Author Archives: Bodger

This afternoon.

O’Connell Street, Dublin 1.

Sarah Shine (in trench-coat) and Kate Stanley Brennan (above), two of the artists who will take part in the Dublin Theatre Festival, launching this year’s programme which runs across the capital from September 30–October 17.

The festival includes 21 world premieres from Irish theatre artists alongside international work in a programme ‘that asks questions about our relationship with the city and the environment and welcomes us back to live performance’.

Dublin Theatre Festival 2021

Leon Farrell/Photocall ireland

This morning.

Brian MacCraith, chairman of the High Level Task Force on COVID19 Vaccination, tweetz:

6.2m vaccine doses administered to date; 89% of adults have received at least 1 dose and 78% of adults fully vaccinated (~60% of total population)…

Meanwhile…

The Health Service Executive has launched its portal for people to list their close contacts.

The link will be sent via text to people when they are notified that they are Covid-19 positive after testing.

The portal began operating today and the HSE said it will enable faster tracing.

When a person is notified that they are Covid-19 positive after testing, the HSE will now send them a text-message link, to a portal, to list their close contacts.

It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that ping.

New HSE portal for people to list close contacts (RTÉ)

Alternatively…

Deplatform that man.

Meanwhile…

Anyone?

From top: Miriam O’Callaghan (left) and Katherine Zappone; Fergus Finlay

This morning.

Further to Merriongate…

…via Fergus Finlay in the Irish Examiner:

On July 18, I heard Katherine tell Miriam O’Callaghan on the radio that she would probably live in the US for the rest of her life. She’d visit Ireland, of course, but she had put her house on the market and was severing her connections with her adopted country. (The house is indeed on the market, with lots of promotional material about the work done by Dermot Bannon to modernise it, and an asking price of €750,000.)

She wasn’t asked hard questions in that interview and, as far as I know, it was the last interview she gave. She certainly didn’t mention that she was in conversation with senior ministers about work she might do for Ireland in the US. I wonder what kind of an interview it would have been if Miriam knew then what she knows know.

Then suddenly it was announced, unknown to most of the Cabinet, that she was to be appointed as “special envoy on freedom of opinion and expression” to the UN. No advertisement, no competition, no interview. She wanted it and she got it.

…If it was needed, there should have been a competition for it [the UN envoy role]. We have a large number of men and women in Ireland who would have made excellent candidates. If she was the best, the competition would have established that.

The proof of her sense of entitlement, sadly, lies in the fact that she never gave a single interview about the controversy. This was compounded by the fact that, when the next controversy arose — about her party in the grounds of the Merrion Hotel — all she could do was issue a terse one-liner telling the media to contact the hotel….

Did her party comply with the guidelines? You’d have to be there to know (I wasn’t)…

Fergus Finlay: Ireland deserves better from arrogant Government ministers (Irish Examiner)

Earlier: Cash For Cronies

RollingNews

How dare you.

Yesterday.

Climate change ‘electric trees’ in Cork city.

Anyone?

Professor Fergal Malone (above), Master of the Rotunda Maternity Hospital, said If vaccination rates could rise it would be possible to ease restrictions.

This morning.

The Rotunda Maternity Hospital in Dublin has defended its continuing restrictions around partner visits.

Via Independent.ie:

The Rotunda hospital said in a recent survey of inpatients showed that only 39pc were fully vaccinated, and only 41 pc of partners.

A statement said: “Therefore, with 60% of our patients and their partners not fully being vaccinated, this represents a very serious risk and a very different setting to that seen in other general hospitals and the wider community. Covid-19 still poses a serious risk to our patients, their babies, and their partners.”

The hospital said due to this, its patients are “more likely to be unvaccinated, and less likely to be able to physically distance while in the Hospital, they are also disproportionately more likely to be affected by Covid-19 infection.”

Meanwhile….

…via RTÉ:

The Master of the Rotunda Maternity Hospital has said restrictions at the hospital could be loosened if there was a higher uptake of Covid-19 vaccinations among patients and visitors.

Professor Fergal Malone urged pregnant women and their partners to get the vaccine, saying the high vaccination uptake in the general population is not reflected in maternity hospitals.

If vaccination rates could rise, he said, then it would be possible to ease restrictions.

Low Covid vaccination rate among pregnant women and partners behind ongoing restrictions, Rotunda Maternity Hospital says (Independent.ie)

Rotunda Master urges vaccination uptake to ease maternity restrictions (RTÉ)

RollingNews/iStock

 

Gulp.

This morning.

FIGHT!

Ivana Bacik and Alan Kelly

Anyone?

Meanwhile…

FIGHT!

RollingNews