[Vancouver, Canada]
The first allocation, 3,850, of two-year working holiday visas in Canada for Irish people, aged 18 to 35, became available at 8pm last night.
By 8.10pm, they were all gone.
Gulp.
Irish snap up 3,850 visas for Canada in under 10 minutes (Irish Times)
Pic: Lowestrates.ca
At a Socialist Party Labour Youth gathering in Dublin the mid-1980s, Joe Higgins (centre) and unnamed damn hipster with former British cabinet minister Tony Benn, right, who has died aged 88.
Veteran Labour politician Tony Benn dies aged 88 (Irish Times)
Pic: Derek Spiers via Eoin O’Malley
[Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Frank Flannery, who stepped down as Rehab director and director of elections within Fine Gael this week]
Lobbying politicians is now, however, emerging as a specialisation within public relations and legal firms. Firms employing people with direct experience of the political world is also a practice that is growing. The list of professional lobbyists now includes former government press secretaries, former officials of all the major parties, some ex-TDs and a host of former journalists.
Ireland remains a small society, with a peculiar electoral system, which fosters a form of localism unsurpassed in Western Europe. Such localism benefits the small number of influential Irish lobbying firms, certainly no more than 10, who have copperfastened their position by employing former political actors to ensure access to the lobbying market. Frank Flannery’s work for Rehab in lobbying the Government could be seen in this context.”
Associate professor of politics at Dublin City University Gary Murphy in today’s Irish Examiner.
Need for regulation of lobbying is clear (Gary Murphy, Irish Examiner)
[Garda whistleblower Sgt Maurice McCabe]
Philip Ryan, of the Irish Independent, reports this morning that the former CEO of the Road Safety Authority Noel Brett, and AA Roadwatch director of consumer affairs, Conor Faughnan were questioned by gardaí in relation to their dealings with Garda whistleblower Sgt Maurice McCabe last summer, after it emerged that they had been in contact with Sgt McCabe.
The investigation was launched after the former head of the Garda Traffic Corps, Eddie Rock – who is also a member of the RSA board – claimed his data protection rights had been breached.
It’s understood Sgt McCabe contacted Mr Faughnan to raise his concerns about the penalty points system and Mr Faughan put Sgt McCabe in contact with Mr Brett. Mr Brett sent on a dossier of Sgt McCabe’s complaints to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) and the Comptroller and Auditor General, and he also contacted the Department of Transport.
Mr Ryan reports:
“The two well-known public figures were not questioned as suspects but rather to establish if they had been given confidential private information from the whistleblower.
…
“The Irish Independent understands that gardai arranged to meet Mr Faughnan in his office, where he made a full statement on his involvement with Sgt McCabe. Gardai asked Mr Faughnan if private data had been “disseminated illegally” by a member of the force. He told gardai he met Sgt McCabe but insisted that he was not given or shown any personal information which could be perceived to be a breach of data-protection rules, according to a source. It is understood that Sgt McCabe’s name was not mentioned during the interview because his identity was unknown at the time.”
Road safety pair quizzed by gardai over McCabe meetings (Philip Ryan, Irish Independent)
Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland
A Nelson monument for the weekend that’s in it.
Leon Butler writes:
“In honor of his [Brian O’Driscoll’s] final game. I made this digital illustration of Admiral Brian .Hopefully he doesn’t have to go down with a sinking ship….”
Thanks Andrew Murray
What you may need to know.
1. Yes it’s a James Brown biopic.
2. Who’s that playing The Godfather Of Soul? Chadwick Boseman, who already tackled one African-American icon, Jackie Robinson, in last year’s 42.
3. Now THIS is what we call a JB impersonation.
4. Dan Aykroyd? Seriously? Him and JB go way back.
5. If you liked Ray (2004), then…
6. Broadsheet Prognosis: We feel good.
Release Date: August
For the weekend that’s in it.
Saturday, 19 February, 1983.
Ireland led by original captain fantastic, Ciaran Fitzgerald, dragged his men back into a game they trailed. Despite missing six of his 11 kicks, Ollie Campbell was in otherwise sparkling form, Trevor Ringland ripped the leather pill from Patric Esteve on the line while Moss Finn did more than most with two tries to seal Ireland’s first win over the cheese eating surrender monkeys French in eight years.
Speaking to Niall Kiely (Irish Times) a belligerent Dubliner said:
“You know the difference between a culchie and a frog?..
It was 4:10 p.m. on Saturday, France were leading Ireland 16-15 and his fellow-jackeen, Oliver Homer Campbell, had nodded, missing five goal-kicks.
..at least the French go home.”
Meanwhile, in the crowd that day..Inspector Clouseau
Bon times.
Previously: Le Ledgebag
Images: Irish Times Archive and Ebay
