EVERY SATURDAY MORNING we take a look at all the best comments left on the site by our readers over the past seven days.
This week there was a lot of talk about an incident outside a Kilkenny pub, the search for missing Clare man Michael Bugler and pragmatic baptisms.
The 5 most popular comments this week
1. Last weekend a Kilkenny pub reported its own bouncer after footage of him standing on the head of a man was widely shared on Facebook. Beano got 1,905 likes for this comment:
What a coward…standing on the head of someone pinned to the ground unable to defend themselves
2. After hundreds of homes had to be evacuated due to flooding, david kelly wrote:
Why can’t we do a national fund raising day for these people.. we do it for other countries why not our own .. it’s a mess god love them
Some 1,258 of you approved.
3. After a body was found in the search for missing Clare man Michael Bugler, his family thanked those who helped the search and provided support in recent weeks.
Shane Horan summed up how a lot of people felt, writing:
So sad. RIP. I know it’s not much consolation but at least there is now some closure for the family.
His comment got 1,174 green thumbs.
4. The Employment Appeals Tribunal ordered Tesco to pay a former worker €41,000 after her dismissal for not paying for a fried breakfast. Patrick Hurley got 1,148 likes for this post:
Seems ridiculous to sack someone for something that is impossible to do when following standard operating procedure. Not allowed to carry money but sacked for not paying on the spot. Tesco was always on a loser here.
5. conex had the below response to Floyd Mayweather saying Conor McGregor’s popularity is proof that “racism still exists” in sport:
Arguably the best boxer of all time Muhammad Ali was possibly the cockiest boxer of all time aswell , he was black , people of all over the world loved him because of a few important things that separates mayweather from the greats ….. Charisma, respect , humour, sportsmanship. These are all important elements that make up a great sportsman . Mcgregor has a touch of it , that’s why people want more of him . Nothing to do with racism , more to do with character .
That one got 1,129 green thumbs.
The top 5 articles which received the most comments this week
1. ‘It’s insulting to parents to say they’re baptising their children to get them into a school’ (346 comments)
2. Women shouldn’t have to sell household items or take out short-term loans to afford an abortion (289 comments)
3. ‘They were groping us and we were trying to get away’ – Cologne sex attacks spark protests (286 comments)
4. Here’s The42’s Ireland XV for the 2016 Six Nations (258 comments)
5. Live RTÉ report about flooding interrupted by water protesters (255 comments)
Standout comments
During the week, an opinion piece on pregnant women feeling depressed led to many of you sharing your own experiences of the subject.
Oiche Fairy commented:
I had to pretend to be excited because everyone expected me to be but deep down I was just scared because I had lost three babies before my daughter was born. All I was thinking was that I could miscarry at any time.
Sandra Turner wrote:
I suffered very badly with hyperemesis during my last pregnancy. I was vomiting non stop all day and night. By 10 weeks pregnant I had lost more than 10% of my pre pregnancy weight. Just before 12 weeks, I was in hospital and a doctor refused to give me any medication to help stop the vomiting. He called for a psychiatric consultation instead. The psychiatrist announced his arrival to myself and the other 6 people on the ward. He pulled the curtain and asked if I had any immediate feelings of self harm (I hadn’t), delighted he left saying that was great as he was very busy and someone would be back the next day to see me. Many weeks later I received a letter home to invite me to the psychiatric nurse. I didn’t go, I wasn’t crazy, I might have needed counselling to deal with the guilt and panic and fear associated with such a difficult pregnancy but I didn’t want to harm myself. It turns out anti sickness medication was the way to go as it reduced the vomiting episodes to between 5-8 per day from around 17-20. This country is not set up to help people in a timely fashion. Pregnancy lasts 9 months and waiting lists could be longer than that for help! I still feel counselling might have helped me (I get the odd flashback) but seeing as how I was dealing with doctors that thought I was vomiting on purpose and needed psychiatric help I would have had to source and pay for one myself which wasn’t possible when I couldn’t leave the house because I was so sick.
Meanwhile, Dan Higgins spoke about things from a father’s perspective:
Although I myself have never been pregnant, my wife has and it is one of the scariest things going! You’re constantly worrying, waiting and watching! The important thing is to talk about it when it’s not ok and you’re not feeling great! It’s not all sunshine and rainbows! Unfortunately most of what you publicly hear about is how great it is and how amazing it is. If you’re not feeling it it’s ok, just talk to somebody about it. I think my wife found it easier to share her thoughts about what was going on and we were lucky in that we could talk through any of the pregnancy issues that arose. I supported her and she most certainly supported me (when she wasn’t randomly falling asleep :) ).
An Observer responded with this:
Dan I completely agree with you. I’m in the same boat at the moment,my wife is only a few weeks pregnant with our first child.There are things that we had to go through at the weekend hospital wise,not knowing if everything was ok.. We left the hospital still not 100% sure because it’s too early for a scan so it’s just a day by day routine at the moment. Plenty of rest and water etc but she is stressing herself out worrying if something is wrong. It’s like walking on eggshells in case the worst happens.
Over in England, Prince George started nursery this week.
Pt pat noted:
I still remember my first day of school, clinging to my mothers leg and balling my eyes out. I wasn’t cut out to be a teacher.
Top marks.
Meanwhile, a judge in the US ruled that a macaque monkey could not own the copyright of selfies he took with a photographer’s camera in Indonesia.
Fred Astare Astare welcomed the news:
Thanks be to God for that, I had loads of them Gorilla photos hidden on my hard drive.
And Tony_Kilduff added:
Good picture all the same, looks like he’s done it before!
It was a great week for Saoirse Ronan, who was nominated for a BAFTA for her role in Brooklyn. She’s also up for a Golden Globe tomorrow night.
When she appeared on the Ellen Show, the star used an unorthodox method to help American viewers pronounce her name.
This led to a debate in the comments section about the correct pronunciation.
Suzie Sunshine kicked things off, noting:
The pronunciation of Saoirse as “Sursha” is a new one on me.
Here are what some other readers think:
So many options, but Anastasia Ward probably has a point.
Finally, Hitler’s notorious manifesto Mein Kampf was made available in German bookshops for the first time since WWII during the week.
It led Richard boyle to comment:
Somewhere there’s a German kid who asked his deaf grandad for Minecraft for a birthday gift.
*applause*
See any good comments? Email them to orla@thejournal.ie.
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