Newmarket Square, Dublin 8.
Hoarding covering construction work for a new Premier Inn hotel.
Harry Warren writes;
I think the urban art in these photos have a lot to say about the absurdity of building Hotels when housing is needed. Don’t agree? Then learn from Sisyphus…
Saturday.
Kildare Street, Dublin 2.
Protestors , including members of several right-wing groups including the National Party, Renua and the Irexit Party, protesting at the Dáil under the banner ‘Protecting the Innocent – Punish the Guilty’, which refers to the sexual abuse of children.
Meanwhile…
A counter demonstration begins and ends rapidly.
Meanwhile…
Actor John Connors addresses the crowd. Part 2 here.
This morning.
The Andrew Marr Show on BBC1.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin appeared live from Dublin to discuss British tourists, Brexit and Boris Johnson (@26.59)…
Andrew Marr: “Let me ask you about your relationship, you mentioned Boris Johnson.You weren’t terribly complimentary about him at the McGill Summer School about this time last year. You said:
‘Anyone in Dublin who met Boris Johnson during his time as Foreign Secretary will tell you the many ways in which he failed to show the slightest level of understanding about the operations of the Good Friday Agreement. don’t think anyone can credibly say he has thought through how he can promote property and reconciliation in Northern Ireland.’
Have you had second thoughts?”
Martin: “Well, I was very heartened by our discussions in terms of trying to reset the Irish-British relationship post-Brexit, which I think the Prime Minister is keen on doing and I was particularly taken by that and we are both committed to the necessity of doing that in a post-Brexit scenario.
From our perspective, from an Irish perspective the entire peace process on the island of Ireland was based on the relationship between Britain and Ireland and then the relationship north and south and between the two traditions in Northern Ireland. So central to all of this is a very strong proactive relationship between our two countries.”
Earlier: No Turning Back
Barry Cowen, Minister for Agriculture and the Marine
This morning.
Barry Cowen disputing claims in The Sunday Times he was pursued by gardai after doing a U-turn before a checkpoint on the night in 2016 he was caught drink driving.
The Minister for Agriculture and the Marine alleges the arrest record leaked to the paper is incorrect.
Barry Cowen disputes garda account of driving offence (John Mooney, Sunday Times)
Friday: Byrne After Reading
Previously: Mea Gulpa
Via Fran McNulty
Meanwhile…
If he accepted the fine at the time, it implies that he also accepted the Garda report. If he now disputes the report, he’d have to go to court to answer for the charge which has now been disputed
— Andrew O'Connor (@HesTheSportsguy) July 12, 2020
Gotcha!
This evening.
Dame Court, Dublin 2.
After last week’s harrowing scenes…
…an unmasked man is questioned by bike mounted Gardai under new regulations to stamp out stuff that may upset people on twitter.
Last Friday: Worth The Wait
Thomas Byrne, Fianna Fáil TD and Minister of State for European Affairs
This evening.
Amid public silence from his party, Ken McFadden, the Meath Fianna Fáil activist who named his friend Thomas Byrne as the source of the Barry Cowen drink drive leak, has tweeted his thoughts.
Mr McFadden writes:
‘I want to say a HUGE Thank You to all of the hundreds of people who have been in contact with support and to tell me they believe me 100%. I’m still getting through the messages, and they have come from every political party and none.
Today I did a number of media interviews and working on a few more over the weekend, the support has been overwhelming.
I also want to say it was not an easy decision to take to go public on the issue of the leak and who leaked it, I have had praise for being “brave” and others with abuse, I “betrayed” a “friend”.
I remain steadfast the information I put out on Wednesday night was the truth and I can live with the abuse from a certain few and even the two individuals (one from Slane and the one from Duleek ) who are being fed misinformation and worse by a person known to me but no longer a friend,
The more of this abuse I get the more interviews and tweets I will do, so let’s just see.
The allegations I am a man with a grudge who is angry I didn’t get a ministerial driver’s job are not true. I was unhappy I did not get the job having been asked by Thomas Byrne at least three times would I do it.
I was unhappy the way that information was given or in this case not given to me and when I eventually caught up with Thomas I felt the way it was handled by him was very grubby, so I was unhappy YES.
Does that mean I turned into a Looney Tune and decided to lie about a very serious matter like the Cowen leak? NO, it is a ridiculous allegation and it is something Trump would do with anyone telling a truth he didn’t want to hear,
I spent a decade or so trying to help/support and win elections for Thomas Byrne and I walked many a road with him and for him in all sorts of weather and conditions.
We had good elections, we were abused in some , we were welcomed in others, we met the best of people at the doors and out canvassing for with us, it was incredible.
I have made life long friendships out of Fianna Fáil and politics and I wouldn’t give back a day, so please know I’ve been there through thick and thin.
To suggest I suddenly turned on someone over a job is just an excuse for someone who must look at their own behaviour in recent times and must be honest with themselves, I can’t do that for them.
They literally pulled the ladder up behind them as soon as they got news they were in as a minister and I to this day do not know why, I think a quick ring around the elected councillors in Meath will back up the picture I’m painting here.
I love politics and I love the Fianna Fáil party. I will always support FF and always vote FF no matter what.
Finally, I just want to say I’m sorry my actions on this issue have caused stress and hurt to the people around Thomas Byrne and especially his family who I know very well and who are people I have a huge regard for and are not part of this issue.
I say again the allegations I made on Wednesday are true and I will defend them anywhere.’
Mr Byrne has yet to respond.
Earlier: Slow Byrne
Previously: Well Now
Wednesday: Who Spilled?
NEW: from Monday the wearing of masks will be compulsory on public transport. Regulations being signed tonight. 😷 pic.twitter.com/CllNtKEjeB
— Shane Beatty (@ShaneBeattyNews) July 10, 2020
This evening.
Compulsory maskage?
To the bikes!
Earlier: Let’s Do Some Shots
UPDATE:
This will only be following failure to comply after Gardaí are called. And the new rules will be accompanied by a public awareness campaign.
— Mary Regan (@MaryERegan) July 10, 2020
Last night (10.15pm).
Still stretchy.
Colum Cronin writes:
Looking along the Grand Canal from the Robert Emmet Bridge [Harold’s Cross Bridge] (Dublin 6)…
Spokes.
A podcast of thought-provoking conversations with interesting people from diverse backgrounds.
Presented by Colette Colfer, a lecturer at the Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) and produced by Colette with her husband Terry Hackett.
Latest episode: Jonathan Haidt (above). A supporter of greater diversity of viewpoints on college campuses and one of the signatories of ‘A Letter on Justice and Open Debate‘ which was published online by Harper’s Magazine this week.
Colette writes:
Haidt is an American social psychologist and the author of over 90 academic articles and three books. In this episode of Spokes Jonathan talks about the American based international organisation The Heterodox Academy (HxA) which he co-founded in 2015 and which promotes open inquiry and viewpoint diversity in academia, he also touches on topics such as group think, orthodoxy, religion and politics….
Previously: Hello, Yes, I’d Like To Cancel My Subscription To Harper’s
Primary school teacher Patrick Harte was sentenced to three years this afternoon for the abuse of seven primary school boys at Synge Street between September 1968 and September 1970; The school’s crest with motto ‘Viriliter Age’ (Act Manfully)
“It’s 52 years… I didn’t think we could ever get justice, and it shows that no matter how long ago it was, that there is justice” – Fr Tony Conlon, one of the pupils abused by retired primary teacher Patrick Harte, urges survivors to come forward| More: https://t.co/qO3hEoXYRh pic.twitter.com/4Ppbxb6L54
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) July 10, 2020
This afternoon.
Via RTÉ
The men who were abused in the 1960’s and 70’s by Harte said they have finally been believed and have won their fight for justice.
An emotional Fr Tony Conlon, now a catholic priest, said afterwards they had fought for seven years and thanked the gardaí, the DPP, the prosecution services, and One in Four who had helped them over the years.
Harte repeatedly and continuously indecently assaulted his pupils in the Christian Brothers school in Synge Street amidst an atmosphere of severe corporal punishment, physical and verbal abuse, violence and terror.
He regularly beat the children with “the leather”, and once smashed a child’s head against a wall.
Harte found reasons to call the boys up to his desk, sometimes for praise and other times for correction of minor misbehaviours.
He would warn the rest of the class to look at their books and not raise their heads before he indecently assaulted the children…..
Ex-primary school teacher jailed for 3 years over sex assaults (RTÉ)
Pics: RTÉ
