs said waiting times for foreign birth register applications to be processed has reduced significantly over the past year.
Tanaiste Simon Harris has confirmed delays� 2025 PA Media, All Rights ReservedThousands of individuals have applied for Irish citizenshipGetty Images - Getty
The system allows the descendants of Irish people who have moved abroad to claim Irish citizenship.
People based in England currently account for the largest number of applicants with approximately 16,500 seeking Irish citizenship.
The second highest number of applications comes from the US with 11,300 followed by Scotland and Canada at 1,400 each and Australia at 1,300.
There are also 800 applications from claimants currently based in Ireland as well as 600 each from New Zealand and South Africa.
Other countries with 100 or more applications for Irish citizenship are Germany, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Switzerland, the UAE, Wales and the Channel Islands.
GRANNY RULE
Individuals who are born outside Ireland can claim Irish citizenship if one of their grandparents was born in Ireland.
People can also become an Irish citizen if one of their parents was an Irish citizen at the time of the applicant’s birth even if the parent was not born in Ireland.
Similarly, individuals born outside Ireland can gain Irish citizenship through a parent who has obtained citizenship through naturalisation or post nuptial citizenship.
In reply to a parliamentary question by Social Democrats TD for Kildare North, the Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Harris, said the time taken to process foreign birth registration applications was currently nine months.
TIME REDUCED
Mr Harris said the average waiting time had reduced from over two and a half years in 2023.
The Tanaiste said: “This improvement is a result of the investment of significant extra resources to the foreign birth registration unit over the past two years.”
He added: “Foreign birth registration, by its nature, is a detailed and complex process, often involving official documentation relating to three generations and issued by several jurisdictions. Such documents take considerable time to validate.”
He continued: “Applications are processed in the order in which they are submitted. Processing time begins when all supporting documents are received by the Passport Service, and applications that require further supporting documentation will take longer to process.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs said 36,000 applications were currently being processed by the Passport Service with documentation awaited from 9,000 other applicants.
17 hours agoViral XComments Off on David Schwimmer Admits He Avoided the ‘FRIENDS’ Theme Song for Years and It’s Not for the Reason You Think
For millions of fans across the world, The Rembrandts’ iconic I’ll Be There For You is a song that evokes nostalgia. The joyful opening anthem of FRIENDS brings back memories of the most beloved sitcom of all time. But for David Schwimmer, that wasn’t always the case. He played the lovable but neurotic Ross Geller […]
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
17 hours agoViral XComments Off on Popular shop with 150 stores UK-wide to SHUT after 2 years with closing sale offering ‘ridiculous prices’ before it goes
A POPULAR charity shop is set to close after its landlord decided to lease the building to another business.
The YMCA store on St Stephens Street in Norwich first opened in 2023, taking over the old Shoe Zone site in the city centre.
GoogleYMCA in St Stephens Street has been praised for its community spirit over the last two years[/caption]
YMCA is one of the UK’s oldest and largest youth charities, working to support young people through housing, education, training, and wellbeing services.
The organisation helps individuals facing homelessness, unemployment, mental health struggles, and other challenges by offering safe accommodation, life skills support, and community programmes.
In 2024, YMCA Norfolk was named YMCA of the Year, after helping more than 21,500 people in just 12 months across the region.
Now, it’s preparing to shut down for good.
It will officially shut on April 11, but not before holding a blowout closing sale with “ridiculous prices.”
Shoppers can bag items for £2 or less, and children’s clothes from as little as 50p.
The branch has been praised for its community spirit over the last two years.
In a statement, a spokesperson said:
“We are deeply saddened to announce that unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, we are having to close.
“Our store has been a great hive for community spirit in these two years.
“We want to thank each and every one of you for filling our daily lives with fun, laughter and good chats.”
Until new premises are found, staff from St Stephens Street will merge after YMCA’s Castle Quarter branch after Easter.
Major chains have been shutting shops at pace.
Shoe Zone, which previously occupied the same building in Norwich, has already closed stores in Boscombe, Bournemouth, and Burgess Hill.
Morrisons is axing 52 cafés and 17 stores as part of a cost-cutting drive, while fashion retailer New Look plans to shut dozens of branches this year.
In 2024 alone, 13,479 stores shut permanently across the UK — that’s 37 a day, according to the Centre for Retail Research.
Over half of those closures were due to businesses entering debt or administration.
Retailers also face new pressure in 2025 as employer National Insurance contributions rise, and the minimum wage jumps to £12.21 an hour.
Experts warn this could trigger further closures, with up to 202,000 retail jobs at risk in the year ahead.
Professor Joshua Bamfield of the CRR said:
“Although 2024 wasn’t as bad as the height of the pandemic, store closures remain disconcerting — and worse may be coming in 2025.”
RETAIL PAIN IN 2025
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
Research by the British Chambers of Commerce shows that more than half of companies plan to raise prices by early April.
A survey of more than 4,800 firms found that 55% expect prices to increase in the next three months, up from 39% in a similar poll conducted in the latter half of 2024.
Three-quarters of companies cited the cost of employing people as their primary financial pressure.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year.
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: “The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025.”
Professor Bamfield has also warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector.
“By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer’s household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020.”The beloved budget supermarket will be scrapping 52 cafes and 17 stores in a cost-cutting shake-up.
GettyUntil new pemises are found, staff from St Stephens Street will merge after YMCA’s Castle Quarter branch after Easter[/caption]
17 hours agoViral XComments Off on Future Moon base could be powered by lunar DIRT, say scientists as Nasa plans to send astronauts in 2026
IMAGINE your home was powered by the dirt in your back garden.
Well, that could be a reality for future lunar astronauts.
Sercan ÖzenMaking solar cells on the Moon instead of Earth could cut transport costs by as much as 99%, according to the team behind the research[/caption]
Scientists have discovered a way to use Moon dust to build solar power cells that can withstand powerful cosmic radiation better than cells built on Earth.
Using simulated lunar dirt – known as regolith – scientists have been able to create a new Moon glass.
“The solar cells used in space now are amazing, reaching efficiencies of 30% to even 40%, but that efficiency comes with a price,” explained lead researcher Felix Lang of the University of Potsdam, Germany.
“They are very expensive and are relatively heavy because they use glass or a thick foil as cover.
“It’s hard to justify lifting all these cells into space.”
Using this new technique, astronauts could build their own solar cells in space.
Doing so would remove the need to haul heavy materials from Earth to the Moon – which would greatly reduce launch costs.
It also means there will be greater capacity for materials that can’t be replicated on the Moon.
Scientists say the process of making moonglass solar cells is surprisingly easy.
So, future lunar astronauts will likely have to do it themselves.
Making solar cells on the Moon instead of Earth could cut transport costs by as much as 99%, according to the team behind the research.
It should also reduce a spacecraft’s launch mass by roughly the same amount.
“If you cut the weight by 99%, you don’t need ultra-efficient 30% solar cells, you just make more of them on the Moon,” added Lang.
“Plus, our cells are more stable against radiation, while the others would degrade over time.”
When zapped with space-grade radiation, the moonglass solar cells outperformed Earth-made ones, scientists wrote in science journal Device.
The Moon – our closest neighbour explained
Here's what you need to know...
The Moon is a natural satellite – a space-faring body that orbits a planet
It’s Earth’s only natural satellite, and is the fifth biggest in the Solar System
The Moon measures 2,158 miles across, roughly 0.27 times the diameter of Earth
Temperatures on the Moon vary wildly. Nasa explains: “Temperatures near the Moon’s equator can spike to 250°F (121°C) in daylight, then plummet after nightfall to -208°F (-133°C). In deep craters near the Moon’s poles, permanent shadows keep the surface even colder — NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has measured temperatures lower than -410°F (-246°C).”
Experts assumed the Moon was another planet, until Nicolaus Copernicus outlined his theory about our Solar System in 1543
It was eventually assigned to a “class” after Galileo discovered four moons orbiting Jupiter in 1610
The Moon is believed to have formed around 4.51billion years ago
The strength of its gravitational field is about a sixth of Earth’s gravity
Earth and the Moon have “synchronous rotation”, which means we always see the same side of the Moon – hence the phrase “dark side of the Moon”
The Moon’s surface is actually dark, but appears bright in the sky due to its reflective ground
During a solar eclipse, the Moon covers the Sun almost completely. Both objects appear a similar size in the sky because the Sun is both 400 times larger and farther
The first spacecraft to reach the Moon was in 1959, as part of the Soviet Union’s Lunar program
The first manned orbital mission was Nasa’s Apollo 8 in 1968
And the first manned lunar landing was in 1969, as part of the Apollo 11 mission
Standard Earth-made glass slowly browns in space, which can block sunlight and make them less efficient.
But moonglass apparently has a natural brown tint from impurities in the Moon dust.
These impurities prevent the moonglass from further darkening, and make the solar cells more resistant to radiation.
Nasa has plans to send humans to the Moon in September 2026 in its Artemis III mission.
They are targeting a landing near the lunar South Pole, which scientists believe hosts water and is therefore a good spot for a lunar base.
“From extracting water for fuel to building houses with lunar bricks, scientists have been finding ways to use Moon dust,” said Lang.
“Now, we can turn it into solar cells too, possibly providing the energy a future Moon city will need.”
All you need to know about planets in our solar system
Our solar system is made up of nine planets with Earth the third closest to the Sun. But each planet has its own quirks, so find out more about them all...
