Author Archives: Bodger

This morning.

Berlin, Germany.

Newly-elected President of the Eurogroup (of the Union’s finance ministers), Paschal Donohoe at a press conference with ECB head Christine Legarde (above right) among others following his first meeting in the role.

Rollingnews/Council of the European Union live broadcast

Earlier…

Banking union…?

Meanwhile…

Good times.

Here’s How.

The hard-hitting current affairs podcast presented by William Campbell (right) meets former Dublin Lord Mayor Dermot Lacey (left), a veteran Labour voice on Dublin City Council.

William writes:

Dermot Lacey has been on the council for decades. I take him to task on whether Irish local government is up to doing the job that it has well, let alone whether it deserves more powers.

Also, what is Johnson’s government purpose in brazenly announcing that they are going to defy international law?

Listen here

Heres How

Defend Public Health rally this Saturday

Freedom of Choice rally this Saturday

This morning.

Ahead of two separate rallies in Dublin this Saturday.

One opposed to Covid restrictions.

The other urging more restrictions (and calling the first group far right racists).

At the core of these protests are conscious and violent far-right forces. At the ‘Health Freedom Ireland’ protest, a small group of counter protesters were subjected to a violent attack by a larger group which had come prepared with weapons such as hammers.

At the same time, these protests have also been able to draw in a broader section of people who may not even know about the nature of the forces behind the protests.

…lockdown measures have caused real psychological and social hardship which is wearing away at people more and more and this creates and opening for those who try to claim the virus is fake or exaggerated using conspiratorial thinking.

Those views are still rejected by the majority who correctly see that they attack the idea of solidarity.

In recent days, a campaign on social media has tried to promote the idea that the numbers of Covid-19 deaths is massively exaggerated because the majority of those who died had underlying health conditions – an insult to the huge numbers of people who suffer with ill health…

Nefarious peddlers of snake oil: How we can defeat the far right (Conor Payne, The Socialist Party)

Alternatively…

…At some point, the left made a choice. They chose to side with the medical establishment.

They refused to take the position that science itself is a contested field, where conflicting studies and statistical data can be weaponised to suit competing agendas for the justification and implementation of political objectives.

Of course, they only think this kind of weaponisation is happening on the “conspiracy” side of things; the “real science” relied upon to inform Government decisions is always correct.

Why did they choose to side with the ‘man’? Perhaps they desire greater legitimacy. Or, perhaps, they can’t afford to lose any more legitimacy. They have decided to lead the masses from the ignorance of conspiracy theories into the enlightened defense of “public health”.

…As time goes on, the number of people who are likely to question the Government and media’s response to the Covid-19 crisis will increase. In their eyes, the lockdown measures either don’t make sense or are actually intended for malicious purposes far beyond the curtailing of a virus.

This is a broad spectrum and no two people think exactly alike. It’s not too late for the left to consider the question: perhaps these concerns actually have some validity to them?

The Irish Left’s Problem with the Anti-Lockdown Movement (S&TL, Medium)

Earlier: Our Mask Game Is Strong

This morning.

Ireland is among the most obedient countries in the world when it comes to muzzling up, according to research by financial comparison website Finder.com.

Singapore (76%), New Zealand (71%) and Australia (58%), had the lowest face mask ownership rates while the United Kingdom ranked number one (97%), followed by South Africa (90%), the Philippines (87%) and Mexico (85%).

Ireland ranked 5th for face mask adoption.

…Susannah Binsted writes:

The global study included a poll of 1,211 Irish adults, revealing 84% – the equivalent of 3,078,085 adults – own a specified face mask.

Cloth face masks are the most popular mask type in Ireland, with 42% of the adult population possessing one, followed by blue surgical masks (32%), homemade masks (11%) and medical grade masks (11%)….

Well done, everyone.

FIGHT!

Face masks and coronavirus in Ireland (Finder)

Rollingnews

Meanwhile…

Hmm.

Via United Against Racism

This morning.

Discarded bikes, trikes go-kart and scooters, all possibly pinched.

Pieces of Wood write:

As a company that sells largely sustainable and eco-friendly products here at Piecesofwood.ie, Dublin City’s latest haul this morning (above) made us sad. And yet we were compelled to photograph it….

Dublin Airport last month

Yesterday.

At the Special Committee on Covid-19 Response, Rise TD Paul Murphy was asking questions about the issue that beset the Government  prior to the summer recess about social welfare officers and gardai holding checkpoints at airports.

It’s since emerged that, between April 1 and June 13, the Department of Employment and Social Protection held checkpoints concerning 30 flights at Dublin Airport and that 70% of these were flights to either Romania or Moldova.

This information was obtained under FOI legislation by legal executive Roman Shortall whose children’s Child Benefit was cut after he was approached by officers at Dublin Airport while he, his wife and children were preparing to board a plane to Romania on June 13.

Yesterday, Mr Murphy told the committee that he wanted to focus on the data protection aspect of the checkpoints and the cutting of people’s State benefits, Covid-19 PUP payment or otherwise.

He then had this exchange with Free Legal Advice Centre (FLAC) legal officer Christopher Bowes:

Paul Murphy: “There’s at least anecdotal evidence to suggest that the department had access to the registers of the ferry companies and airlines companies which would prima facie, anyway, would be a breach of the Data Protection.

“And in kind of investigating this, I’ve been informed of previous cases where people have had Child Benefit cut from them for being out of the state and it seems there is no basis in which the department could have known, no inspections, etc, except from having information either from airline companies, ferry companies or from immigration at Dublin Airport.

“So my question is, is this an issue that you’ve come across before in relation to other payments, where the department has access to information that certainly seemed it shouldn’t have?”

Christopher Bowes: “Yeah. I mean we haven’t actually had, prior to the issues around the Covid PUP. We haven’t, FLAC hasn’t come across any cases in terms of, which have raised concerns about what information the department has access to. But we certainly, going back as far as 2016, have had cases where we’ve raised concerns in relation to the actions of the Department at airports and ports in terms of those actions potentially exceeding the legal limits created by the 2005 Act.

“And in terms of the kind of the data protection concerns you’re talking about. I mean FLAC welcomes the fact that the office of the Data Protection Commissioner has launched an investigation into those actions and I think only through engagement with the department on that issue, engagement between the department and the DPC I think, is the only way to get clarity on the issue and to get some finality in terms of what has been going on in terms of these airport checks.”

Murphy: “And when you’re talking about previous instances where the inspectors were potentially operating outside the law, i.e. without a reasonable cause. Are you aware of the kind of profiling of particular flights to particular destinations in those previous cases?”

Bowes: “In each of those previous cases, they would have been flights to Romania and FLAC runs a Roma legal clinic and so we provide legal representation services to members of the Roma community and we would come across those issues. So in each case, it certainly would have been flights to Romania.”

Murphy: “Thanks a lot.”

Meanwhile, last night, Mr Shortall published on Twitter responses that Social Democrat TD Catherine Murphy received from the Minister for Employment and Social Protection Heather Humphreys about these checkpoints.

In her reply, Ms Humhreys confirmed that the last DEASP checkpoint held at Dublin Airport was on July 16, while the last inspection at ports was on July 28. She also stated that no criminal prosecutions have been initiated by the DEASP directly arising from the checks at the airport.

Ms Humphreys did not respond to Ms Murphy’s question concerning the authorisation of these checkpoints. Specifically, Ms Murphy asked if Ms Humphreys or her predecessor Regina Doherty had a role in authorising the checkpoints.

Previously: Reasonable Question

Rollingnews

This afternoon.

The Dáil at the Convention Centre, Dublin.

Questioned about the public health system being possibly overwhelmed this Winter, Tanaiste Leo Varadkar adopts the traditional route and blames Sinn Féin.

Never gets old.

Meanwhile…

Fight!

Cheer up.

Might never happen.

Models Thais Vargas (pics 1 and 3), Maria Traynor (pics 2, 5 and 7), Elsa Mullen (pics 1, 4 and 8) and Aine O’Gorman (pic 6)  model the new Autumn Winter 2020 international luxury designer collection at Brown Thomas

All images by Perry Ogden, who has directed a short film on the collections shoot to be broadcast online at Brown Thomas this Saturday, September 12.

Name those locations, anyone?

Perry Ogden/Photocall ireland

Emma Doran’s boozy alter-ego Charlotte is ‘a sh*t stirring tramp’

The pubs are back soon.

Good news for Emma.,

Bad news for Charlotte.

Emma Doran writes:

On September 21,  the pubs will re-open. A substantial meal will no longer be a requirement and the 105-minute limit is set to be scrapped – in certain circumstances.

Although I’m happy for publicans, for me this announcement has brought some sadness. I gotten quite relaxed about Charlotte showing up the odd time.

It’s always a mystery when Charlotte is going to appear. Charlotte is obviously my drunk alter ego – We all know a Charlotte. She seems sweet but she’s actually a shit stirring tramp who will ruin her 11 year relationship for a 25 year old bar man called Ste with Aqua marine eyes.

So that’s why she has to be kept inside under strict supervision.

Charlotte tends to favour white wine drinking at speed. Just like Cinderella, once the clock strikes 12 Charlotte needs to get the fuck out of there before things start to go to the shits. And don’t get me wrong she is great craic but she really is better if she has a couch to fall asleep on by 11.30pm.

I’ll still soldier on and do the odd bit of drinking at home but Charlotte isn’t allowed out anymore. Not since she got us barred from the Workman’s and left the kettle in a taxi.

Pubs are great and everything but you can’t disappear for 45 mins, come back wearing your dressing gown, blaring East 17 on your phone all set to burn some microwave popcorn followed by some ballroom dancing with the dog.

To be honest Charlotte was brought out of retirement purely for lockdown so going forward some may just have to do some consultancy work for special occasions like weddings and funerals. But Charlotte needs someone now who is willing to give her a good time and show her the sights of the city.

I forgive Charlotte for losing phones and reigniting 3 year old arguments at 2am but like the great Lauren Conrad – Charlotte, I want to forgive you and I want to forget you.

I Don’t Want The Pubs To Re-open (Emma Doran)

Emma Doran