Limerick Now

DIY SOS The Big Build Ireland: The Purcell Family Home Transformation building 👷‍♀️👷🚧🏗🧱

This Sunday (11 October), DIY SOS The Big Build Ireland brings the remarkable transformation of the Purcell family home in Westbury, on the Limerick-Clare border, to our screens.

Over nine days, more than 1,000 volunteers came together to transform the home of Carter Purcell and his family — an extraordinary display of community spirit, teamwork, and generosity.

An incredible group of volunteers, tradespeople, and local businesses gave their time, skills, and support to make a real difference for Carter and his family.

Tune in tomorrow (Sunday, 11 October) at 6:30PM on RTÉ One to see the transformation, or catch up afterwards on RTÉ Player.

A huge well done to everyone who came together to make this Big Build possible. We can’t wait to see it on screen! 💚☘️🙏

Imagine being told a €3-a-week rise in the Living Alone Allowance is meant to help. Three euro. That’s not support — that’s an insult. If you live alone, you already know what the bills, the food shop and the heating actually cost. This doesn’t even touch it. The government needs to rethink this quickly. It’s not going down well with a lot of people.

This budget only gives the rich more to laugh about. Once again, this government has hammered the working man to the floor.

A miserable €10 for pensioners and social welfare, while the cost of living has gone through the roof for these families. This government has thrown them scraps and called it help.

We are in huge trouble folks! 😪

Congratulations! an outstanding team of officials. 👏⚽️🏆🥇

Budget 2027: A sneaky peak of what's coming in tomorrow’s budget. 😉🇮🇪

• An increase in the income level at which the 40% rate kicks in, plus changes to tax credits and the USC.

• Modest increases in the three inheritance tax thresholds.

• An increase in the renter’s tax credit.

• A reduction of about €1,000 a month in childcare costs for parents of children in full-time care.

• Main welfare rates and pensions increased by €10 a week.

• Cuts in excise duty on fuel extended to cover the winter months.

• Carbon tax relief on home heating oil, and probably on gas.

• The fuel allowance looks set to rise by €5 a week, to €43.

• A disability support payment is expected to be announced, likely €500 a year.

• Details of the new savings scheme, including annual limits and the tax-free threshold.

34% is hard to get your head around. Young Irish people trying to get a home of their own have been left behind, and so have the students who can’t find anywhere to live so they can actually go to college.

A Fianna Fáil Councillor has reacted to Micheál Martin's false immigration claims made on Fox News last week, as he revealed that over a third of Louth social housing allocations since 2020 went to non-citizens.

Read more in the comments 👇

Between 2016 and 2025, the Department of Social Protection overpaid about €1.22 billion in social welfare. It recovered €867 million and wrote off or failed to recoup €354 million. On top of that, €597 million in overpayment debt was already outstanding at the end of 2015. Taken together, nearly €952 million has not been recovered.

These are overpayments — money people were not entitled to — not grants given away on purpose. Causes include claimant error, departmental error, payments that continued after someone died, and fraud. The figures released to Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín do not break the unrecovered total down by cause. He has said the minister still has not confirmed how much is fraud and how much is departmental error.

Full story below. 👇

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/politics/arid-41919619.html

Two US Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles landed safely at Shannon Airport this afternoon after one declared an emergency over the North Atlantic with a fuel problem. 😬🛬🪂⛽️

A second jet stayed with it. Shannon fire crews were staged by the runway, the Coast Guard was alerted, and RNLI boats at Inis Mór and Kilrush were put on standby. The first jet landed at 4:34pm; the second followed. Both taxied to a remote stand. No injuries were reported.

The aircraft, from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina, were heading home from the UK with a larger group of F-15s and tankers after a Middle East deployment. Trackers identify them as TABOR15 and TABOR16, departing RAF Mildenhall. No official US Air Force statement had been issued in the early reports.