Wednesday’s Top Stories: Trump disqualified from 2024 ballot, Average house prices in Dublin should fall to ‘the €300,000 mark’, says McDonald

Trump disqualified from 2024 ballot, Colorado supreme court rules

Former US president Donald Trump is ineligible to hold office again, the Colorado supreme court ruled on Tuesday, accepting the argument the 14th Amendment disqualifies him in an explosive decision that could upend the 2024 election.

In a lengthy ruling ordering the Colorado secretary of state to exclude Mr Trump from the state’s Republican primary ballot, the justices reversed a Denver district judge’s finding last month that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment – which disqualifies people who have engaged in insurrection against the constitution after having taken an oath to support it from holding office – did not apply to the presidency.

They affirmed the district judge’s other key conclusions: that courts had the authority to enforce Section 3 against a person whom Congress had not specifically designated.

Top News Stories

• Mary Lou McDonald: Average house prices in Dublin should fall to ‘the €300,000 mark’: House prices have to fall substantially, the Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has said in a podcast interview with The Irish Times, adding that the objective of Sinn Féin in government would be to “get prices as low as we feasibly can”.
• Galway fire: Garda not told hotel was to be used for asylum seekers, Harris says: The Garda received no notification from Government a disused hotel in Co Galway had been designated as a centre for asylum seekers and so lost opportunities to increase safety around it, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has said.
• ‘Massive’ consignment of drugs believed to be on cargo ship in Foynes Port: A security operation involving Revenue Customs Service officials, supported by An Garda Síochána, was underway at Shannon Foynes Port, Co Limerick, into what is understood to be the discovery of a massive consignment of suspected drugs on board a cargo ship.
• Gaeltacht housing crisis: ‘I took the seats out of the van and put a bed into it. I had nowhere else to stay’: The proportion of Irish speakers in the Gaeltacht continues to fall, according to recently released census data, with a 2 per cent decline in the number of daily speakers.
• Check out today's Most Read stories
• Join The Irish Times WhatsApp channel for breaking news straight to your phone.

News from around the World

• France passes controversial immigration bill amid deep division in Macron’s party: The French government is facing a political crisis after health minister Aurélien Rousseau offered his resignation in protest over a hardline immigration bill.

The Big Read

• Christmas, rated! Patrick Freyne’s grumpy guide to the festive season: Old St Nick. The child judger. The Elf on the Shelf’s boss. Should we trust someone who laughs so much for no reason?

The best from Opinion

• Kathy Sheridan: Scorching irony of a politician declaring ‘the inn is full’ at Christmas
• Michael McDowell: Sheer foreseeability of what is happening in Gaza robs Biden’s handwringing of all credibility
• Bobby McDonagh: Twenty-five inevitable consequences of Binyamin Netanyahu’s barbaric tactics in Gaza

Today's Business

• Does Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary deserve that €100m bonus?: If all goes well, Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary could snag a €100 million bonus in 2024. And while I can’t quite believe I’m saying this, on balance I think he deserves it.

Top Sports news

• Katie McCabe interview: ‘It’s important to have characters, you don’t want a team of robots’: The Dublin native has scaled new heights with both Arsenal and the Republic of Ireland in 2023 and is already focused on the next chapter in a glittering career

Martyn Turner

Video & Podcast Highlights

• In the News: Liam Byrne: The rise and fall of a major Irish gangland figure

Why not try one of our Crosswords & Puzzles?

• Simplex Crossword
• Crosaire Crossword
• Sudoku Puzzle

Like this?

Get the best content direct to your inbox by signing up to one of our newsletters