zefrank presents deinopsis, the ‘Ogre-Faced’ Spider, or ‘Margaret’.
You may know her in-law from this cut-scene on ‘I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here’
Previously: Cats On The Couch
Dundalk Tidy Towns tweetz:
A contractor hired by Louth County Council has destroyed hundreds of newly planted trees (by TT volunteers) and countless numbers of existing gorse along the navvy bank! So much for the biodiversity drive! Whoever is responsible for instructing this needs to be held accountable!
Anyone?
Dublin Rental Watch tweetz:
The advert states this is a shared bedroom for €650pm plus bills. The photos suggest this is another bed-share scenario…
Thud.
Dublin City Coucil offices on Wood Quay, Dublin 8; Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy
Paul Reynolds, of RTÉ, reports:
Officials from Dublin City Council were aware and recommended that protection money be paid to two violent criminals so that council houses could be built in west Dublin in 2016 and 2017, the High Court has been told.
The court heard that three building firms working for the city council paid between €1,200 and €1,500 a week to Derek ‘Dee Dee’ O’Driscoll from Croftwood Grove and “his enforcer” David Reilly from nearby Croftwood Park to prevent the sites and construction staff from being attacked.
Over €250,000 in the men’s bank accounts has been declared the proceeds of crime and confiscated by the Criminal Assets Bureau, along with a mobile home and a horsebox.
Meanwhile…
Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy was asked about the matter by Claire Byrne on RTÉ’s News At One…
He said the first he became aware of the matter was this morning. He also said his department are trying to get the bottom of it “as quickly as possible”.
Meanwhile…
Eamon Melia tweetz:
Junior minister Catherine Byrne was told about criminals been paid protection money by DCC but didn’t tell her boss Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy. Says Eoghan Murphy, watch this space.
Council officials recommended building firms use services of violent criminals for protection (RTÉ)
UPDATE:
This afternoon.
Junior health minister Catherine Byrne was asked about the matter by Irish Examiner journalist Daniel McConnell at a Department of Health press conference concerning Budget 2020 (above).
Mr O’Connell put it to Ms Byrne that Sinn Féin TD Aengus O’Snodaigh has claimed he told Ms Byrne and the Government about the matter more than two years ago.
She said:
“I did know about the incident. It was highlighted in a newspaper around on the 19th or the 18th of December. I received an email into my office Christmas Eve, I didn’t see the email until the 29th.
“…I had rung the [Dublin] city council after I saw the incident happened and I was talking to officials and the local area officer told me that there had been an incident where there was intimidation and a JCB was burned out and the man who was driving had been injured.
“But he assured me that everything was fine and that the council were dealing with it and the guards were involved.
“After that, on the 29th, when I did receive, I looked at the letter, I read it. I was very concerned with what was in it. But I also noted in the letter that it also been brought to the guards’ attention at Clondalkin and other senior officials.
“And really, my job, at that stage, was finished because this was an investigation by An Garda Síochána.
“I suppose one of the things, I just want to make very clear, I totally condemn intimidation or extortion at any level, particularly in communities and particularly in vulnerable communities.
“Down through the years, Ballyfermot and Cherry Orchard has had problems, not only significant problems around drug issues but around criminal activity aswell.
“But I totally, totally condemn them. And I want to make that very clear.”
Watch back in full here
A mixed media rite de passage short in which a teenager becomes a man in a savage world ruled by a god-whale (we’ve all been though it).
A pleasing chunk of retro-futurism by Spanish director Antoni Sendra drawing heavily on the lurid halftone aesthetic of 1970s fantasy comics.
From top: Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe with RTE Director General Dee Forbes; Sean O’Rourke and at a press conference following his Today show post-budget broadcast
This morning.
Radio Centre, Donnybrook, Dublin 4.
Via RTÉ:
A caller aged 68 is unhappy at recently losing his and wife’s eligibility to a medical card and seeing that in yesterday’s Budget over 70s have had the income threshold limit for medical cards increased to €1,050. He asks why under 70s didn’t have a threshold increase. Mr Donohoe says he had to make changes affordable to the funds he had available. He added that he would like to make further changes in the future when funds are available.
Meanwhile…
Mr Donohoe has defended the decision to make €16.8 million available for the greyhound industry. He was asked on Today with Sean O’Rourke why this money could not be ringfenced for carers. Mr Donohoe said that €1.4 billion overall had been put aside for carers.
He told a caller that Ministers Shane Ross and Michael Creed have looked to put significant changes in place to deal behaviour that he believed was “utterly unacceptable in the greyhound industry”.
This morning.
Heuston Station, Dublin.
Iarnród Éireann customers should expect ‘significant delays‘ in and out of Heuston station today following damage to the signalling system which took place overnight between Newbridge and Kildare when cabling was stolen.
Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Regina Doherty, T.D. speaking at the budget 2020 Press Conference in Government Buildings; Department of Justice press conference this morning
This morning.
It was thought that when the Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe delivered Budget 2020 yesterday, no increase in funding was announced for the Data Protection Commission – which may soon be facing the State in court.
In light of this, solicitor and data protection expert Simon McGarr tweeted this morning:
“Greyhound racing gets an increase on €16m funding. The entire 100+ staffed DPC office gets €15.2m, no increase.
“For some reason the Dept in charge of the Public Services Card project didn’t increase funding for the regulator, despite huge work increase post-GDPR.”
However…
Irish Independent journalist Hugh O’Connell, at a Department of Justice Budget 2020 press conference this morning, tweetz:
For those asking, the government’s funding for the Data Protection Commissioner’s office is up by €1.6m next year.
Total budget of €16.9m for 2020.
The Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon recently found there is no legal basis for the State demanding the use of the Public Services Card in order to access a range of public services beyond social welfare payments.
Ms Dixon ordered that Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection Regina Doherty’s department stop issuing new PSCs, with immediate effect, to people seeking a service outside of her department.
She also ordered that the department delete the supporting documentation – such as utility bills, etc – that the department has retained on the 3.2million card holders.
Ms Doherty is categorical her department will not be complying with these orders and has said the State will challenge the findings of Ms Dixon – in court, if needs be.
This morning…
Cianan Brennan, in The Irish Examiner, reported:
“The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection did not share the interim adversarial findings of the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) regarding the Public Services Card (PSC) with any affected bodies apart from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.
This was despite being specifically asked and in a position to do so.”
Social Protection slow to share draft report on PSC (Cianan Brennan, The Irish Examiner)
Meanwhile…
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties has launched a petition calling for the card to be stopped and for data retained to be deleted.
The petition can be signed here
Related: Twitter and Facebook could be facing billions in fines after Ireland investigations (CNBC)