From top: Department of the Taoiseach; A schedule of meetings of the Senior Officials Group (SOG); Access to records denied
Who’s running the show?
Who’s really running the show?
Investigative journalist and lecturer Ken Foxe writes
One of the key parts of the state’s COVID19 strategy has been the creation of a Senior Officials Group (SOG) to assist the government.
I hoped to find out a bit more about what they’ve been doing through their agendas and minutes … the response will probably not surprise you.
The creation of the Senior Officials Group was announced as part of the national action plan on Covid-19 back in mid-March. Very little is known about it.
Its establishment and work has not been welcomed by all.
One government minister was quoted in May as saying there is “no scrutiny” of it and that even they could not get copies of the minutes.
From the schedule of records, we know that many meetings took place. But we cannot have any further information on the agenda, what was discussed, who attended, or what was decided.
This was then Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in the Dáil on April 16: “Transparency is really important here. If we want to keep the trust of the people, we need to be transparent …”
It’s difficult to square what has been said in public about transparency and then having a group like this, which operates entirely in secret.
REMINDER: this CAN be the year to holiday abroad if you wish to do so & if you holiday in a green list country. We have an absolutely stunning country & I constantly boast about how amazing my hometown is but the businesses also have to show solidarity with their prices 🇪🇺🇪🇺🇪🇺🇪🇺 pic.twitter.com/NugDkxUzJj
Last week with a tanned €25 Golden Discs on offer, I asked you for your favourite song about being on holidays or to play/sing along with while you’re on holiday.
You chimed in in your tens.
But there could be only one winner.
Third Place:
Karakoy by Brazilian Girls
Songs, Spoofing And Spliffs writes:
It takes you on a walk and skip along its namesake streets in Istanbul, with Sabina Sciubba’s vocals overpowering the soft-washed trumpets when the chorus arrives.
A simple song but misleading,its a story,of walking and missing in one the worlds greatest cities. It’s a sunny little novella of pain written sharply with enough nuance to make you start a few teary daydreams…This is a live version from Colorado Public Radio’s OpenAir.
Runner-up:
Cups by Anna Kendrick
Slightly Bemused writes:
‘When visiting my daughter after that film came out, she used love to sing that song on car rides as we travelled between locations. A four hour drive from the town she lived in to the one where she was born to visit her grandparents could be filled with several renditions.
Maybe as it came on the radio, or maybe as she practised the rhythm section on the dashboard (thank god for large American cars, and sincere apologies to the rental company cleaning crew).
Of course when I tried to accompany in vocal section, my little lovely darling who is blessed with perfect pitch (pun intended) she would correct me. I now know the correct places to put the little ‘uh-ohs’ and how to put the right nasal sound to the words. My daughter was very particular about the details!
It has been a while – she is in college now, and Cups is no longer her favourite song. But I still sing it, even if it is only in my head whenever I travel.’
Winner:
Hot In Here by Nelly
Italia 90 writes:
‘I was on hols in Lanzarote in 2002. I’m just after getting divorced. Brand new GF, intelligent and witty af, never a dull moment. She booked us on a catamaran day trip/booze cruise.
It’s full of Irish nurses and the ratio was 5 or 6 to 1? Mighty session all afternoon and we continued at a little bar in the harbour, tequila cocktails and shots.
One of the little nurses was flirtin like mad and before things got messy, I was in a taxi back to the Fariones. Went for a bit to eat, then up to the apartment.
Low and behold, there in front of our door was the flirty nurse. Lying there on the mat, unconscious and butt naked.
The GF starts laughing, opens the door, steps over nursie, turns to me and says, – ‘that is your problem Captain’90, make sure she gets home’. Turns out they were staying in the same apartment complex and we must have mentioned which apartment we were staying in. Doh!
I ended up having to carry her two floors down and across to the other side of the complex and into one of the nurse’s rooms. The party was still going on and so I stayed for a few beers. Would have been rude not to.
The next time I see the flirty nurse, she’s on the Late Late Show. She had just won one of those blind wedding things and is in the audience being interviewed by Pat the Plank. The GF points her out to me and says, – ‘Look, there’s that mermaid you caught in Puerto del Carmen!’.
Behold: the Butterfly Nebula – one of the hottest heavy metal outfits in the galaxy. To wit:
Though its wingspan covers over 3 light-years and its estimated surface temperature exceeds 200,000 degrees, C, the dying central star of NGC 6302, the featured planetary nebula, has become exceptionally hot, shining brightly in visible and ultraviolet light but hidden from direct view by a dense torus of dust. This sharp close-up was recorded by the Hubble Space Telescope and is reprocessed here to show off the remarkable details of the complex planetary nebula, highlighting in particular light emitted by iron, shown in red. NGC 6302 lies about 4,000 light-years away in the arachnologically correct constellation of the Scorpion (Scorpius). Planetary nebulas evolve from outer atmospheres of stars like our Sun, but usually fade in about 20,000 years.
McDonald’s prepares to re-open its dining space for the first time in seven 17 weeks. Customers will be served unhappy meals via table service only and are told to expect a lot of perspex.
A demonstration against the closure of St. Mary’s Telford Nursing Home outside its premises. Protestors are calling on the state to keep the nursing home open in order to ‘avoid the residents being moved during the Covid-19 pandemic’.
The home is due to be closed by its Board of Directors and the Sisters of Charity for ‘non-Covid related reasons’.
The home, they claim, is ‘unable to meet its statutory and regulatory requirements to operate at full capacity or fund the costs needed to meet them’.
Gold Blooded Woman is the new electro project by Faune singer Sarah Byrne (top right) and this new video features a puppet (top left) as her alter ego unraveling in lockdown.
Warning: It’s not for the faint of heart and features X-rated content.
I was on a Ryanair flight malaga to Manchester two days ago. Last off the plane as mother uses a wheelchair. Stewards picked litter up off the floor. The next lot of guests boarded AS SOON as we got off. No disinfection like they’re showing on adverts. False advertisement!
Nope, it’s the same here for a Ryanair flight canceled from Belgium. I heard that they will only start refunding once the government declares the Civid pandemic is officially over. So we’ll likely be refunded 2 years from now 🤷🏼♀️
