Friday, September 28th, 2012
The scandals around the Irish health minister are a constantly shifting landscape at present, with recent news including the resignation of Labour's junior health minister, Roisin Shortall. Prior to Shortall's resignation, I had submitted a letter to the Irish Times. Since they declined to publish it, I'm sharing it here:
A ...
Posted in Electoral politics | Comments Off
Tuesday, February 7th, 2012
I've been 'rescuing' various pieces from my (primarily cassette-based) archive of content from my days at Flirt FM. One little nugget is this compendium of interviews and audio from the count following the divorce referendum in 1995. As a recap (or tutorial for those not in the know), divorce was ...
Posted in Political activism, Society and culture | Comments Off
Monday, February 6th, 2012
CRAOL, the Irish community radio organization, has sponsored a survey investigating how the public views the mass media, and exploring their knowledge of community radio. Among the key findings (with both positives and negative implications for the sector):
Nearly 80% of all adults in the Republic of Ireland agree that news ...
Posted in Alternative Media, Corporate media, Freedom of the press, Media regulation, Public Service Media, Radio, Society and culture | Comments Off
Thursday, October 6th, 2011
It feels a little unfair to pick on someone when they're down - Dana's trailing the field in the presidential campaign, behind even Mitchell - but this is a fairly basic thing.
Background: Dana Rosemary Scallon became a US citizen shortly before running for president of Ireland in 1997.
The red herrings: ...
Posted in Citizenship, migration, race, and ethnicity, Electoral politics | Comments Off
Thursday, September 1st, 2011
It appears from the report in tomorrow's Irish Times that Anglo Irish Bank is accusing former CEO David Drumm of engaging in fraud to secure his visa to the United States:Anglo alleges that Drumm devised the “loan” from his wife “as a ruse” to qualify for an “E-2 Treaty Investor ...
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off
Tuesday, June 21st, 2011
Two rather different news stories featuring RTÉ today. The first, their triumph at the New York Festivals Radio Program and Promotion Awards (and isn't that a mouthful), where they were named Broadcaster of the year, as well as being recognized in 17 different categories, including one of only three Grand ...
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Thursday, June 16th, 2011
Two different suggestions today from Labour politicians about appropriate ways to mark Bloomsday. Joe Costello notes that Ireland has one of the lowest numbers of public holidays in Europe (9 per year, only exceeding the 8 of England and Wales) and suggests that making the day a holiday could provide ...
Posted in Education, Income and poverty, Labour issues, Society and culture | 1 Comment »
Saturday, February 19th, 2011
The BAI has released its , covering the 2011/13 period. Good to see both "ensuring diversity" (in services and content) and "ensuring plurality" among the eight core goals identified, though the community radio sector failed in its efforts to have the three separate strands/sectors reflected at mission statement level (that ...
Posted in Media regulation, Radio | Comments Off
Saturday, February 12th, 2011
Somewhat confusing release from the Merrion Street service, noting the opportunity for individuals and groups to make submissions in relation to Ireland's first Human Rights review under the UN's Human Rights Council UPR process. They give June as a deadline for feedback, but the actual UPR.ie site suggests that input ...
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Wednesday, December 1st, 2010
I've been advocating, privately, the prosecution for treason of David Drumm and other Irish former bankers who are manipulating foreign and domestic bankruptcy proceedings to retain their ill-gotten gains. Having made their fortunes by fuelling a speculative bubble, they then engage in clearly deceptive tactics to avoid their personal responsibilities ...
Posted in Electoral politics, Income and poverty, International Affairs, International law and structures | Comments Off
