Archive for March, 2004

Gay rights in Ireland

Monday, March 29th, 2004

From the Irish Times story it appears that opinion on gay rights in Fianna Fáil ranges from (and bear in mind FF are liable to be the most conservative) those who favour civil unions to those who favour equality (with some limitations and exceptions).

The smoking ban in Ireland

Monday, March 29th, 2004

So, one day down, and so many yet to go. Heading around Galway today, in the wake of the new smoking ban was interesting, and invigorating for someone like myself who is a non- (anti-) smoker. From lunchtime, spent in a cafe, Banana Phoblacht, that generally has one degenerate smoker ...

Endangering democracy

Monday, March 29th, 2004

Kim Zetter has a story in Wired titled "How e-voting threatens democracy" mainly about Bev Harris and the US situation, but still interesting....

New sub-site – Flirt FM Alumni

Sunday, March 28th, 2004

Yet another member of the funferal family of sites, this time a site for the Flirt FM Alumni group, which I set up earlier this year. At present there's not a lot to see, but the site will feature news of developments within the group and the station, and news ...

Alumni group launched

Sunday, March 28th, 2004

Earlier this year the Flirt FM Alumni group was launched in a low-key fashion with the introduction of a discussion list for former volunteers with the station. Now, with the website, we hope that more people will hear about the group and get involved. With the station's 10th birthday rapidly approaching ...

Submission to the Commission

Sunday, March 28th, 2004

I made a short submission (PDF) to the Commission on electronic voting on behalf of At What Cost?, which I sent in last Friday. Due to the short timescale involved, and my workload with some other projects, it was not feasible to run as open a drafting process as I ...

Sign language and stereotypes

Sunday, March 28th, 2004

Channel 4 programme Vee-TV, which serves the deaf community in Britain has "decided to alter sign language for the deaf to exclude offensive gestures for homosexuals, ethnic or racial minorities." Among the signs are those indicating a Jewish person (one based on a 'stereotypical Jewish nose' now replaced by one ...

Strange Brew roadtrip

Saturday, March 27th, 2004

I've just returned from one of the more enjoyable nights out I've had in some time. GugaĆ­, the DJ who runs the Drum bar on Mondays and the Warwick nightclub on Thursdays (I'm back in Galway at the moment) had a 'road trip' (under his 'Strange Brew' moniker) to a ...

The world still says no…

Wednesday, March 24th, 2004

Saturday 20th, as people gathered around the world to confirm that 'the world still says no to war' I was in Chicago. Some of you will remember that last year's demonstration finished with hundreds of protesters corralled on Lake Shore Drive - one of the main thoroughfares in the city ...

Why Ireland needs media reform

Wednesday, March 24th, 2004

There's a fascinating article in today's Irish Times detailing some of the pressure exerted by O'Reilly and Independent newspapers on the 1994-1997 government. The report is based on testimony by former Taoiseach John Bruton to the Moriarty Tribunal and it does bring the abuse of influence of O'Reilly into perspective. ...