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Following a Patrick O’Leary sending a petition to the Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions last month – to have Conor McGregor’s face placed on €1 coins – Sinn Féin TD Padraig MacLochlainn told the committee last evening it can’t happen.

Not least because he can’t get a hold of Mr O’Leary.

Mr MacLochlainn explained…

“‘Put Conor McGregor on the €1 coin’ – this [petition] is from a Mr Patrick O’Leary. We’ve deliberated on this petition and unfortunately because we haven’t been able to establish contact with the petitioner, our rules are clear, it has to be deemed inadmissible.

“So, what we have thought about this is that, we would advise the petitioner, or any other interested party, that they may wish to contact the Central Bank to establish the EU rules around both commemorative coins and the normal EU coinage which may have restrictions negating the proposal made in this petition so… while unfortunately we can’t deem it admissible, and take any further action on it, it is a matter of public interest around how decisions are made and who goes on coins…”

Petition to put Conor McGregor’s face on €1 coin deemed inadmissible (Newstalk)

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Taoiseach Enda Kenny shaking hands with Sgt Maurice McCabe in Mullingar, Co. Westmeath during the 2014 local and European elections

You may recall how Mr Justice Kevin O’Higgins was appointed last year to carry out a Commission of Investigation into allegations made by Sergeant Maurice McCabe, following a report by Sean Guerin SC, who recommended such an investigation take place.

The allegations pertained to allegations of Garda corruption and malpractice in the Cavan-Monaghan division.

Further to this, the Commission has requested more time to carry out its work and asked for its deadline to be extended until April 29.

The Department of Justice sez:

“The Minister for Justice and Equality, Frances Fitzgerald, TD, has extended the reporting date for the O’Higgins Commission of Investigation by three months to end April 2016 following a request from the Commission.”

“This Commission of Investigation was established to investigate and report on certain matters relative to the Cavan/Monaghan Division of the Garda Síochána and has Mr Justice Kevin O’Higgins as Sole Member. The Commission commenced its work on 10 February 2015 and was set an indicative period of one year within which to report.”

“The Commission submitted an Interim Report on 14 December 2015 requesting the Minister to exercise her powers under section 6(6) of the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004 to provide a three month extension for the Commission to report. The Commission is now proposing to report by 29 April 2016. The Minister has granted the extension.”

See the interim report here.

More to follow.

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The way life used to be.

The next Banter event will take place on Wednesday, January 27 at 6pm, at MVP, Dublin 8, where Jenny Keogh (photographer, film-maker and director of Story Bud?), Aoife Dooley (Dublin Hun creator and illustrator) and Sophie Gorman (journalist and critic) will talk about the evolution of the Dublin accent.

Bodytonic writes:

Just what does Dublin sound sound like? In 2016, there’s a wide range of accents classifiable as the Dublin accent depending on which part of the city or county you happen to be in. We know the ones which are the stuff of caricature and mimic but there’s more to this than just Ross O’Carroll Kelly and Love/Hate.

Over the years, the Dublin accent – as well as the city’s slang, language and lexicon – has changed and morphed numerous times. Be it on the streets, the stage or the screen, what passes for what we hear around us in the the city in 2016 is a lot different to what it was 20 years ago or even in the rare aul’ times.

For this Banter, we’re looking at how these changes happened, the influences on accents, the unique confluence of events which have made Dublin accents turn out the way they have, the effect of various geographical divides on the dialect and just what the city might sound like a few years from now.

Tickets are €5.

FOIGHT!

Banter: Howya – The evolution of the Dublin accent (Eventbrite)

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The Independent (UK) reports:

An anti-abortion campaign group in Ireland have been derided online for holding an event on women’s healthcare – with only male speakers.

Family and Life, a Dublin-based organisation, is holding an event tomorrow evening in the capital city. Titled ‘How to Protect the 8th amendment’ in reference to the constitutional clause which bans abortion, the event is described as “pro-life”.

The discussion will feature three men; David Quinn, Patrick Carr and Paddy Manning.

Sharing the poster online, Laura Lee commented:

“Oh super. A conference on women’s wombs, run by men. Welcome to Ireland.”

…One of the speakers, David Quinn, has defended the event, telling The Independent: “I don’t regard abortion as a woman’s healthcare issue only but as a right-to-life issue as well.

“The right to life of the unborn is obviously at stake in this debate and that is a human rights issue, not a woman’s issue or a man’s issue per se.”

Irish pro life group criticised for all-male panel on abortion (The Independent)

Family & Life (Facebook)

Previously: The X-iles

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Visual glitches and asymmetries of the human form sculpted from blocks of laminated wood by Perth based artist Paul Kaptein.

Kaptein is currently exhibiting at Krauss Gallery NYC where – should you be in the neighbourhood – the full 360° discombobulation of his pieces can be appreciated to full effect.

booooooom

Broadsheet.ie