Earlier today.

The moment Catalonia declared independence from Spain.

Further to this.

The Guardian reports:

Spain’s senate has granted the country’s prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, unprecedented powers to impose direct rule on Catalonia minutes after the region’s parliament voted to establish an independent republic on Friday afternoon.

Rajoy, who has vowed to stop the region becoming independent, is now expected to call a cabinet meeting to begin assuming control of the region and sacking its president, Carles Puigdemont.

On Friday afternoon, Catalan MPs voted for independence by a margin of 70 votes to 10. Two ballot papers were blank.

The result was greeted with jubilation by pro-independence MPs, who applauded and began singing the Catalan anthem, Els Segadors.

Spain imposes direct rule after Catalonia votes to declare independence (The Guardian)

Related: Beyond Catalonia: pro-independence movements in Europe (The Guardian)

Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Heather Humphries

On The Appointment of Director of Failed Bank
To Executive Board of Literature Ireland

for Jonathan Sugarman

My Dear Writers & Readers,

Adhering to recent Arts Council guidelines,
we are adjusting
our corporate governance structures
to include more criminal psychopaths
and people who just don’t know what they’re doing
per capita than are allowed exist
wherever the average eejit gathers
to do his or her thing.

To this end, and furthermore, to help me,
I mean ‘us’, avail of the expertise
of those with experience running the real economy,
I am appointing to my board a man
with a wide-brimmed felt hat
who has supplied political and business
conferences down and up the country
with all levels of women.

To assist in the enforcement area
we are anointing a bloke who for our purposes
will go by the name “Anto”;
who may have unexplained income
about which the Criminal Assets Bureau
would love to have a chat
but that is none of my business or,
if you know what’s good for you, yours.

Finally, from next month
the skeleton of a different one
of David Loyd George’s mistresses
will sit in on each of our meetings
to advise on social agility.

Yours transparently,

Chief Administrator,
Literature Ireland

Kevin Higgins

Rollingnews

Meanwhile…

In fairness.

Last night.

A warm thank you to , clockwise from top: Neil Curran, Derek Mooney, ‘Preposterous‘, Tony Groves, Johnny Keenan and Olga Cronin, our panel on last night’s Broadsheet on the Telly.

The show, which aired at the new time of 10pm, can be viewed in its entirety above.

Topics tackled included tracker scandal, Tom Humphries and the release of files on the JFK assassination.

The latter allowed lone nutter ‘Preposterous’ to once again question an official story. What a feeble-minded conspiracy loontard!

A little light swearing.

Plus: Spot the tortoise?

Previously: Broadsheet on the Telly

From top: Sgt Maurice McCabe; former Garda Commissioners Martin Callinan and Noirin O’Sullivan

Last evening.

The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) issued a statement announcing the appointment of former Garda Commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan as the IACP’s Director of Strategic Partnerships for Europe.

It’s a newly created role.

Readers will recall how the Disclosures Tribunal is currently examining claims that a smear campaign was conducted against Garda whistleblower Sgt Maurice McCabe by former Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan – with the knowledge of Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan – as alleged by the former head of the Garda Press Office, Superintendent David Taylor.

It’s examining how a ‘humping’ allegation made in 2006, pertaining to a game of hide and seek in 1998 by the daughter of a guard previously disciplined by Sgt McCabe – an allegation which the DPP found in 2007 had no foundation – became a false allegation of rape in 2013 and was circulated among gardai, Tusla, politicians and members of the media.

Mr Callinan and Ms O’Sullivan are expected to give evidence in November/December.

Both Mr Callinan and Ms O’Sullivan deny the allegations.

Readers will also recall how, during the O’Higgins Commission of Investigation in 2015 – which looked into Sgt McCabe’s allegations of Garda misconduct – legal counsel for the then Garda Commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan said that evidence would be produced to show that Sgt McCabe had told two other gardai that he made his complaints out of malice at a meeting in Mullingar in 2008.

This claim of intention on the part of An Garda Siochana was later dropped as Sgt McCabe went on to produce a recording of the meeting which proved this was untrue.

In addition, Broadsheet reported in August that An Garda Siochana told the commission that what motivated Sgt McCabe to act out of malice was that he wanted the 2007 directions from the DPP, in respect of Ms D’s 2006 “humping” allegation, overturned.

This claim, by An Garda Siochana, was based on the belief that Sgt McCabe never saw the full instructions.

However Sgt McCabe had seen the instructions and knew they were unequivocally in his favour.

When Sgt McCabe made this known at the commission, this claim was also dropped by An Garda Siochana.

Further to this…

Some people have been tweeting the IACP.

Previously: Absence Of Malice

‘There Isn’t An Error In His Favour’

‘Weird Is Not The Word’

Broadsheet.ie