66 thoughts on “De Saturday Papers

  1. scottser

    Psycho seagulls seem to be a handy headline for the british tabloids this week, so there is obviously sod all for the Tories to cheer about after Boj getting his bottom handed to him on a plate.
    But whatever about seagulls it’s the crows you’d want to be wary of. Smartest birds on the planet, you know. They use tools.
    Also, very bad Juju to kill one.

    1. GiggidyGoo

      Crows have funerals Im told.
      But, yes they are absolutely the smartest birds i’ve come across.

      1. eoin

        It’s not illegal to kill a crow or disturb its nest. Not so with seagulls, which can dive-bomb you, steal your little dogs and maybe babies next, and which grow bigger by the year. They ruffle through garbage with impunity, knowing you can’t lay a finger on them. Even the politicians are helpless, and they’ve probably taken a hit out on Ned O’Keeffe. Now that’s smart.

        1. millie vanilly strikes again

          I have absolutely attempted to maim a seagull using a deck brush.

          They were asking for it. Between attacking the cat and the child just for having the audacity to be outside while they are there too. So, they got smacked.

  2. eoin

    Is that Sean Dunne’s last front page for the “Irish” Daily Mail above?

    Last week, the Sunday Times reported “The exodus from newsrooms to political parties continues. This time Fianna Fail has done the poaching, recruiting Sean Dunne of the Irish Daily Mail as its senior Dublin press officer.”

    1. eoin

      Does anyone read “Tom Doorley eats and drinks” in the Saturday Mail? Or his less popular “Tom Doorley poos and pees” in the weekday editions?

  3. some old unicorn

    Brazil is an interesting one- national;politics vs international environmentalism- and with the EU planning to strike a deal with Brazil on beef- a certain level of influence can be applied. But all the EU is really doing is outsourcing its environmental damage, a bit like Britain has done to Ireland with its beef consumption.

    But I don’t get why the US are not in there fighting those fires? They certainly have the expertise because similar has happened in the US in the past- geopolitics I expect.

    1. eoin

      Leo “said Bolsonaro’s attempt to blame the fires on environmental groups was “Orwellian”.”

      https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/23/ireland-could-oppose-trade-deal-brazil-fails-stop-amazon-fires-leo-varadkar

      As “Orwellian” as the illegal mass surveillance of “nearly four million” citizens and the sneaky attempt to introduce a national ID card through the back door without consultation? And the proposal to ex-post legalise the illegal conduct of his government? And the refusal to publish a report, the main conclusions of which he’s had for nearly a year, despite being given seven days to do so by the data commissioner?

      1. some old unicorn

        Complete whataboutery there eoin- I never mentioned Leo. And besides, it is possible to agree with him on one thing disagreeing on others- the backstop for example, which has overwhelming support from the people of Ireland.

  4. eoin

    Who the hell does Charlie Flanagan think he is, playing the big “I Am” and taking in “a number” of non-EU nationals which were picked up by people smuggling-encouraging non-governmental organisations in Libya and shipped to Europe. The NGOs refused to take these people back to Libya from whence they came.

    How many is the UK taking? Nil.

    On Tuesday next, we’ll get migration estimates for Ireland for 2018/9. We already know that annual asylum applications are increasing by 20% and there was a 68% increase in the month of June 2019 compared to the same month in 2018, with around 350 applying in that month alone. The biggest named countries in 2018 were

    Albania 459
    Georgia 450
    Syria 333
    Zimbabwe 282
    Nigeria 251
    Others 1898

    We need to have a grown up conversation about immigration and international protection. Allowing Charlie Flanagan to arbitrarily say “aw we’ll take a few” isn’t good enough.

    This is where the asylum seekers are staying, sorry the table format is a bit messed.

    Centre Name County Capacity 7th January 2018 Capacity 30th June 2019
    Knockalisheen Clare 250 250
    King Thomond Hotel* Clare 115
    Ashbourne House Cork 95 95
    Davis Lane* Cork 52
    Kinsale Road Cork 275 299
    Glenvera Cork 119 130
    Millstreet Cork 250 304
    Clonakilty Lodge Cork 110 110
    Georgian Court** Dublin 110
    The Towers Dublin 225 250
    Hatch Hall Dublin 215 220
    Watergate House** Dublin 68
    Eglinton Hotel Galway 200 210
    Great Western House Galway 162 162
    Atlas House Killarney Kerry 90 90
    Atlas House Tralee Kerry 100 100
    Johnson Marina Kerry 90 90
    Linden House Kerry 57 57
    Park Lodge Kerry 55 55
    Atlantic Lodge* Kerry 98
    The Hazel Hotel* Kildare 143
    Eyre Powell Kildare 87 152
    The Montague Hotel Laois 202 202
    Hibernian Hotel* Laois 63
    Hanratty’s Hotel Limerick 118 118
    Mount Trenchard Limerick 85 85
    Richmond Court Longford 80 80
    Carroll Village Louth 60 60
    The Old Convent Mayo 245 245
    Mosney Meath 600 600
    St. Patrick’s Monaghan 175 212
    Globe House Sligo 215 218
    Bridgewater House Tipperary 115 161
    Atlantic House Waterford 82 82
    Ocean View Waterford 100 100
    Birchwood House Waterford 145 145
    Viking House Waterford 81 81
    The Grand Hotel* Wicklow 111
    Temple* Westmeath 100
    Athlone Westmeath 300 300

      1. eoin

        I don’t think I like the tone of that question. Who do you think the list was meant to “help” Janet? Racist arsonists, perchance?

        I was commenting on an RTE report about “Ireland” taking in “a number” of non-EU occupants of a number of ships in the Mediterranean sea which have been taking people from Libya to Europe. The RTE report is a disgrace and lacks any sort of context.

        I was searching for a summary of international protection applicants in Ireland but wasn’t able to find a summary but the data above is, I think, helpful in putting a little context about asylum.

        Why is Georgia the #1 source of asylum seekers? Anyone? And why is Charlie Flanagan playing the big “I Am” when there’s no room left in the existing asylum locations as shown in the second (badly formatted ) table? And we’re spending €3.5m a month on hotels.

        We need a conversation about migration and asylum (two separate subjects) in this country and we need it now. If we don’t have the convo, then you’re just playing into the hands of the growing number of anti-immigration groups, most of which are thinly veiled bigots in my opinion.

        1. eoin

          Maybe Broadsheet might do a series of immigration/asylum articles next week to mark the CSO publishing on Tuesday the migration estimates for 2018/9, which are likely to show the biggest inward migration for more than a decade.

          Maybe start off with the CSO stat that our women are only producing an average of 1.8 sprogs, yet the minimum replacement rate is 2.1, so without net inward migration, we’re gonna die off.

          What sort of migration though. What resourcing will be needed. What about international protection. How will the plan and actual info be communicated to citizens.

          We need the convo, and we need it now.

          1. Archie

            Eoin, it’s the weekend. I think you need to go outside and soak up some of that last summer sun.

          2. V

            With respect
            I don’t think Janet deserved your tone either Eoin

            Anyway
            Not that it’s up to me or anything
            But is there a reason why you don’t run up a series of articles
            You have all the data, facts and sources

            I personally would appreciate your converting it all into prose

            Anyone else?

          3. some old unicorn

            By far the biggest immigration is from eastern Europe yet it is never mentioned- why is that?

            White people good- non white not so much perhaps?

          4. some old unicorn

            One of those barrow boys drinks in a cc pub- mainly frequented by immigrants- Polish to be exact.

        2. Janet, I ate my avatar

          ok and I appreciate a response,
          you see a list like that without an explanation it looks bad to me …
          personally I think there’s room for plenty in Ireland, it’s the people in the top 1percent and their mismanagement of our funds I would rather see lists of :)..and have an intelligent conversation about and reaction to..
          enjoy the rest of your weekend

          1. some old unicorn

            I disagree Janet- the secrecy of where aslyum seekers are housed only plays into the hands of those who think they should not be here.

            People are not stupid- they will help- especially the children. Those in power who think it is acceptable to treat fellow human beings in such a manner do not do so in the name of the Irish people.

            They will be held to account.

          2. GiggidyGoo

            Room for plenty? Irelamd may have a relatively small population to the size of the country, so yes there’s ‘room’. However, the country is in hock to the IMF etc. and can ill afford more cost.
            Also worth looking up Operation Vantage and the fake taxi drivers, here illegally as well as the fake marriages, again of people here illegally. There should be no room for illegals like as outlined here: https://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/irish-news/major-taxi-scam-uncovered-as-180-noneu-nationals-obtain-licences-despite-having-no-legal-status-in-ireland-37882999.html

          3. V

            How about we approach it with patient, tolerant and more ambitious long term planning,

            Fake Marriages
            Fake Taxi Licences

            That’s the evocative populist, worst quality therefore cheap, pass paper responses rentagobs specialise in

            You must be one of them patriots huh?

            Me, I’m not a bit afraid of a brave smart new plan to rebuild and repopulate this Country
            The more the merrier afaic
            And I think its an investment worth making

  5. eoin

    The Independent claims to be Ireland’s biggest selling newspaper. But, now that INM has withdrawn from ABC and its circulation figures are no longer audited by the industry auditor, can INM really stand behind that claim? It had a circulation of around 80,000 in 2018, with the departure of more seasoned staff (Dearbhail, Ronald Q), its loss of reputation with the hacking scandal, it’s probably down to around 60,000 today.

    Also, for a Saturday, a bland Brexit story is not going to pull in the punters.

  6. eoin

    Boris, whose girlfriend is unable to get into the USA because they refused her a visa, is going to negotiate tough and isn’t going to sell the NHS, Buckingham Palace or the Cotswolds to Trump, no siree.

    What a flake.

    1. scottser

      The Chinese, Russians and Arabs own the UK. Boris doesn’t really have much left to bargain with.

  7. eoin

    The Times Ireland is still in business in a digital sense. And it is putting out the odd novel story.

    Today, Ronan Early reports

    “Mr McKinney [representing the Alcohol Action charity] said Sport Ireland [the questionable quango which we pay €5m a year to dispense €70m in funding to sports bodies] appeared to have been “represented at the launch of this [ad campaign for Guinness which has a rugby angle] campaign” on August 14 at Guinness Open Gate Brewery by Lynne Cantwell, a board member and chairwoman of Sport Ireland’s Women in Sport committee.

    “Ms Cantwell and Sport Ireland are quoted and referenced, at length, in a variety of the media coverage of the event,” Mr McKinney said. “It may be that Ms Cantwell was not representing Sport Ireland but were this the case perhaps you could clarify if there is a commercial relationship between Ms Cantwell and Diageo and, if so, whether there may be a conflict of interest arising for her position as a board member of Sport Ireland?”

    He also asked whether Sport Ireland planned to “establish commercial relationships” with other alcohol companies.””

    Sport Ireland must be the most useless shower in the country. We pay them €5m a year to dispense €70m of funding, yet they gave the FAI nearly €1m after the Sunday Times reported problems with John Delaney. If we fired every single one of them in Sport Ireland and just pulled names out of a hat, we could increase funding to sport by €5m.

  8. eoin

    Further to yesterday’s article “These people are sick”, RTE’s health correspondent Fergal Bowers has published on Twitter, the letter from Dr Tony Holohan on Departmental letterhead, warning the cancer victim Lorraine Walsh “you can expect a very strong response” apparently to an allegation that there has been a cover-up at the Department of Health.

    https://twitter.com/FergalBowers/status/1164910259485515778

    The Dept of Health tried to, er, cover-up the existence of this letter by resisting parliamentary questioning from Deputy Alan Kelly and eventually Alan was forced to submit an FOI to get a copy of the letter.

    1. GiggidyGoo

      And his personal opinion, and threats being sent on State letterhead. He has history (keeping information for two years from the Minister – at least that’s what he admitted to) and should have been gone long ago.

        1. GiggidyGoo

          Bull. Hes a snivelling coward trying to put the frighteners on the woman by using and hiding behind the states logo. And (yet again) the Boy Harris becomes centre stage.
          And them trying to hide from answering.

    1. V

      I don’t care what her politics are
      And I doubt the girl gives ah …. about mine

      But I wouldn’t change my plans to meet VP Pence either

      1. Johnny Green

        tru dat…

        “This is unprecedented for an Icelandic prime minister,” historian Thor Whitehead told The Associated Press. “I doubt any other Western leader would decide to address a friendly conference abroad instead of welcoming a major foreign ally.”

        Burnt the bondholders, ghosted Pence,go Katrin,steady GDP growth 4% :)

        The chairman would like express his complete and total confidence in the manager……with Trump punching down and tanking in the polls,can Nikki bring back R suburban women, if so….

        -“Vice President Pence has been a dear friend of mine for years. He has been a loyal and trustworthy VP to the President,” she added. “He has my complete support.”-

        https://www.politico.com/story/2019/08/24/haley-pence-rivalry-post-trump-1474377

  9. f_lawless

    As odious a character as Bolsonaro is over in Brazil and as important as it is to protect the Amazon region, I’m now starting to wonder whether the current narrative that the “Amazon is burning at an unprecedented rate” might be a case of hysteria engineered by design – just before the G7 summit where the Green New Deal “solution” will be touted as the answer to our environmental fears. If you look a little closer, according to NASA’s own data, the total area of fires burning at this time of year is below a fifteen year average.

    This article is food for thought at least: https://off-guardian.org/2019/08/23/amazon-burning-well-maybe-not-so-much/
    I’m on the fence on this one!

    1. Brother Barnabas

      OffGuardian? Really?

      “a Strong Conspiracy and Moderate Pseudoscience website that promotes Russian propaganda”

      1. f_lawless

        Nice random quote there. I know it might be a bit too much to cope with, but have you ever considered actually using your own critical reasoning to assess the merits of an argument rather than lazy ad hominems?

        Or maybe you’re more open to a corporate media article which is making a similar point:

        “The decade before that included several years in which the number of fires identified during the first eight months was far higher.”

        “Much of the land that is burning was not old-growth rain forest, but land that had already been cleared of trees and set for agricultural use.”

        https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/23/world/americas/amazon-fire-brazil-bolsonaro.html

          1. f_lawless

            well I suspect you’re just being deliberately obtuse, but rather than engage at all with the content of the article at hand you’ve gone for an attack on the character and motive of the website creators. That’s ad hominem

          2. millie vanilly strikes again

            I had a read of it. It didn’t convince me, and the content/political leanings of the site are not the issue.

            I didn’t find there was much in it – there’s a lot of “so we tweeted x and xyz retweeted” etc., which is makes it unconvincing I terms of the point they’re attempting to make.

            Surely it would be infinitely preferable if the Amazon weren’t burning and that this were in fact a case of vested interest trying to squeeze more money out of a global populace, but that article is not going to convince me.

          3. f_lawless

            @millke – but are you sure you’re clear on the point the article was attempting to make? From your comment “Surely it would be infinitely preferable if the Amazon weren’t burning” it gives the impression otherwise.
            I don’t think it’s claiming that the Amazon isn’t burning or that it isn’t something to be shouldn’t worry about – it’s just making the contention that the current narrative that the level of fire is unprecedented is false and that the framing and concern voiced by certain establishment figures via corporate media outlets may be driven by ulterior motives rather than a genuine environmental concern. I guess the danger could be that in place of true meaningful action to protect the Amazon, public anger is directed and channeled to a “solution” tailored to a neoliberal agenda

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