Fine Gael TD Pat Breen’s constituency office in Ennis was defaced by ‘No’ to Lisbon campaigners last night, an act he described as ‘an act of sheer desperation’. ‘Vandalising a TD’s office in what appears to be an orchestrated fashion can only be described as an act of sheer desperation,’ said the deputy foreign affairs… Continue reading »
Sep
27
In Context
The commentariat can be defined as those who are willing to offer an opinion on things they know nothing about, and get paid handsomely for the privilege. Sometimes, the lack of knowledge is blatant. Take the number of people who happily declare that they haven’t actually heard what Tommy Tiernan said at Electric Picnic, before… Continue reading »
Sep
22
Sep
17
On the record
Having reported on the first hints of Declan Ganley’s return to the political arena on Friday, as announced through twitter, I couldn’t but notice that twitter isn’t quite on the record. The Irish Times print edition managed to report on the story without mentioning twitter, referring only to ‘speculation‘. The newspaper of record either didn’t… Continue reading »
Sep
17
Can You ID This Medal?
Any historian or numismatist out there want to give me a helping hand? An elderly neighbour has asked for my help in identifying this medal, which belonged to her father. It most likely dates from the 1920s or 1930s, probably from a Bodenstown ceremony, but any information that can narrow down the date or occasion… Continue reading »
Sep
16
Long Term Value
So this evening, I went though various receipts, totaled up invoices paid, did some data entry into a spreadsheet, and looked at the total. Two hundred and seventy three euro. Tomorrow morning then, I will post off a cheque to the revenue commissioners, payment due for VAT collected over the last few months. I wrote… Continue reading »
Sep
15
Unvictory
Some arguments made on both sides of the Lisbon treaty debate are false. Some are true. Some are unprovable either way. And a large number of arguments are irrelevant. Take what was credited as a winning argument last time: ‘Save Our Commissioner: Vote No’. As it turns out, once Ireland voted No, the EU suddenly… Continue reading »
Sep
13
Sean Tallon
Sean Tallon was only a few weeks away from the end of his training on 11 September 2001. Along with the rest of Ladder Company Ten, he was one of the first firefighters on the scene at the World Trade Centre. He died when Tower One collapsed. His father came from Donadea, a small town… Continue reading »
Sep
11
He’s Back
Declan Ganley has re-entered the fray. The news – announced sideways in a Wall Street Journal interview – contradicts his vow to quit if he didn’t win a seat in the Euro elections. As recently as mid-August, Ganley repeated his promise in a series of twitter posts. Asked if he planned to get involved in… Continue reading »