Monthly Archives: July 2012

War zone golden rule # 1: If at all possible remove your helmet when speaking to a child who has no helmet.

Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore during a visit to Somalia today to see the fruits of Irish aid in one of the poorest and insecure countries in the world. The Wil-Wal school (third pic) is one of six being rehabilitated with Irish funding after being destroyed during fighting in 2010. More than 800 disadvantaged children are now attending the school.

UN Corrupts Somali Political Transition (Al-Jazeera)

(DFA/Photocall Ireland)

 

From Trinity College, Dublin:

The findings of the largest survey to date on the perception of safety among cyclists in Dublin have been published by engineering researchers at Trinity College Dublin, University College Cork and University of Hong Kong.

For the purpose of the study, a questionnaire based survey of 1,954 cyclists was conducted to gain an insight into the different aspects related to the safety experience of cyclists in Dublin.

Analysis of the responses revealed that cycling is perceived as an unsafe mode of travel compared to driving even by existing cyclists. Careless and reckless bus/taxi/car driver attitude has a significantly negative impact on the safety experience of cyclists. “Campaigns to encourage cyclist-driver cooperation within the network may help combat Dublin’s ‘road rage’,” explained TCD researcher Dr Bidisha Ghosh.

Perception Of Safety Of Cyclists In Dublin (TCD)

Cycling is Considered Unsafe Even by Cyclists (TCD Communications Office)

Pic via William Murphy

Meanwhile,

Via imgur

Anthony Lyons.

Rugby tackled a woman to the ground and sexually assaulted her as she walked home at night.

Today, Judge Desmond Hogan said the manner in which the attack was committed puts it at the higher end of the scale as it involved violence of a seriously frightening nature.
But Mr Lyons is considered at low risk of reoffending, and as a man of means the judge ordered him to pay the injured party €75,000 compensation.
However, there were shocked gasps when he suspended all but six months of a six-year prison sentence and outside the court the victim’s grandmother said: “Money talks”.

 

Businessman Gets Six Months In Jail For Sexual Assault (BreakingNews.ie)

The Victim’s account:

The victim was walking along a north Dublin street when Lyons came up behind her and put his arm around her before asking if she would be okay getting home. He then rugby tackled her to the ground.
“As he was trying to push me into dark area where the wooded area is, I hit him over the head with my phone as hard as I could,” she said. “I was screaming ‘no, no, no’ and ‘help’ and everything I could think of.”
The woman said she was face down onthe ground while Lyons was groping and fondling her from behind. She said his full weight was on her and she couldn’t move.
“I said at one point I was pregnant and asked him to stop,” she said.
The woman said that while Lyons was struggling to remove her underwear, she phoned gardai and told them she was being raped. She said she was fondled and digitally penetrated during the attack until a passer-by came to her aid causing Lyons to flee.

Man Convicted Of Sexual Assault (Irish Times)

(Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland)