Yearly Archives: 2014

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[Mespil Road, Dublin last Summer and, above, Dublin’s clamping hotspots 2013]

Figures obtained by RTÉ News show that Dublin City Council took in nearly €30m from parking, with €4.3 million collected from clamping 56,000 vehicles.

BUT…

Dublin City Council Parking Enforcement Officer Eithne Gibbons said parking management is not just about raising revenue.”The management of parking is very important in a busy urban centre like Dublin. People drive into the city expecting to be able to get near to where they want to conduct their business and as part of the parking regime we try to ensure that there are spaces when they arrive in to the City,” she said.

Sounds fair.

FIGHT!

City councils raise €46m through parking in 2013 (RTE)

Pics Daniel Rooney/Graph: RTE

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A Fine Gael councillor, who was a strong supporter of Enda Kenny during the leadership heave, has avoided conviction for drink-driving for a second time.

In last week’s case before Longford District Court Councillor Frank Kilbride [above], a former showband star, was charged with failing to provide a breath sample at Longford Garda Station on March 24 last year. The case was dismissed because he was not given options to provide blood or urine samples.

In 2007, Mr Kilbride was charged with careless driving and failing to provide a breath or urine sample after a traffic accident near Granard. Gardaí said they had had to take evasive action in their patrol car to avoid a collision with a car approaching on the wrong side of the road. They said they followed it and moments later found the car the councillor was driving was lying on its roof.

Councillor Kilbride who resigned from Fine Gael last July over the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill  and subsequently rejoined the party, hosts his own weekly country music show on Sky 191 and has inspired a tribute song to his driving escapades.

Good times.

The Fine Gael councillor (and showband legend) who gets off over a second drink-driving incident (Jennifer Bray,Aisling Kiernan/Irish Daily Mail) [not available online]

Any excuse for the unborn babbies.


Longford Councillor resigns from Fine Gael (Shannonside Radio, July 2013)

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[Top: the audience at the premiere of Frank at Sundance and , above, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Lenny Abrahamson and Scoot McNairy meet the press]

‘Frank’, the much-anticipated film from Lenny Abrahamson had its premiere at Sundance on Friday night.

How did that go?

“A faceless Michael Fassbender stars in this weird and wonderful musical comedy from director Lenny Abrahamson.” “…amid so much arch weirdness, “Frank” proves remarkably accessible. Behind its inscrutable exterior beams a welcoming smile.” – Variety

“Pleasingly and perhaps surprisingly, given the extremities of the material, the cast plays crazy with cool, measured aplomb.” “Even those unmoved by the film’s admittedly oblique emotional subtext, meanwhile, should appreciate it as a virtuoso showcase for Fassbender, exuding eerie frontman magnetism even with his face invisible for the bulk of the film.” – Hitfix

“The bizarrely brilliant “Frank” demonstrates that quirkiness need not be a four-letter word in the language of movies. It certainly won’t be for everyone, but this terrific and sublime experience, and strikingly original film, is mandatory watching for the adventurous viewer.” – Indiewire

“Frank”s biggest achievement is how it effortlessly slides from silliness to sympathy. Come for Fassbender wearing a goofy head and all of the extremely funny jokes, stay for the profound reflection on art, commerce, madness and companionship. This is, I feel, a very meaningful film, but it also has a good beat. 9/10” – Screencrush

“Indeed, the movie’s weightiest issue is the final tonal shift into more directly messaged, darkly dramatic waters. Thankfully, even if the shift immediately jars, Frank’s cast – both with and without giant head – rise to the challenge. Guaranteed to polarise, Frank is destined to go down in curio history.” – TotalFilm

Pic: Film4Insider

Previously: Howya Head

Totally Frank

FILMAUDITION

Laura Gaynor writes;

So you mightn’t have gotten the Star Wars open-casting. But fear not, the Film and TV Production class of 2014 are looking for all sorts to be in their graduate films. Auditions are running out of IADT next Friday between 4-8PM.

Any excuse.

IADT

30

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS9c2UhMTY8&feature=youtu.be

Showbiz Geek [not his real name] runs down the 30 things he discovered on turning 30.

The fun is over.

Time to get comfy.

Related: 30 Things Turning 30 in 2014 (Mental Floss)

ShowbizGeek.com

AngloIrishBank

Give them a clip around the ear. Never did Karl any harm.

Deb Molloy tweetz:

This is now hanging in the kids’ area in the [National Museum of Ireland – Decorative Arts & History] museum in Collins Barracks. I despair.