Background 

A report compiled by Maynooth University Social Science Institute (MUSSI) outlines growing global concern about the expansion of corporate power and its implications for democracy, public policy, and social well-being.1 Increasingly, large corporations exert significant influence over public institutions and policy-making, often shaping them to serve private profit rather than the public good. This trend is closely linked to extreme wealth concentration; the richest 1% own more wealth than much of the global population, and a substantial share of that wealth is embedded in corporate structures. Many of the world’s largest corporations are controlled or heavily influenced by billionaires, thus reinforcing their ability to shape political and economic priorities.
While supporters argue that corporations drive innovation, employment, and economic growth, the report highlights a growing disconnect between rising corporate profits and worsening global challenges such as climate change, inequality, and economic insecurity. This raises concerns about the societal risks of allowing wealth and power to accumulate in the hands of a small corporate elite.

The HRB has published its fourth report on deaths among people who were homeless at the time of death.1 The report describes deaths in 2022, with key trends for 2019–2022.

Background

The HRB collects data on all sudden and unexplained deaths among people who were homeless at the time of death, in order to better understand and prevent premature death among people who are homeless. The data are extracted from closed coronial files, using the methodology of the NDRDI, even if the deaths do not meet the standard NDRDI inclusion criteria. The NDRDI validates these data with the Dublin Region Homeless Executive through its Pathway Accommodation and Support System.
The deceased were considered as homeless if living in any of the following circumstances at the time of death:

Background

Alcohol use is a major global health risk, linked not only to chronic disease but also to injuries and traumatic events, including residential fires, where intoxication reduces awareness and the ability to respond. In Ireland, alcohol use remains high and has increasingly shifted to drinking at home, a pattern associated with heavier and riskier drinking and increased vulnerability to fire incidents. This study examined individual, geographic, and contextual characteristics of alcohol-related fatal fires to inform targeted fire prevention efforts.

Methods

Details of all fatal fires that occur in Ireland are collected through the HRB’s National Drug-Related Deaths Index (NDRDI) on behalf of the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management in the Department of Housing Local Government and Heritage.

The rise of synthetic opioids known as nitazenes has created a growing public health concern in Ireland, particularly for individuals living with both severe mental illness and opioid use disorder. A recent article published in the Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine highlights the urgent need to expand access to naloxone, a life-saving medication that can reverse opioid overdoses, in response to this emerging threat.1 The authors argue that patients with a ‘dual diagnosis’ of mental illness and substance use disorder are among the most vulnerable groups in society and require targeted interventions to reduce overdose deaths.

Research has shown that around one-half of people with severe mental illness also experience a substance use disorder.2 Patients with opioid dependence face especially high risks because of the increasing presence of potent synthetic opioids in the Irish drug market.