Irish Army’s next big mission: California, Orlando and New York

Design the ideal Irish family holiday to the United States and you might come up with the following itinerary: Dublin – California – Orlando – New York – Dublin. With no fewer than two opportunities to meet Elsa from Frozen followed by Sex and the City and Sopranos tours, everyone should be happy. One delegation that was categorically not on holiday, however, was the crew of the Air Corps’s newish strategic reach aircraft, the Dassault Falcon 6X, which commenced what the Defence Forces is steadfast in describing as a “mission” to the world-renowned American destinations on January 13th.Freedom of Information documents seen by Overheard show about €64,000 was spent on expenses such as refuelling and ground services as the crew of seven – four pilots and three air stewards – made their way to, around and back from the US. READ MOREIf not sightseeing, what were they doing there? Training, it turns out. The French-made aircraft is the pride of Baldonnel, having replaced an ageing Learjet. It has shown up in a number of news stories already: Daniel Kinahan’s extradited return from Dubai and the evacuation of two potential Hantavirus sufferers from the MV Hondius in Tenerife, as well as various forms of ministerial travel. [ Soldiers’ rations cut, naval radar plan paused as Defence Forces ordered to save millionsOpens in new window ]The US posed a different challenge. The Government had no plane capable of transatlantic travel from 2014 until the Falcon was delivered in December 2025, so its crews had little experience of it. “The training covered North Atlantic oceanic procedures and operations within United States airspace, where procedures differ from those in Europe in a number of respects,” a Defence Forces spokesperson said. “The routing through several locations allowed each pilot to fly different legs, ensuring that all crew received the appropriate training and experience across the full range of procedures involved.”With their training legs under them, the Falcon set about bringing the representatives of the State to their US appointments: Taoiseach Micheál Martin used it to get to the annual St Patrick’s Day endurance test at the Oval Office – did you know Ireland is actually a big investor in the United States? – and this week Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee caught it to the United Nations General Assembly.Mark Zuckerberg unveils Meta glasses at an event in 2025. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg Is Meta sight-washing its controversial specs?New technologies always take a while to find their niche, and so it is with Meta’s AI-powered smart glasses, which come in Ray-Ban and Oakley versions. Helpful new audiovisual device or stealthy method of recording strangers on the street? Views vary, with Olga Cronin of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties describing them bluntly as “really creepy” in the Seanad recently. But they can be useful for the visually impaired, helping them to read physical documents, identify objects and otherwise navigate the world more easily. Perhaps in recognition of the possibilities, Meta donated 15,000 pairs to Vision Ireland, which is distributing them to the blind and visually impaired people they support for free.“Vision Ireland is immensely proud to lead the national roll-out and help ensure this innovative technology delivers meaningful and lasting impact,” the charity’s chief executive, Chris White, said.[ With Meta’s ‘pervert glasses’, we really are going through the digital looking glassOpens in new window ]Ireland is not the only country to benefit from Zuckerbergian beneficence. Mother Jones, the campaigning US magazine, last week published an article, “Is Meta using disabled people to promote its glasses?” Acknowledging the benefits, which Meta has highlighted in advertising in the US, it also outlines some potential concerns over data protection, surveillance and the “widespread opportunities for instantaneous filming of the general public”.Bans are already appearing in some contexts, including courts in New York and England, Australian swimming pools and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) offices, where operating in the shadows is preferred.Wider bans, which are being discussed in various jurisdictions, will run into resistance if they appear to remove helpful aids from people who need them. Irish films face cliffhangerMoney is simply easier to spend in joyous period after pay-day, a time of feasting, good cheer and discretionary online purchases. Overheard has been there. Batch cooking helps.It emerges that Screen Ireland, the body that promotes Irish film internationally and helps to fund it here at home, had “fully allocated” its production budget funding before the August rains even arrived. With 29 projects already in production by July and “over 25” slated for the rest of the year, they were done, a budget statement said.Is this a problem? Yes: for the creatives in the trenches, it leaves a gap. Think of making a film like planning a group holiday: schedules must be checked, dates cleared, upfront money solicited and venues booked. Screen Ireland declaring early will cause – and has caused, according to several people familiar with the industry – serious problems for some projects. Overheard understands that there are films that have already been approved – in theory – for funding that might have expected to receive it in the latter quarters of 2026, but will now have to wait for 2027 at least. Things will need to be cancelled and moved around. Actors may be otherwise engaged by the time the new dates come around.What happened? We asked Screen Ireland, but answer came there none. UK prime minister Andy Burnham, Canon Patrick J McNally and Taoiseach Micheál Martin at the Brian Boru Irish Club in Ashton-in-Makerfield last week. Photograph: Oli Scarff - WPA Pool/Getty Get off the hillIt’s been a successful month for the blitz defence of Irish diplomacy, and the invitations to Croke Park are flying around like soundly driven sliotars. Donald Trump appeared either unaware of or uninterested in Gaelic games, but for the more culturally astute likes of UK prime minister Andy Burnham and the New York mayor Zohran Mamdani, the All-Ireland is a growing attraction. Burnham (Louth), who last week brought Canadian prime minister Mark Carney (Mayo) to an Everton match, went as far as to ask to attend himself after his meeting with Micheál Martin.[ Canadian prime minister Mark Carney returns ‘home’ to Co MayoOpens in new window ][ How Irish is Andy Burnhamr?Opens in new window ]“I’d love to get to the All-Ireland final some day,” he said. “Look, we can arrange that,” the Taoiseach responded. For Mamdani in New York, it was more of a polite expression of interest after being invited and plied with a Cork jersey, but he didn’t say no.Overheard spotted Brazilians, Australians and at least one Kiwi on the Hill last summer, all gradually absorbing the rules and joining in the crowd’s well-meaning criticism of the Dublin kick-out routine. Crowds of Brits and Americans, inspired by their leaders to drop in on a game, might be a step too far.