Everyone at Manchester City would like to take this opportunity to thank @aguerosergiokun for his incredible contribution to our success over the last decade and wish him well in his retirement 💙 pic.twitter.com/AgMWXZtPZ8
NEW – French Ligue 1 football player Martin Terrier had to leave the field of play after just 30 minutes Tuesday night because of breathing problems. The third professional player in the space of one week.pic.twitter.com/fNhXqbGPfq
Independent Clare/Offaly TD Carol Nolan raised the role of Kinzen, an Irish media tech start-up, hired by the state to identify online misinformation related to Covid-19 and the Covid-19 vaccines.
“The work, which began earlier this year and consists of almost daily briefings from Kinzen to state officials, marks the first time the department has engaged the services of a third-party company to conduct work on misinformation…and the first time a government body in Ireland has paid a third-party company for this type of work.”
Deputy Nolan said:
“I note the European Council will discuss the Covid-19 pandemic in the context of the emergence of a new variant, and that participants will also exchange views on how best to tackle vaccine hesitancy and disinformation and the effectiveness of various measures and strategies adopted in this respect.
“What I would like to know, and what I need to ask, is the following question: when will we have a debate in the House on the fact the Department of Health employed a social media monitoring company to gather and report all online and Oireachtas commentary, some of which was only questions, relating to Covid-19 and the Government’s approach to the handling of the crisis? This was at a cost of almost €100,000.
“In October, it was revealed to me following a parliamentary question I tabled on this matter that the Department employed Kinzen Media in early 2021 to monitor the online dissemination of misinformation and disinformation relating to Covid-19 and the Covid vaccine. Were it not for Gary Kavanagh at Gript media the public would not have been made aware of these issues. I pay tribute to Gript for focusing on stories that are of real public concern.
“Our role as parliamentarians is to ask questions and find better ways to do things. Many Deputies were quoted in these reports. They include many statements of genuine concern from Deputies and Senators. There were also statements from others, including doctors. They were gathered together in daily reports to the Department and the HSE.
“This was unknown to us and without our consent. By an amazing coincidence, an enormous volume of the so-called misinformation and disinformation related to comments critical of the Government and the policies it has adopted.
“There was no tendering process for the particular contract awarded. There has been absolutely zero accountability for the fact that a private company was employed by the State to monitor and report the legitimate concern of Oireachtas Members as if they were a threat to the State.”
Acting Chairman (Deputy Bernard J. Durkan), interjecting:
“Next.”
Deputy Nolan:
“We are merely doing our jobs of Deputies and Senators in bringing forward the concerns of the public and medical professions to the floor of the House.”
Durkan:
“Thank you, Deputy.”
Deputy Nolan:
“I would like answers because I believe this is a very serious matter.”
The Department of Health has told Gript it has lost all records of contracts it signed with the social media monitoring firm Kinzen in 2020 & 2021. The Department has also lost all record of the negotiations that led to the signing of those contracts.https://t.co/X0eP5ob87E
‘In anticipation of the coming crisis, [UK Prime Minister] Boris Johnson on Sunday delivered a televised address in which he…announced new measures, including a recommendation that people work from home and a legal requirement for mask-wearing in most public indoor areas. Vaccine passports will be needed to enter large venues such as nightclubs.
Viewed from Ireland, such steps look minimal, in some cases recklessly so, yet they have ignited a rebellion within his Conservative parliamentary party, where civil libertarians and Covid-deniers are resisting all new public health measures.’
I find it somewhat astonishing that you chose to group civil libertarians and Covid-deniers together. In no way am I a Covid-denier. I have had my vaccines, try to maintain social distance and wear a mask when it is appropriate to do so, and I urge others to do the same.
I am, however, a civil libertarian. I fundamentally believe that people should have the right to make their own choices and not be penalised if theirs is not the state-approved one.
I have always believed that civil liberties are to be defended vigorously. Perhaps it is only in The Irish Times that civil libertarianism is a bad thing? Who would have thought it? ‘
Andrew Bridgen, Conservative MP, House of Commons.
Parents who decide not to vaccinate their younger children against Covid-19 have been told they face a greater risk of missing school and other activities through contracting the virus.
The HSE, through an online information page, says: “If you decide not to get your child vaccinated, there is a greater risk they could get Covid-19.
“Their symptoms will most likely be mild if they get the virus, but they will still need to isolate from others. This means they may miss school and other activities.”
How does this work when the vaccine clinical trials primary & secondary endpoints were concerned with symptom reduction, not blocking transmission? https://t.co/kbTECg5sQw
Peter O’Toole was known throughout the world as Lawrence of Arabia (top), as a hell-raising actor and as an Irishman. His distinguished career saw him conquer the stage and screen as one of our greatest movie stars.
However, between his time on stage and screen, O’Toole spent his life in Connemara, a place he called home, a place that offered him a refuge and respite from the pressures of the world of entertainment.
Featuring rare family archive and interviews with his daughter Kate O’Toole, friends and co-stars, including Twiggy, Brian Blessed and Irish co-stars Bryan Murray, Jim Bartley and Mary Coughlan, Peter O’Toole – Realta & Rogaire is the definitive account of the life and career of one of our greatest movie stars and his enduring love of Ireland. Produced by Dearg Films.
Peter O’Toole – Réalta & Rógaire on TG4 on Christmas Day at 9.25pm.
A NASA spacecraft has apparently “touched” the sun for the first time
In NASA they thought, just for fun
“Let’s send a probe into the sun”
The findings they’ve got
Suggests it’s quite hot
Which justifies all that they’ve done
The huge political danger today is not that 80 Tory MPs stop the new Covid measures – it’s that they legitimise mass defiance by their far right/self-centred/conspiracy nut voting base – that’s why it’s vital Labour stood firm on the measures… 1/
3/ .. Labour MUST today demand increased sick pay. A big reservoir of vaccine hesitancy is ultra-low paid (eg food, packing and assembly) workplaces where nobody has any rights. The economics are vital for boosting uptake
Tonight I will oppose both compulsory vaccines for NHS staff, and the introduction of vaccine passports. Both measures are counterproductive and will create division when we need cooperation and unity.
