Magda and the Ombudsman: Case closed?

As has been reported at length elsewhere, an interview with a Polish woman identified as ‘Magda’, which was reported in Wednesday’s Irish Independent, was “badly mistranslated“. ‘Magda’ – now known to be Gaia Kowalik – first went public on the …

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For a while, I’ve been toying with an column idea. Call it The Raised Eyebrow. Part Flat Earth News, part questioning conventional wisdom. Last week, an editor agreed to a column. Depending on how it worked out, more might follow. …

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Ripped from the headlines

BBC News carries a story about a ‘Jack the Ripper manuscript‘, discovered in a museum two years ago and about to be published in book form. But the ‘confession’ as described in the article sets off several alarm bells, not …

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Scibernia: The SFI Think-In

I’m an occasional contributor to Scibernia, the Science podcast also broadcast on Near fm. Too occasional, unfortunately. While I’ve done a few reports for the project, scheduling problems mean I rarely get a chance to sit in on the studio …

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Magda and the Ombudsman: Case closed?No commentRipped from the headlinesScibernia: The SFI Think-In

Nov
15

Concern at post-graduate cutbacks

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The director general of the statutory body charged with funding basic science research has expressed his concern at proposals to abolish funding for postgraduate students.

Dr Graham Love was speaking at the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Summit in Athlone, an annual event bringing together researchers funded by the body to carry out basic scientific research and promote cooperation between government, universities and industry.

“I don’t know a huge amount about it yet but I am concerned about what I am hearing,” Dr Love said.

“But If it does anything to reduce the numbers and the attractiveness of science then that’s a deep deep concern to me.”

“One of our jobs is not only to produce good science, we’ve got to make it attractive to the young people of Ireland because they’re going to be the ones who keep this going.”

Dr Love said he understood that the 1200 PhD and Masters students funded by SFI would not be affected by the proposal, which he understands applies to funds provided through local authorities.

The director general was interviewed for Scibernia.ie, a podcast on science issues also broadcast by community radio station Near FM.

Image via Morguefile

[more from SFI Sumit coming soon at Scibernia.ie]

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Nov
12

It’s PC gone mad

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Spoof accounts are nothing new on twitter. From @OsamaBinLaden and @Jesus to the cast of Spooks, the spoof account is a part of the experience. Ireland is no exception, as accounts like @CardinalBrady or @Madam_Editor show.

The controversial '@PeterCollinsRTE' tweet

Less common than the “spoof” is the “fake”. While the spoof is clearly a take-off, fakes look and feel real.

Perhaps the most notorious Irish example is @McGuinness4Pres. Oddly, the fake account name sounds more “official” than @Martin4Prez2011, the account set up by Sinn Fein during the recent presidential election.

Which brings us to Peter Collins.

Shortly after, a second Peter Collins account appeared. Then the fake account explained which was real

Collins is one of those vaguely familiar RTÉ faces, the kind of guy who ends up as a tiebreaker in the pub quiz picture round.

@PeterCollinsRTE caused a bit of a twitter row earlier this week. This morning, Collins spoke to Marian Finucane about how a fake account was set up in his name.

Most twitter observers are mystified by the incident. Why would a fake tweet anodyne observations about Formula 1 and soccer before causing a row with an unfunny tweet about Travellers? How did a fake get added to twitter lists compiled by RTÉ staff? And why would a fake account delete most of its history?

@PeterCollinsRTE in quieter times

Though it wasn't always dull

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Nov
02

Quantum Satis

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Imagine a politician released research proving their arguments on a point of public controversy.

Imagine every journalist in Ireland knew the research was faulty.

Let’s go further. Imagine the paper looked like a work of fiction, and it appeared the academics who carried out the research did not exist.

There’s be uproar, right?

Pat Kenny would have a chat with Fergal Keane, who would explain in detail his futile efforts to track down fictional academics.

Tabloids would use words like Scam, probably incorporated in a clever pun on the name of the party or politician.

The Irish Times, more reserved, would print a lengthy editorial deploring the cheapening of public discourse.

Which brings us to Quantum Research.

Quantum is a market research company, but only seems to have one client: The Sunday Independent.

The only company of that name listed at the CRO renamed some time ago, and are the Irish subsidiary of an American electronics firm. Nothing to do with opinion polls.

Several companies and business names include the word “Quantum”, ranging from car repairs to management training, but not market research.

Quantum doesn’t exist.

Online, their research is derided. In mass media, not so much.

All very odd.

Postscript: According to Wikipedia, The specification of quantum satis for an ingredient essentially means  “Add as much of this ingredient as is needed to achieve the desired result, but not more.”

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Oct
27

Get the feeling we didn’t hear enough about the referendums?

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From Marian Finucane on RTE Radio One last Saturday, Fergal Keane:

Maybe referendums just aren’t that much fun.

[audio:http://faduda.ie/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/marianfun.mp3]

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Oct
23

Decline and Fall or Brave New World?

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Last night, thejournal.ie won the Best Online Only Publication at the Irish Web Awards. Congratulations.

The award led to some reaction online, with journalist Philip Nolan observing: “So, let me get this straight. Traditional media spends millions on journalism but if you aggregate that content, you get an #iwa award.”

This in turn prompted debate on old and new media, whether aggregators benefited publishers by linking to original reports, and the future of print.

I worked for a while in online news earlier this year. As a journalist, my first instinct is to report, creating original stories. Online, the pressure is to create content, often rewriting reports from elsewhere since the small numbers in most web operations make reporting an expensive luxury.

But if new media “feeds for 90%” of its copy on traditional outlets, as Nolan said, and print is declining, what happens to new media when there’s no more print to copy?

Irish newspapers employ journalists in the hundreds. All of that content supports one Irish online news outlet, thejournal.ie, employing fewer than ten journalists as far as I can tell.

Unless someone figures out a way to finance a lot more online jobs, journalism will be impoverished.

Binary future? Image via MorgueFile

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Oct
19

Light relief

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The schedule at the Smithwick tribunal is predictable; two hours of evidence from 11am to 1pm, and two more from 2pm to 4pm.

Today, the schedule was out of kilter. The morning witness finished early, so the tribunal broke for lunch at 12.30pm. That meant they were returned 30 minutes early at 1.30pm.

The first afternoon witness didn’t take too long, then Kevin Myers took the stand. You can read reports of his evidence elsewhere.

Myers was challenged at length by barrister Jim O’Callaghan, who represents Owen Corrigan.

Corrigan, an ex-garda, denies he leaked information to the IRA, and a 2000 Myers column Myers played a key role in events leading to the tribunal.

At 4.20pm, judge Peter Smithwick asked how muc longer O’Callaghan would be. The stenographer had been working for three solid hours, and other barristers were waiting their turn.

Ten minutes, O’Callaghan promised.

Myers took the opportunity to mention his car, parked outside, and wonder if one of the assembled lawyers would be so kind as to feed the parking meter.

“I’m sure the gardai won’t clamp you this time,” O’Callaghan joked.

Seconds later, a police siren could be heard outside.

“That’s probably my car,” Myers joked.

Kevin Myers arrives at the Smithwick tribunal, or The Blurry Limits of Smartphone Photography. © Faduda

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Oct
18

Below average

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While I wait for Sinn Féin TDs and senators to get back to me, and consider my response to SIPO’s recent communications, a little something to tide you over if you’ve been following the “average wage” saga.

Here’s a Sinn Féin press release about MPs’ expenses: “Sinn Féin MPs, like all party members who are paid a wage, receive exactly the same average industrial wage which is £356 per week, net.”

[Note the release is over two years old, so the figure of £356 may have changed in the meantime.]

And on a similar note, from Mary Lou McDonald: “I, like all Sinn Fein elected representatives and workers, am paid the average industrial wage from my salary.”

Now here’s a comment posted in response to an article I wrote here: “When I was last getting a SF salary (about 5 years ago) the wage all got was circa £21k. I doubt it has changed much. It was before tax.”

Five years ago, in 2006, the average wage was €29910. [Source: CSO].

Assuming the comment is accurate, either Sinn Féin’s numbers were a bit off for the average wage in 2006, or some average wages were more equal than others.

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Oct
14

Irrational, unreasonable and perverse

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During the lengthy wait between my first questions to Sinn Féin about the average wage and their reply, I wrote to SIPO.

I asked the Standards Commission to look into inconsistencies between Sinn Féin statements and reporting requirements.

“If a TD decides to spend part or all of his/her salary on the provision of constituency offices or employing staff for whatever reason, it is not a matter for the Standards Commission,” SIPO replied. “However, if a TD gives/donates… to a political party … the recipient is obliged to disclose that donation.”

So if a TD employs someone, it’s legal, but if the party employs the same worker, it has to be declared.

That seems clear enough.

Except Martin McGuinness said recently of his salary “I don’t see it. It goes straight into a Sinn Fein account.”

Given uniform statements from Sinn Féin members, it’s probable all TD salaries go “straight into a Sinn Féin account.”

And given how quickly SIPO replied to my letter, I doubt they contacted any TD to ask how many constituency workers they personally employed.

I’m still mulling my response to SIPO, but on the facts to date, it strikes me as irrational, unreasonable and perverse.

 

SIPO on Sinn Féin statements regarding average wage and donations

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Oct
12

Missing witnesses

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On 7 June 2011, the Smithwick tribunal outlined 214 witnesses they planned to call to give evidence: 107 serving and former gardaí, 42 serving and former RUC/PSNI officers, and 65 civilians.

Meanwhile, an exchange of letters between tribunal chairman Peter Smithwick and justice minister Alan Shatter was published. In brief, Shatter wanted the tribunal to finish as quickly as possible, Smithwick objected.

In a 27 May letter, Smithwick worried “the effect of a public deadline is to indicate to parties who may have an interest in frustrating the work of the tribunal that they need only withhold cooperation for a few months more in order to achieve their objectives.”

By 29 June, Smithwick had heard evidence from 29 witnesses, and hoped to hear from 115 others, a drop of 70, from 214 to 144.

By 7 October, the chairman had heard evidence from 83 garda witnesses, 14 RUC/PSNI, seven civilians, two members of the British Army, and one politician. There remained 40 witnesses. Total: 147.

Since Shatter went public with his deadline, the tribunal lost 67 witnesses. Last Friday, Smithwick got an extension to the end of May. Will he have enough time to persuade those witnesses to give evidence?

Smithwick tribunal

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Oct
05

No records to display

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Martin McGuinness published bank statements today, showing he only takes  £1605 from Sinn Féin each month. The accounts give some fascinating insights into his shopping behaviour. Who knew the deputy first minister was such a fan of Asda? And while his fondness for TK Maxx might be understandable, it’s difficult to picture him browsing through the wares on display in Vero Moda.

McGuinness seems to have few domestic concerns. There’s no sign of a phone or electricity bill, for example. That said, there are some unitemised credit card bills. Maybe he charges the utilities to plastic, and pays off the card at the end of the month.

But what happens to the rest of Martin’s money? Well, it goes to Sinn Féin, so the story goes. The deputy first minister earns £111,183, and even after taxes, that’s a nice little bonus for Sinn Féin.

I was curious exactly how much that bonus came to, so I had a look at the Electoral Commission website.

In case you can’t make it out, when I searched for political donations from Martin McGuinness, the search engine returned “no records to display”.

No record to display

Maybe he spelled his name As Gaeilge on the donation form.

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