Accio Student card!
Found on Dawson Street, Dublin 2 last evening by concerned FG TD Alan Farrell.
Category Archives: Misc
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Passport Control at Dublin Airport
Last month, on December 15, the Minister for Justice Francis Fitzgerald told the Dáil the following number of people, of certain nationalities, were refused permission to enter Ireland last year – and subsequently deported: Syrian 59; Afghan 139; Eritrean 11; and Iranian 44.
In addition, Ms Fitzgerald stated:
“I would advise the Deputy [Padraig Mac Lochlainn] that persons refused leave to land and who are subsequently removed from the State are returned to their point of embarkation, which in most cases is within the EU. I would point out in relation to the countries concerned that no commercial direct flights to Ireland are available from these countries.”
Further to this, the CEO of the Irish Refugee Council Sue Conlan has released a statement this evening, saying:
“It is unfortunate that the State refuses leave to land to nationals of these countries during the greatest refugee crisis since World War II. According to the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees, 75% of Syrians and Eritreans require international protection, which suggests that the State potentially turned away some 50 refugees from its borders last year. Nationals of Afghanistan and Iran are also likely to be fleeing persecution. We regret that they were refused leave to land and not admitted to the State to have their protection needs assessed.”
“People are refused leave to land in closed rooms in airports. They are refused leave to land in circumstances where they have no access to lawyers or legal information, no clarity around their rights. An estimated 3,000 people [in total] were refused leave to land in Ireland last year, about the same number who applied for asylum. The Irish Refugee Council spoke with a very small number of those. What we heard concerns us. We call on the Minister to release the full details of refusals of leave to land not only of these nationalities but of all nationalities and to provide greater clarity around the process.”
Refusals of leave to land are alarming, says Irish Refugee Council (IRC)
Previously: Pawns In The Game
Mark Stedman/Rollingnews
From top: Angie Bowie; Dean Strang, lead defence attorney in the documentary Making A Murderer about Steven Avery
YIKES!
Anne-Louise Foley writes:
In her first Irish broadcast interview since leaving the Celebrity Big Brother house earlier this week, Angie Bowie, ex-wife of rock legend David Bowie, will join Ray D’Arcy on his show this Saturday to talk about her fascinating life on and off our television screens.
And [GAA/Illuminati member] Dean Strang, one of the lead defence attorneys in the hit Netflix US documentary series Making a Murderer, will be giving Ray his unique insight into a case that has gripped audiences both in Ireland and abroad. More guests to be announced tomorrow.
The Ray D’Arcy Show is on Saturday on RTÉ One at 9.35pm.
Previously: Staying In Saturday?
Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin
Further to Minister for Children Dr James Reilly telling the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child last week that the divestment of existing school patronage in Ireland is slow…
Breakingnews.ie reports:
Priests should not baptise children whose parents are just trying to get them into better schools, the Archbishop of Dublin [Diarmuid Martin] has said.
…”It’s [just] not this baptismal certificate – it’s a religious … entry into the life of the church, and to baptise somebody for any other reasons is wrong.
“Parents, you know, shouldn’t be presenting children to be baptised in that way – but priests shouldn’t be doing it either.”
Previously: ‘Divestment Of School Patronage Is Slow’
Sam Boal/Rollingnews
Oh.
Previously: How The Web Summit Was Lost
Who Took The Web From The Web Summit?
Thanks Scary Lady via Visit Portugal
Alan O’Regan writes:
“This may be a dumb question but An Post doesn’t seem to want to answer me. What is the reason credit cards can’t be used to buy foreign currency in post offices? I can’t seem to find a good reason online.”
Anyone?
Anne Marie O’Connor tweetz:
Newline Road Wexford (notoriously dangerous stretch). Fianna Fáil left this there today.
Anyone?
Pic: Terry Byrne
UPDATE:
Fianna Fáil’s Aoife Byrne writes:
“Somebody’s idea of high jinks could have caused an accident today and I sincerely wish to apologise for any distress caused. My advertising trailer was moved and abandoned in a dangerous spot on the New Line Road to make it seem my campaign team had no respect for drivers or road safety. This is not the case. Please think before you act – the trailer has now been removed. Thank you to those who brought the situation to my attention.”
Thanks Aoife
FURTHER UPDATE:
Yikes.
You may recall how Niamh Geaney, from Dublin, met her (third) doppelgänger Irene Adams, from Sligo, last year.
Well.
David Atkinson, of lookalike match agency TwinStrangers.com, says:
“A few weeks ago Niamh Geaney and her latest doppelgänger Irene Adams took swabs of their saliva and sent them off to a lab to be tested. The results are in. They reveal whether Niamh and Irene are sisters, half-sisters and most interestingly whether they are related up to 20,000 years ago. Bets are on. It’s the first DNA Test ever to be carried out on doppelgängers…”
Previously: How They Met Themselves
Independent TD for Roscommon-South Leitrim Michael Fitzmaurice
Last night, Independent TD for Roscommon–South Leitrim Michael Fitzmaurice spoke during the debate on the motion of no confidence against Tánaiste and Labour leader Joan Burton.
It followed her appointment of former leader of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions David Begg as chair of the Pensions Authority – a process which did not involve the official public service advertising or appointments process.
Grab a tay.
Michael Fitzmaurice: “Yesterday evening I came in to listen to the debate, but all I heard from the across the floor was what Fianna Fáil did in its last five years. The following contributor then spoke about people who had connections with bankers and what they did and said during those years. I am not long here, but I have seen all of that on television and it is all history now. A government is like a football team. It should take up the mantle and go forward and should not keep blaming the opposition for losing the match.”
“The reason this motion has been put forward is simple. It is because of cronyism. It is not because of what Fianna Fáil did in its last five years in government. It is not because of what Deputy Shane Ross did or did not say in those years. It is not a blame game, but simply because of cronyism, an issue we heard about on radio in 2011. We were told then there would be no more cronyism, no more nods and winks, and that politics would be done in a new way.”
“Anybody in business who wants to take on a new employee goes through a system. They advertise the position, people apply for and submit CVs. The employer examines the CVs and whittles the numbers down to the eight or ten most suitable people for the job and interviews them. Employers do not just take people in on a nod and a wink. Nobody suggests that the person in question in this case is not suitable. What they are saying is that due process should take place.”
Derek Keating: “Some are. The Deputy should have been here earlier.”
Seán Barrett: “Quiet please.”
Michael Fitzmaurice: “Everybody can make a mistake, but the sad thing about people in politics is that we are not able to put up our hands and admit them. The people have great respect for those who admit they made a genuine mistake, that they should not have done it and will change it.”
“Let us not hide behind a line in legislation. We can have all the legislation in the world, all the dos and don’ts and can hide behind the provisions, but we must still be able to look ourselves in the mirror and ask ourselves whether we did it right, whether it was fair, whether we did it for the people of Ireland, whether we did it for the future of pensions and whether we did for our country.”
Arthur Spring: “Yes.”
Joan Burton: “Absolutely, I did.”
Fitzmaurice: “One thing the Tánaiste cannot say when she looks in the mirror is that she did it for the people of Ireland. It is cronyism at its best. This is what peeves people. In a poll yesterday evening, 80% of people said it was cronyism. Are they wrong…”
Finian McGrath: “That is right.”
Fitzmaurice: “…or are we not in touch with the people?”
Burton: “The Deputy is out of touch.”
Fitzmaurice: “Listening to the people on the ground, they are fed up with what is going on in politics – the nod and the wink. I am not long here, but I have seen appointments of judges and appointments to different boards. This is happening day after day.”
Burton: “Who has been appointing judges?”
Fitzmaurice: “The way these appointments are being made is completely wrong. If mistakes are made, let us change the system. Let us not continue with the hoodwink system that is going on. If the Tánaiste or if I make a mistake, let us be brave, let us stand up and be counted and admit it. Let us not hide behind the curtain or veil of the protection of others. One of the members of the Tánaiste’s party admitted openly their disagreement with the appointment. We need honesty.”
“The people will judge each and every one of us in the next month or six weeks and there will be no protective curtain in front of us. There will be no veil to protect us. We will have to be open, honest and transparent and they will judge what has gone on here.”
Previously: Labour Movement
Transcript via Oireachtas.ie