Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell

Boom!

This afternoon.

Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite and heiress who became a confidante of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and was later accused of involvement in his alleged sexual crimes, has been arrested by the FBI, two senior law enforcement sources tell News 4 New York.

She was arrested in New Hampshire on Epstein-related charges and is expected to appear in a federal court later today, the sources say.

Spokespeople for the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan declined to comment.

Jeffrey Epstein Confidante Ghislaine Maxwell Arrested, Sources Say (NBC)

Getty

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin after his election in Cork South-Central in General Election 2020; Dan Boyle

I may be imagining this. It certainly isn’t intentional but it probably is sub conscious. The recent representations I have made to my local authority seem to be responded to more quickly, and far more postively. I attribute this to being associated with a political party now a part of government.

This shouldn’t be the case. The extent to which it does is probably reflected in how that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael representatives are given similar deference.

In Cork we don’t know ourselves. The insufferability in which most of the country views us has been given a government seal of approval.

The Dáil constituency I have had the privilege of representing now has three senior government ministers at the cabinet table, including the office of Taoiseach.

It’s a situation that creates unrealistic levels of expectation that can never be met. Whatever resources Cork receives during the period of this government will looked on in the rest of the country as favouritism, even if proportionate.

This expectation is what will inform the sub conscious of the two local government bodies in Cork. Like all city and county councils, the Cork local authorities are over dependent on central government for resources.

Again this shouldn’t be the case. The ability to raise funds and allocate funds, are the ultimate determinants of power and control. Without this ability Irish local government lacks both.

For any government to create a real legacy it could do worse than to let local government free.

Remove the financial ties that bind. Stop local government being beholden to central government. Release the initiative and creativity that would flow once the Customs House would just let local government be.

How ridiculously controlling this relationship has been was brought home to me a number of months ago. The then Department of Children and Youth Affairs gave grants to local authorities for the upkeep of playgrounds.

The playground closest to Cork City Hall was given a grant of €3700. It probably costs more to administer than this grant, than any benefit it would bring about.

The programme for government agreed to bring a new government in being, makes precious little mention of local government reform.

The traditional political parties have shown little interest in bringing such reform about. During my time in public life the movement has been exactly in the opposite direction. Local government has become more centralised, ever more emasculated.

The Progressive Democrats once made the jibe that Ireland was once the most centralised country in Europe outside of Albania. What they meant is that Ireland didn’t encourage the laissez faire capitalism that as a party it preferred.

What they didn’t mean, but where the jibe would have had better effect, is that it could very much be applied to system of Irish local government. Sadly the situation has worsened since then.

My hope is that real local government reform will be a consequence of a government that initially has given it very little consideration. If it does I would be quite happy to be treated, again, with indifference by my local authority.

Dan Boyle is a former Green Party TD and Senator and serves as a Green Party councillor on Cork City Council. His column appears here every Thursday. Follow Dan on Twitter: @sendboyle

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Bună Ziua!

Hostels in Ireland writes:

A group of young Romanian people in 1948 visiting Ireland. This is probably one of the earliest photos we have of international guests who have stayed at

Damn commie beatniks.

Where are they photographed, anyone?

Part of The Report Card for the HSE/Department of Health Covid tracker app includes reference to Google Firebase and Twillo possibly obtaining patient data

This morning/afternoon.

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) and Digital Rights Ireland (DRI) have issued a report card evaluating the HSE/Department of Health Covid-19 tracker app prior to its launch.

How did it do?

Regarding the app’s efficacy, experts have given the app a D.

Dr Stephen Farrell, Research Fellow, School of Computer Science and Statistics, Trinity College Dublin (speaking in a personal capacity, said:

“We have no clear evidence before us that the app accurately detects close contacts to Covid-19. In the alternative, our independent research shows that app signalling accuracy varies substantially depending on user environments.”

Regarding the app’s clear and limited purpose, experts have given the app a D.

ICCL’s Information Rights Director Elizabeth Farries said:

“European data protection guidance says Covid-19 apps must pursue a single purpose of contact tracing to alert people potentially exposed to Covid-19. Unfortunately, location data and symptom tracking extend beyond this single purpose.”

Regarding the app’s statutory oversight, experts have given the app a C.

Digital Rights Ireland Director Antóin Ó Lachtnáin said:

“We would question the legal basis of consent the government appears to be relying on under the GDPR. Furthermore, long term, we are very concerned that Google/Apple will have ultimate control over most of the EU’s Covid-19 app ecosystem, and not our governments.”

We’re not angry.

Just disappointed.

FIGHT!

Full report card here.

Experts Issue Pre-Release Report Card on the HSE Covid-19 Tracker App (ICCL)

A crystal that looks uncannily like a large chicken tender, found by gemstone jewellery seller Amelia Rude.

Originally posted to the #forbiddensnacks subreddit, then retweeted, generating similar food-alike rocks. To wit:

(Pix: 1, 2, 3, 4)

mymodernmet

Jack Devlin – Summer

“Are you ready for summer?” asks County Down singer/songwriter Jack Devlin (top) on his debut single.

With echoes of Jeff Buckley and Paolo Nutini, the 21-year-old can certainly hit the high notes.

Jack says:

“This song is about how life carries you through the years, how things within life evolve, drafting moments and memories from past summers and admiring the future in those moments of euphoria.”

Nick says: Seasoned.

Jack Devlin

Gulp.

Yesterday.

New York City, New York, USA.

Anyone?

Meanwhile…

Um.

From top: Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald (left) and Louise O Reilly TD: Anthony Sheridan

In an interview with Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald on RTEs This Week programme, David McCullagh quizzed her about the use of the word ‘collusion’ in the Dail during nominations for a new Taoiseach.

“You said the Government parties colluded in frustrating the voice of change, in what way was it collusion?”

McDonald confirmed her belief that there was collusion between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael but she didn’t get much further before being interrupted by McCullah who declared triumphantly that he had looked up the word in the Oxford English dictionary.

Secret or illegal cooperation or conspiracy in order to deceive others.

This type of ‘journalism’ is bizarre and disturbing.  McCullagh/RTÉ picked out one word, from one person in one political party and went to the bother of researching the exact meaning of that word with the obvious intention of embarrassing the leader of that party.

McDonald made the reasonable and correct argument that the word ‘collusion’ has a far wider application in the English language.

But McCullagh was determined in his attack:

“Some people would see the use of the word as almost Trumpian.”

McDonald, rightly, berated him:

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

The grilling was continued the next day on Today with Sarah McInerney.

Speaking with Sinn Féin’s Louise O’Reilly McInerney demanded to know why McDonald had used the ‘collusion ‘ word.

As with Mary Lou McDonald, O’Reilly didn’t get far in her reply before being interrupted by McInerney who expressed her personal opinion that the word was used deliberately by Sinn Féin.

“The use of the word and this impression being given, deliberately, I think by Sinn Féin that the two parties were plotting.“

O’Reilly, stating the obvious fact that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael did work together to keep Sinn Féin out was again interrupted by McInerney in her eagerness to support the establishment parties.

“How do you know that, I mean they would say they came together because their party policies were more aligned than they were with yours.”

As McDonald said, the word ‘collusion’ has a broad application in language but if we take McCullagh’s strict definition and apply it to his and McInerney’s behaviour we can see that the definition fits perfectly.

Any objective observer could be forgiven for concluding that this was a [non] story generated behind closed doors with the apparent intention of letting listeners believe that Mary Lou McDonald had done something wrong.

This is not journalism, it’s not professional reporting or analysis. It appears to be the deliberate targeting of a political party that poses a challenge to the fading power of the ruling political class.

Anthony Sheridan is a freelance journalist and blogs at  Public Enquiry.

Did RTÉ journalists collude against Sinn Fein? (Anthony Sheridan, Public Enquiry)

Previously: Eamonn Kelly: Sleepily Comfortable And Casually Condescending

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