Explosions In The Sky

Last week, with a pair of tickets to see Explosions in the Sky at Vicar Street on offer, I asked YOU to name your favourite-ever gig at the Wexford Street venue.

You answered in your tens.

But there could be only one winner.

Broadsheet reader ‘Hammy’ secured the tix with this decisive entry:

My favourite gig at Vicar Street was ‘The Tallest Man On Earth [October 2015] – Not the tallest man on earth by any stretch but despite the false advertising was great live.

The tickets  were for my girlfriend, who is now my wife – our ceremony started with us walking down the aisle together with Landing Cliffs by Explosions in the Sky playing.’

Thanks all.

Last week: Win Nick’s Free Tix

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This afternoon.

Leinster House, Dublin 2

TDs Danny Healy-Rae with Michael Healy-Rae (pic 3) joins farmers protesting over a range of issues effecting rural Ireland, in particular the proposed Mercosur trade deals.

Have you got a size 13?

Leah Farrell/RollingNews

From top: The Health Services Product Authority (HPRA.) will look after cannabis policy in Ireland; Johnny Green

It’s 4.20.

Heeeere‘s Johnny.

Johnny Green writes:

This week (plus a day) is more than just a follow up to my soft promise  to take a better look at where your Government intends to plant the seeds for cannabis regulation, the Health Services Product Authority (HPRA).

While Government legislators seem determined to retain cannabis licencing within the walls of the Department of Health, what was once Part 2 of Gino Kenny’s Bill appears to have been mischievously co-opted by them for their own purposes.

Here is Minister Harris’ job description for the HPRA’s recent in-house promotion;

In exercising its function, the Authority shall seek to achieve the following 5 objectives—

(a) to regulate the supply and possession of cannabis and cannabis-based products for medicinal use,

(b) to pursue the development of a consumer-oriented licensing system and regulatory code for the users of cannabis and cannabis-based products for 10 medicinal purposes,

(c) to oversee the development of a professional, safe, and well-regulated service for the supply of cannabis for medicinal use,

(d) to have due regard to the needs of users of cannabis and cannabis-based products for medicinal purposes,

(e) to promote measures to facilitate increased understanding and awareness of the use of cannabis and cannabis-based products for medicinal purposes, and

(f) to facilitate the use of cannabis and cannabis-based products for medicinal purposes.

Nice work to win, nonetheless, even for a well-established Authority with a proven track record of delivering their mandate, this new legislation is a game-changer.

Yet it has been signed over to a one that is narrowly specialised, loss-making, and already known for sloppy strategic decisions with its resources.

This isn’t cynicism, I just have too many lingering doubts with an assignment that has all the trademarks of a done deal.

Rather than recognising that other jurisdictions have founded specialised agencies (see Blowback below), or that it was also included in Gino Kenny’s Bill, which by the way, was a Bill that they were still content with to pluck from, we really have to ascertain one thing.

What made the Irish Government think that the HPRA has the wherewithal to regulate a multibillion euro industry across a wide range of sectors from Healthcare, to Agriculture, to Tourism?

Since January 2017 this very same HPRA were already running ahead of themselves when they could barely walk straight with this statement;

“It is not the remit of this review to consider the recent Bill. However, it is noted that it is proposed to regulate cannabis outside of the existing medicines’ and Misuse of Drugs legislative systems. This proposal allows for greater access than recommended in the conclusions of this report and therefore is a matter of concern.”

Even a brief scan over the HPRA website yields some fault lines within their own house.

Last week I introduced you to their annual report, this week say hello to its Board.

Two particular appointments may be of interest; both were signed off by Minister Harris’ predecessor just as a General Election was called.

in his last days as a Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar appointed David Holohan, who at the time was Chief Investment Officer (CIO) at Merrion Capital and a Brian Jones.

The HRPA still lists this director’s day job as Merrion Capital, but Mr Holohan has since joined the Irish wing of former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi’s controversial Mediolanum bank, MAML.

Mr Holohan is no doubt a huge asset to the HRPA board and above reproach in every way but this is about perception.

How can you expect the HPRA to be fully transparent if they cannot maintain the records of their directors for the public at large to oversee; how can you trust that their Fitness and Probity procedures are fully compliant?

Mr Holohan, meanwhile, also chairs the charity One in Four which is annually assisted by €800,000 from the HSE.

This is all too close.

Brian Jones, whose profile published by the HPRA states; he has worked at senior level in Public Heath, It is not enough information to advise if he is either independent or suitable. You should know if he is qualified, if is he experienced, if he has other directorships, and be certain he is demonstrably independent.

Exactly by what select criteria was he short-listed for Leo Varadkar’s final say?

Meanwhile, in other news, your EU partenaire are preparing to Roll Out themselves;

“Think tank le Conseil d’analyse économique (Council of Economic Analysis, CAE) published a 12-page report stating a controlled recreational market would allow the country to “take back control” from criminal gangs.”

Should you be wondering, Yes, the report does call for a National Independent Regulator to be created to oversee the production and distribution of Le Cannabis.

The Roll Up column by Johnny Green will attempt to keep Broadsheet readers up-to-date on the growing cannabis industry in Ireland and worldwide. Follow Johnny Green on twitter for even more updates.

Blowback: If you think I am being too critical of the Minister and the decision to retain what I am naming Irish Weed with a dicey boffin-heavy quango, here is a string of links from regions that have independent regulators for cannabis, so just see for yourselves:
Alaska, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, Washington , Massachusetts and Canada

Johnny Green illustration by Alan O’Regan
.

Exoplanets are planets known to exist outside our solar system. The first one was detected  in 1992 and this video – using data from NASA’s Exoplanet Archive – visualises the chronology – in sound and light – of those we’ve clocked since. To wit:

The entire night sky is first shown compressed with the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy making a giant U. Exoplanets detected by slight jiggles in their parents-star’s colors (radial velocity) appear in pink, while those detected by slight dips in their parent star’s brightness (transit) are shown in purple. Further, those exoplanets imaged directly appear in orange, while those detected by gravitationally magnifying the light of a background star (microlensing) are shown in green. The faster a planet orbits its parent star, the higher the accompanying tone played. The retired Kepler satellite has discovered about half of these first 4000 exoplanets in just one region of the sky, while the new TESS mission is on track to find even more, all over the sky, orbiting the brightest nearby stars. Finding exoplanets not only helps humanity to better understand the potential prevalence of life elsewhere in the universe, but also how our Earth and Solar System were formed.

(Video: SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida); Data: NASA Exoplanet Archive)

apod

Mr Tayto writes:

Here is a brown envelope that might interest you. Perhaps one might find this world-changing envelope in every local newspaper, in every county, in Ireland, maybe Europe, maybe the whole world? Easy? no?

Broadsheet sez: Shrink wrap ’em!

Meanwhile…

You two.

Thanks John Gallen





From top: Garda Angela Leavy and Noleen McGrath; Inside Farmeleigh;Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris; from left: Garda Inspector Joanne O’Brien, Sgt Kay O’Donoghue, Garda Elaine Scannell and Inspector Gillian Synnott;  Antoinette Power, Lorraine Cass and Fiona Doherty

This afternoon.

Farmeleigh House, Phoenix Park, Dublin

Minister for Justice and Equality Charles Flanagan and Garda Commissionor Drew Harris among the guests at celebration of the 60th Anniversary of Women joining An Garda Siochana.

We’re saying nothing.

Sam Boal/Rollingnews

From top: Ruairi Quinn; European Court of Human Rights decision in respect of Louise O’Keeffe in 2014; Dáil sitting this morning; Minister for Education Joe McHugh, Sinn Féin TD Maurice Quinlivan 

This morning.

Minister for Education Joe McHugh gave a statement to the Dáil in light of Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill finding earlier this week that the State misinterpreted a 2014 ruling by the European Court of Human Rights.

The ECHR ruling was in respect of Louise O’Keeffe who was abused by her primary school principal in the 1970s.

It’s been 21 years since Ms O’Keeffe first made contact with the Department of Education about her abuse, the Dáil heard.

Ms O’Keeffe took her case to the ECHR after the Supreme Court upheld a High Court decision to dismiss her claim that the State/Department of Education was liable for her abuse.

The ECHR ultimately found the State was liable.

The State’s misinterpretation of this ECHR ruling led to survivors of child sex abuse in schools being denied access to compensation via an ex-gratia redress scheme – the maximum of which is set at €84,000 per person.

The State maintained the ruling meant only victims who could prove they were abused after an initial complaint was made against a teacher and no action was taken were entitled to redress.

But Mr Justice O’Neill found this was not the case.

It’s understood there are 360 known victims but Mr O’Neill was only tasked with examining 19 specific cases – ruling that 13 should be paid under the scheme while a separate avenue should be found to pay compensation to the other six survivors.

During his speech this morning, Mr McHugh made it clear that 13 of those 19 will be paid compensation “as a matter of priority”.

And what the others?

He said he met the Attorney General Seamus Woulfe yesterday and that he hopes to bring a memo to Cabinet next week outlining the Government’s response to Mr Justice O’Neill’s findings.

Meanwhile, several TDs asked questions of Mr McHugh including Limerick TD Maurice Quinlivan, of Sinn Féin, who has met with a number of victims in his own constituency.

He asked the minister to explain to the Dáil who came up with the “prior complaint” requirement.

He also asked if Mr McHugh and his department will publish the advice it got after the 2014 ruling to say that “prior complaint” was required to access the redress scheme.

Mr Quinlivan said he was asking the latter question because he believes there was no such legal requirement.

Mr McHugh,, did not answer Mr Quinlivan’s specific questions.

From his speech:

“The European Court of Human Rights took a different view to the view of the High Court and the Supreme Court, and the specific issue of liability, for sexual abuse of schoolchildren in the landmark case taken by Ms Louise O’Keeffe.

“The European Court of Human Rights found in the facts of that case that the State did have a certain responsibility for historic abuse.

“The European Court of Human Rights judgement is complex and lengthy and runs to some 80 pages.

“What is clear is that some people who were abused in day schools discontinued cases against the State before the judgement in respect of Ms O’Keeffe’s in the European Court of Human Rights.

“Some of those cases involve the State being joined in actions that survivors had taken against school authorities, including religious congregations.

“The ex-gratia scheme was established to provide a mechanism to address the situation of these people.

“The criteria of the scheme reflected the State’s interpretation of the ECHR’s judgement, among other things – that there must have been a prior complaint to abuse to a school authority.

“I acknowledge, as a matter of fact, that this proved to be too difficult a hurdle for applicants to cross. Put simply: the scheme did not work.

“The result is that close to half the people who applied to the ex-gratia scheme subsequently applied to have their case reviewed by the independent assessor to the scheme – retired High Court judge Mr Iarlaith O’Neill.

“Judge O’Neill has ruled on those 19 applications. He has formed the view that the requirement for a survivor to secure evidence of a prior complaint is not consistent with the European Court of Human Rights’ judgement.

“As a result, 13 people are entitled to a payment – this will be paid as a matter of priority.

“In response to the assessor’s decision, the Taoiseach announced in the Dáil yesterday that the ‘prior complaint’ criterion would be dispensed with and the scheme would be reopened.

“My department, in conjunction with the Office of the Attorney General is examining the scheme in light of this.

“I met the Attorney General Seamus Woulfe yesterday, to discuss the next steps and the process and I hope to be in a position to bring a memo to Cabinet next week outlining the Government’s response.”

Later

“Words, words are probably useless today to the survivors. My words are probably, I don’t know how they’re going to fall. But that’s not what I’m interested in. I’m interested in rectifying this. I’m interested in trying to get it right…”

Mr McHugh, of Fine Gael, became the Minister for Education in October 2018, taking over from his party colleague Richard Bruton who held the role from May 2016.

When the ECHR ruling was made, in January 2014, Labour’s Ruairí Quinn was the Minister for Education until July of that year, when his party colleague Jan O’Sullivan took over the role.

Yesterday: “Anybody Who Suffered Abuse In That Defective System Was Failed By The State In The Same Way”

Related: Stop treating abuse victims with contempt (Conor O’Mahony, The Irish Examiner) 

Rollingnews

Villagers – Summer’s Song

Conor O’Brien and the gang return with a mellow ode to the lazy, hazy days of summer. With any luck this should be a crossover radio hit.

The groovy animated video was directed by Joseph May and Patricio Bauza.

Villagers play Dublin Iveagh Gardens on Friday; Galway Arts Festival, July 18; and Cork Cyprus Avenue, July 19.

Nick says: Let’s hear it for the beach boy!

Artwork by Niall McCormack.

Dublin Port Company’s proposed MP2 Project; a map of the same; Google Earth images of areas involved; the Heritage Zone as part of the project

Today.

Dublin Port Company is lodging an application for permission with An Bord Pleanála for its MP2 Project which involves a new open structure “Ro-Ro jetty” for ferries up to 240m in length and a lengthening of an existing river berth.

It also proposes a publicly accessible Heritage Zone.

The planning application says:

This [Heritage Zone] will include a new structure or ‘Marker’ incorporating the original lighthouse bell and lantern from the pier head at the end of the long-gone 19th century eastern breakwater.

The Marker includes a viewing and interpretive deck, and beneath it a small performance space or amphitheatre.

The proposal also features the installation of a Sea Organ, a musical instrument made from a series of pipes with whistle openings installed into the land boundary.

The Heritage Zone will be accessible by cyclists and pedestrians along the new 4km Greenway on the northern fringe of the port overlooking the Tolka Estuary. Construction of the Greenway will commence later this year.

Read more here

Save Poolbeg

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