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Agro Phobia – DIY Limerick noise

What you may need to know…

01. In 1981/1982, teenagers Brian Hartnett and Barry Warner didn’t have much in the way of musical equipment with which to take out their frustrations. So they improvised.

02. AGRO PHOBIA was the result of the two lads bashing out noises on piano, Stylophone, and whatever household implements were handy at that moment. Rhythm tracks were recorded into one tape recorder, which was then played back as ambient backing audio for the duo’s improvisations.

03. Streaming above is Waiting Room, the first song to be publicly released from the duo’s FIRST CASSETTE, a compilation of the duo’s hitherto unreleased body of work.

04. FIRST CASSETTE releases digitally this week through The Unscene, a marked shift into noisier climes for the doggedly DIY hip-hop label.

Verdict: A time capsule, alternately harsh in its sparse, detached nature and poignant in the toll time has taken on the recordings, comforting in its layers of tape distortion.

The Unscene

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Staff at Independent News and Media are to protest outside a company meeting today over a 70% cut to their pension benefits.

Earlier this month INM announced it would no longer be contributing to the defined benefit pension scheme, which will now have to close.

Separately, the company will today seek shareholder approval for measures that would permit the resumption of dividend payments for shareholders including businessmen Denis O’Brien and Dermot Desmond, who between them own almost 45% of the company.

In 2013, Independent News and Media restructured its defined benefit pension scheme.

Under that ten-year plan, staff had to accept benefit cuts of around 40%.

But last month INM announced  that it would cease contributions to that scheme citing factors including regulatory funding requirements and falling bond yields.

INM staff set to protest over pension cuts of 70% (RTE)

UPDATE:

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Ingrid Miley tweetz:

Union briefing re: pension cuts at INM gets underway – protest to follow outside EGM at 13.30…

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Yesterday

O’Moore Park, Portlaoise, County Laois

Cuala 3-19 O’Loughlin Gaels 2-16

Luke Brennan writes:

The last time I was at a Cuala match in Portlaoise was 25 years ago. That year (1991), a great crop of Dalkey, County Dublin hurlers had won their second hurling championship in 3 years, but were beaten by a strong Birr team in the semi-final.

We left the game thinking that there was always next year…

It was 21 years before Cuala won another Dublin hurling championship (2015). They repeated it this year and yesterday went  on to add their first Leinster title to it.

I can’t tell you how happy I felt to see members of the 1991 team back on the same pitch, celebrating the win with the players. John Treacy, Karl Schutte and Maurice O Callaghan were part of the squad back then.

Yesterday, each of those 3 had two sons on the winning team (David Treacy, Sean Treacy, Mark Schutte, Paul Schutte, Con O’Callaghan and Cian O’Callaghan). It’s also worth mentioning that the Schutte’s are nephews of Vinnie, Mick and PJ Holden who served the club so admirably back in the day.

Winning this Leinster title is the result of generations of endeavour. It’s richly deserved and to be enjoyed by a great young Cuala team. We’re very proud.

Cuala GAA

Mattie Kenny: Progress for Cuala meant lifting Leinster title (RTÉ)

Broadsheet.ie