Author Archives: Bodger

Above from right: Minister for Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht Catherine Martin pictured with (l to r) Chair of the The Model board, Blaithín Gallagher and Director Emer McGarry

This afternoon.

The Model, The Mall, Rathquarter, Sligo.

Minister for Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht Catherine Martin visits the Jack B Yeats exhibition, examining the influence of Sligo and the West on the development of Yeats’ creative practice’.

The exhibition is ‘specially curated with physical distancing in mind’.

Jack B Yeats: A Thought of Sligo (The Model)

Leon Farrell /Photocall Ireland

 RTÉ News Health Correspondent Fergal Bowers

Going anywhere nice this year?

This afternoon

Fergal Bowers, RTÉ News Health Correspondent, writes:

‘It used to be the case that returning from a holiday abroad with a nice suntan was something to flaunt to friends and neighbours.

Arriving back, still in a colourful top and shorts, pulling a noisy suitcase along the road, was part of the ‘I’m home’ routine.

But not anymore.

With Covid-19 and the travel advice and restrictions, foreign holidays have taken on a clandestine element.

A newly-tanned face and body is not a good look these days. It gets heads turning and prompts questions.

So a quiet return, under cover of darkness, is the new way.

Any failure to self-isolate will be noticed in these very changed times….’

Anyone?

Seriously?

Any excuse.

We must learn to co-exist alongside our Covid-19 enemy (Fergal Bowers, RTÉ)

Rollingnews

 

This morning.

A total of 14 blood samples – some possibly containing alcohol or even spliff – off to an unnamed white-coated boffin for analysis.

The samples were among the spoils of ‘intoxication checkpoints’ carried out over the Bank Holiday weekend by the Regional Roads Policing Unit based at Dublin Castle.

The streets are a little safer today.

Rollingnews/@GardaTraffic

This afternoon.

Iveagh House, Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2.

A defiant tricolour flies at half mast (actually 2/3) on the Department of Foreign Affairs for the late John Hume who died yesterday.

John Hume online Book Of Condolence

Sam Boal/Rollingnews

Earlier: Back Home In Derry

Meanwhile…

This morning.

Government Buildings, Dublin 2.

Rollingnews

Stay With Me Art Show.

Journalist Alison O Reilly (top), who broke the Tuam story, presents the launch of a virtual exhibit of artists’ work in response to the stories of the children who died in Mother and Baby homes.

The exhibition starts at 58 minutes.

Alison writes:

This new virtual show which includes a number of mother and baby homes across Ireland, was shot in the Coronavirus lockdown and connects recent losses to past losses.

This show was created voluntarily to honour the children who died in state and religious care in one of the most shameful periods in Irish history.

Previously: Worse Than Tuam

 

Saturday.

Berlin, Germany.

A crowd of people whistling and cheering, and with few masks in sight, marched through downtown Berlin from the Brandenburg Gate ahead of a rally on a wide boulevard that runs through the city’s Tiergarten park.

Protesters held up home-made placards featuring slogans that included “Corona, false alarm,” “We are being forced to wear a muzzle,” “Natural defence instead of vaccination” and “End the corona panic — bring fundamental rights back.”

They chanted, “We’re here and we’re loud, because we are being robbed of our freedom.”

The demonstration, entitled “The end of the pandemic — freedom day,” was planned for weeks and drew people from various parts of Germany. Police used bullhorns to chide participants to keep to distancing rules and to wear masks.

Getty/AP/AFP

Meanwhile…

Um.

Ragbag?

Anti-Covid protest draws ragbag of conspiracy theorists to Berlin (Derek Scally, Irish Times)

John  Hume

This evening.

John Hume’s remains will be taken to St Eugene’s Cathedral in Derry at 5pm with a funeral mass on Wednesday at 11.30am. Attendance at both will be in line with current Covid-19 restrictions with strictly limited numbers.

The Hume family said:

“We realise this will mean that many will be unable to join us and we will arrange a memorial service and a celebration of his life in due course. Above all, we know that John would have prioritised public health, and the safety and health of our communities.”

John Hume funeral Mass to take place in Derry on Wednesday morning (Irish Times)

Rollingnews

Meanwhile….

Meanwhile….

The Lord Mayor of Dublin Hazel Chu has opened an online book of condolence in memory of the late John Hume.

Dubliners are being invited to sign the book and express their sympathies for this Irishman who wanted us not to be trapped in the past but to have a future of peace.

The book of condolence is available to sign until Monday August 10 [at link below]

The National Flag on top of the Mansion House will be flown at half-mast from today until Wednesday.

Online Book Of Condolence