Category Archives: Misc

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Boats of refugees approaching Lesbos island and filmmaker Conor Maguire

Conor Maguire and Paul Webster are two freelance filmmakers based in Dublin.

They write:

In 2015, over 500,000 refugees have made their way to Lesbos island from Turkey via overloaded inflatable rafts. This represents 59% of all refugees who made their way to Greece last year. Projections are that refugee numbers making the dangerous journey across the Aegean Sea could double this year.

Lesvos is a tiny community that has found itself at the centre of a vortex: the greatest migration of people since World War Two. We wish to travel to Lesvos in March as a two-person crew to document the situation.

Against the backdrop of international stalemate, clashing ideologies, technocratic power plays, economic ruin and a war that could spark something terrifyingly large, people are showing the best and worst of humanity on one small island.

We wish to speak with volunteer and professional aid workers, local residents, on-site journalists and, most importantly, refugees to document this critical juncture in European history.

We are launching this campaign to raise €3,000 to cover only the most basic aspects of our work: transport, accommodation, insurance and food. Everything else will be covered by us.

Our aim is to create a short documentary that is as shareable and mobile as possible. We think this is an important story to cover in an unfiltered way, without politics or ideology. We hope you think so too and help make this production viable.

Those who wish can donate to Conor and Paul’s fund here

Previously: A Letter From Lesbos

A Drop In The Aegean

Pic: La Kaseta

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My Tribe Your TribeGarden Song

What you may need to know…

01. Kildare alt-rockers My Tribe Your Tribe have just released new single Garden Song this past week, ahead of an upcoming 4-track EP this May.

02. The trio had a busy 2015, with festival appearances all over the country, including Other Voices, Electric Picnic’s Body & Soul stage, Hard Working Class Heroes, and others.

03. Garden Song is a move into more indie/alt-inflected territory, following a 2015 of synth-informed singles. It’s also a tad bit more of a mover than big, sweeping pop tunes like Ghost With You.

04. They’re playing the Sin É in Dubland tomorrow night in a free show, ahead of a run of single-launch shows around the country: Thursday March 3 at Monroe’s in Galway; Saturday March 12 at the Village Pump in Rathangan, Co. Kildare; and Sunday, March 13 at the Crane Lane Theatre in Cork.

Verdict:  Slowly demonstrating an ever-increasing range of influences and reference points, My Tribe Your Tribe are ones to watch for fans of the greater indie-&-alternative oeuvre.

My Tribe Your Tribe

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Column inches devoted to party leaders (top) and leading independents (above)

Researchers from the Insight Centre for Data Analytics have been tracking media coverage of candidates as part of their Insight4Elections data analysis project.

The researchers have monitored RTÉ, Irish Times, Independent, Irish Examiner, The Journal, Broadsheet, BBC and Reuters since campaigning started.

Gráinne Faller writes:

Unsurprisingly, Enda Kenny tops the pile with 150 articles to date across the tracked outlets. Gerry Adams notched up 115. Micheál Martin was in third place with 112, while Joan Burton is next with 109.

The gulf in coverage is perhaps unsurprising but will strengthen the argument of the smaller party leaders that they are not getting equal access to the electorate when it comes to the main media channels.

Lucinda Creighton and Stephen Donnelly clocked 36 and 34 articles respectively.

Among independent candidates Michael Healy Rae tops the pile with 19 mentions, followed by Shane Ross TD and Tipperary’s Michael Lowry.

Insight4Elections is a publicly available web tool where users can crumnch the numbers for themselves. Click here

Previously: Every Manifesto At A Glance

election

Clare Cullen writes:

There’s been a lot of talk this election about engaging young people but not much action, as far as I can see. Canvassers who call to my door still ask for my parents (I’m 27 and don’t live with my parents) and they have no interest in discussing (and often, no knowledge of) their policies.

They just throw a leaflet, say ‘vote number one!’ and leave. So, a couple of Irish YouTubers got together and we made this video (above).

It’s the Irish election – Sims version. Don’t worry, no matter where you go wrong you get elected anyway on transfers, and you can play again in five years.

Previously: Honed To Vote