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Dave and Fred from our Marriage Referendum pets series last year

With regard to Lara Marlowe and Karlin Lillington’s “The real debate: canines or felines?” (February 6th), it is a popular misconception that cats are more intelligent than dogs; in fact the reverse is true. The concept of intelligence is all but impossible to define, but most would consider the capacity for relationship to be an indicator of some kind of mental competency.

Dogs, which were first domesticated around 15,000 years, are pack animals and evolved to live as part of often complex social hierarchies. Cats, first domesticated around 12,000 years ago with the onset of the agricultural revolution, evolved as solitary creatures. The latter came to live in proximity to humans thanks to their interest in the rats that congregated around early-agricultural grain stores. As such, they never actually wanted to be close to humans per se.

The “panting, tail-wagging excitement” Lara Marlowe cites is actually indicative of dogs’ more complex psychology, while the “mystery” and “intelligence” of cats derives from the fact their mental capacities are relatively limited. It is not that cats are aloof; they are simply incapable of love, and what is often mistaken for sophistication is in in reality a zombie-like vacuity. Cats are rather like furry goldfish.

Luke Holland,
Ranelagh,
Dublin 6.

FIGHT!

Cats and dogs – the real debate (Irish Times)

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Former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis will attend a Right2Water/Right2Change protest in Dublin on Saturday, February 20 – ahead of the general election on Friday, February 26.

Meanwhile, free Saturday?

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Speakers at Saturday’s event will include John Barry, Maude Barlow, John Hilary, Ann Pettifor  and Yanis Varoufakis, via video link.

Tickets are €10 from here.

Yanis Varoufakis to campaign with anti-water charges group (Irish Times)

Right2Change Conference (Facebook)

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Screenshots from the latest Daft.ie rental report published today which show the average year-on-year change in rental prices in Dublin; across the country; and a table showing ‘mortgage v rent’ costs  (click to enlarge)

Daft.ie has released it’s latest quarterly rental report this morning.

Some of its findings…

– Rents in central Dublin have risen 46% since 2010.

– Fewer than 1,400 properties were available to rent in Dublin on February 1, the lowest figure recorded since the Daft.ie series started in 2006.

– Fewer than 750 homes were available to rent in Leinster on February 1, the lowest figure recorded since the Daft.ie series started in 2006.

– Just 771 homes were available to rent in Munster on February 1, the lowest figure recorded since the Daft.ie series started in 2006.

– Fewer than 700 homes were available to rent in Connacht and Ulster on November 1, the lowest figure since 2007.

Author of the report and Trinity College Dublin economist Ronan Lyons writes:

Nationwide, there were just 3,600 homes available to rent on February 1st, by far the lowest total since the series started in 2006.

This lack of availability stems from a lack of construction activity at a time when Ireland’s population has grown year-on-year throughout the last decade.

Some of the reasons given for this lack of construction sound plausible at first glance but don’t stack up. For example, it is often said that banks won’t lend like they used to, or that Irish developers are either too bust or too greedy to build.

But none of that explains why Dublin in particular is witnessing such a boom in commercial construction activity, especially new office space.

Or why international developers, who work off relatively tight margins in many other countries, can’t make the numbers stack up in Ireland.

The Daft.ie Rental Report

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Ronan Kealy writes:

I’m a bit of movie buff and enjoy doing some video editing now and again on the side. Anyway, I have createda Steven Spielberg montage. It includes clips from about 30 of his movies, including the big ones like E.T., Indiana Jones, and Jurassic Park. It’s just for fun and wanted to get it out there to see what people think of it.

Broadsheet.ie