I wasn’t at home for the divorce referendum in 1995, so I could only follow it from a distance online. It wasn’t until a few years later I got talking to my brother about the day of the vote. He was off work, or they finished a job early that day (I can’t remember which),… Continue reading On voting
Category: Longform:200plus
Fry Up
They’ve wasted a perfectly good controversy The Irish police are investigating Stephen Fry for blasphemy. Well, not really. A few years ago, Fry gave one of those “If you’re so great, why is everything crap?” answers to Gay Byrne on a lightweight Irish religious programme when asked what he’d say if he ever met God.… Continue reading Fry Up
The Charleton Report
As possibly the only journalist in Ireland to have covered two Garda tribunals of inquiry in their entirety, I should probably say a few words about what will probably come to be known in shorthand as the Charleton Tribunal. For starters, although I’d be glad to do so, it’s deeply unlikely I will cover a… Continue reading The Charleton Report
Jobbridge and Freedom of Information
Victory of a sort…but mostly not In March 2012, I sent a Freedom of Information request to the Department of Social Protection (DSP), looking for the Jobbridge database. By July of the same year, DSP had replied with some of what I sought, but I had some problems, and so an appeals process began. My… Continue reading Jobbridge and Freedom of Information
From Panti to Garth
200+ I was contacted by a student a few days ago, asking for my reaction to the statement that the media was overwhelmingly dominated by a narrow middle class perspective. This was my initial reply, which also riffed on the PantiBliss debate. I know some journalists who are predictably middle class. I know others who… Continue reading From Panti to Garth
The news in 2014
JANUARY: Following Murdoch takeover, Storyful announce new unit dedicated to verifying iPhone papshots of C-list celebrities. FEBRUARY: MicroSoft finally figures out how to make money out of Nokia, announce relaunch of 6310i. MARCH: Edward Snowden reveals NSA secretly unfollows your friends on twitter, sends ‘likes’ of John Waters to Facebook on your behalf. APRIL: All… Continue reading The news in 2014
On copyright
I’ve been reading Modernising Copyright, the report of the Copyright Review Committee (CRC), and decided to put my initial thoughts down in writing. Be warned, if you’re used to the 200 word bites on here, this article is considerably longer. Colmcille As is noted to the point of fatigue in Irish writings on copyright, the… Continue reading On copyright
Guest Post: Guth – why we need a new media voice in Ireland
By Philip O’Connor As soon as Gerard Cunningham suggested the idea of a new independent Irish news magazine run by journalists to me, I was onboard. And here’s why. Modern media is a complex business where the interests of shareholders, advertisers, editors, journalists and readers seldom converge. Decisions about what stories to cover are taken… Continue reading Guest Post: Guth – why we need a new media voice in Ireland
Commercially sensitive
Below is the decision of the appeals officer in the department of social protection in response to my arguments seeking the release of full records from the JobBridge programme. Short version, they said no. Back in June, I blogged the issues I intended to raise in my FOI appeal, for those of you who need… Continue reading Commercially sensitive
JobBridge: The Story So Far
Back in March 2012, I sent a Freedom of Information request to FÁS and the Department of Social Protection (DSP) seeking two items: (1) Records maintained by FÁS relating to the number of jobbridge positions accepted by participants, how many jobbridge programmes have been completed, and relating to what happened afterwards to participants. (2) Records… Continue reading JobBridge: The Story So Far