This evening.
The Liberties, Dublin
John Gallen writes:
Just saw this on top of the old St James’ Church, James St. New home of billionaire Pearse Lyons/ All Tech distillery visitor centre. Pretty Cool eh?
Fight!
Former Galway Fine Gael TD Brian Walsh
Via The Sunday Times Ireland:
While [Fine Gael TD] Brian Walsh, 43, announced he would not be standing for re-election in his Galway seat last November, he told a local radio station that he would “most certainly” see out his term until election day.
Walsh resigned his seat on January 14, three weeks before President Michael D Higgins dissolved the Dail and the election was called.
On November 11, Walsh told the Keith Finnegan Show on Galway Bay FM he would not be getting a “gravy train” payout, or any pension until he was 66. The TD promised he would “most certainly” fulfil his mandate “right up until election date”.
However, on December 16, Walsh wrote to the Oireachtas to apply for “early retirement on grounds of ill health”. {Walsh said he had been admitted to hospital in 2013 “with acute diverticulitis” and spent nine days under a consultant’s care]
If his application is granted he can get his pension now instead of waiting 23 years until he is 66.
The decision will be made by Labour’s Brendan Howlin, the ceann comhairle Seán Barrett and the Seanad cathaoirleach Paddy Burke, who are trustees of the Oireachtas pension scheme.
They could grant Walsh a notional extra five years’ service if they assume he would have been re-elected were it not for his illness.
The total benefit before retirement age could be worth almost €500,000 over 23 years.
Good times.
Walsh vowed to forgo TD pension (Mark Tighe, Sunday Times)
Rollingnews
In 1899, Scottish American engineer Alexander Graham Bell, the man best known as the inventor of the telephone, began investigating the possibility of powered flight. To wit:
Inspired by the box kites of Australian [aeronautical pioneer] Laurence Hargrave, Bell began to multiply the lift-providing cells, creating compound structures of multiple kites.The basic problem of creating flying objects is that as a body’s surface area is squared, its weight is cubed, limiting the maximum size and lifting capability. Over the course of years experimenting at his Nova Scotia laboratory, Bell discovered that a tetrahedron — a three-dimensional prism of four triangular sides — could be useful.
READ ON: Bell’s Tetrahedral Kites (Mashable)
Taoiseach Enda Kenny in Brussels this morning
In Brussels.
Several Irish journalists asked Taoiseach Enda Kenny questions as he arrived for a meeting between Turkey and the EU’s heads of states or government – to discuss the numbers of refugees reaching Europe.
It’s being reported that Turkey is now seeking €20billion in return for Turkey taking back all non-Syrian refugees from Europe.
In addition, Turkey wants faster accession talks and quicker visa-free travel for its citizens within Europe.
Readers may wish to note that Ireland’s naval service rescued more than 8,000 people from Italy-bound boats off the coast of Libya and haven’t been present in the Aegean Sea to date, where boats of refugees, leaving Turkey, are bound for the Greek islands.
Ann Cahill (Irish Examiner): “Can Ireland not do any more? In terms of helping the situation. I mean we have very few of the EU’s first-time asylum-seekers last year and I know we’re taking some but could we not do more?
Enda Kenny: “The problem is not only on the Irish side, we’re actually not, as you know, part of the protocol, Ann, but the thing is that we’ve taken some from resettlement and relocation. We’re committed to taking 4,000 and we’re working towards that with the personnel that we have, from Ireland, coming to both Greece and to Italy and with the hotspots and the personnel working there.”
Cahill: “Can we not take more from Turkey?”
Kenny: “Well I think we should first of all be able to deal with what we’ve got with the commitment that we’ve entered into. I might say, I spoke this morning as well to the Minister for Defence [Simon Coveney], I expect that it’s our intention to send one of our vessels down to the Mediterranean again, in order to help with the situation there, in so far as humanitarian assistance is concerned whether that be as part of the formally, of the European response or on a bi-lateral basis will be worked out. But it’s our intention to send a further vessel down.”
Cahill: “And will they take people back to Turkey if…”
Kenny: “Well that has to be worked out in respect of sending them down first of all and in what role they’ll play there either as part of a formal European, humanitarian response or as a bi-lateral arrangement as we had before.”
Cahill: “And would you favour that, would you..”
Kenny: “I’m fully in support of the call and the intention of sending a further vessel down, they did rescue 8,000 people on the last occasion.”
Watch in full here
Previously: Cannon Fodder
Ireland And The Turkey Refugee Facility
‘We Can Bus The Refugees To Greece’
Related: EU migration summit stalls as Turkey ups demands – live (The Guardian)
This afternoon
Croke Park
Up to 6,000 school students from every Secondry School in Ireland receive the National Flag, in Croke Park, the first of series of official State events taking place over the next four weeks as part of the Ireland 2016 Centenary Programme.
Day off school, in fairness.
Sam Boal/Rollingnews
Slops
at
This afternoon
South Great George’s Street, Dublin 2
CL writes:
The Mercantile bar on Dame St thinks it is acceptable to dump empty kegs on Georges St for months. DCC [Dublin City Council] have been useless. What do BS readers think?
Map Quest
at
The country of Palestine does not appear on Google maps. Why not? Israel, established on Palestinian land, is clearly designated. But there is no mention of Palestine. According to Google, Palestine does not exist.
Google: Put Palestine On Your Maps! (Petition.org)
Thanks John Gallen
Adrian Hardiman (top) in 2006; Justice Susan Denham this afternoon
This afternoon
The Supreme Court
At a special sitting of the Supreme Court on Monday afternoon, Ms Justice Susan Denham told the packed court she and her colleagues on the court had lost a “a good and true friend”.
The Presidents of the Court of Appeal and High Court, Mr Justice Sean Ryan and Mr Justice Peter Kelly, joined the Chief Justice and the other Supreme Court judges to sit in memory of the late judge whose chair was left empty for the brief special sitting, which was televised.
Rollingnews
Meanwhile…
Barrister Adrian Hardiman discusses the 1983 pro life amendemnt with RTÉ’s John Bowman and Brendan Shorthall of the pro-life campaign on Today Tonight.
Thanks LCD
Volunteer knitters taking part in a Knitted Knockers Knit-In at the bookshop Vibes and Scribes on Bridge Street in Cork at the weekend; and a selection of knitted knockers
Knitted Knockers are soft, lightweight breast prosthesis which can be placed in any bra.
They are knitted or crocheted by volunteers and given free of charge to women who request them.
Last Saturday Knitted Knockers Ireland held their first knit-in – in Vibes and Scribes bookshop in Cork city – where volunteer knitters came together to make them.
Anyone can request knitted knockers by leaving a private message on the Knitted Knockers Ireland Facebook page here.
The message should contain the bra size needed, if you want a single knitted knocker or a pair, if you have a colour preference and your name and address.
Anyone who would like to volunteer to knit or crochet the knitted knockers can also contact the group on their Facebook page.
Fair play, in fairness.
Ehrm
at
Paul Quinlan tweetz:
…check out everybody’s favourite hitman when he was dad to a gymnastic prodigy in 1984