Ireland

Halloween across Dublin followed a familiar, destructive script. Cars and bins were set alight while gardaí were reportedly told to avoid parts of Cherry Orchard. In Kildare, a fire crew came under attack, and a father in Dublin faces charges for allegedly firing a handheld firework launcher at police. The annual plea for responsible behavior appears, as usual, to have been a suggestion rather than a rule.

The Housing Minister is facing a new round of pressure from a housing charity director who has criticized recent announcements and questioned the current strategy. Meanwhile, a man died in garda custody, and the Health Service Executive was found to be leaving millions of euros in pharmaceutical company debts uncollected. Simultaneously, the state faces scrutiny over its payment of unsustainable rent subsidies to private landlords.

The courts granted a protection order to a woman whose partner threatened to distribute intimate images, and a judge ordered the removal of an abusive son from his mother's property. In Cork, a new residential tower is set to become the country's tallest apartment block, providing a vertical solution to a horizontal crisis.