What’s your favourite song under 3 minutes long?

That’s this week’s question to be in with a chance to win a highly coveted €25 Golden Discs voucher.

Here’s mine.

Please include video links if possible.

Lines MUST close at 4.45pm EXTENDED until 6am/strong>.

The winner will be chosen by my face mask.

Nick says: Good luck!

Last week’s guitar hero here.

Golden Discs

This afternoon.

Government Buildings, Dublin 2.

Via The Irish Times:

In a briefing to the media following Friday’s Cabinet meeting, Mr Varadkar said secondary schools and primary schools will reopen fully at the start of the school year.

However…

He said it may not be possible for every pupil to attend every school for the whole day every day at the start of school term but the intention was to revert to that as quickly as possible.

Also…

Katherine Zappone, the Minister for Children, also confirmed that childcare facilities will reopen with “playpods” for young children, with up to six infants aged under one being allowed in a single playpod….

Hmm.

Meanwhile…

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe meanwhile said that the temporary wage subsidy scheme will now apply to people returning to work from maternity leave, and from paternity leave.

Govt intends to reopen primary and secondary schools at end of August (RTÉ)

Taoiseach has confirmed schools will reopen at the end of August (Irish Times)

Earlier: ‘Behaving As Though Every Home Still Had A Stay At Home Mother’

Photocall Ireland

Meanwhile…

Previously: €44,000 Paid Per Private Bed In April

Mountjoy Square Park, Dublin 1 last month

This afternoon.

Via The Irish Times:

Gardaí are expected to operate a scaled-down operation this bank holiday weekend to enforce the coronavirus movement restrictions as the force switches focus from roads to parks, beaches and beauty spots.

While an enforcement operation will be in place this weekend, it is expected to be on a smaller scale and will focus on road safety rather than enforcing the movement restrictions.

This week Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said over the coming weeks the force’s coronavirus policing will focus on monitoring the movement restrictions through “community engagement at key locations such as parks, beaches and natural beauty spots

Garda to scale down Covid enforcement operation ahead of hottest weekend this year (Irish Times)

Rollingnews

Meanwhile…

Leo Varadkar (right) in Phoenix Park Dublin last Sunday

[Leo Varadkar] said [On FM104 earlier] that there will be no repeat picnic in the park this weekend as he doesn’t “want to give my press officer a heart attack or anything.”

He said: “Unfortunately there are camera phones anywhere there are people these days but that’s the way it is. You have to live your life. And if you’re afraid of photographs you’d never go out.”

Thanks topless Blueshirt.

‘Not at that point yet’: Taoiseach says Ireland isn’t ready for 1-metre social distancing (iRadio)

Earlier: Roaming Charge

Those two dots visible between Saturn’s rings? That’s the Earth and the Moon. To wit:

Just over three years ago, because the Sun was temporarily blocked by the body of Saturn, the robotic Cassini spacecraft was able to look toward the inner Solar System. There, it spotted our Earth and Moon — just pin-pricks of light lying about 1.4 billion kilometers distant. Toward the right of the featured image is Saturn’s A ring, with the broad Encke Gap on the far right and the narrower Keeler Gap toward the center. On the far left is Saturn’s continually changing F Ring. From this perspective, the light seen from Saturn’s rings was scattered mostly forward , and so appeared backlit. After more than a decade of exploration and discovery, the Cassini spacecraft ran low on fuel in 2017 and was directed to enter Saturn’s atmosphere, where it surely melted.

(Image: NASA, ESA, JPL-Caltech, SSI, Cassini Imaging Team; Processing & License: Kevin M. Gill)

apod