An award-winning 2017 stop motion short by Canadian animator Eva Cvijanović based on a children’s book of the same name by Serbian novelist Branko Ćopić.

Come for the charming needle-felt aesthetic (reminiscent of Wes Anderson’s ‘Fantastic Mr Fox’), stay for the classic storytelling.

There’s no place like home.

shortoftheweek

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Katherine Zappone and former UN Special Rapporteur Pablo de Greiff

“I have previously relayed my commitment to the House to inviting the UN special rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, Mr. Pablo de Greiff, to come to Ireland.

I believe he can assist us in our endeavours to establish the truth and advise us on how best to move forward and deal with this part of our history.

Arrangements are at an advanced stage and I expect an invitation to be issued to Mr. de Greiff in the coming days.”

Minister for Children Katherine Zappone, February 13, 2019.

This afternoon…

Via The Coalition of Mother And Baby home Survivors (CMABS):

An Administrative Officer in the Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA) has flatly contradicted statements made by Minister Katherine Zappone in the Dáil that arrangements to invite the UN Special Rapporteur for the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantee of non-recurrence to Ireland, were at an “advanced stage” and later that she was “… working with my colleague the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to arrange this invitation.”

In response to a Freedom of Information request, Liam Doolan of the Mother and Baby homes investigation, replied that:

“…no communication was made between the actors listed [Katherine Zappone and the Dept of CYA] and Mr. Pablo de Greiff”.

Doolan’s letter completely undermines the clear statement that Minister Zappone made in the Dáil on February 13,  2018

The Freedom of Information request also revealed that no invitation was ever issued to Pablo de Greiff despite Minister Zappone making repeated references to such an invitation for several months from as early as the beginning of June 2017 until as late as February 13, 2018. On 24.Jan.2018, Minister Zappone in a written answer in the Dáil informed Denise Mitchell TD that:

“…In addition, the Government has agreed to invite Mr. Pablo de Greiff, UN Special Rapporteur, to assist Ireland in our response to issues related to former Mother and Baby homes and I am working with my colleague the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to arrange this invitation”

Previously: Missing A ‘Defining Moment’

Earlier: DNA Tests And Tuam [Updated]

At the site of the Tuam Mother and Baby Home in Co Galway; Dr Geoffrey Shannon’s report on the collection of DNA from the survivors of the Tuam Mother and Baby Home; Dr Shannon

More as we get it.

Zappone to seek Cabinet approval to publish Tuam DNA report (RTE)

Tuam Mother and Baby Home Alliance and Rollingnews

UPDATE:

From his report:

“There is no doubt that in the longer term, it is preferable that the process of collecting and matching DNA samples at the Tuam Mother and Baby Home should be underpinned by a robust statutory mechanism or framework.

“The question of whether the creation of an interim administrative scheme is legally possible is a question of constitutional law: does the executive branch enjoy the power to establish a scheme of this nature?

“The Constitution is silent as to the extent of the executive power. The Executive has been held to have certain inherent powers, some of which are possibly derived from royal prerogative powers.

“For present purposes, the most relevant example of inherent executive power is that the superior courts have recognised that the Executive enjoys an inherent power to establish ex-gratia non-statutory schemes to implement desired policy objectives.

“In the case of C.A. and T.A. (a minor) v. Minister for Justice and Equality, Minister for Social Protection, the Attorney General and Ireland, the High Court considered a claim that the system of ‘direct provision’ was unlawful in the absence of enabling legislation.

“In part, it was argued that the establishment of the scheme usurped the power of the Legislature. The State argued that the direct provision scheme was a lawful use of inherent executive power under the Constitution, and in the course of legal argument pointed to a variety of other administrative schemes that existed in diverse fields.

“In finding that the establishment of the direct provision scheme was a lawful exercise of executive power, Mac Eochaidh J. made the following helpful comments:

The Constitution does not require that the legislature must establish principles and policies in order for the Government to exercise its executive powers. The Government may exercise executive powers independently of the legislature. In exercising its constitutional executive powers, the Government may not trespass upon the exclusive law making function of the legislature. If the Government establishes a scheme in pursuit of a policy which contains rules and conditions, though the rules may be regarded as a form of ‘laws’, this would not involve the executive usurping the law making function of the legislature within the meaning of Article 15 of the Constitution.

“He further commented that “The mere fact that ‘direct provision’ could have been placed on a legislative footing does not mean that this must happen.”

“Mac Eochaidh J. further observed that there were many executive schemes that operated with no statutory basis, and that the legitimacy of these had never been called into question.

“These included the system of primary school education, and the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal. He also noted that the Irish Born Child Scheme had been approved by the Supreme Court in Bode v. Minister for Justice16 as a valid use of inherent executive power.

“The case-law on the executive power, scant though it is, strongly supports the existence of an inherent executive power to establish administrative schemes to achieve a policy end.

“Importantly, it should be noted that some emphasis has been laid on the fact that such schemes are usually ex gratia schemes which confer a benefit on given individuals, rather than make determinations as to the legal rights of individuals.

“In the relevant sense, this would appear to apply to the proposed administrative scheme in the Tuam context.

“This scheme would not make any determination as to the rights and duties of individuals. It would, in a sense confer on them a benefit, i.e. inclusion in the DNA matching scheme.

“Most crucially, the scheme would be entirely voluntary in nature, and also designed to exist only on a short-term or interim basis.

“It seems therefore that an administrative scheme of this nature would likely be constitutionally permissible.”

Dr Shannon’s 98-page report can be read in full here

Possible to collect Tuam DNA samples before legislation – report (RTE)

Update:

Breeda Murphy, PRO of the Tuam Mother and Baby Home Alliance, said:

“We are particularly pleased to see that Dr. Shannon proposes the opportunity to take DNA samples in a timely fashion via a voluntary administrative scheme. Such biological samples from relatives would then be stored securely until legislation is in place. This is essentially what our members, namely Sana Tansey and Emer Quirke proposed and which Taoiseach Varadkar admitted was a reasonable request.

It is comforting to note that no DNA profiles can be constructed arising out of the samples until legislation is in place and we are assured it is possible to generate DNA from the remains of the lost children. The DNA is being collected for that sole purpose.

The safe storage of DNA is paramount and we are provided with an assurance it will not be available or used for any purpose other than matching. If the possibility is not there to match for any reason, then the DNA will be destroyed. It is valuable data and must be treated as such.

Advises we have received suggest the possibilities of advancing technologies providing new opportunities all the time; only a couple of months ago another victim of 9/11 was identified some eighteen years later.

DNA collection being voluntary, open to the individuals concerned who will provide informed consent. Ownership rights and compliance with GDPR legislation underpin the process – with ownership of their own DNA as recommended by Dr. Shannon remaining the property of the participant who has the authority to withdraw consent and therefore from the process at any stage.

This is a most welcome suggestion. Further the opportunity for the participant to nominate a person in the event that they pass away prior to completion of the process ensures the opportunity for matching continues for a period.

The Minister on speaking to us yesterday mentioned that she would request her Department officials to put in place a voluntary administrative programme.

Our Alliance with two experts working in the field who initially proposed this model hope to contribute in an advisory capacity as we suggested this to the Minister. Also advised and welcome is the recommendation to communicate throughout the process with those most affected.

Finally, we are grateful to Dr. Shannon for this report, which looks favourably on our request to begin the process of banking DNA from concerned family members and survivors without the necessity of awaiting a lengthy legislation process and thank him for the person-centered approach he has undertaken, advocating for those who are the most vulnerable.”

This afternoon.

Ha’penny Bridge, Dublin 4

Aerial Cirque performer Nicola Moran with Dublin Lord Mayor Paul McAuliffe at the launch of Culture Night (on Friday week, September 20) with “over 350 events across the city.

To wit:

Rhythms and rhymes will emanate from Meeting House Square, which kicks off with Tiny Dancer, a fun DJ set for kids with Donal Dineen, followed by a line-up of some of the most exciting spoken word and hip hop artists from across the island of Ireland hosted by District Magazine;

Screen Ireland brings a selection of both live action and animated short films which capture stories of love and romance to Barnardo Square, which will also see football freestylers captivate passers-by with their vast array of tricks & skills as the city gets set to host UEFA EURO 2020

at The Amphitheatre, Wood Quay take part in activities with an environmentally-conscious twist, like the music equipment gear swap with MyVolts;

And at Central Plaza, Dame Street the worlds of business and the arts come together for Elevate, a stunning high-end, gravity-defying show created and performed by Ireland’s leading aerialists Aerial Cirque with music by Cork based composer Peter Power and visuals by Bulgarian artist Petko Panchev…

Culture Night

Rollingnews

‘sup?

This afternoon.

Curragh Plains, County Kildare.

Eamonn Farrell/Rollingnews

Meanwhile…

Behold: the most distant celestial object easily visible to the unaided eye – M31, the great Andromeda Galaxy, over two million light-years away. To wit:

Without a telescope, even this immense spiral galaxy appears as an unremarkable, faint, nebulous cloud in the constellation Andromeda. But a bright yellow nucleus, dark winding dust lanes, luminous blue spiral arms, and bright red emission nebulas are recorded in this stunning six-hour telescopic digital mosaic of our closest major galactic neighbour. While even casual skygazers are now inspired by the knowledge that there are many distant galaxies like M31, astronomers seriously debated this fundamental concept only 100 years ago. Were these “spiral nebulae” simply outlying gas clouds in our own Milky Way Galaxy or were they “island universes” — distant galaxies of stars comparable to the Milky Way itself? This question was central to the famous Shapley-Curtis debate of 1920, which was later resolved by observations favouring Andromeda being just like our Milky Way Galaxy — a conclusion making the rest of the universe much more vast than many had ever imagined.

(Image: Amir H. Abolfath (TWAN))

apod

From top: Paul Hollywood (right) gave his first handshake of current series of the Great British Bake-Off on Channel 4 last night: Vanessa Foran

Interestingly, the weakest three on Great British Bake-Off Week 1 are now gone, and in the correct order. In fairness to Amber she was the better of the three.

However I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Amelia  I expect her to start appearing on daytime telly any minute now showing us how to make curtains in-between homemade healthy lunch box’ibles and dinners for a fiver.

There is nowhere to hide in Bread Week, it’s the Marquee Event, the Cork v Tipp Munster Hurling Final of Bake Off. Even Gardeners and Anglers would tune in for it.

It could be just me, but the Hollywood was more visible around the bakers last night than in other years, and we finally got a handshake out of him.

The moment he turned over Michael’s signature Keralan Star Bread  to check the bottom I knew he was smitten; btw this isn’t as complicated as it looks, and that that Coconut chutney recipe is a keeper.

As I’ve said before, the really the great thing about breads is that there is no kit needed; only patience and your respect.

So tell me; what’s more important, the burger or the bun. A veggie burger? From Paul Hollywood? On Bread Week? That might be all you need to hear from me about the technical last night.

But if, and it does happen, say if you had someone awkward or worse again – a vegan, coming for a proper sit down with matching plates, and candles, you could always say it’s a Paul Hollywood recipe , so it’s worth bringing it to your attention; but he can keep his baps. I’ll still be buying them from the old SuperQuinn Bakery in Walkinstown.

If I’m being honest, I wasn’t really arsed with last night’s technical and didn’t even give the judging much attention, like – a veggie burger, come on. The Bake-Off Lifer can hardly be expected to hang off every word the Hollywood has to say about a veggie burger; besides I had a hidden bar of Dark Milk to find.

I preferred the tradition of doing more international bakes in the set technicals, like that Couronne  (series 4) and Dampfnudel  (series 7).

Before I take us through the Showstopper to the end, Tear and Share isn’t a new in the tent, and I remember Dan’s Chelsea Buns getting a HH.

I’m mentioning this type of bake because I’m a divil for the Cinnamon Roll myself and we saw two attempts last night. I know I would have preferred Helena’s  and to be fair I think the Hollywood tried to as well. But here’s David’s  Cinnamon Swirls  because if you’re going to the effort of a show-off brunch you might as well make them more fancy.

I loved the Showstopper.

Especially the Judging. The Hollywood was handling and dissecting those loaves of bread like he was a forensic pathologist. I was quite giddy; it must be said.

You don’t even need a surgical scalpel to achieve the look most got last night, so do try Steph’s Wholemeal loaf  (Although I would be more likely to do a mix of lemon balm and purple thyme rather than just the rosemary.)

Remember what I said about yeast and bread baking; patience and respect. And these scored loafs are an example of patience and respect. Even if it’s a a homemade shiv your using to slash the shape of a daffodil.

The oven doesn’t discriminate. It doesn’t care who has mixed the ingredients, what their socio-economic status is or if the operator has a gender. It doesn’t demand you have your shots before your go in nor dose it ask your for a reference. You give it its instructions and its contents.

A recipe doesn’t proscribe religion or who its follower should vote for, or the define a family or even who you use it for.

Baking is the great equaliser, it keeps manners on everyone; and the Hollywood is its independent authority.

So what about our Bakers, Star Baker Michael’s was in no doubt, I didn’t even look at anyone else in the line-up. He reminds me a lot of John Thwaite  who went on to win (series 3), and actually has some of the best recipe books out there.

John was also accident prone and took his baking seriously, but not personally if it went wrong; and he was watchable, Just like Michael.

Delighted Steph and Helena had good weeks, but I’m just not warming to Rosie.

In a way they’re all still in it but I have a suspicion David might struggle next week; Dairy

He just doesn’t have the look of a lad who likes his creamy custard, thick ganache, crème pat or even keeps a just in case carton of double cream in the fridge.

Yes, you read that right. Dairy.

Pic: Channel 4

Previously: Vanessa Foran on Broadsheet

This afternoon.

Molesworth Street, Dublin 2

Protestors including Richard Boyd Barrett TD (above left) and Hasan Sm Zafar (top) with protesters outside Val Issuer Dac offices holding placards with a picture of Sean O Sullivan, a director of the vulture fund.

Around 50 families are facing eviction from their homes in Richmond Street and Clanbrassil Street in the Rathmines area of Dublin after the properties were bought by Val Issuer Dac last November.

Petition here.

Leah Farrell/RollingNews

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