IRE - The Irish Times

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1. Major drug seizures lead to surge in cocaine prices and increased dilution

   Gardaí have seized cocaine that was below 2% purity, meaning the drug was composed almost entirely of other substances

2. ‘It’s clogging up the whole system’: Record number of ‘no shows’ for driving tests

   Absences are worsening the problem of long waits at testing centres, campaigners say

3. Mild weather is delaying hibernation in hedgehogs

   Readers’ notes and queries for Éanna Ní Lamhna

4. A year with no gangland gun murders: How one Dublin attack ‘changed everything’

   Clampdown after Dublin hotel attack was more effective than response to murders of Jerry McCabe and Veronica Guerin, says senior detective

5. Light pollution is surprisingly straightforward to fix when communities work together

   A Co Mayo community has achieved results that are both visually striking and ecologically responsible

6. Man challenges €125 clamping charge for parking on Dublin road with continuous white line

   Plaintiff presents arguable case that immobilisation notice was not clear enough, says appeal court

7. More than 150 arson attacks in last five years linked to drug-related intimidation

   Incidents of drug-related intimidation up almost 40%, with 2,500 cases since 2021

8. ‘I thought it would be jammers’: St Stephen’s Day sales get off to a leisurely start in Dublin

   With five minutes to go before opening, a queue suddenly formed outside Brown Thomas, with menswear proving the most popular

9. Man who died in Christmas Day e-scooter crash is named

   Alan Walsh (40s) collided with a car in Waterford city

10. Belfast’s first Fleadh Cheoil expecting 700,000 visitors and impact on par with Open

    Eight-day music and culture festival to bring £60m of benefit in August, tourism chief predicts