How much of the news here is about each issue today, and how it sounds, compared with the past 4 weeks. From 1,034 articles by the country’s own news sites today. How we read the news

Share of the coverage

1. Jobs and work
   1.8% of the news · usually 1.3% · 19 articles
   • Second-level teacher unions have 'serious concerns' over new pay deal (thejournal.ie)
   • Colombia ocupa el sexto lugar en los países con más desempleo de la OCDE (elnuevosiglo.com.co)

   Survey · Apr 2026 3% name “Unemployment” among the two most important issues facing the country (Standard Eurobarometer)

2. Climate
   1.6% of the news · usually 0.6% · 2.7× usual · 17 articles
   • Action needed as lessons being learned the hard way on flooding (irishexaminer.com)
   • Cop31: As co-host, Ireland must keep lobbyists away from fossil fuels transition conference (irishexaminer.com)

   Survey · 2023 69% Worried about climate change (Climate Change Opinion Survey (Meta, Yale), survey of Facebook users)

   Survey · Apr 2026 4% name “The environment and risks related to climate change” among the two most important issues facing the country (Standard Eurobarometer)

3. War and security
   1.6% of the news · usually 1.1% · 16 articles
   • MEP criticises comments on Ukraine funding (midwestradio.ie)
   • Taoiseach condemns blocking of aid to Gaza but says action at summits 'unlikely' – The Irish Times (irishtimes.com)

   Survey · Apr 2026 15% name “The conflict in the Middle East” among the two most important issues facing the country (Standard Eurobarometer)

   Survey · Apr 2026 6% name “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine” among the two most important issues facing the country (Standard Eurobarometer)

   Survey · Apr 2026 2% name “Security and defence” among the two most important issues facing the country (Standard Eurobarometer)

4. AI
   1.5% of the news · usually 1.4% · 15 articles
   • EPC summit: 50 leaders, an unprecedented security operation and the 'AI godfather' (thejournal.ie)
   • 'Good admin isn't sexy, but saves lives': Start-up uses AI to cut healthcare administration burden – The Irish Times (irishtimes.com)
5. Health
   1.5% of the news · usually 1.4% · 15 articles
   • Parents in North West encouraged to protect their babies against RSV (oceanfm.ie)
   • Cardiovascular Research Institute opens new offices (imt.ie)

   Survey · Apr 2026 17% name “Health” among the two most important issues facing the country (Standard Eurobarometer)

6. Cost of living
   0.4% of the news · usually 0.5% · 4 articles
   • No Change To Ennis GMA Allocation For 2027 (clare.fm)
   • Bce, Pil dell'Eurozona in crescita dello 0,4% nel terzo trimestre: resta però "elevata incertezza" (lapresse.it)

   Survey · Apr 2026 59% name “Housing” among the two most important issues facing the country (Standard Eurobarometer)

   Survey · Apr 2026 46% name “Rising prices / inflation / cost of living” among the two most important issues facing the country (Standard Eurobarometer)

   Survey · Apr 2026 6% name “The economic situation” among the two most important issues facing the country (Standard Eurobarometer)

7. Democracy and elections
   0.4% of the news · usually 0.9% · 4 articles
   • Expression Of Interest Lodged For New Ross Skatepark (southeastradio.ie)
   • Waterford councillor: 'I will not be stymied by any group' - News (waterford-news.ie)

   Survey · Apr 2026 3% name “Threats to democracy (for example through information manipulation)” among the two most important issues facing the country (Standard Eurobarometer)

8. Immigration
   0.1% of the news · usually 0.4% · 1 articles
   • EES-hibák miatt utazók ezreit jelölhetik tévesen túltartózkodónak, így javítható a hiba (euronews.com)
   • In Österreich geht Zuwanderung deutlich stärker zurück als anderswo (diepresse.com)

   Survey · Apr 2026 14% name “Immigration” among the two most important issues facing the country (Standard Eurobarometer)

How the news sounds

• Tone+0.1positive minus negative words per 100usually −0.2The GDELT Project
• Anxiety1.0× usual2.9 words per 1,000usually 2.9The GDELT Project
• Fear0.9× usual0.8 words per 1,000usually 0.9The GDELT Project
• Anger1.0× usual5.6 words per 1,000usually 5.5The GDELT Project
• Sadness0.9× usual6.0 words per 1,000usually 6.5The GDELT Project
• Happiness1.0× usual5.4 words per 1,000usually 5.4The GDELT Project
• Financial uncertainty0.9× usual6.3 words per 1,000usually 6.7The GDELT Project

Also in the news

• Economic policy uncertainty180.0from newspaper coverage; 100 = long-run averageJul 2026 · −19.0 since Jun 2026Zalla (2016), PolicyUncertainty.com · CC BY 4.0

News coverage in more than 100 languages, machine-translated and counted with English word lists, from The GDELT Project.