Yearly Archives: 2016

2016-greece-eca-refugees-2

At Piraeus near Athens

There are 48,795 refugees in Greece today.

Further to this…

A report, published today by Human Rights Watch, states:

In a visit to Piraeus (the main port near Athens) from March 8 to 22, 2016, Human Rights Watch interviewed more than 45 asylum seekers and migrants who had recently arrived at the port from Greek Aegean islands or Greece’s border with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. An estimated 5,000 women, men, and children are sleeping in squalid, unsanitary, and unsafe conditions in passenger waiting areas, in an old warehouse, in tents outdoors, and even under trucks.

In the absence of any visible government support or personnel, the day-to-day operation of the camps is dependent on volunteers. These volunteers work to coordinate, among other things, the provision of tents, blankets, food, and clothing; identify vulnerable groups; and provide activities for children. For the most part, medical care is provided by aid groups.

….With no presence of the Greek Asylum Service, nor of any other officials who could provide people with much-needed information about their options in Greece and elsewhere, rumors are creating uncertainty and confusion, Human Rights Watch found.

Some people interviewed said they were afraid they would be deported to Turkey if they boarded one of the government-run buses transferring people to official reception camps in an effort to clear the port.

Many others had heard that conditions at the government-run camps were not good, prompting them to stay at the port until the “borders open.” Others said they had gone to the camps but found the conditions so bad that they returned to the port.

…“I’ve been here [in Greece] for one month and not even one drop of water has touched my body,” said Nawael, a 34-year-old Syrian woman in a wheelchair who has been in Piraeus with her husband and three children for more than 10 days.

“Here it is very hard for me to go to the toilet. My husband helps me at the door and random women help me inside the toilet. I don’t sleep at night because my body is itchy. My husband helped me and I washed my hair with cold water, but then I got sick. Ten days ago, I got my period and I swear to God, I still haven’t had a shower. And I [usually] pray, but given that I haven’t had a shower [to perform required ablutions], I can’t pray.”

Meanwhile, at an open refugee camp recently built in Ritsona, some 70km north of Athens….

Greece: Humanitarian crisis at Athens Port (Human Rights Watch)

Previously: ‘Facilitating The Very Circumstances That Made These People Refugees’

Yesterday: Meanwhile In Lesbos

Thanks Damian Mac Con Uladh

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Republic of Ireland soccer boss Martin O’Neill (centre) at a press conference ahead of Ireland’s match against Switzerland tomorrow

This morning.

At the Aviva Stadium Dublin.

Eurosport reports:

[Martin O’Neill] cracked his joke when asked about the policy of Wales boss Chris Coleman, who revealed earlier this week that his players’ wives and girlfriends would be banned from the squad’s base in France during the tournament as he attempts to remove all possible distractions.

And O’Neill batted the question away with a flippant comment, saying that only the “good-looking” wives and girlfriends would be allowed into the team hotel at the Euro 2016 finals.

…“Well, it depends on how good looking the girls are,” he said. “If they are really attractive, they’re very, very welcome. The uglier ones, I’m afraid not.”

Thud.

Martin O’Neill: We’ll ban ugly WAGs from the team hotel (Eurosport)

Pic: Maud

cathal

 

From the The Irish Rugby Union Players’ Association (IRUPA) in partnership with Zurich

Tackle Your Feelings.

A new mental wellbeing campaign that sees “national and international rugby stars come forward to tell their own personal story of the issues they have faced off the pitch”.

Emma Walsh, of IRUPA writes:

Munster Scrum-Half, Cathal Sheridan is one of the first players to come forward and tell his own personal story [more at link below].

Tackle Your Feelings

goodfriday

How bad is Good Friday?

Kevin Flanagan writes:

Libertarian Ireland & Students For Liberty Ireland hit the streets of Dublin to ask what people think about the Good Friday Drinking Ban.
Considering that Holy Thursday is one of the busiest days for off-licences and butchers, is the Good Friday drinking ban just seen as a “challenge” and excuse to break the law?
What do you think? Join the discussion and have your say using #bintheban

Libertarian Ireland

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From top: Counting during the seanad election, 2011; Dan Boyle

But it’s our rotten borough.

Dan Boyle writes:

I’m coming home again to vote in that other election. The rotten borough one. This time I’ll be using my National University vote. It has, at least, the credibility of being the largest electorate and thus potentially the most democratic vote for The Seanad.

Since 1993, with the exception of 2007, I was an elector (one of about one thousand) and sometime candidate on the vocational panels. They are not actual rotten boroughs but they are not far off it.

The petty ‘gift’ giving I miss. The offers of pens, ties, boxes of chocolate, music CDs, mini tricolours, or holidays in Connemara, all unsolicited, made me feel ‘special’. I was never offered the bottles of Jameson, but there were tales of councillors who would put a particular value on their vote.

If the vote buying wasn’t distasteful enough in its own right, the vote swapping has been the most uncomfortable aspect of the Seanad. For smaller parties it’s necessary as it compensates for the lack of proportionality in the system. Votes are maximised. It leads to some very strange bedfellows.

In 1993 The Greens were involved in an arrangement with Democratic Left and the Progressive Democrats. In 2007, having agreed to participate in government, we were obliged to vote with and for Fianna Fáil candidates.

.On other occasions there have been arrangements with Labour and for lower preferences with Sinn Féin. As recently as 2007 Labour and Sinn Féin had an arrangement with each other on vote sharing.

The most frequent vote sharing occurs between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Those parties that can’t be in government together. These have been informal arrangements to ensure that the ‘county’ gets represented. Because of these arrangements, and lower population ratios, a disproportionate number of Senators have tended to come Connaught and from the border counties.

I contested the Seanad on a number of occasions. They were fishing expeditions, attempts to work out the labyrinthine processes. These included five panels with different numbers of seats being contested. There is no reason for this, the Constitution doesn’t specify why the panels shouldn’t have near equal numbers of seats.

The reasons why De Valera developed the vocational panels, and why this formulation has been defined by the Constitution, was that he was a great admirer of the Corporatist system being practiced that time by Dr. Salazar in Portugal.

We’re still living with this 1930s slightly democratic House of Parliament.

I enjoyed my time as a Senator better than my being a TD, despite the heightened political circumstances. There was a better, more reflective, type of debate there. There was better scrutiny of legislation.

In 2013 I campaigned strongly for The Seanad to be retained. If and when reformed it has the potential to be the arm of accountability our system of government still sorely lacks.

As for my vote, my precious vote, I’m looking for a context to have it used. That has to be worth at least one bottle of Jameson.

Dan Boyle is a former Green Party TD (and senator). Follow Dan on Twitter: @sendboyle

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Jack Lukeman – Minstrel Boy.

Free here

Also: via Jack’s team:

Jack Lukeman will give very special performance of ‘The Minstrel Boy’ with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra on Easter Monday at the Centenary Concert in the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre which will be broadcast live on RTE One television at 9.30pm. Jack Lukeman’s beautiful version of “The Minstrel Boy” (above)will be released on 29 March 2016 in celebration of The 1916 Centenary

Jack Lukeman (Facebook)

seat

Yikes!

JC Cordovez-Mantilla writes:

I’ve just had a very comfortable and pleasant trip from Dublin to Cork. I was impressed by the cleanliness and excellent service from Irish Rail.

My name displayed over my seat, a mobile trolley offering snacks and beverages and clean toilets are some of the small details that make a significant difference and leave me with an impression of a company that’s making an effort. All for €19! Bargain.

To complete my trip I am now on a bus [Éireann] from Cork to Skibereen that cost €20.80.

But I’ve had to drape my coat over the headrest because the level of filth is unacceptable. Fail. This (above right) is the seat next to mine…