Yearly Archives: 2017

From the decision by the UN Human Rights Committee

In The Guardian.

Henry McDonald reports:

The United Nations has once again ruled that Ireland’s abortion laws have subjected a woman to cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment.

It is the second time in 12 months that the UN’s human rights committee has denounced the abortion regime in the Republic, which denies women with fatal foetal abnormalities the right to terminate pregnancies.

The committee has found in favour of Siobhán Whelan, an Irish woman who was denied access to an abortion in 2010 despite being diagnosed with fatal foetal syndrome during her pregnancy, it was announced on Tuesday.

Fatal foetal abnormalities include where the foetus has under-developed vital organs such as the heart and brain, which would mean if the pregnancy went to full term the baby would either be stillborn or die within hours of birth.

Whelan’s case mirrors that of Amanda Mellet, who was also forced to travel to Britain to end her pregnancy.

Last year the UN ruled in Mellet’s favour, and she made history by becoming the first woman to be compensated by the Irish state over the trauma she suffered.

In the Whelan case, the UN committee held that Ireland must also provide her with reparations for the harm she suffered and reform its laws to ensure other women do not face similar human rights violations.

Meanwhile…

And…

The UN’s decision can be read in full here

UN denounces Ireland’s abortion laws as cruel and inhumane again (The Guardian)

Silent Streets.

An ‘augmented reality adventure app’ developed in Ireland, set in Victorian England and coming out on smartphones on June 23.

Demid Tishin writes:

You play a private detective from London who arrives in a grim coastal town of Snowport to investigate a distress call from your old friend.

You find him brutally murdered, and a short visit quickly turns into a full-scale campaign against criminal masterminds, corrupt police and a secret science society….

In-game crime evidence is scattered in your real world surroundings. You discover these objects with your phone camera and tap on them to collect and use in your investigation.

A murder weapon could be lying right on your working desk, just look around.

You physically walk with the phone in your pocket to get around Snowport. The game uses your phone’s accelerometer and GPS sensors to measure how close you are to your game destination.

If you would like to try Silent Streets before it’s out, please install the latest Android build here  or give us your Apple ID and we’ll promptly send you a VIP testing invitation.

Silent Streets

Silent Streets (Facebook)

Irish-made stuff to broadsheet@broadsheet.ie marked ‘Irish-made stuff’. No fee.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin and Fine Gael leader and Taoiseach-in-waiting Leo Varadkar

This morning.

On RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.

Presenter Audrey Carville, in an interview with Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin, asked him about the front page story in today’s Irish Independent, headlined: “FF deal with Leo will quieten Left parties in Dáil’.

In the story, Kevin Doyle reports:

Fianna Fáil is pushing to have the allocation of speaking in the Dáil dramatically restructured to favour larger parties.

In a shift away from so-called ‘new politics’, Michéal Martin wants to team up with incoming Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to rebalance power in the Dáil to reflect the number of TDs in a party.

….During his meeting with Mr Varadkar, the Fianna Fáil leader argued that the d’Hondt system should be used for deciding speaking time. This would see time allocated based on the size of a party’s representation.

“I think Leo understood where I was coming from very strongly on that,” he said.

Further to this.

From Morning Ireland earlier…

Audrey Carville: “Let me ask about the front page story in the Irish Independent this morning. That you, along with Leo Varadkar, are planning to restructure Dáil speaking time, away from left-wing parties. Is that true? Are they getting too much?”

Micheál Martin: “No, I’ve been saying this for quite some time. This is not news in the sense that my, or our, position is that we should have the d’Hondt mechanism which basically means that people get the time that reflects their parliamentary strength. The majority of our TDs are not getting the time, fair time in the Dáil and it’s the same for the Fine Gael party and, indeed the Sinn Féin party…”

Carville: “Are you feeling threatened by the quality of their contributions?”

Martin: “No, no it’s just that we want fairness. I think nobody an argue that if you 45 TDs you should get a proportion of the amount of time that reflects that. We’re simply saying that the current situation is not fair and a lot of deputies are getting squeezed out and excluded from having the opportunity to participate in Dáil debates so I think it’s only fair that the amount of time we get should reflect our strength in the Dáil.”

Later, when asked if he’ll miss Enda Kenny:

Martin: “On a personal level, we got on very well and I wish himself and Fionnuala the very, very best. I think, fundamentally, he was a courageous politician, he took over when Fine Gael was at a very low ebb. I think he’s probably smiling a bit today that there are many people who are out there declaring that he was the greatest leader since Brian Boru even though they were looking for journalists to brief a short time ago against him, that’s the nature of politics. So I think he’s probably enjoying the moment that he’s enjoyed the last number of weeks. But I wish him well and I think he worked on behalf of the country, extremely enthusiastic, he was a patriot and he was a courageous leader.”

Previously: ‘They’re Loud And They’re Growing’

‘This Hard-Left, Conspiratorial View’

Listen back in full here

UPDATE:

Social Democrat TD Catherine Murphy (above) has released a statement, saying:

“Fianna Fail want the best of both worlds, they already have the benefit of having one foot in Government and one foot in opposition and now they want to effectively silence those of us who actually present real opposition to what is essentially a cosy Fianna Fail and Fine Gael arrangement in the House.”

“While Fianna Fáil may, in name only, be the main opposition party, their deal to support the Fine Gael minority Government ensures that they do not offer a credible opposition. In such a scenario the rest of the opposition become vital at holding the Minority government and its supporters to account.”

“For Fianna Fáil to try and dilute that opposition is yet another breathtakingly arrogant move by a party who seem to be confused about whether they are in Government or Opposition.”

Lisa Marie writes:

I can’t believe I’m posting this but some absolute SCUMBAG stole my brand new bike from The Point Village [in Dublin] on Sunday and I’m actually heartbroken. Can you please share this and help me try get her back. She’s a blue Martello Sutton. I’d really appreciate it, I’m so gutted. (It was taken from North Wall Avenue and the flowers are easily removed).

Anyone?