LEADERS of opposition parties are due to meet next week to finalise a decision on whether to run a joint candidate in the Presidential election – with former RTE star Joe Duffy not being ruled out as an option.
It comes as Housing Minister James Browne plans to announce the date for polling in the coming weeks as he says the public needs to know when the election will be held.
An election to replace Michael D Higgins in the Aras needs to be held before November 11.
However, political parties have been holding back on their candidate selection processes as they fear a lengthy election campaign could get dirty.
Opposition parties previously met to discuss the possibility of joining behind one candidate but there has been no progress as leaders wait to see if Sinn Fein will put forward their own runner.
The group of left leaning parties that are in discussions for a joint candidate include Labour, the Greens, the Social Democrats, Sinn Fein and People Before Profit.
Sinn Fein have held internal discussions about whether they want to back a joint candidate or put their own runner in the race with these talks still ongoing.
A move for a joint candidate from the left would become less likely if Sinn Fein decided to go it alone with their own party candidate.
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy has revealed that opposition leaders are planning to hold further talks next week as he confirmed the idea of a joint candidate is not dead yet.
He said: “I’m involved in those discussions and People Before Profit are very enthusiastic about the idea of a joint left candidate.
“We think with the right candidate and the right platform, we might win the Presidency and we could have a left candidate in the Presidency again.
“From our perspective and this is objectively true, this process is still alive.
“I would be very hopeful that we would have progress towards a joint left candidate before the Dail recess.”
The Dublin TD confirmed that several names had been discussed but remained tight lipped on who they might be.
Asked if ex-RTE star Joe Duffy may be among the names, Deputy Murphy laughed: “No comment.”
The LiveLine host did not rule out running for the Aras after he left his long running show last week but confirmed that he has NOT been approached by a party to run.
It comes as Housing Minister James Browne revealed that he wants to announce the date of the presidential election before the Cabinet breaks for a summer break.
He told the Irish Sun: “I expect to be having that discussion with the leaders before the recess with a view to bringing something to Cabinet.
“So we will have that detailed discussion. It will be up for the Government to make a decision but I think people need to know the date as soon as possible.”
A WIMBLEDON star funded by Novak Djokovic collapsed to the floor in agony after a horror fall at SW19.
And he was forced to retire in shocking scenes.
Hamad Medjedovic faced Sebastian Ofner in the first round at Wimbledon.
But he had to pull out midway through the second set.
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LIKENED to Erling Haaland and modelled on Zlatan Ibrahimovic, no wonder Benjamin Sesko ticks a lot of boxes for Arsenal fans.
RB Leipzig‘s Slovenian hotshot is closing in on a move to the Emirates, with the two clubs haggling over the fee.
But is he truly the answer to the Gunners’ long-running search for a striker and are they really signing Erling Haaland Mark II?
His pals at Leipzig certainly think so and Sesko, 22, has done nothing to try to play down the comparison.
Speaking with similar modesty to his idol Ibrahimovic, he said: “Such comparisons motivate me and give me energy. They do not represent pressure, I will listen and learn, so I can be even better than Haaland is.
“My team-mates at the club tell me that Haaland and I are very similar, especially in terms of speed. Most of them even tell me that I’m better than him.”
So what can Arsenal fans expect if the deal does go through? Here, SunSport bring you the lowdown on the latest Bundesliga star heading for our shores.
Sesko had already played for four clubs and five teams by the time he was 18. He started out as a centre-back and his goalkeeping dad Ales wanted him to play between the sticks.
But his son described that as “boring” and he instead studied clips of Zlatan as he pursued a career up front.
Aged 14, he scored 59 goals in just 23 matches for Krsko Under-15s and by the time he was 16 he had signed for Red Bull Salzburg, two months before Haaland joined the Austrians.
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Manchester United were interested in taking the teen Sesko to Old Trafford but refused to pay the £3m fee and Salzburg stepped in.
Pretty good apart from one blip at Salzburg when he voiced his anger at not being first-choice striker which, by his own admission, “didn’t go down well”.
He explained: “All of a sudden, I wasn’t even on the bench, I was watching from the stands – it was the worst moment.”
He has since gone from strength to strength, racking up records on the way.
Sesko became the youngest player for Slovenia just a day after his 18th birthday and, four months later, he was his nation’s youngest scorer.
He joined Leipzig in 2023 and has impressed in the Bundesliga, notably scoring in seven consecutive games at the end of his debut season.
He has got an absolute thunderbolt of a shot. Sesko can deliver a cannonball from his right foot – his 25-yard goal against Werder Bremen in January was recorded at just shy of 80mph and it is not an isolated incident.
The Slovenian loves to have a crack from distance and, while it can be a little ambitious, his shot accuracy is only just behind Haaland’s at 62 per cent last season.
He has very quick feet, explosive pace and the ability to dribble. Sesko can receive a ball, turn swiftly and be gone before the defender has even laid a hand on him.
And then there is his obvious athleticism. At 6ft5 he is a powerful man who holds the ball up well and gives opponents a tough time.
Physically, yes, although Haaland is actually an inch smaller. But Manchester City‘s Norwegian is an old-school battering ram centre-forward, Sesko isn’t quite like that.
Haaland is a proper goal poacher and last season was content to average 23 touches in a game compared to the 34 touches of Sesko who drops deeper for Leipzig.
That does allow Sesko to weigh in with assists, he managed five last season, and he has got the vision to pick a pass.
But if you truly want to compare the two, you have to look at their goal records and this is where Sesko is no Haaland.
Both men played for Salzburg but Haaland hit 17 goals in 16 league appearances, compared to Sesko’s 21 goals in 55 games.
In the Bundesliga, they have played for clubs with similar ambitions but again Sesko’s return of 27 goals in 64 league outings for Leipzig does not stack up with Haaland’s 62 goals in 67 Dortmund appearances.
Presumably, yes, as Arsenal have been trying to push the price down from the original figures of £70m to £60m.
Sesko signed a new contract until 2029 last year but Leipzig’s failure to qualify for even the Europa Conference League next season, when they are hosting the final, has caused embarrassment and put pressure on them to sell.
Despite Leipzig’s worst campaign in eight years, Sesko did score 13 goals in the Bundesliga and 21 overall, maintaining his position as one of the club’s most sellable assets along with Dutchman Xavi Simons.
He is still raw, lacks a little composure and he does benefit from playing alongside an out-and-out second striker, in Leipzig’s case 5ft 10in Lois Openda, which won’t happen at Arsenal.
So he will have to adapt to the Gunners’ formation, although you would expect Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka to supply the same sort of service he received from Dani Olmo in his debut season at Leipzig.
The Gunners need a striker who is prolific. They don’t need someone who scores in fits and starts. And that’s where opinion is a little divided in Germany.
He does score great goals. But that does not mean he is a great goalscorer…yet.
Sesko’s Bundesliga record of 27 goals in 64 games for Leipzig is very much like Kai Havertz‘s 29 goals in 64 league games in his last two seasons for Leverkusen. Havertz wasn’t playing as a No9 then and Arsenal fans wouldn’t describe him as prolific.
Perhaps more worryingly for Gooners, Timo Werner, another Leipzig export, bagged 44 league goals in the same amount of games before he left for Chelsea in 2020.
Sesko is capable of going on a hot streak. On top of his seven-game goal run, he has also managed to score in five consecutive matches.
However, he has experienced an eight-game goal drought and he took five games to find the net last season.
There is no question Sesko has a higher ceiling than Viktor Gyokeres and, at 22, he is five years younger than the Sporting Lisbon striker.
And while Hugo Ekitike did outscore him in the Bundesliga last season, Sesko is a more natural No9.
There is a lot to like about him and he has shown he can perform against top opposition, three goals in four Bundesliga matches against Bayern Munich is a good yardstick.
And he did score against Juventus, Atletico Madrid and Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League although, notably, he drew blanks against Liverpool and Aston Villa.
If Arsenal can knock the fee down to £60m that may well sway their decision. After all with Sesko, every little helps.
A BRAZEN thief who nicked a Bridgerton star’s phone before being wrestled to the ground by the actress has been jailed for 22 months.
CCTV footage showed the moment Zacariah Boulares, 18, swiped the device from unsuspecting Genevieve Chenneour in a coffee shop in Kensington, south west London.
Genevieve, 27, attempted to stop the teenager escaping during the daylight mugging in a Joe & The Juice branch in February.
The brave actress, who played Clara Livingston in the third season of the Netflix period drama, grabbed Boulares’ shoulder after she realised her phone had been taken.
She tackled the serial thief to the ground with the help of then boyfriend, scriptwriter Carlo Kureishi, who was assaulted and warned he would be stabbed by the teen.
Former professional athlete Genevieve managed to take her phone back from Boulares before repeatedly hitting him with it during the ordeal in the posh cafe.
Speaking on the theft, the Yorkshire-born Netflix star said said: “They didn’t expect me to stand up for myself, but I did.”
Prosecutor Alex Mullen told Isleworth Crown Court how she had suffered “significant emotional distress”.
In her victim impact statement, the actress said she was “extremely shaken” and could not stop playing out the incident in her head.
She said: “I am extremely worried I might see both suspects.
“I felt like I emotionally shut down [and] I am anxious to leave my home again.
“I really like going to Joe & The Juice but I am nervous about being there again and have already begun considering leaving London.”
She claimed that she was left with concussion after the horror on February 8 and said even her dog was “traumatised”.
Her ex-boyfriend Carlo, son of playwright Hanif Kureishi, said in his statement he is now “worried and scared” to carry his belongings.
He added: “I feel like being in a cafe is going to make me feel paranoid and unsafe.”
Algerian national Boulares pleaded guilty to stealing the phone.
The teen, of Hounslow, also admitted common assault against Carlo.
Boulares pleaded guilty to a separate charge of theft after he nabbed a black leather hand bag from a diner at a pizza restaurant.
He also admitted theft of a multi-coloured backpack from a blind couple dining at Five Guys in Kensington on 18 February.
Two years ago, Boulares robbed a 78-year-old man of a gold Rolex worth £20,000 at Paddington station.
The court heard he has 12 previous convictions for a total of 28 offences – all relating to theft.
His rap sheet includes threatening to cut off Aled Jones’ arm while stealing his £17,000 Rolex.
The Songs of Praise presenter, 52, was out with his son Lucas when he was targeted near their home in Chiswick, South West London.
Boulares – then aged 16 – pulled out 20 inch machete and repeatedly threatened Aled in a bid to steal the luxury timepiece.
He told him: “Give me your f***king Rolex or I will cut your arm off.”
Aled handed over the £17,000 Rolex Daytona watch rather than fight with the armed robber.
He and his son bravely followed the 6ft teen but when he spotted them, he snarled: “Walk the other way or I will cut your head off.”
Police managed to track the teen down after he was captured on CCTV leaving the scene.
Boulares was given a two year training and detention order after pleading guilty to robbery at Ealing Youth Court.
But he was released from youth detention early after serving just 14 months of his 24-month sentence.
As well as Bridgerton, Genevieve appeared in historical film 1242: Gateway To The West.
She is also a former professional athlete who represented Team GB at the Baku 2015 European Games in Artistic swimming events.
AN Aldi Ireland store that was closed for days due to a “technical issue” has now reopened.
The budget supermarket, located on the Dublin Road in Cavan, was forced to shut last Thursday.
Staff took to social media last week to apologise and warn shoppers of the closure due to “ongoing technical issues”.
And after five days of being shut, it has now been reopened since 2pm today.
Taking to Facebook, bosses said: “Good news!
“We are happy to let customers know that our Cavan, Dublin Road store will reopen at 2pm today.
“We thank everyone for their patience and look forward to welcoming shoppers back in-store this afternoon!”
The supermarket did not specify what technical issue led to the closure.
Over the weekend, they apologised to shoppers, saying they will reopen as soon as possible.
They said: “Unfortunately our Cavan, Dublin Road store will remain closed again today, Monday due to an ongoing technical issue.
“We apologise to our customers for the inconvenience, and look forward to welcoming them back in-store very soon.”
People have taken to the comment section to share their thoughts.
One person wrote: “Time to go shopping.”
Another said: “You made it to the island.”
Meanwhile, Aldi Ireland chiefs announced a €5million investment in green energy solutions.
Solar panel installations will be added to 22 selected stores, with an additional 22 stores scheduled for installation in 2026.
Sustainability Manager at Aldi Ireland, Rachel Nugent, said: “At Aldi, we are committed to continually investing in green solutions that improve energy efficiency and reduce our environmental impact.
“We’re excited to launch this solar retrofit programme, beginning with 22 stores in 2025 and continuing with even more in 2026.”
Teaming up with Greenvolt Next Ireland, the retailer will have 288 solar panels.
They are expected to generate an average of 100,000 kWh annually; the equivalent of powering a washing machine for over 1,000 cycles, which covers approximately 30 per cent of each store’s electricity consumption.
CEO at Greenvolt Next Ireland, Owen Power, said: “Major retailers like Aldi have a quick and easy route to adopting renewable energy.
“With their large flat roof spaces, installing solar panels is straightforward, doesn’t interfere with daily operations, and requires low maintenance.
“It is fantastic that Aldi is seizing the benefits of solar to meet its climate goals, as well as reduce energy costs and reliance on the grid.
“We are thrilled to be Aldi’s chosen delivery partner in harnessing solar power.”
The German discount supermarket chain came to Ireland in 1999.
Aldi’s first few shops opened in November 1999, with locations in Sandyford, Dublin, and Ballincollig, Cork.
By the mid-2000s, Aldi bosses had opened numerous stores, focusing on providing high-quality products at low prices.
As the recession hit 2008-2012, Aldi’s popularity grew as consumers became more price-conscious.
The supermarket giant continued it’s expansion in Ireland between 2013-2018, while refurbishing existing stores.
By 2018, Aldi had over 130 shops throughout the country.
The chain began to focus on expanding its range of Irish-made products and supporting local producers.
In 2023, Aldi had over 140 stores in Ireland.
The store invested in sustainability initiatives, such as reducing plastic packaging and increasing the availability of organic and eco-friendly products.
Aldi chiefs said: “At Aldi we are committed to supporting Irish suppliers. Developed in partnership with Bord Bia, Grow with Aldi is designed to help the very best Irish suppliers develop their brand.
“To date, we’ve invested €10 million in our Grow with Aldi development programme in a bid to find the very best Irish suppliers.
“As a result, for a limited time only there are over 47 new products, from 27 Irish suppliers available in store.”
Aldi have introduced technological advancements with self-checkout systems and contactless payment options.
THE clash between Lorenzo Musetti and Nikoloz Basilashvili at Wimbledon had to be suspended after a fan fell ill.
Basilashvili was on the verge of causing a major upset against the seventh seed when a worrying incident occurred in the stands.
A supporter sat on Court 2 alerted stewards to someone who appeared unwell and medics rushed to them.
Play had to be halted as players watched on in concern.
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THE heartbroken daughter of innocent murder victim James ‘Jake’ Berney has invited all who were “touched by his presence” to join them in honouring his life at his funeral.
Painter and decorator Berney, 53, died after he was stabbed in the chest and back at his Foxdene home in Balgaddy, west Dublin last Wednesday night.
A GoFundMe to raise money to pay for his funeral has almost reached its target of €4,000.
Berney’s grieving daughter Lorita said “We invite all who knew and cared for my dad to join us in honouring his life.
“His funeral will be a space for everyone, friends, family, neighbours, and anyone touched by his presence.
“You are warmly welcome, no matter how you knew him.
“Please come as you are to celebrate and remember him together.”
Funeral arrangements have yet to be finalised, but his death notice said Berney was “taken too soon but forever loved by all” of his relatives and pals.
Officers believe Berney was targeted after a young man turned up on his doorstep demanding cash before he later returned armed with a knife, forcing his way into the house and killing Berney.
Gardai probing the callous murder are hunting for the chief suspect, who they identified early on in the case.
The teenager – who was known to Berney but is not related to him – remains at large and has yet to return to his home, which was raided a short time after the victim was attacked.
Gardai also conducted door-to-door enquiries on Friday, as well as plain clothes detectives conducting a wider search of the general area and the house after the technical bureau concluded their work.
Tributes continued to flow for Mr Berney on social media following his sudden death.
One said: “Jake what a lovely man, never went by without a hello. Rest easy pal.”
Another said: “Very sad, I’ve known Jake for about 15 years.
“A gentle soul and all round nice guy with a harmless nature. My condolences to his family and many friends, may he rest in eternal peace.”
While one upset woman added: “So sad, can’t get him off my mind. God help his poor da.”
Neighbours also told The Irish Sun that he was very popular in the community.
One told us: “Everyone around here would have known Jake.
“He was lovely, and very good with his hands for work like painting and he also did a bit of window cleaning.
“People are devastated. It’s just awful.”
A STRICTLY Come Dancing champ is swapping choreography for cake after signing up for Celebrity Bake Off.
The Sun can exclusively reveal how the actress has ticked off a “bucket list” moment by stepping foot in the iconic Channel 4 tent for its Stand Up To Cancer special.
Rose Ayling Ellis, who scooped Strictly’s Glitterball trophy alongside Giovanni Pernice, 34, in 2021, is now among a host of famous faces in the mix for a very different telly title – and the chance to impress judge Paul Hollywood, 59.
A TV insider told The Sun: “Rose is a huge fan of the show so she jumped at the chance when she was asked. It’s a bit of a bucket list moment for her.
“It’s a massive show, like Strictly, but without all the pressure.
“With this one, she can just relax and enjoy herself – even if things go haywire in the tent, it’s all for charity at the end of the day.”
EastEnders alum Rose, 30, has been deaf since birth and communicates using British Sign Language (BSL).
She is widely recognised for breaking barriers as a deaf performer in the entertainment industry, and was the first-ever deaf contestant on Strictly Come Dancing,
In 2024, she made history once again by becoming the first deaf presenter to host live sports coverage on television during the Paralympics in Paris.
The source added of her latest show: “It marks the latest show in what is proving to be a stellar post soap career for Rose.
“She received some of the best reviews of her career in the recent ITV drama, Code of Silence, which broke barriers for having a deaf lead.
“She also won Strictly, of course, which she is still loved in the eyes of the public for.
“People still talk about her silent dance with Giovanni as being one of the show’s greatest moments of all time.”
During her time on the show she relied on counting and the beat for each of her sensational performances.
In her BBC documentary Rose Ayling-Ellis: Signs For Change she said about her appearance on the BBC stalwart programme: “The message I wanted to come across is that there’s nothing wrong with being deaf and to show how joyful it is to be deaf.”
The Sun has approached a rep for Bake Off for comment.
Who are the celebrities that are confirmed to heading to the gingham tent?
Previously, The Sun exclusively told how comedian Jon Richardson had signed up after his divorce.
Other celebs who will seek Paul Hollywood’s coveted handshake include Rag ‘N’ Bone Man, Molly-Mae Hague, comedian Babatunde Aleshe and Dance Moms star JoJo Siwa.
