Author Archives: Bodger

Free next Saturday?

Festival of Now.

A brand new film showcasing  a variety of Ireland’s best musicians, poets and performers, ‘focused on the collective experience of the past year’ and delving into the importance of music and art for mental health.

Jenny Headen writes:

Festival of Now, which streams this coming Saturday from 8 bells right here

Put together by POD/Collective Films and featuring performances/ interviews from artists like Blindboy. Gemma Dunleavy, James Vincent McMorrow, Panti and Pillow Queens performing in places like IMMA, Grogans (yeow) RDS, Wigwam.

The focus is the benefit of the arts on mental health and aims to raise money for Jigsaw (youth mental health charity) Streams free on Saturday, folks just need to register in advance to get involved.

Register here

Awkward, in fairness.

CETA?

Update:

Meanwhile…

Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore TD, who is the party’s spokesperson for Climate Action and Biodiversity, said:

“With this trade deal comes a very controversial mechanism which allows companies to sue an EU member state for potential profits lost if a Government decides to change their policies or regulations.

“This will be devastating for many reasons, including in the area of health and housing, but also in in relation to the Government drafting legislation and policies to tackle climate change and biodiversity. If a company feels a Bill or policy drafted to mitigate climate change might negatively impact on their profit margin, it could technically sue the Irish Government under CETA.

“Furthermore, all of this would be settled in special tribunals held outside our own justice system in a non-transparent manner. This is hardly appropriate in an age where transparency and due diligence is a basic requirement in a democracy.

“The chilling effect of this deal could be enormous as the Government is already wary of legislating strongly for climate action for fear of being held up in court. CETA will reduce the Government’s capacity for stronger decision-making, which is what we need in our fight against climate change.

“If companies can sue the Irish Government for compensation, not only will the taxpayer be out of pocket, but our ability to mitigate climate change and protect our biodiversity will be diminished. We cannot afford for that to happen.”

Previously: The Set Menu

Aftermath of the Belturbet Bomb, County Cavan, December 28, 1972

RTÉ Investigates – Belturbet: A Bomb That Time Forgot.

RTÉ Investigates writes:

In 1972, just three days after Christmas, a no-warning car bomb killed two teenagers and injured nine others in Belturbet County.Cavan. In a special documentary RTÉ Investigates uncovers a crippling lack of trust between police services north and south, questions the political will to bring those behind the Belturbet bomb to justice, and reveals new evidence that British security forces failed to act on credible information, allowing militant loyalists to operate freely in South Fermanagh.

RTÉ Investigates – Belturbet: A Bomb That Time Forgot at 9.35pm on RTÉ One

Pic: Paddy Ronaghan

This morning/afternoon.

Google, Gmail and YouTube are currently all down for many users.

Via The Mirror:

According to DownDetector, the issues started at around 11:56 GMT, and are affecting users worldwide

Google is yet to comment on the issues.

However, of those who reported issues with YouTube, 54% said they couldn’t access the website, 42% couldn’t watch videos and 3% were struggling to log-in.

The Mirror tried to access all three websites and was not able to.

BREAKING Gmail, Google and YouTube down: Google services crash for users worldwide (Mirror)

This morning.

EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum, are offering FREE entry to visitors with the following Christmas inspired names:

Holly
Nick/Nicholas
Fia
Noel/Noelle
Rí
Belle
Réaltín
Robin
Nollaig
And Joy

Via EPIC:

Visitors with any of the 10 Christmas inspired names can avail of the offer in the lead up to Christmas, from Monday 14th December to -Saturday 26th December. All free tickets can be redeemed at the museum ticket office with a valid ID, such as a passport, providing proof of name.

EPIC Museum has included a variety of Irish names on the list, including Rí (meaning King) and Fia (meaning Deer). This gives nod to their Power of a Name exhibition, which invites visitors from around the world to honour their Irish ancestors by adding their names to the museum and reconnecting them with their homeland

EPIC

Taoiseach Micheál Martin

This morning.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said the rollout of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will begin after its expected approval by the European Medicines Agency on December 29 – starting with nursing home residents and healthcare staff.

Via RTÉ

Mr Martin said that January and February will see a limited volume of vaccines available, but enough for the most vulnerable groups.

The bigger volumes will come in March, April and May as other vaccines come on stream and other vaccine manufacturing ramps up around the world, he said.

He said that people need to be aware that the optimal period for a vaccination programme will be May and June when things open up and that this staged timeline approach depends on the availability and manufacturing of the vaccine.

Taoiseach says limited vaccine supplies in January, February (RTÉ)

Meanwhile…

Oh.

Leaked files expose mass infiltration of UK firms by Chinese Communist Party (MailOnline)

RollingNews

Yesterday.

Dublin 9.

Order of Malta volunteers dropping off Christmas presents for the elderly at Grace Park Heights, Drumcondra lead by little helper Jack Fitzroy (above left), whose father is a volunteer.

Order of Malta

Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland

Oscar’s Café and Bar, Smithfield, Dublin 7

‘Regrettably we wish to advise that under the advice of An Garda Siochana we will no longer be offering the facility of our Suspended Meal for the Homeless and will require a substantial meal to be consumed (or not consumed as the case may be) with the purchase of an alcoholic drink.

We have nothing but the utmost respect for the Gardai who are just enforcing the current legislation. It was never our intention to circumvent the law. It was done with the best of intentions with what we thought was a common sense approach to dealing with unecessary food waste.

Any money raised to date will be passed onto Brother Kevin’s Capuchin Centre along with a €1000 contribution from Oscars.

We thank everyone for the fantastic support to date and wish you all a happy and safe Christmas.’

Oscar’s Café and Bar.

Oscar’s Café and Bar (Facebook)

Dublin pub told by gardaí it must serve food after suspension of €9 meal (Irish Times)

Makes RTÉ look positively childish.

This afternoon.

Via Curracloe National School:

A special Christmas breaking news bulletin from The Infants..

Broadsheet warning: The elf claims are disputed by multiple sources.

Curracloe National School

Professor Brian MacCraith, chair of the Vaccine task force

This afternoon.

The task force, chaired by Professor Brian MacCraith, has been considering the deployment and administration of Covid vaccines.

The large-scale logistical operation will kick in early next year once vaccines have been approved by the European Medicines Agency.

GPs and pharmacists are likely to be involved in immunisations but mass vaccination clinics may also be required.

Nine ultra-low temperature freezer lorries have arrived in the country to assist in the rollout.

Vaccines will be free to everyone, and the taskforce is likely to recommend how records will be maintained.

The Government is also working on a communications plan to deal with people’s concerns and to combat misinformation…

FIGHT!

Taoiseach expecting vaccine ‘build up’ in early 2021 (RTÉ)

RollingNews