Yearly Archives: 2014

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Minnie Mélange writes:

Whilst walking through Dublin yesterday afternoon, it began to rain. Within minutes, what was a light shower, quickly became torrential and I had forgotten my umbrella. In the midst of searching for shelter, I crossed paths with a man who appeared to be homeless and was asking passers-by for their loose change. Reaching into my coat pocket, I had less than one euro in coppers and apologised for the small amount but placed the coins into his polystyrene cup.

As I continued my fast-paced walk, I heard someone calling ‘Love, love, love’ from behind me. I turned around and the man who I had just given money to was trying to gain my attention and was asking me to come back to where he was sitting on the concrete. He asked me if I had an umbrella and having explained that I’d left mine in college, he offered me a navy teddy-bear umbrella; one of the very few possessions he had on his person. I refused and said that I couldn’t take it from him but it fell on deaf ears. He told me that the rain was too heavy and I would get sick if I was walking around in it for much longer. He placed the umbrella in my hand and merely asked me to return it the next time that we run into each other

I was completely flabbergasted. I asked him his name, introduced myself and shook his hand. The rain continued to worsen and as I raced back to college, I could not help but think of how cold and wet that man must now be. Two hours later, the weather cleared and Dublin experienced some brief sunshine. With the umbrella and a thank you card in-hand, I meandered back to the location where I first met him and luckily, he was still there. Shaking his hand, I thanked him for his generosity and incredible kindness. His response? You’re welcome.

For What It’s Worth (Millie Mélange)

(Sam Boal/Photocall ireland)

Thanks Kieran

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Shironeko (‘White Cat’) aka ‘Zen Cat’ and Kagoneko (‘Basket Cat’) is known for his three trademark expressions: sleepy, happy and sleepy ‘n’ happy. He’s also content to squeeze into unlikely containers and have fruit, veg and other items balanced on his head.

Naturally, he has a blog and a YouTube channel.

mymodernmet

LuciaHusband

Lucia and Jim O’Farrell with a picture of their late son, Shane

You may recall how a panel of barristers is currently carrying out a legal review of 282 alleged cases of Garda malpractice, including the case of Shane O’Farrell who was killed in a hit-and-run in Carrickmacross in Co. Monaghan by Zigimantus Gridziuska, from Lithuania, on August 2, 2011.

The review is a paper review only and those who have made the complaints will not be interviewed.

Further to this, Lucia writes:

Tomorrow at 2pm there will be a protest outside the Dáil, organised by Justice for All and Integrity Ireland. Most of the people who will be there tomorrow have a case with the Department of Justice, as part of the 282 cases under review, by the legal panel.

Many are very annoyed that this is taking part behind closed doors and many of these people want an opportunity to have their case heard or, at least, the opportunity to meet the counsel dealing with their case. They don’t know what papers are being looked at.

In our case, I have been objecting to the appointment of Conor Devally, as he defended Zigimantus Gridziuska, the man who killed my son. The appointment was made at the Office of the Attorney General, who was aware from my ongoing correspondence with the office that Conor Devally was involved in this case. His name would have come up in my correspondence with both the office of the AG and the Department of justice for almost two years. Despite this, they refuse to remove him from the panel. Our solicitor also wrote expressing his concern.

Garda whistleblower, John Wilson, who is chair of Justice 4 All, will speak at tomorrow’s protest. where  intends to highlight how a Garda Commissioner can only be investigated by the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission if it receives permission from the Minister for Justice.

Meanwhile…

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Last Sunday’s Irish Mail on Sunday.

Previously: ‘Delay, Deny, Lie Then Cover-Up’

Justice 4 All

jolynn

Jessica writes:

We’re very excited to have the director, Jolynn Minnaar, attending the DCU screening of Unearthed this Thursday as part of the 8×8 Festival.

Jolynn has had quite a few successes this year on the foot of her award-winning documentary.
There are still some [free] tickets available for the DCU event if people were interested in attending.

Jolynn will also partake in a post-screening Q&A in UCC next Tuesday, and a few other screenings around the country (Carrick on Shannon on Friday, Belfast on Saturday, Fermanagh on Sunday, Sligo on Monday).

Looks like good fraic, in fairness.

Previously: Fracking Our Souls

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Oh.

A confidential cable – part of the Wikileaks data dump –  from the US Embassy in Dublin sent to Washington and elsewhere in 2009 outlining Europe’s, the Department of Finance’s and Fianna Fail’s revenue raising possibilities post-crash.

Going forward like.

(Gary Toibin would go on to co-author a paper arguing Why Ireland is Not A Tax Haven)

Cable 09Dublin360 (Wikileaks)

Unearthed by and thanks The Real Zero