Author Archives: Admin

animagination

Do you have kids?

Do they like drawing things?

They may love the Animagination Festival at the Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge, County Kildare during Easter weekend.

Eric writes:

We’re once again running our Animagination Festival; celebrating all things books, illustration, and animation. The festival will run from Friday, April 14 to Monday April 17 which may be of interest to your readers with young children.

As always, the events have been kept as reasonable as possible in terms of pricing to make it as accessible as possible for families. Screenings cost €4 per ticket right across the board.

In fairness.

Animagination Festival

hereshow

Tony Groves (left) and William Campbell

You’ve come to the right place.

Journalist William Campbell, host of the excellent Here’s How current affairs podcast, writes

After promises of ‘never again’ are we returning to a property bubble that hampers economic development and threatens another economic crash? Financial consultant and blogger Tony Groves gives his take…

Listen here

Here’s How

Previously: I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles

average-world-map

In the summer of 2012, high school senior Zak Zeibel was asked to create “a piece of art that would reveal something unseen”. To wit:

Ziebell approached 29 strangers on the University of Michigan’s campus, handed them a pen and half a sheet of paper, and asked them, on the spot, to draw a map of the world. Ziebell, who recently posted his findings to Reddit, then completed the task himself and digitally merged the 30 maps into one image, overlaying the composite drawing with satellite data.

MORE: What You Get When 30 [American] People Draw a World Map From Memory

kottke

censussign

According to the Census 2016 results published today…

There was a fall of under 1% in the numbers of speakers of Irish (from 1,774,347 to 1,761,420).

A fall of 4% in the number of daily speakers of Irish outside of the education system (from 77,185 to 73,803).

And and a fall of 11% in the number of daily speakers of Irish in the Gaeltacht (from 23,175 to 20,586).

So. What gives?

Niall Comer, President of Conradh na Gaeilge writes:

It is clear that the implementation of the Government’s 20 Year Strategy for the Irish Language is not succeeding and that the main reason for this failure is the Irish Government’s lack of investment in the Strategy since 2010. The result of this lack of investment is a crisis in the Gaeltacht.

Conradh na Gaeilge is asking the Government to face up to the challenge reflected in the census figures by funding the investment plan agreed by 80 Irish language and Gaeltacht groups.

A majority of Teachtaí Dála are in favour of this investment already. This plan would increase the number of Irish speakers and would give the Strategy a chance of success.

Troid!

Census 2016: Population increases to 4.76m (RTÉ)

Conradh na Gaeilge

iriwhwater

Irish Water protest, O’Connell Street, Dublin 1 in August 2015

This Saturday, April 8, the Sinister Fringers are at it again.

But will you join the Walk of Shame?

Martin McMahon writes:

That rabble, that great unwashed and of course those dirty Dubs will take to the streets on Saturday to crow their victory over us good law abiding citizens.

It’s almost as if they don’t know that removing water costs from central taxation and giving the gains away in tax cuts to top earners like us is good for them too. When us rich folks have more money in our pockets, we occasionally drop a few coppers into the grubby outstretched hand of some homeless serf, everybody wins.

When the charges were first introduced the fringers complained that bills in excess of 600 were ‘too high’, I ask you, really? The price of one nice evening at the theatre with dinner afterwards is ‘too high’ a price for them to pay so that we can cut our top rate tax? Pull the other one!
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Out of the goodness of our hearts, we agreed to cap the charges at 260 until all the proles were paying before we’d up it over a grand and they still weren’t happy!

Two hundred and focking sixty euro people, that’s 1 bottle of half decent wine, just drink something cheaper for a night, problem solved. Enda was wrong to give an inch to those whingers, should have locked the whole lot of them up.

Now that we’ve ensured  a white collar only jury, that rabble rouser Murphy will get his comeuppance, the naivety of the hard left to think they’d get a fair trail in this country, Anglo friends stick together suckers.

It’s the country people I feel sorry for, forced to live in 6 bedroom mansions on sprawling lawns, they’ve been paying for water forever. Although forcing water charges on the sinister fringers won’t change the need for wells and septic tanks for our less fortunate country cousins, it will make them feel better to see the proles hammered into the ground, fair’s fair.

I hope they choke on their ‘Walk of Shame’, how dare they stand up to us. Why can’t they get it through their thick heads that they don’t matter, their votes don’t matter,

I know exactly where I and those like me won’t be on Saturday April 8th, we won’t be at Connolly or Heuston stations at 2pm.

Martin blogs at RamshornRepublic

Rollingnews

Earlier: A Tide In The Affairs Of Men

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Tokyo-based artist Thomas Romain’s two sons like to create their own fantastical characters, to which dad then applies his own professional drawing skills, years of experience and superior collection of pens and inks – surpassing the original drawings in every way, creating valuable exposure for himself and exposing his hapless offspring as cack-handed amateurs.

Fairly sure that’s what’s going on here.

dyt

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This morning.

Leinster House, Government Buildings, Dublin 2

TDs, including Sinn Féin’s Eoin Ó Broin, Catherine Murphy, co-leader of the Social Democrats and Richard Boyd Barrett hold a press conference reacting to the Final Draft Report of the Joint Committee on the Future Funding of Domestic Water Services.

The final recommendations include refunds for householders who paid their charges, the funding of domestic water services through general taxation, and the installation of meters at apartment blocks.

However…

….these recommendations have resulted in a bitter political row between Fine Gael which is opposed to them, and Fianna Fáil, Sinn Fein and Solidarity, who support them.

FIGHT!

Water charges: FG does not have to act on report, says Varadkar (Irish Times)

Rollingnews

Update:

G’wan Catherine.

Republic of Ireland's Kevin Kilbane celebrates after scoring the opening goal of the Euro 2012, Group B qualifying football match between Republic of Ireland and Andorra at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland on September 7, 2010. AFP PHOTO / PETER MUHLY (Photo credit should read PETER MUHLY/AFP/Getty Images)

Kevin Kilbane

On the Late Late Show…

Gareth Naughten writes:

Queen of the Liberties Imelda May is back with a new album and a completely new look. She’ll be joining Ryan on The Late Late Show to chat about developing her sound and taking inspiration from a hectic couple of years when writing her new album.

…Star Trek and Commitments actor Colm Meaney plays the late Martin McGuinness in his new movie The Journey. He’ll be on The Late Late Show couch to share his thoughts on what it was like to play one of the icons of the Republican movement, his own encounters with McGuinness and the legacy he leaves behind.

…Television presenter Kathryn Thomas and former international footballer Kevin Kilbane recently took to the streets of Dublin in wheelchairs with one mission – to get from A to B in the shortest time possible. What they discovered really opened their eyes about the realities of just how inaccessible Ireland’s streets are for wheelchair users…..

*wheels telly off cliff*

The Late Late Show on RTÉ One at 9.35pm

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This morning.

Government Buildings, Dublin 2

Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern arriving to address Seanad Special Select Committee on Brexit.

Bertie Ahern: Ireland is entitled to negotiate with the UK on Brexit (Irish Times)

Leah Farrell/Rollingnews