Monthly Archives: July 2012

Widespread brawling. 40 admitted to A&E. Six treated for stab wounds. Two deaths.

The aftermath…

Ahead of a meeting with gardaí to review the Swedish House Mafia concert, Denis Desmond (middle), of promoters MCD, said he was “100 per cent” satisfied with the level of security provided.

…Asked whether he would go ahead this summer with the David Guetta concert in Marlay Park, which will attract a dance-oriented crowd similar to that attracted by Swedish House Mafia, and with Oxegen, due to run again next year, Mr Desmond said: “Yes absolutely. You cannot be held to ransom by thugs.”

 

Promoter Defends Security At Concert In Phoenix Park (Ronan McGreevy and Genevieve Carbery, Irish Times)

Previously: Tell The Cat To Chill

Lost Weekend

(Leon Farrell, Photocall Ireland)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqOLhx_QGto

Redditor gnarfox and his friends visited North Korea last month. Taking the approved government tour, they opened their minds to a ‘relentless stream of hyper-positive propaganda’ and made a film about it. Sez he:

Government minders picked us up at the airport and took us on what felt like the strangest four-day amusement park ride in the world. We arrived in the middle of Children’s Week. Young Pioneers (similar to Hitler Youth) from all over the country flooded into Pyongyang for several days of fantastical public rallies, all seemingly meant to bolster the personality cult of their new leader, 28 year old Kim Jong Un. Propaganda vans drive through the city blasting cheery slogans. People all over Pyongyang walk with purpose, but you can never figure out where they’re going. Most of the lights in the city go off at 11pm. They let you ride the Metro for one stop, but your fellow passengers may be actors. The rest of the Metro might not function. In short, nothing you see is verifiably real. It’s a Stalinist Disneyland on acid where everyone you meet smiles but the far-off fields are filled with elderly laborers snipping individual blades of grass with scissors.

Either that, or this is all just craven Western propaganda whose existence the Leader permits in order for capitalism to destroy itself from within.

highdefinite/metafilter

 

Enda Kenny’s comments come after a report found nearly two million people here have just 100 euro to spend a month after paying essential bills.
And half a million have no disposable income at all according to the Irish League of Credit Unions.

 

Taoiseach Says ‘Irish People Have To Deal With Our Economic Challenges’ (Newstalk)

Judge Eugene O’Kelly (above) said he was “appalled” at video footage he had seen of the incident, which showed Garda Niall O’Connor “make a lunge” at Gary Daly and “drag him in a violent manner to the squad car” after the accused started recording the arrest of his friend on his phone.

…Recording a video was “not an offence”, said Judge O’Kelly, who added that he found it “extraordinary” that the case should follow so soon after the death of Rodney King, whose beating at the hands of the Los Angeles police in 1991 might never have come to light had it not been recorded by a third party.

 

Judge ‘Appalled’ By Video Footage After Man Says Garda Broke His Arm (Mike Dwayne, Limerick Leader)

(Pic: Limerick Leader)

South Sudan is one year old today.

Jane-Ann McKenna, Head of Office, Médecins Sans Frontières Ireland, who is in South Sudan, writes:

The baby in the photo above is Abdullah (name changed). He was born prematurely at the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) tent hospital here in Jamam refugee camp. His mum is one of over 100,000 refugees who fled conflict across the border in Sudan and had to walk for weeks, sometimes months, to reach what they hoped would be sanctuary in South Sudan.

Unfortunately, this newborn nation – which is celebrating its first birthday today – doesn’t have any emergency response capacity to help thousands of displaced people who urgently need food, shelter, and clean water.

The start of rainy season hasn’t helped matters. Last week we woke to find that the refugee camp had become a swamp, with latrines over flowing and tents washed away. MSF is providing medical care but despite our best efforts, the mortality rate is almost double the emergency threshold, with eight or nine children dying every day, mainly from diarrhoea. We’re appealing for help.

Jane-Ann McKenna, Head of Office, Médecins Sans Frontières Ireland, c/o Jamam refugee camp, Upper Nile State, South Sudan.

MSF.ie Appeal for Sudan here

(Pic by Shannon Jensen)