Author Archives: Admin

Adh here.

How your Xmas Guinness ad may look under ad blocking measures to ‘curb’ alcohol consumption in Ireland.

Eamon Delaney, of free market think tank Hibernia Forum, writes:

This (above) is what an iconic Irish beer ad, from the legendary Guinness brand, would look like under proposed new measures in the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill…

…a sledgehammer approach to the alcohol and hospitality sector which hurts consumers, producers and those of us who believe in individual freedoms and not being treated like children.

Politicians love this Nanny State stuff, as it distracts from the real pressing issues and gives them easy publicity and the approval of media experts.

Hopefully, others in our political culture will see through this easy populism and how such blanket unproven measures hurt industry, retailers, the tourist trade and ordinary consumers.

Hopefully, they will call a halt to this censorship and business-damaging measure. Enough is enough.

Hic

Nanny State : How an iconic beer ad would look under the Government’s new sledgehammer Public Health (Alcohol) BiHibernia Forum

From top: Members from ROSA (Reproductive rights, against Oppression, Sexism & Austerity) activists ahead of a ‘Handmaids’ lobby at the Dail today to mark the first public meeting of the Oireachtas committee on the recommendations of the Citizen’s Assembly;’ Fine Gael Senator Catherine Noone, chairwoman of the committee arriving at Leinster House this afternoon

This afternoon.

Leinster House, Dublin 2

A meeting of the Dáil Committee on the 8th Amendment to consider the recommendations of the Citizen’s Assembly is taking place.

Liggy, who once ‘took the boat’ writes:

The Oireachtas Committee on the 8th amendment is in session today. 21 men and women meeting in private to debate the findings of the Citizens’ Assembly on abortion rights.

The results of that paper is summerised here:

The conclusion of the assembly’s findings was:

“….there is a strong desire for change and … a belief that all people in pregnancy should be given choice and full rights over what happens to their bodies.”

There is a concern among pro-choice groups that the committee will focus on the most narrow circumstances of the findings of the assembly and try to dilute the clear directive the assembly’s findings have given them.

Hence the protest of the Handmaidens outside Dáil Éireann today:

A choice. That is all that is being asked for. Men can elect to have any cells they want removed from their body. Women should have that same right too. It’s actually not that much to ask for and really belittling to have to ask for it.

Here is the weird thing about choice. You can choose to do something or you can choose to not do it. You can choose to have cells removed from your body or you can choose to see a pregnancy to term and give birth.

The people who do not want to give women that choice are weirdly and ghoulishly obsessed with the contents of the deepest, darkest part of a woman’s body.

As if it is something we cannot be trusted to have autonomy over ourselves. They don’s seem to be as concerned with the cells once they have grown to the point of being born.

There seems to be something about all the crying, puking, shitting, snotting and expense that puts them off.

Amazingly, anti-choice organisations like Iona seem loathe to give any time or trouble themselves about Irish children in poverty, in danger, in need of physical or mental help or the parents who try their best to support them.

Imagine not having to tie down people who have been raped and forcing them to give birth.

Imagine bring able to quickly prioratise the life of a living person in a medically perilous position over a foetus.

Imagine being able to abide by a family’s wishes to turn off a life-support machine rather than using a person’s cadaver as some sort of morbid incubator for a dying foetus.

Imagine 100 people not having to travel to the UK for abortions every week.

Imagine our newspapers and media screens not being filled with the debate about whether to give women a simple choice or not.

What WOULD we do with all that free time?

Rollingnews

Previously: ‘I Took The Boat’

Food mogul Joe Macken (left) and Sean Quinn moving Crackbird into Bear

Hipster food latest!

Sinead writes:

Crackbird hatches at 34/35 South William Street, Dublin 2 TODAY, as former resident Bear goes into hibernation awaiting a new premises.

Meanwhile Skinflint has moved to Crackbird’s former perch on 60, Dame Street…

Confused?

This map will help you…

FIGHT!

Skinflint

Crackbird

From top: German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday congratulates German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble (foreground) during Schaeuble’s 75th birthday next to Christian Democratic Union (CDU) vice chairperson Thomas Strobel (third right) and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker: Shane Heneghan

We’ve already seen the finales of the American and British version of this boxset – in which the well-connected, competent, elite, slightly-less-than-likeable female politician who seems all but assured of a solid and somewhat boringly predictable victory has her hopes dashed at the very last minute.

Of course, it would be far too simplistic to think that the same thing could happen in Germany on Sunday for Angela Merkel as she is a much stronger certainty for victory than either May or Clinton.

For one thing, the German voter has a strong and consistent love of stability – Merkel is one of just three people to hold the office of Chancellor since 1982. In addition, she has presided over a relatively prosperous country even if it is not without its problems.

This does not mean that Sunday’s vote is boring.

Merkel’s centre-right CDU-CSU alliance is currently in a grand-coalition (or GroKo) with their traditional left of centre rivals, the Social Democrats.

Their candidate for Chancellor and Merkel’s main rival, Martin Schulz is struggling to make an impact despite an initial bounce when he won his party’s nomination.

This is due largely to how close the two main parties have become in recent years. It’s a familiar story- as the centre ground parties move closer together the fringe parties become more attractive.

In terms of polling, the CDU-CSU remains in a static yet solid lead on about 36%, but the interesting area of movement in terms of opinion polls is the race for third place.

The once poorly organised Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) is certain to be the first far-right wing movement to enter the Bundestag since the 1930s. This will be the headline “shock to the system” particularly if they can manage to break 10%.

The Greens have been resurgent, the far-left Die Linke remain stable and the liberal FDP party remain on course to storm back into Parliament.

Recent polls have these four options bumping along between 8 and 11% each. The extreme right and left will almost certainly be left out of government formation negotiations.

Which brings us to the crux of the matter. The interesting element this time in Germany will be coalition formation. If the election does not result in a continuation of the current GroKo set up, Angela may put something together with the liberal FDP party whom she is reasonably close to ideologically and whom she has experience of dealing with in the past.

The party will be wary of another stint in government with Merkel however, as last time they had one they lost all of their seats in the Bundestag at the subsequent election. As such, they may be ready to exact a higher price.

Alexander Hahn, a member of the FDP national executive, told Bild. “The FDP should enter no government in which it cannot name a finance minister,”.

This ministry is arguably one of the most powerful economics portfolios in Europe today and is currently held by Merkel’s right-wing ally, 75-year-old Wolfgang Shauble.

A divisive figure, what happens to Schauble post-election is probably a more interesting plot line, and in the long run for Europe, a more relevant one.

He has been a staunch defender of the ECB’s strict orthodoxy in managing the EU debt crisis and change here would not be without repercussions.

There are many in the Greens and Social Democrats who would also like to see the back of him.

The process of negotiations takes time- last time it was nearly three months before all was agreed so there are bound to be some high-profile casualties in that time.

Shane Heneghan is a Brussels-based election and poll watcher. Follow Shane on Twitter: @shaneheneghan