Yearly Archives: 2014

FitzRTE

Newstalk reports:

“An economist is predicting young Irish people will be forced to live with their parents until they are 35, unless significantly more houses are built. ESRI economist Professor John Fitzgerald says we need around 25,000 new homes every year, but only 10,000 will be built this year.”

Jaykers.

Irish people forced to live with their parents ’til mid 30s (Newstalk)

Pic: RTÉ

kenny

[Taoiseach Enda Kenny presents President Barack Obama with a bowl of shamrock in the White House during Mr Kenny’s St Patrick’s Day trip to the US in March 2012]

A total of 27 ministers and junior ministers will visit more than 35 cities in 23 countries for Paddy’s Day.

Enda Kenny – New York, Washington and Boston.
Eamon Gilmore – France
Michael Noonan – Canada
Brendan Howlin – China
Simon Coveney – New Zealand and Eastern Australia
Phil Hogan – United Arab Emirates
James Reilly – Boston and Cleveland
Frances Fitzgerald – Korea and Japan
De bold boys Brian Hayes, Rúairí Quinn, Joe Costello – staying at home

St Patrick’s Day trips unveiled by government Taoiseach gets the US, Reilly goes to Korea (Irish Independent)

Pic: Merrion Street

Meanwhile, UPDATE:

Sigh.

Previously: Just Say No

Barretstown

Dream Baby Dream, originally performed by  Bruce Springsteen Suicide

Performed by Joyce Murphy, who attended a Barretstown camp after her sister Rachel died of cancer in 2004, the Christ Church Cathedral Girls Choir, Friends of Barretstown, Tom Dunne, Mundy and Steve Wall.

Barretstown is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Since 1994, it has welcomed over 27,000 children from 21 countries around the world.

The song will be available on iTunes from Friday.

Barretstown

Thanks Darragh Doyle

Phantom
Carroll

Following on from reports that 20 staff are to be made redundant at Phantom FM, as part of a restructuring plan, Irish Times music critic Jim Carroll, above, has this to say:

“The problem with Phantom is that it forgot about the music. At a time when many stations are finding favour again thanks to making truly exciting music radio, Phantom plodded on without a clue. Despite the fact that it had a rake of people in its ranks down through the years who were genuine music fans and great radioheads, it persisted time and time again with putting lowest common denominator radio on during peaktime hours. The music fans got their way and their say during the evening, night-time and weekend shifts. It was if you’d two different stations, which is never a great look. Yet the station’s management persisted in making mistake after mistake after mistake when it came to programming. The nadir in Phantom’s downfall was reached with the unpalatable breakfast show pairing of Joe Donnelly and Keith Walsh, two lads who genuinely didn’t have a clue what they were doing on a music radio station.”
….
“So, goodbye, goodnight and good luck Phantom. The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland may well have rolled over and given you permission to restructure, thus negating many of the conditions of your licence in the first place, but the audience isn’t so easily fooled or convinced. They’ve departed in droves – a daily audience of just 15,000, which is half what it was four years ago when the station was supposed to be really in trouble and brought in Communicorp – and are not coming back. A truly sad state of affairs.”

Yikes.

FIGHT!

Time to do the right thing and turn off Phantom 105.2 (Jim Carroll, Irish Times)

Related: 20 staff to be let go at Dublin station Phantom FM (RTE)

90311329

[The pop-up playground Granby Park, Lower Dominick Street, Dublin last Summer]

The Banter/Living For The The City FIGHT discussion series is back next week.

Banter’s Jim Carroll writes:

In recent times, we’ve seen a huge growth in new venues and creative spaces in and around the city (Mabos and The Crypt, Granby Park, etc.). We’ve gathered together a number of people who are involved in these new initiatives to talk about how these spaces have come about, what they offer to creative projects, what’s the long-run prognosis for these venues, the role of NAMA and Dublin City Council and what advice they’d offer to those seeking to do their own alternatives.

The panel: Dave Smith (Mabos), Orlaith Ross (The Crypt), Laura G Dovn (Block T) and Peter O’Brien (Upstart)

Living for the City: alternative spaces Twisted Pepper, Middle Abbey St., Dublin 1,  Wednesday February 26, 6pm. Invite list here. FREE.

 Banter Living In The City: Alternative Spaces (Banter)

MurdochpapersOz

[Front pages of Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers in Australia last year. News Corporation launched a ‘Kick this mob out’ campaign, calling on the Australian electorate to vote out then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and vote in Tony Abbott during its federal election. Mr Abbott won and is now Australia’s Prime Minister]

The Guardian reports:

Rupert Murdoch’s media group received a $882m tax rebate from Australia last year in a revelation that is likely to reignite the debate over how much tax is paid by international corporations.

The payment by a “foreign tax authority” was revealed in accounts published by News Corporation in the US earlier this month and related to a $2bn claim by News Corp for historic losses on currency transactions by its Australian subsidiaries.

The payment was estimated to be worth $600m to News Corp but the final figure grew to $882m after interest charges.

It was one of the the biggest single factors in the multi-billion dollar federal budget blowout announced by Australian treasurer Joe Hockey in December.

Rupert Murdoch’s empire receives $882m tax rebate from Australia (The Guardian)

Pic: Fair Go Country

00146240

If something’s supposed to be free,
Then surely there can’t be a fee,
I must lack the sight,
Of the great Alex White,
But how this works I just can’t see.

John Moynes

(Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland)