Ireland’s EU Presidency took centre stage on Wednesday as around 1,500 Ministers, officials and industry leaders gathered at the RDS for the International AI Summit. Held against the backdrop of the largest public sector strike in almost 20 years, the Summit gave the Government an opportunity to demonstrate leadership on one of Europe’s defining economic and political challenges. Its most striking message, however, was that some of the strongest calls for tighter AI regulation came from industry itself.
Opening the Summit, the Taoiseach struck a more candid tone on employment than Ministers have taken before. He acknowledged that some “work functions may not survive AI” and described the scale of potential displacement as an “open question”. While ruling out displacement in the public service, he announced that the Labour Employer Economic Forum would be convened with employers and unions to examine AI’s impact on the workplace. With public sector workers on strike nationwide, the intersection of technology, job security and industrial relations made for a pointed political backdrop.
Brussels was focused on competitiveness. Commission Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen urged Europe to translate its AI ambitions into industrial adoption, noting that just 20% of EU companies used AI last year, rising to 55% among the largest firms. She also reaffirmed the Commission’s readiness to enforce the AI Act.
It was industry leaders who delivered the most politically significant interventions. Amid concern over rogue AI behaviour and security breaches, Microsoft president Brad Smith called for urgent new safety legislation, arguing the sector must overcome its “allergy” to regulation. Google DeepMind chair Demis Hassabis described recent hacks by AI agents as “early warning shots” and backed an international standards body, provided it remained agile enough to keep pace with innovation.
As the most anticipated event of the Presidency, the Summit largely lived up to its billing. It drew positive reactions from media, political and industry voices despite competing headlines from the strike. The question now is whether Ireland can convert that attention into lasting influence. That will depend on whether industry’s appetite for regulation translates into concrete commitments, and whether the Labour Employer Economic Forum can give workers credible answers before the debate over AI and jobs hardens.
Political Update:
Public Sector Workers Strike for First Time in 17 Years
Around 300,000 teachers, health workers and other public sector employees went on strike on Wednesday, in the first public sector strike in 17 years. Public hospitals were closed to non-urgent cases, schools and third-level institutions shut, and council services, courts and Met Éireann were disrupted. Uncollected rubbish was visible in parts of Dublin city centre.
Striking workers cited the rising cost of living, wages failing to keep pace with recent increases, and a lack of meaningful engagement from Government against the background of younger workers emigrating due to the cost of living. Some union members criticised Budget 2027 measures for hauliers and hospitality, including fuel excise and VAT cuts, compared with the treatment of public sector workers.
A second 24-hour public sector strike is scheduled for Wednesday 21 October, but there are signs it could be averted after Minister Jack Chambers said the Government is “absolutely” happy for pay to be the first thing discussed in talks. ICTU’s public services committee is due to meet on Thursday to review the situation, and Minister Chambers expects to set out “a further context” in the next day or so.
Economic Update:
IMF warns of AI-driven market correction
The International Monetary Fund has warned that a reassessment of the returns and productivity gains expected from AI could trigger a significant correction in equity markets. In its latest Global Financial Stability report, published ahead of the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok, the IMF identified three main risks: an AI-driven market correction, a further sharp rise in sovereign bond yields and severe cyber incidents affecting financial market infrastructure
On bond markets, the IMF said resurgent inflation, tighter fiscal conditions and war in the Middle East could push yields higher and cause broader market turmoil. Yields have already risen sharply in recent months, including on Irish government debt, as persistent inflation and rising government borrowing weigh on investor confidence.
In its World Economic Outlook, the IMF described a global economy split between two competing forces: the energy price shock, which is driving up inflation and weakening demand, and rapid AI investment, which is supporting it. Global growth is forecast at 3.1% in 2026, unchanged from April, and 3.4% in 2027. Global inflation is projected to rise to 4.7% this year before easing to 4.1% in 2027.
Sustainability Update:
Climate Change Advisory Council warns Ireland will miss waste and industry targets
The Climate Change Advisory Council has warned that Ireland is certain to miss many mandatory recycling targets, including the EU goal of recycling 55% of waste by 2025. Waste generation has risen by more than 20% over the past decade, reaching 16.7 million tonnes in 2024, while the State’s circularity rate fell to 2%, the second lowest in the EU. The Council said reliance on exports, with 37% of waste sent abroad for final treatment, points to a significant infrastructure gap.
Industry emissions are 15.9% below 2018 levels after four years of decline but are expected to stagnate. Industry is projected to be the second worst performing sector after transport, having already exceeded its 2021-2025 emissions ceiling by 9.1%, and EPA projections show almost no difference between existing and planned measures. Council member Jillian Mahon called for action to make it easier to electrify industry, develop an indigenous biomethane sector and speed up approvals for lower-carbon technologies.
Around the world:
Ukrainian strikes on Russian data centres spark speculation over source of online bot activity
Ukrainian drone strikes have hit three data centres in Russia over the past few days. As a result, President Zelenskyy said social media had become noticeably less hostile, with fewer bots, and argued this showed Europe was not the source of the problem facing social media platforms.
Yandex confirmed operations at its Vladimir facility have been completely suspended. Cloudflare data shows automated traffic from Yandex’s network fell by around 94% on Sunday compared with late September, though this includes legitimate traffic such as search engine crawlers.
The drop in activity has fuelled speculation across Europe and the US regarding the root of bot activity. Unverified claims circulated of falling online activity around the AfD in Germany and Reform UK, and US users reported fewer automated pro-conservative replies on X. While there is no clear answer as to whether this activity is directly linked to the strikes, with the US midterm elections only weeks away, the issue brings the question of foreign interference in political discourse back to the fore.