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Every morning, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you really, really need to know before you start the day.
1. #FOUR YEAR PLAN: Details of the government’s four year plan to cut the government deficit by €15 billion are to be published today. Significant tax increases, the introduction of a new social payment to replace PRSI, cuts in social welfare payments and reform of the system, and some kind of levy on property are all likely to be included.
2. #BANKS: Bank of Ireland faces the prospect of majority Government control, while Allied Irish Banks could end up being 99.9 per cent State-owned and almost fully nationalised under the €85 billion EU-IMF rescue plan, the Irish Times reports.
3. #DOWNGRADED: Standard & Poor’s has downgraded Ireland again, from AA to A, and has put the country on ‘creditwatch’, which means another downgrade could follow. The timing of the announcement has nothing to do with the further recapitalisations of Irish banks as it had been decided by midday yesterday, RTE reports.
4. #OPPOSITION: Fine Gael’s Michael Noonan has launched a stinging attack on the Greens, saying: “what they have done in terms of coalition Government is absolutely outrageous..At a time when credibility and confidence and certainty was so required, and when those of us on this side of the House were tiptoeing around the issues and walking on eggs in case we get the Cabinet and the country into further difficulty, they march down the road and they go in and they make this daft announcement”
5. #D’OH: Taoiseach Brian Cowen has had to apologise to Joan Burton after asking her party leader Eamon Gilmore to “rein her in”.
6. #CHURCH ABUSE: Pope Benedict has spoken out about Ireland’s child abuse crisis, saying “In Ireland the problem is altogether specific – there is a self-enclosed Catholic society, so to speak, which remained true to its faith despite centuries of oppression, but in which, then, evidently certain attitudes were also able to develop…To see a country that gave the world so many missionaries, so many saints, which in the history of the missions also stands at the origin of our faith in Germany, now in a situation like this is tremendously upsetting and depressing. ”
7. #KOREA: The South Korean military has been put on “highest alert”, following yesterday’s shelling by North Korea of one of its offshore islands. Meanwhile, Obama has described North Korea as “a significant threat”.
8. #NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand says the 29 trapped miners are now all dead after a second explosion ripped through the mine.
9. #TAYTO PARK: The world’s first theme park dedicated to the humble crisp, Tayto Park, opens today. Launched on 55 acres of Meath farmland by crisp king Ray Coyle, the park will create 85 jobs and offer children the chance to visit Santa, experience a Native American village or, er, eat Irish crisps.
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#WAP
There’s an app called our pact – ourpact.com
It enables you to schedule times for your child’s device to have the apps active. You can also turn them on and off at will – removes the friction of “give me the phone”.
With a phone, the phone part keeps working for texts & phone calls – this is good for safety, however almost everything else including internet access shuts down. for a tablet, only core apps keep working.
It’s free as far as I know.
I’m sorry but you don’t give a 12 year old the world at the click of a button
Pretty much impossible to stop that Adrian.
Education is key.
Technology today is similar to letting your kids ramble off for an entire day anywhere they like when they are 6,7,8,9
They could be anywhere, be with anyone, taken, who know.
Only a matter of time before they access technology, whether it’s in your home, schools mates phone, tablet, whatever. Forbidden fruit is only more attractive, more you try to prevent it the more they will hide it from you and the consequences all the worse.
Really really … really important for parents / guardians to educate and regularly speak to children, you need your child to trust you, share with you, be safe … have fun but with guidance and support.
I remember being 12 using the family computer and on an Irish chatroom Widemouth talking with complete strangers about everything as I did every day when my Mother entered the room, she told me to stay away from those chat rooms as she had just heard about the Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells soham story that was breaking at the time with the danger of speaking with strangers on the internet becoming apparent to her, she would have seen the chat room on screen but didn’t register what it was. What she also didn’t know was that I had already met up with people from that chat room and gone bowling.
In hindsight I realise how dangerous that was but also it highlights how far behind media and concern groups are with what kids are actually doing, there was a big uproar about chatrooms at the time but only because two girls had gone missing after using one.
It’s important for parents to educate themselves but also to be aware that they will never be able to stop a determined teenager from doing as they wish online. It’s better to encourage them to use good and safe practices like not providing identifiable details to strangers or in a place where strangers may access, not just their name but their e-mail address, location and their school as well. I think it’s important that the teenager feels able to talk to you about any issues which happen online as well rather than feel reluctant for fear of being blocked or forbidden from doing something they enjoy.
This is the wrong approach.
You need to raise smart & tech-savvy kids – not sheltered & isolated ones. They’ll be exposed to stuff either way. Trying to keep them away from everything online is impossible, so much better they know how to deal with it WHEN it arises.
@Jason Maguire: What an idiotic idea. I couldn’t want my daughter exposed to hardcore pornography or paedophiles even if she were completely aware of what they are and how to deal with them. Neither do I want her to see people decapitated live on a stream.
I’m lucky that as a software dev I am able to completely shut down objectionable content if I need to, however if I wasn’t then I would take the approach of a hard wired connection on the main computer in a common living area. No doubt about that.
@Dennis Laffey: so you control the internet access on her friend’s devices and in their homes too? Solid idea there.
Of course you’d block porn at home, you dope – what I’m saying is make sure they’re savvy enough to spot if some weirdo is chatting to them in a Facebook chat, or on Snapchat, or Whatsapp, etc. Don’t be naive – don’t be gullible. You cannot protect them from everything, despite you thinking you can. You don’t control the entire internet, Dennis. You control what they can see in YOUR home only.
@Jason Maguire: No need for the personal attacks Jason.
Look at what you wrote; “This is the wrong approach”.
In the context of this article (which talks about setting up basic blocking and educating children and parents about the dangers of unsupervised access to the internet) it is logical that I would assume that you are advocating for not educating children and not blocking access. Follow on with the rest of your comment and it very easy to presume that you are in favour of a laissez-faire approach to children’s access to the internet. Which is obviously crazy.
I don’t disagree with your more defined comment, but next time try to be more accurate about your opinions from the start. I am not able to guess at what you meant to type.
“You cannot protect them from everything, despite you thinking you can. You don’t control the entire internet, Dennis. You control what they can see in YOUR home only.”
I never said I could/did control the whole internet. No need to dip into logical fallacies Jason.
Well Kenny would know… he’s still Taoiseach so it’s obviously not all about the votes either
have your say