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GOOD MORNING. Here’s all the news that you need to know as you start your day.
1. “An bhfuil tusa ag labhairt liomsa?,” a lonely Yu Ming asks a Patrick Kavanagh statue in the 2003 Irish language short film, Yu Ming is Ainm Dom, shortly after the character realises that Irish isn’t commonly spoken here.
Some 18 years later, lawyer and entrepreneur Diyu Wu is no longer acting but he is still speaking Irish, and talking to The Journal as part of the latest Good Information Project – which is discussing China and how Ireland relates to one of the biggest economies in the world.
In our lead story today, Adam Daly writes how the short film has become part of the cultural shorthand of Ireland, helped by its sustained presence in Irish classrooms throughout the years – mostly due to its comedic take on the neglect of our native language.
2. The Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine is 88% effective against the Indian variant after two doses, a study by Public Health England (PHE) has found.
Both the Pfizer and AstraZeneca jabs were found to be almost as effective against symptomatic disease from the B1617.2 strain as they are against the Kent variant after the second dose.
However, they were only 33% effective three weeks after the first dose.
3. In other health news, the HSE is “making progress” towards restoring IT systems that have been impacted by the recent cyber attack.
The HSE and IT experts have developed a new version of the decryption tool made available in the cyber attack, according to Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly.
A decryption tool that might help the HSE to unlock its IT system following the widespread cyber attack last week is available online. A new version of the tool has been tested and a “structured and controlled deployment is now underway across the core network and devices across the system”, Donnelly said.
4. Gardaí have issued a missing person appeal for two young brothers who went missing in Northern Ireland over a week ago. It is believed that Patrick Horvath (5) and Fabricio Horvath (8) may currently be, or have been, in the north Tipperary area.
On 16 May, the Police Service of Northern Ireland issued a missing person appeal for the brothers. Both boys were last seen getting into a black Ford in the Limestone Road area of Belfast at approximately 6pm on Friday 14 May.
5. The government is failing to adequately support the children of clergy who are trying to find out information about their birth fathers, an advocacy group has said.
Vincent Doyle – the founder of Coping International, an organisation which advocates on behalf of the children of priests – said time is running out for the government to implement a UN recommendation.
In 2016, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child recommended that the Irish State “ensure measures to assist children fathered by Catholic priests in upholding their right to know and be cared for by their fathers, as appropriate, and ensure that they receive the necessary psychological treatment”.
Ireland has to submit reports to the UNCRC by 27 October 2021, outlining how it has addressed these issues. Doyle, himself the child of a priest, said not enough has been done in the last five years in this regard.
6. Sinn Féin is the most popular political party in the country, but has seen a slight drop in support, according to a new opinion poll.
Mary Lou McDonald’s party is on 30 points, down from 32 since December, the Sunday Times/Behaviour and Attitudes survey has found. Fine Gael is at 28, up one, while Fianna Fáil remains unchanged at 22. The Green Party is up two to five points.
7. Italian rockers Maneskin have won this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam. The four-piece from Rome pipped France and Switzerland to clinch the main prize.
Switzerland’s Gjon’s Tears had been topping the table after the jury votes were confirmed but the Italian entry, which had been one of the favourites to win, rocketed up the scoreboard as the votes from viewers came in to set up a tense final few minutes before the group were announced as winners.
The UK finished rock bottom of the table after the jury and viewer votes were tabulated. Singer-songwriter James Newman walked away as the only contestant to record the dreaded ‘nul points’ total on the night.
8. Campaigners have called for laws around the possession of small amounts of drugs to be reformed amid concerns that legislation is not tackling problem drug use.
Advocacy groups working in the areas of drug addiction and legal reform say that the current approach does not act as a deterrent to drug users and creates barriers for the most vulnerable in Irish society.
It follows a report in the Irish Examiner last weekend about a former heroin addict who appeared before the courts charged with possession of €4 worth of cannabis.
9. And finally, the weather. Today will have a wet start with outbreaks of rain in many places and some heavy falls at times. A clearance to sunshine and showers in the west will extend eastwards this morning as the rain clears into the Irish Sea by early afternoon. However, heavy showers will follow, with a risk of thunderstorms and hail. Another cool day with highest temperatures of 10 to 13 degrees.
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The Journal could at least be honest in its reporting. The issue of arming teachers and staff in schools was firstly brought up by some of the parents. Trump responded to this and said it was something to look at. He also said he understood it was controversial and opened the floor to people who were against the idea. Other parents spoke out against the idea.
He also didn’t use the notes.
Here is a link to the full discussion:
https://www.c-span.org/video/?441479-1/president-trump-meets-students-teachers-florida-shooting
@Untriggered Non-Snowflake: are you telling me you can prove that he didn’t once look at those notes at all either before or during the discussion? Seems a pretty stupid claim to make.
@neilo:
Read the first paragraph or two…seems irrelevant to the comment I made.
@neilo: why are you sharing some random persons opinion on facebook as some sort of undisputable argument?
@Untriggered Non-Snowflake: Curious handle you use – when it seems you seem to be triggered every time you comment – and if the term snowflake infers that you seem unable to handle counter arguments to your own – that pretty much applies to you also. Reminds me of Homer Simpson walking around with a ‘not crazy’ sign.
@Old Gabby Johnson: Someone would need to be very deeply insecure and unhappy to choose a name like that.
@neilo: I stopped a quarter of the way down as it is just you sharing someone else’s opinion that they posted to facebook ffs.
@neilo: No, you are just shifting the goalposts, for some reason…
@Old Gabby Johnson:
Stop playing Neilo’s game…Neilo shifting the goalposts does not count as a counter argument…Neither does your comment count as a counter argument to my point…
@Untriggered Non-Snowflake:
One of the parents unfortunately was used as a pawn for CNN by stating that a 20 year old walked into a gun store and bought an AR with expired ID.
Check out @Chet_Cannon’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/Chet_Cannon/status/966176686931959813?ref_src=twcamp%5Eshare%7Ctwsrc%5Eandroid%7Ctwgr%5Edefault%7Ctwcon%5E7090%7Ctwterm%5E3
@Brendan O’Brien: Also, not a counter argument Brendan.
@Dave O Keeffe:
Well done Dave. You actually stayed on the point. The others could learn from you.
Yes, you would be right. I can’t prove he didn’t look at the notes once. I’ll rephrase:
Trump,for the most part, ignored his notes. He seemed to glance at them while Pence was talking…
Thanks for staying on topic though…
@neilo:
Neilo, nobody on this comment thread stated that 2nd Amendment rights are unlimited. I definitely didn’t anyway.
Can you enlighten me as to what that is a counter argument to in this thread if you think I’m mistaken?
@Untriggered Non-Snowflake: so you are unable to prove your claim that he never used the notes? Seems a stupid claim to make.
@neilo:
Again, I never made any of the pro-arguments who are stating in this thread. So why are you providing me with counter arguments for those pro-arguments you decided to introduce?
Strawman,…Neilo…Strawman…you might want to reread my initial post again…
@Dave O Keeffe:
Can you read Dave?
@Untriggered Non-Snowflake: The counter-arguments to this insanity should be obvious. The USA needs to break the power of the NRA; otherwise there will continue to be frequent massacres of the innocent.
@Brendan O’Brien:
Well, the counter arguments against the insanity you suggest may be obvious in this discussion here if I had made any of the pro-arguments…
Otherwise, they are not counter arguments…
@Untriggered Non-Snowflake: Sorry if my comment was confusing for you- i wasn’t offering a counter argument i was merely observing your insecurity. I have offered my own thoughts elsewhere on this thread.
Needless to say that if you live in a society where you feel that arming schoolteachers while they teach children is a rational thought – then well i guess you need to have a hard look at the society you have created.
@neilo:
No Neilo, your posts are absolutely not relevant in the reply to the argument I made. They may be somewhere else…
You created a strawman in your reply to me…
Have a good day…
@Untriggered Non-Snowflake: As others have said, it’s not all about you: I couldn’t care less what ‘arguments’ you have or haven’t made. The status quo in the US is fatal for schoolkids, yet all some people can do is defend it.
@Old Gabby Johnson:
Oh OK…you enter a debate, make an ad hominem attack, and expect someone to assume you were not trying to argue against that person’s initial post…
Sorry, Gabby…not falling for that…
@Untriggered Non-Snowflake: ‘Not falling for that’, yet you have clearly fallen for some kind of pathetic alt-right agenda.
@Brendan O’Brien:
1. I never stated it is all about me.
2. I do care about the arguments I have or haven’t made, especially when people suggest I have made arguments I clearly haven’t.
3. I never stated anything about the status quo been fatal or not.
4. i never defended the status quo.
If you reread my point, it was directed at the Journal’s reporting in one area. Also, ad hominem’s are childish whether you agree with someone or not.
Have a good day too, Brendan
@Untriggered Non-Snowflake: If you accept that it is not all about you, do not start every single ‘point’ you make with ‘I’.
@neilo: You introduced the Strawman, Neilo…and the ad hominems…That is deflecting the argument…
Reread initial post, Neilo…
@Brendan O’Brien: Explain any position I have which is consistent with what you think is an alt-right position here?
@Brendan O’Brien: This is becoming childish now…Goal posts are in the next field now…
Try to stay on topic in future lads…
@Untriggered Non-Snowflake: The topic is the massacre of children. Those who try to split hairs deserve any derision they receive.
@Untriggered Non-Snowflake: Ad hominem attack? Lol – you’re watching too much Ben Shapiro.
@Brendan O’Brien:
Brendan, the funny thing about this thread here is that you and Neilo would probably find out I have very similar positions to ye on Gun Control in the US. Or at least, I understand where your arguments come from. I was not talking about Gun Control in my initial post. Just the poor reporting…
@Old Gabby Johnson:
No Gabby, it’s just a fact on your argument style…
@neilo:
“Stay on topic people. Yer man is supporting “Daddy” by deflecting the conversation.”
@neilo:
Neilo, questioning the motives, whether right or wrong, of someone making an argument, and not the argument itself is also a form of ad hominem.
It was when I went to school anyway…
I’ll leave it at that…goal posts firmly on the moon now…Have a nice day…
@Butch Francis: Too many big words for You? Or was there too many FACTS to take in?
If high IQ was a requirement to own a gun, 95% of pro gun lobby would be banned from owning
@Untriggered Non-Snowflake: sorry, I was reading through the rest of your drivel and should have refreshed the page before posting. So, why did you claim he didn’t look at the notes that you now say he did look at? Seems a bit of a ridiculous claim to make. Almost as if you lied. But why would you do that? Aren’t you meant to be the even keeled, balanced one? If someone needs a note to remind people that they are being heard at a listening session then I have some very serious doubts about that person and also the legitimacy of the session.
@Eleanor of Aquitaine: yeah that was a pretty bad piece of journalism, not quite as bad as your support for the theory that these kids are crisis actors. You have some very serious issues.
@Dave O Keeffe:
Stick to dishing out links for stats you provide, you know, the Pedo Podesta ones. Stay classy.
@Eleanor of Aquitaine: lol, your answer to being accused of being a conspiracy theorist is another conspiracy theory. I would reciprocate but you’ve never been classy.
Seriously! Think back to secondary school and all the teachers that you had. Would you want them to be constantly armed at school? How do you think they would react in an active shooter situation? What do you think the chances are that they wouldn’t actually end up missing and shooting students by accident when some crazy person with an AR-15 comes barging through the door? How about when a teacher has enough and breaks down (teenagers are awful. In my six years in a small to medium sized secondary school we had four teachers have breakdowns of some sort in the middle of school. One turned a bit violent and started throwing chairs all over the room full of students). Would you want teachers to have a gun in this situation? They say that they will be given training but these are teachers, not police or soldiers. Even the police in America don’t seem to be given enough training in how and when to use a gun. What hope does little old Mrs. Smith the maths teacher have after a couple of days down the gun range?
Seriously, there are many things that can and should be done to prevent these attacks but arming millions(I don’t actually know how many teachers there are) of teachers is probably the worst possible idea!
@The Bob: how about trained and armed guards at schools or will you settle for nothing less than gun confiscation?
@The Bob: an AR15. V a concealed carry weapon, i.e. A pistol? Crazy. The USA is getting more like the Old West every day.
Everyone should be armed according to NRA president Donald Trump. What a fu@@ked up country the USA has become.
@The Bob: I can think of a few teachers who used to get pretty angry in my school and line us with a cane – wouldn’t have wanted any of those with a gun –
How long before ‘stand your ground laws’ also apply to teachers who felt threatened by an aggressive pupil – and rather than calming the child down the teacher shot him?
Funny thing is, i;m sure the framers of the US constitution would also have thought it crazy that teachers bring guns into the classroom – having said all that though –
The point does remain though that if there had been an armed guard in the school for this for for Sandy Hook – in the f*****d up society in the US – it would have saved lives – no matter how crazy that sounds. Its really either everyone has guns or no one has guns.
@The Bob: teacher having a break down and throwing chairs … did we go to the same school ??
@Butch Francis: Why does anyone in Ireland even care?? This doesn’t affect us at all.
@Butch Francis: there was armed security at Parkland and in 9 minutes 17 were dead, 15 were injured and countless children damaged for life. Yes gun confiscation is the only solution.
@Butch Francis: there are about 130,000 schools in the US. Many of them have multiple campuses, others are just huge. Brooklyn tech high school has over 8,000 students. So how many armed guards do you propose per school? Where is the funding for them going to come from? And will an armed guard be able to prevent a well-prepared maniac from killing students in a classroom? Gun lobbyists like yourself always screech about the government removing everyone’s guns, presumably in the expectation that America will become a police state the following day. But these arguments never stand up to reasoned thinking. What purpose has semi-automatic weaponry in a civil society? Armour piercing bullets? Extended capacity magazines? I’ve yet to hear a convincing reason for the retention of these weapons.
@Butch Francis: How come the US is the only country that has this problem on such a regular basis? Is there anything they are doing differently to practically every other country on the planet?
Why should the taxpayer have to cough up for armed guards at every school so some so-called “grown ups” get to play with their toys?
If there’s a child hitting the other children in the playground with a stick, do you
(a) take the stick off the child or
(b) give all the other children a stick
@Butch Francis: Oh look, another new fascist troll.
@Gus Sheridan: NEVER ever a word from usa about repairing any of the damage they did in IRAQ never a word about all the innocent kids by american bullets in vietnam afghanistan etc they love war in america , let them have it..
has he really got “45″ monogrammed on his shirt cuffs? Does he need reminding he is the 45th President or does it reference his IQ?
@Cicero: neither. He’s c.e.o. of the “Vinyl Revival” movement…
@Cicero: he needs to be reminded to say I hear you at a LISTENING session!!!
@Cicero: Ahhh you took the words right out of my fingers!
If you called school shootings extra late term abortions Republicans would be all over it.
@Dave O Keeffe: Sir, you may have cracked it!
@Dave O Keeffe:
Stick to reality O’Keefe.
@Eleanor of Aquitaine: I use my real name, unlike your cowardly self (not because of your name but because of your complete unwillingness to back up your statements with anything other than insults) your literacy levels are clearly displayed by your inability to spell a name that is right there for you to copy.
People going crazy about Trump and he is acting following the shooting. Which as a far as I can tell he hasn’t said or done anything wrong. What did Obama do in 8 years in office to help in gun control.. it’s amazing how a big smile can deceit people into thinking he’s actually doing something. To really stop racism we also need to treat and judge people on their actions equally the same. So let me start here…. Just because Obama is black didn’t just automatically make him a great president…
@John Egan: This is not an article about Obama, why are you going on about him?
@John Egan: oh look! an Obama squirrel !
@John Egan: I think Obama DID try to change the law after the Sandy Hook shooting, but the Republican Controlled Congress blocked him.
@John Egan: Obama was blocked in Congress every step of the way. Obama’s anti gun stance is well know, he would have done something if he was let.
What an ill-informed comment.
Judging by the pro Trump, pro gun comments on here, bare faced lies are the way to go these days.
@neilo: as I was referring to the fact that Trump is being lambasted for something minor I brought up the last president that was in office who also oversaw school shootings hadn’t done anything to prevent it either. That so happened to be Trump. Don’t know where the racist remark came from? So I’m racist towards Trump because he’s white or I racist because I’m questioning a black person s time in office when I should be complementing him because he’s black and in office? Just because you disagree does not make it irrelevant, in fact your comment remarking by comments irrelevancy is more irrelevant because at least mine was addressing a person in the actual article. :)
@DJ François: The same as any anti Trump squirrel?
Trump is a sociopath. Sociopaths need instructions on how to “feel”.
@ianglen:
All politicians operate in the same manner. Look at Dail Eireann. Government TDs will not open their mouths until they’ve been schooled by 4 or 5 consultants and advisors.
@David Sinclair: that’s the tactic for today then I gather? Our politicians are bad too? Our politicians don’t actively support the premature death of thousands of citizens every year
@Dave O Keeffe:
‘ Our politicians don’t actively support the premature death of thousands of citizens every year’
That’s open to debate.
@David Sinclair: Wasn’t the “I’m not a politician” stuff a hug selling point with Trump?
Now we’re hearing “all the other politicians do it too”. Crazy how things change when you’re in office, eh? He has become what he railed against in the campaign, and his supporters will defend it anyway.
@neilo:
Any other random Facebook posts you’d care to share this morning?
@David Sinclair: let’s debate it then rather than saying its open for debate and saying nothing more. Which premature deaths in Ireland are the government actively supporting? Even being paid by lobbyists to take the stance.
@Dave O Keeffe:
Dave It can be discussed on Irish political articles.
@David Sinclair: so why bring it up if you say this isn’t the place to discuss it? Deflecting from the deflection now as well?
@Dave O Keeffe:
I am right though is saying that all politicians employ advisors to tutor them in responding to such events.
Even Obama who had the knack of sounding sincere.
@David Sinclair: so you’re finally going to show us the proof that Irish politicians are giving nfunding to support the murder of Irish citizens? Or was that more bs. Of course politicians have speech writers and advisors. But look at the notes, honestly, presidents shouldn’t need advice on common sense and decency
@Dave O Keeffe:
I refer you to Untriggered Non-Snowflake’s opening remark on this article which knocked it out of the ball park. You can figure the Irish angle out yourself.
The FBI who failed badly on this one seem to be escaping under the radar?
The parents should be asking some stern questions of the agency.
@David Sinclair: FBI should have indeed questioned the guy and that goes without saying..but can you explain in minute detail on how they could have stopped this attack from happening ?
@Francis Mc Carthy:
I’ll let you join the dots yourself this time Francis.
And what if it’s the armed teacher that goes mental?? Just saying….
And if he doesn’t use notes, he’s a loose cannon and a menace to civilised discourse. There’s no reasoning with this. You might as well respond with “well Obama….”
Rumours abound that the image has been ‘shopped. Wouldn’t surprise me. He’s still their worst president ever though.
Arm teachers and who could be the next perpetrators of these shooting.
It is so boring reading comments on Donald Trump after the excuse for media has doctored what he actually said. Listening to TV3 last night, i could’ve said everything they were saying before them because it’s the same rubbish spouted all the time without one critical thought between the lot of them and mostly the same here. Donald Trump did not suggest arming teachers; he discussed different ideas put forward but why would the anti-trumpers bother with reporting the truth? Unbelievable!
@Sighle A. Ni Chuana: He certainly spoke favourably of the idea of arming teachers: whether or not he raised it in the first place is irrelevant.
Complete bozo, embarrassing for the USA
How utterly sad , President of the United Fakes . Shallow pool gets you “ bottom feeders “ broken system broken country!
@Ciaran105: fool
Yes …. because more guns is exactly what the USA needs . Brain dead !
And for the record Obama introduced a Bill to have mental health checks on people applying for gun permits which the Republicans voted DOWN !!!!!!!
They need to replace teachers with NRA approved attack-droids
If you arm teachers and make protection part of their job and they miss the gunman can they be sued for negligence in performance of their duties ? People who suggest such a thing clearly have not thought it through.
Why don’t they just start selling small yield nuclear weapons in Walmart?
I’m sure the responsible bomb owners will far outnumber those that can access them with “mental disorders”
Doesn’t matter whether he had notes or not,that is missing the point.The point is what is he going to do ?I think we all know the answer.
I don’t really understand these anti-gun activists.
A few months ago they were supporting Black Lives Matter protests and demanding that the police in the US must have their guns taken off them because they were allegedly shooting people of colour…
…now these same anti-gun activists are demanding that nobody should have any guns – except the police!
Make up your mind!
@Rachel Hororwitz: Rachel, I don’t remember anyone saying that the police in the US should be disarmed. I do remember people saying that the police in the US shouldn’t shoot innocent, unarmed black people with regularity.
Nobody is saying that all guns should be banned. People are saying that semi-automatic rifles such as the AR-15 should be banned.
How many lies can you get into one post?
@Padraic Courtney: it’s her job
Maybe getting students to wear bullet proof vests is a better option or would they be any good against that type of rifle
@FlopFlipU: I think you can now buy bulletproof backpacks to use as a shield.
@FlopFlipU: No, banning ‘that kind of rifle’ is a better option.
It is bad when others write down what he should say?
“I hear you’ yup that’s a really long sentence with difficult pronunciations, of course he’d need a note to remind him!!
@Terri McCormick O’Gorman: at a listening session no less
have your say