Ireland’s Rhys Ruddock (left) and France’s Charles Ollivon contest the line-out during a Six Nations match at the Aviva Stadium last Sunday

This afternoon.

Suite aux tests PCR réalisés hier soir à Marcoussis auprès du XV de France, tous les joueurs ont été testés négatifs, un membre de l’encadrement technique a été testé positif, ainsi qu’un cas suspicieux et non avéré concernant Fabien Galthié qui sera testé à nouveau ce matin.

Huh?

Tournoi des 6 Nations : Protocole sanitaire (FFR)

Rapscallion writes:

French rugby team go into quarantine as a staff member gets positive result.

Eau.

This afternoon

Oireachtas Children Committee.

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman is taking questions on the deletion of witness testimony from the Mother and Baby Home report.

Watch live here.

Earlier...

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman

This morning.

Minister for Children Roderic O’Gorman has defended the deletion of audio files of witness testimony at the Mother and Baby Homes Commission.

Many survivors say their testimonies were changed and the Data Protection Commissioner has asked the commission to provide a legal basis for the deletion of the records.

Via RTÉ News:

In a letter sent to the committee last week, Mr O’Gorman said the commission asked for witnesses’ permission to record their testimonies on the clear understanding that they would only be used as an aide memoire for compiling the report and would then be destroyed.

Mr O’Gorman said that while he did not speak for the commission, this approach was taken in order to protect people who wanted to engage confidentially with the inquiry.

“In the absence of such arrangements, those whom the State wished to encourage to engage with the process might have been inhibited from ever disclosing information. Such inhibition could have defeated the very objective of establishing the inquiry.”

Minister O’Gorman will appear before the Oireachtas Children Committee at 4pm.

Deletion of witness recordings at Mother and Baby Homes Commission defended (RTÉ)

Yesterday: ‘Time Is Not A Luxury That Many Survivors Have’

RollingNews

Behold: the Rosette Nebula, aka Caldwell 49 or NGC 2237 or NGC 2238 or NGC 2239 or NCG 2244 or NGC 2246 depending on what way you look at it. To wit:

The bland New General Catalog designation of NGC 2237 doesn’t appear to diminish the appearance of this flowery emission nebula, at the top of the image, atop a long stem of glowing hydrogen gas. Inside the nebula lies an open cluster of bright young stars designated NGC 2244. These stars formed about four million years ago from the nebular material and their stellar winds are clearing a hole in the nebula’s centre, insulated by a layer of dust and hot gas. Ultraviolet light from the hot cluster stars causes the surrounding nebula to glow. The Rosette Nebula spans about 100 light-years across, lies about 5000 light-years away, and can be seen with a small telescope towards the constellation of the Unicorn (Monoceros).

(Image: Adam Block & Tim Puckett)

apod

*drool*

By popular demand.

Frilly’s Hot Cross Buns

You will need:

300mls full fat milk, 50gms butter.
500gms Strong plain flour, 75gms Caster Sugar, 1tsp Salt, 7gms Fast Action Yeast (standard sachet), 1 well-beaten egg.
75gms Sultanas, 25gms dried Apple bits (or two peeled, cored and chopped), zest of 1 Orange, 1tsp of Cinnamon.
85gms plain flour (plus more for dusting,etc) and water to mix a paste substance
Apricot Jam – 2-3tbls.
A good-sized bowl, light oil and cling film, wooden spoon, baking trays.

Instructions:

Bring the butter and milk to a just below boil, as it cools whisk to combine, let it cool to baby bottle wrist check temperature.

Mix flour, sugar, and yeast, then tip in the salt, mix again, then create a well centre.

Tip in the milk and butter solution, then the whisked egg. Blend with a wooden spoon to form a sticky dough ball.

On a floured surface, and well-floured hands, start your knead. This is a stretch knead – heel of one hand holding down one end and stretching out t’other. Fold over back on itself, and repeat for 5 mins. You will see it smoothing out and getting more elastic. When you achieve this, it’s ready for its first proof.

Lightly oil a good-sized bowl, and a stretch of clingfilm (I usually do that bit first, I layer the clingfilm over the back of the bowl and swipe it all over with a pastry). I use a light thin rapeseed. You do this so the dough won’t catch the sides as it swells, and the oiled side of the cling film cover is to prevent a rind forming.

Sit your dough ball in and cover the top of the bowl with the oil side down sheet of cling film, make sure there is loads of head room between your dough and the cover, so use a pasta pot if you have to.

Sit it somewhere cosy for a good hour, let it double in size, there is no rush, let it do the work for you. Don’t be a dough watcher You’ll know its ready for the next stage if it’s boldly doubled in size.

Keep your dough in the bowl, and tip in your Sultanas, Cinnamon, *Apple and Orange Zest. Or whatever your combination of fruits, fresh, dried or even candied, and spices are.

* Now I use dried apple purely for convenience and sourced from one of my best lockdown round 1 finds.

If you use Fresh Apple, just watch the colour and the moisture. Dough recipe can cope with 50 gms candied peel and an extra tsp of spices, mixed, nutmeg, whatever, doesn’t have to be cinnamon.

Knead the fruits and spice into the dough while still in the bowl. Cover with your oiled cling film again, and leave it back in its cosy spot for another hour, or till its doubled in size again.

When you’re happy with it, weigh the dough ball, and decide how many you want out of it, 12 – 15 is about right.

Cut into equal portions, and form balls, this can be awkward because of the sultanas, etc., but they don’t have to be teacake perfect.

Sit each of your bun balls onto lined baking trays and cover again in lightly oiled cling film, or even a clean tea towel. You don’t want a rind forming, and this is its last proof btw. So give it another hour.

Meanwhile, make your paste, take the plain flour and start to mix tbls of water at a time, until you have achieved a wallpaper paste consistency – pour or edge your paste into an icing bag, if you have one, if you don’t improvise with some freezer bags or parchment paper rolled into a cone shape.

When your dough balls are nicely swollen, dispose of the cling film and criss-cross away.

To the oven:

Hot oven – preheated of course: 200º fan or 220º/ Gas mark 7

20 minutes – don’t flinch here at the strong golden-brown colour that will come over them

While they rest on a cooling tray, loosen up your jam by warming it up, sieve if you have to, it needs to be glossy smooth, and while your glaze is still warm brush over your buns.

A couple of hints:

All dough needs is patience – arrange your prep around errands chores telly etc, and you’ll not even notice, you might even forget. You can never proof dough too much, but not enough proofing is a mistake you can’t get your bake back from.
Also, by letting the buns go a deep brown you are getting yourself a proper Hollywood handshake crust
This bake is way easier to do, than reading and following the recipe. I promise.

Text and pics by Vanessa Foran

J Smith featuring Nnic – I’m Sorry

A new beginning.

Following the break-up of his band Gypsies On The Autobahn, singer James Smith (top) has launched a solo career and I’m Sorry is his new single.

James writes:

“I’m Sorry was written for a friend years ago. They had recently broken up with their long-term partner out of the blue and they felt they couldn’t deal with it. I got a call soon after, telling of their despair and that they had talked themselves out of doing something regrettable. “The song was a hand on their shoulder, to let them know that I was thinking of them, that I was trying to place myself in their shoes.”

James was joined in the studio by Dylan Lynch and Donagh Seaver O’Leary (Soda Blonde) and brother Daniel Smith (Gypsies on the Autobahn) as well as singer Naoise Fitzgerald (Nnic).

Nick says: Song Smith.

J Smith

Broadsheet.ie