A brief and giggly interview on Radio Kerry this morning with Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly (above), a 26-year-old student from Cromane, Co Kerry, who has been nominated for an Oscar in the short animated category.

Fodhla becomes – apparently – the first person from the ‘Kingdom’ to be nominated for an Acadamy Award.

Took their time.

Listen here.

A still from Fodhla’s short Head Over Heels, which tells “the story of a married couple; one partner lives on the ceiling of their house while the other lives on the floor.”

Oscars 2013: British Students Celebrate ‘Head Over Heels’ Nomination (Variety)

(Pic: Angus Young)

You may recall Bryan’s anxious wait for news from the SUSI, the student application grant clearing house.

Well, he has some news.

And it’s a tale as old as time.

Bryan writes:

I have had an interesting few days with SUSI. Having heard nothing from them since December, I phoned them on Monday and it turns out they sent me an “award letter” in December, but they seeing as they sent it to my old address, they had to post me another one, this time to my new address.

Then I found out that I had been awarded the wrong amount: Only the student contribution was to be covered, €2,000, and I was going to have to pay the tuition fees of nearly €6,000 per year myself.

I thought enough was enough. I contacted a TD on Wednesday who had offered his help to me regarding SUSI months ago.

He contacted SUSI and exactly 24 hours later, yesterday (Thursday), my application had been reassessed, and I was awarded 100% of my tuition fees, as should have been the case from the beginning.

It takes them over 6 months to assess an application and award the wrong amount, but less than 24 hours to assess an application and award the correct amount when a TD is involved.

It says quite a lot about Irish bureaucracy, doesn’t it?

Previously: Waiting For SUSI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4_bdS3_gr0

What you may need to know:

1. Danny Boyle won the Best Director Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire (2008), having given us two of the most influential motion pictures of the modern age, Trainspotting  (1996) and 28 Days Later (2002). 127 Hours (2010) wasn’t half bad either.

2. Boyle is getting back to the day job after the whole Olympics thing. Word has it he turned down a knighthood the other week.

3. Trance was shot a year ago – Boyle took time out to do the Olympics, then came back and finished it.

4. We’re getting a distinct Trainspotting vibe, then it all goes a bit Shallow Grave (1994). Boyle’s old mucker Rick Smith (from Underworld) did the music.

5. He’s also dating his leading lady, Rosario Dawson (top). We love her.

6. Vincent Cassel! Always a pleasure.

7. James McAvoy is using his Hollywood clout to do smaller British movies, such as this, forthcoming Welcome To The Punch (2013) and an adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s Filth (2013).

8. Prognosis: Optimistic.

Release Date: March 2013

 

They don’t get cultures of openness, transparency and sharing, and the interrelationship of these individual-collective values that frame many peoples understanding of democracy power and agency. And they sure as fuck don’t get the lulz.

Libel laws have always been about controlling the medium itself rather than controlling what people can or can’t say, but the more mainstream media spin this as some muzzling on Twitter and the internet, the more they look like me talking about dubstep at a party. Daft.

In public… Ganley himself is being lauded by some as the saviour of decent polite discourse, but to other he looks like Cartman screaming “respect my authority”.

 

Declan Ganley’s €50: Social Media & the Virtual Reality of the Irish Political Class No 2 (Soundmigration)

(Mark Stedman/Photocall Ireland)

Yesterday, Caroline Simons stated in the Seanad that she was unaware of the American Christian TV channel, EWTN  despite her appearance in a fund-raising Irish pro-life video made for the station.

Now it has emerged she appeared on an hour-long edition of ‘Sunday Night Prime’ on EWTN at the end of April 2012.

In it, Caroline talks about the Late Late Show of April 20th last.

She questioned the timing of the appearance of four women who went to England for terminations and who later visited the Oireachtas to share their stories with TDs and senators.

She told EWTN viewers:

“This extraordinary situation where four people came out at the same time, you know, who had been told in very unusual circumstances that their babies were not going to live for long. One of them had been to England six weeks beforehand only, to have a termination. 

The fact that they came out was unusual and the timing of their coming out when a bill was before the Government was unusual. And partly, it came from the fact our leading newspaper of record had had two articles over the previous month of women telling their abortion stories and these four women had contacted this journalist and had told their stories and then decided to make it public. They got huge publicity, huge publicity. Our most watched prime time television programme last Friday night is called the Late Late Show. Those four women, I think maybe three of them were on last week, there was nobody on to counter what they had to say.”

Watch in full here.

So.

Anything we should know about the host of ‘Sunday Night Prime’, Father Benedict Groeschel?

Well maybe the less said the better.

Moved to another parish and all that.

Previously: An Easy Thing To Forget

The Nasty TD, The Smirking Senator

UPDATE: lest there be any confusion:

From yesterday’s hearing of the Joint Committee On Health and Children.

Deputy  Marcella Corcoran Kennedy: “Do the witnesses agree that there is a difference between guidelines and regulations and, if so, do they accept that guidelines do not have the force of law and could be legally challenged? Do those who are present who were recorded on the EWTN television channel agree with its statement that agents of the culture of death are attempting to have abortion legalised in this country and also that the Government is currently legalising abortion in Ireland under the guise of exceptional cases?”

Caroline Simons: “On the questions, I will deal with two together. We were asked whether we are lobbying politicians. We are not here to lobby politicians. We are here to answer questions to the best of our ability. I cannot help on the question of EWTN.”

Later

Deputy Marcella Corcoran Kennedy: “ITo clarify the EWTN comment I made earlier, I wish to advise Ms Simons that she ought to take a look at it. Not only is she on it, there is a comment on the end of it thanking her for contributing to the “Life Crisis in Ireland” programme. I believe my question is relevant in regard to whether there is an agreement that agents of the culture of death are attempting to have abortion legalised in this country. I believe it is a very valid question.”

Senator Jim Walsh: “Would the witnesses agree or disagree with me that protection for the unborn is the real human rights issue of our day?”

Chairman Jerry Buttimer: I would ask respondents to be very brief.

Caroline Simons: “I was not aware I was on EWTN. I do not know any agents of the culture of death, I hope. Certainly, they have not identified themselves as such to me. That is not to say I do not believe that there are interests within and outside Ireland who are trying to influence the debate here who would favour the legislation of widespread abortion.”

Broadsheet.ie