This afternoon.
Portobello, Dublin.
Karl Ffrench writes:
Members of the Dolphin’s Barn Dublin Fire Brigade conducting a training session and testing new equipment…
Covid masks in the water, anyone?
Pics by Karl Ffrench
Susan Ryan (right) says she will re-open her Cork city beauty salon
This afternoon.
Further to the arrest yesterday of Christine McTiernan following the re-opening of her beauty salon in Balbriggan, County Dublin…
…Speaking to Neil Prendeville on Red FM, Susan Ryan of Susan Ryan Beauty in Cork city said she had made a “firm commitment” to re-open her salon within the next week.
“When we went into lockdown first we took it on the chin. But there was a plan then.We were told to make our salons safe, and we did that at a huge expense. Fat lot of good it did us,” she said.
Ms Ryan said the country was now in the longest lockdown of any country in the world and was “no better off” for it.
“We were told to flatten the curve, to bring down the curve, but now the Government is saying we have to wipe out the virus. That is never going to happen.”
Munster businesses threaten to flout Covid-19 restrictions and reopen (irish Examiner)
Meanwhile…
Exclusive: Balbriggan Salon owner Christine McTiernan has vowed not to reopen her salon during the current lockdown as part of her bail conditions after she was charged yesterday with Health Act breaches. Full story in today’s Irish Daily Star @IsFearrAnStar pic.twitter.com/GU0KD66uf9
— Nicola Donnelly (@kikid2012) February 25, 2021
Last night: A Terrible Beauty
Meanwhile…
A colleague points out that 20 Gardai, in six cars, were sent to Balbriggan to shut down a woman who opened her hair salon. But Darina Allen gets a nice writeup in the Examiner for largely the same offence.
You don’t play by the same rules, as an “ordinary” person in Ireland. https://t.co/bo0zBvVIJy
— John McGuirk (@john_mcguirk) February 25, 2021
Good times.
Earlier: The Ballymaloe Bubble
Communicorp, the radio group owned by Denis O’Brien, has agreed a sale of the company to UK group Bauer Media Audio for an undisclosed sum
This morning.
Via Newstalk:
Bauer Media Audio has today announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Communicorp Group subject only to regulatory approval.
The group comprises of Ireland’s only two national commercial radio stations Today FM and Newstalk, alongside local stations Spin 1038 and 98FM in Dublin, and Spin Southwest in Limerick, as well as leading digital radio sport station Off The Ball, digital audio exchange audioXI and aggregated listening platform GoLoud.
Meanwhile…
Claims it was sold for "north of €100million"….when only made profit of €1.6 million last year, implying new owners paid 62 times earnings for a faltering asset? Seriously?? 🤔https://t.co/5VuUmfxy6H
— David McWilliams (@davidmcw) February 25, 2021
Meanwhile…
And so ends Denis O'Brien's decades as one of the world's worst media tycoons. He has lost many hundreds of millions…created a small talk radio station and a few small pop stations in one small country. Otherwise he has overpaid repeatedly and invested badly.
— Tom Lyons (@TomLyonsBiz) February 25, 2021
Fears – vines
And for her next trick…
Budding indie-tronica artist Constance Keane (top) aka Fears goes from strength to strength on the new single from her forthcoming debut album Oiche, out on May 7.
The video features the megalithic portal dolmen at Ballybrack, south county Dublin.
Fears says:
“This track was written before a breakdown. It chronicles a stage where one blames themselves and sees that it is only them that is the problem in a situation. Listening back, I hear myself drowning in confusion as to why I can’t control my feelings and want to shed those thought patterns.”
Nick says: Cheers for Fears.
https://vimeo.com/505637007
An award-winning atmospheric 2019 short by Agnès Patron exploring the emotional turmoil of a young boy as his mother’s attention switches to her new lover.
Masterful minimal storytelling.
Patron explains more here.
Unshareable
at
Loyalism, but in a house share in Cork pic.twitter.com/WNDGegEzmA
— Tadhgín (@TadhgHickey) February 25, 2021
The house meeting from Hell.
Thanks John Gallen
E’s Are Good
at
The ‘electric option’ will be available to annual subscribers for an additional €60 per annum
This morning.
Via Dublin City Council:
Dublin City Council, JCDecaux and the National Transport Authority (NTA) have today announced that the NOW TV dublinbikes scheme will be enhanced with the upgrade of 50% of the fleet of 1,600 to hybrid electric bikes, commencing on March 30 when the first batch of e-dublinbikes will be launched. The bikes can also be operated as a regular pedal bike when the personal battery is not in use.
The electric option will be available to annual subscribers for an additional €60 per annum. Existing subscribers can choose to add the e-dublinbikes option to their current subscription.
Meanwhile…
…what about the battery?
The personal battery is completely portable and allows subscribers to benefit from electrical assistance for up to 8km per charge when using an e-dublinbike. It comes with a charger, measures less than 170mm and weighs 530 grams so it can easily fit in a jacket pocket or small bag. It is equipped with a micro USB-C port and can be used as an external battery to charge mobile phones or tablets when not being used on a bike.
Fair enough.
Pic: Fennell Photography
This morning.
The latest The Phoenix magazine.
On shelves now.
Meanwhile…
Via The Guardian:
Princess Latifa, a daughter of Dubai’s ruler who claims to have been held in captivity by her father since 2018, has asked UK police to re-investigate the kidnapping more than 20 years ago of her sister, Princess Shamsa, according to a letter reported by the BBC.
The BBC reported that in a letter handwritten in 2019 – but passed to Cambridgeshire police on Wednesday – Latifa says the police may be able to free Shamsa, who was abducted on the orders of her father when she was 19.
“Your help and attention on her case could free her,” Latifa reportedly wrote
Princess Latifa letter urges UK police to investigate sister’s Cambridge abduction (The Guardian)
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has found that the Government has persistently blurred the boundary between legal requirements and public health guidance in its response to Covid-19,in a report authored by the Covid-19 Law and Human Rights Observatory in Trinity College Dublin
‘A more deep-seated problem is the way in which the Government has provided misleading descriptions of the law and allowed or encouraged a confused blurring of law and guidance such that it is close to impossible for conscientious citizens to identify the extent of their legal obligations.’
This morning.
Via RTÉ:
The study has been published by the commission as part of its mandate to keep under review the adequacy and effectiveness of law and practice in the State relating to human rights and equality.
‘Ireland’s Emergency Powers During the Covid-19 Pandemic’ looks at the four statutes and more than 65 sets of regulations enacted between March and December 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The report finds that shifting relationships between the Government and the National Public Health Emergency Team and limited opportunities for Oireachtas oversight have made it difficult to ascertain where, if at all, human rights and equality concerns are being addressed.
Full report here