EVERY WEEK, WE take a look at the best comments left by you, our readers, on TheJournal.ie.

This week you’ve been talking about Michael D’s inauguration, poppies, gender quotas, Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan’s hemp suit in the Dáil, fast foot outlets near schools, the eurozone turmoil – and much, much more.

Here’s our pick of the best comments of the week:

Here’s Mary Cleary on Michael D’s inauguration:

Let’s try to be open minded and generous of spirit on this wonderful day for Michael D Higgins and his family. We need a positive and forward thinking leader who will inspire us to work together to overcome the awful mess we have been brought to. Common decency and justice are noble aspirations to have and if this doesn’t suit the minority who need a whinge fest every time there is something good happening then tough. The majority also appreciate the spiritual aspect of the ceremony and that too is a good thing. Dignity, and goodness are the big winners today.

Ciaran Collins on Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan’s suit made out of hemp:

Fair play to him. 6 in 10 drug arrests in Ireland are for cannabis. a drug that one in 4 adults have tried. it is relatively harmless in comparison to tobacco or alcohol. what is the point of it being illegal? surely the point of an oireachts is to debate issues like this? at least ming is getting the ball rolling.

Matthew Fitzpatrick on plans to ban fast food outlets near schools:

I don’t think you can control what people put in their mouths, that’s just not right. And welfare shouldn’t even be targeted here. Food stamps are primarily used to prevent people spending money on Drugs and Alcohol. This doesn’t foster the understanding that one should eat well, more that the government are trying to remedy symptoms instead of the root causes.

With legislation and careful use of taxation, food could be made healthier and more available. Removing tax on fruit and vegetables, fresh meat and dairy produce would make this produce more competitive with processed foods. By increasing tax on certain foods such as sweets and cakes based upon a coefficient of saturated fat, salt, artificial preservatives and other factors could also both discourage the public from buying the more harmful foods and also encourage processed food manufacturers to create products which are healthier.

Seamus Ryan on a discussion about gender quotas:

I’d prefer that far more *people* took an interest in and got involved in politics, given the influence it has over our lives and wellbeing. Regardless of whatever the views of those people are. I couldn’t give a monkeys if they were men or women while they take an interest in how things work.

We’ve already got groupings with the aim of getting more people like themselves into the Oireachtas. They’re called political parties. I don’t care whether someone’s genitals are kept inside or outside their bodies as long as they work primarily for the people, not people like themselves.

Joey Dempsey on a slideshow of houses around Ireland left abandoned due to emigration:

Nice pictures but does it really reflect anything other than dilapidated houses, some of which could be anywhere in the world. I was struck by one thing and I am not sure if it was intentional, despite the squaller, ruins and general decay of the properties, Religious pictures including a former Pope retained their positions and in fact some looked in remarkably good shape. What I did garner from the collection is how in a previous time, religious pictures took pride of place in Homes all across Ireland. I can not recall such a practice in the past twenty years or more.

Adrien de Cleir on the volatility in European markets this week:

This is getting ridiculous. I’m neither a politician nor an economist. But I’ve a mild interest in trading. The trend is already in place, its on the up, what will probably happen next is that it will drop slightly and all the politicians will be celebrating thinking one of their latest discussions “did the trick”, same happened in ireland and in Portugal, then it will continue to carry on, the PM will deny the need for a bailout and after some emergency talks there’ll be some announcement. This one will be a bit scarier though cause of the sheer size of the country and debt. I can see serious bond holder burning down the line from all countries. Then we’ll all look back at how ridiculous the situation became because we didn’t take more ruthless action earlier on. So what do we learn? stop letting politicians make ridiculous economical decisions,and let capitalism actually work like capitalism, i.e the word risk should actually mean risk.

Over on TheScore.ie, Jim Walsh blasted the FIFA ban on English players wearing a poppy:

BlaaBoy paid tribute to Joe Frazier who died earlier this week:

Frazier’s story is a sad one – not just his death, but how his life turned out after he hung up the gloves. I don’t think Smokin’ Joe ever properly forgave Ali. Frazier by all accounts was a true gent and was once a friend of Ali’s and helped him through his early days but Ali betrayed him with his “smack talk” in the lead up to their trilogy. It made great viewing for the fans but it hurt Frazier deep down. It was a time when Heavyweight boxing was at it’s peak and there will never be another Smokin’ Joe.

Paul M Brady on whether Jon Walters should start for Ireland against Estonia:

I feel it would be foolish to play an extra man in midfield because the team is used to playing together in a 442. Probably not a good idea to go messing about with players and tactics. If keane was up front on his own he would forget to stay on the central defenders toes and be running all over the place. We need the physical presence of Walters in the frontline battle.

And finally, here’s Jude Collins on Justin Bieber’s paternity test:

Apparently Bieber has gone on record as saying ” I was like baby, baby, baby ohh, like baby, baby, baby no. I thought you’d always be mine”.