Politics watch: Triple lock change, Martin facing tough White House visit
James Cox
Here, we have a look at the issues likely to dominate political discourse in the week to come.
Triple lock change
The Government is set to move to amend the 'triple lock' which is currently required for Defence Forces personnel to take part in operations overseas.
Under the current system, Ireland cannot deploy any more than 12 Defence Forces peacekeepers overseas without a peacekeeping mission being approved by a vote of the UN Security Council as well as approval by the Government and the Dáil.
However, some government ministers have argued this is not serving Irish purposes well as the likes of Russia and China often veto UN Security Council resolutions.
Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Simon Harris will bring a proposal to Cabinet to amend Ireland's triple lock on the deployment of Defence Forces peacekeepers overseas.
Mr Harris will propose removing the UN resolution element in the triple lock.
Mr Harris will also propose that the number of troops whose deployment requires a Dáil vote be increased from 12 to 50;
Some opposition TDs have said such a move would undermine neutrality, while Sinn Féin's Matt Carthy's called it a "kneejerk reaction".
In an interview with BreakingNews.ie, former TD and soldier Cathal Berry said the triple lock is "nothing to do with Ireland's policy of neutrality".
He pointed out that it came into effect in 1960, and was relevant for UN 'blue beret' peacekeeping missions, which is still the case.
However, before 2002 non-UN military operations abroad only required a 'double lock', of government and Dáil approval. It was part of the Seville Declarations in the Nice treaty.
"That system worked and there was no issue for 42 years, from 1960 up until 2002. When they tampered with it, that's when the issues started to arise.
"There has been a number of issues Ireland has not been able to participate in because of the expansion of the triple lock to all military movements after 2002."
Martin faces dilemma over how to approach Trump White Hous meeting
The tense exchange between Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Donald Trump in the Oval Office continues to send shockwaves around the world.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin will already be preparing for his approach to the meeting, where he will be under pressure to reiterate Ireland's support for Ukraine while also attempting to mitigate the damage of potential tariffs.
Mr Martin is likely to highlight Irish business' investment in the US, and the fact the country houses the European HQ of many US businesses.
Irish MEP reveals she had to 'really think' to spot deepfake of herself
A Fine Gael MEP has said she "really had to think" about whether a deepfake photo of her was real, as she highlighted issues around the misuse of fake images.
Speaking to BreakingNews.ie, Maria Walsh said the emergence of an online bank of deepfake images of Irish politicians and public figures highlights the need for urgent action at EU and national levels.
Two images of Ms Walsh appeared on the site.
Deepfake likenesses of other politicians on CivitAI included the likes of Simon Harris, Micheál Martin, Helen McEntee, Mary Lou McDonald, Hildegarde Naughton, Roderic O'Gorman and Pearse Doherty.
Fianna Fáil TD highlights benefits of AI
Fianna Fáil TD Malcolm Byrne has said the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) will outweigh the negatives if Ireland embraces the technology.
Speaking in a recent Dáil debate on AI, the Wicklow-Wexford TD said the notion that people's jobs would be replaced by AI was misguided. However, he believes people should be trained to integrate AI into their work.
In an interview with BreakingNews.ie, Mr Byrne said: "The point I make is, it's not that robots are going to replace humans, but workers who use AI will replace workers who don't.
"Our challenge as a society is to have the debate around when and where we can use AI, but also how AI can eliminate a lot of mundane tasks and help improve health outcomes, decision-making, and efficiency.
"This is a transformational technology that is going to impact everything from agriculture to education to transport. That means the debate has to happen across all sectors."
Abroad
US president Donald Trump criticised Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday over comments he made that a deal to end the war with Russia was not near.
On his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump posted an Associated Press story headlined "Ukraine's Zelenskyy says end of war with Russia is 'very, very far away.'"
"This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelenskyy, and America will not put up with it for much longer!" Mr Trump wrote, using an alternate spelling of Zelenskiy.
The comments follow Mr Trump's public clash in the Oval Office with Mr Zelenskiy on Friday before what was expected to be the signing of an agreement on Ukraine's rich natural resources.
The deal was never signed after Mr Trump and his vice president, JD Vance, assailed the visiting leader as lacking gratitude for US aid and being disrespectful.
Mr Trump has hit out at calls from European leaders for the US to provide security guarantees for any Ukraine peace deal.
The US president, who has led the push for a peace deal with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, said the European demand was showing weakness to the Kremlin.
His comments came as Sir Keir Starmer restated his call for “strong US backing” for any European-led peacekeeping force in Ukraine.