Author Archives: Bodger

Last night.

Claire Byrne Live on RTÉ One.

Singer Brian Kennedy ‘takes’ a rona swab test live to demonstrate how simple the procedure is.

His test was later shown to be covid negative.

Result.

Watch back here

Meanwhile….

Good times.

From top: Aoife Rafter; Aisling Gallagher; Sarah and Adrian McVann and their lockdown baby; Margaret Franklin

Saol Faoi Ghlas – an chéad dianghlasáil.

A lockdown documentary by Midas Productions on TG4.

Linda Ni Ghriofa writes:

In March 2020, our lives were turned upside down as we were forced to come to grips with the implications of living under the shadow of a global pandemic. Following unique characters and stories, Saol Faoi Ghlas captures an unprecedented time in Ireland’s history as it explores the added challenges living under lockdown.

Featuring a mixture of self-shot and documentary footage from characters in every province in Ireland, this documentary is a snapshot into a time where we as a people struggled with the new demands placed on us. Despite the personal hardship suffered by those featured in this documentary, this is ultimately a story of hope that reminds us of our resilience and strength as individuals and as communities…

Featuring…

Aoife Rafter is cocooning in her family home in Naas, county Kildare. Having lived with Cystic Fibrosis all her life, she knows only too well how devasting a respiratory illness could be for her. Just before lockdown, Aoife finished treatment for Cervical Cancer and now finds herself without clinics, check-ups or medical support and her world confined to just a few rooms.

In Tullamore Leaving Cert student Aisling Gallagher finds herself studying online and wondering if her exams will take place at all. Her dreams of studying in Trinity college are compromised as her final milestones in secondary school disappear.

Sarah and Adrian McVann from Westport are expecting their first baby in the middle of a pandemic and are faced with the reality that many expectant couples found themselves in as Sarah will enter the maternity ward alone.

Because she is over 70, Margaret Franklin has been asked to cocoon. Unable to visit family and friends, she fills her week with online choir practice, online courses and exercise classes. Despite being determined to keep active, Margaret feels abandoned by the blanket cocooning advice and lack of freedom the restrictions mean for her.

Saol Faoi Ghlas – an chéad dianghlasáil at 9.30pm, Wednesday, November 18, on TG4.

Andy Pipkin writes:

I just remembered this clip from The Simpsons, and I immediately thought of Trump and his statement from today about dead people’s vote! I think they predicted it again or Trump is watching too much Simpsons, see what you think…

Earlier: No Vote Left Behind

The first patient enrolled in Pfizer’s COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine clinical trial at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, USA

This afternoon

Pfizer Inc had on Monday disclosed that its experimental vaccine which it is jointly developing with BioNTech was more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 based on initial data from a large study, in the ongoing phase 3 trials.

This disclosure was made in a statement by the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pfizer, Albert Bourla, on Monday, November 9, 2020.

Pfizer and German partner BioNTech SE are the first drugmakers to show successful data from a large-scale clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine. The companies said they have so far found no serious safety concerns and expect to seek U.S. emergency use authorization later this month.

Meanwhile…

Um.

Meanwhile…

After you.

Meanwhile…

Covid-19 vaccine candidate is 90% effective, says Pfizer (The Guardian)

This morning.

M50 footbridge, Tymon Park, Tallaght, Dublin.

Halfahead writes:

Most people seem a little happier after the weekend. There is always some light at the end of the tunnel.

Or oncoming tunnel monster?

WE may never know.

From top: Bessborough Mother and Baby Home, Cork; St Jospeh’s Cemetery, Cork City

This afternoon.

Cork historian Maureen Considine has revealed that a resident of Bessborough Mother and Baby Home, run by the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus, is buried under a false name ‘after being denied her true identity even in death’.

The woman is named as Anne Walsh in archival documents.

However, a plot at  St Joseph’s Cemetery, Cork city, identifies her as Doris Walsh

Via EchoLive:

Ms Considine explained that many women were given “house names” after entering the residence.

She has been working with Bessborough survivors to seek justice for women they claim were stripped of their identities.

The Mayfield woman, along with survivors she is working with, is calling on Bessborough nuns to replace such headstones and restore the birth names of mothers who passed away at the facility.

She is also calling for unmarked graves to be acknowledged with headstones, in a bid to prevent the whitewashing of history.

“This was something I felt I couldn’t ignore,” said Ms Considine.

“Restoring these women’s real names is asking so little. If a gesture like this can’t be honoured, we have to ask ourselves how far we’ve really come in our treatment of women and girls.”

‘Why should someone have the power to take away someone’s identity?’: Cork Mother and Baby home resident buried under ‘house name (EchoLIve)

Thanks Breeda

Meanwhile…

Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) with Chinese President Xi Jinping

This morning/afternoon.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is “waiting for official results” from the US presidential election before congratulating a winner, the Kremlin said today.

“We consider it correct to wait for the official results to be finalised. I want to remind you that President Putin repeatedly said he will respect the choice of the American people,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

…China said today it would follow international custom in making a statement on the US election, when asked why Beijing had not congratulated Democrat Joe Biden on his victory.

“We noticed that Mr Biden has declared election victory. We understand that the US presidential election result will be determined following US law and procedures,” foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a daily media briefing.

China, Russia delay congratulating US president-elect Biden (RTÉ)

Getty

Earlier: No Vote Left Behind