Ever wondered…? Is it heresy to prefer Dublin over Kerry in Monday’s All Ireland quarterfinal. It’s not that I want Dublin to win the title, it’s just I think Jason Sherlock deserves more than one All Ireland medal for his …
Monthly Archive: July 2009
Jul
30
Making the Cut
When is a complaint not a complaint? When RTÉ broadcast a lighthearted complaint in March about a portrait of Brian Cowen hung in that national gallery, they received nine calls complaining the item was in poor taste. It’s not clear …
Jul
29
Frankness
I haven’t written too much about the new Criminal Justice Act, signed into law by the president last week. In case you missed it too, hearsay has been upgraded to evidence, as has the opinion of a Garda. Politicians dislike …
Jul
27
Section 35
‘The common law offences of defamatory libel, seditious libel and obscene libel are abolished.’ That’s the entirety of section 35 of the Defamation Act 2009, signed into law by the president, Mary McAleese, last Thursday. The next two sections are …
Jul
24
The Final Word
Remember #picturegate? As described in a complaint to the broadcasting complaints commission, RTÉ showed two portraits of the taoiseach, one ‘in a pregnant situation’. RTÉ News later apologised ‘for any personal offence caused to Mr Cowen or his family or …
Jul
23
Tús Maith
A nascent campaign to repeal the constitutional provision on blasphemy has received support from an unexpected source: the Anglican Bishop of Cork. Atheist Ireland, a group established ‘to build a rational, ethical and secular society free from superstition and supernaturalism’ …
Jul
21
Missing
Compare and contrast the following news reports: 13 June 2007 Green Party members have voted by over 86% to go into Government with Fianna Fáil. Of the 510 members who voted, 441 voted to accept the deal after studying the …
Jul
20
July 20, 1969
I was four years old. Being four, I went to bed early, probably around 7pm, having spent a full day exhausting myself with te games four years olds fill their days with during the long summers. It wasn’t exactly the …
Jul
16
The Other Report…
In case you missed them, the (edited) conclusions of the Leas Cross inquiry: Primary responsibility for maintaining standards of care at Leas Cross nursing home rested with the proprietors and the person in charge of the nursing home. For nearly …