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 Brexit, Console and divorce.
The 5 most popular comments this week
1. People were shocked by an incident that saw racist abuse shouted at a man on a bus in Manchester a few days after the Brexit vote.
Sean got 1,300 likes for this comment:
While drinking beer! That man was most likely on his way to work, paying his taxes so as to keep those thugs in benefits.
2. Speaking of the referendum, Johnnathan Biskalero had this to say about the UK’s decision to leave the European Union:
Keep voting till you get the right result……where have experienced that before ???????
That one got 1,256 green thumbs.
3. Lily Martin got 1,196 likes for this comment about a judge who dismissed a damages claim by a teenager who who said he fell on a broken bottle while playing football in “knee-high” grass:
Proper order. Well done judge.
4. The country was proud of the boys in green and their efforts in Euro 2016. After their loss to France last weekend, Tweed Cap wrote:
Doesn’t matter lads my kids are out the back. One of them is pretending to be Hendrick and the other Brady. That’s what it’s all about the next generation are inspired. Roll on the World Cup
Some 1,082 of you approved.
5. In another Brexit-related comment, Kerry Blake had this to say underneath Vincent Browne’s column about the EU:
Don’t often agree fully with Vincent but on this I do agree. My heart sank when I heard today that Enda was going to fight the fight for the Irish,,,,,,
That comment got 1,043 likes.
The top 5 articles which received the most comments this week
1. Poll: Should divorce waiting times be reduced to two years? (254 comments)
2. RTÉ, the Indo and the Times were “very, very hostile” towards Sinn Féin: Pearse Doherty (227 comments)
3. “Why are you here?” – An EU chief wasn’t impressed with Nigel Farage today (217 comments)
4. Poll: Would you like to see a second referendum on Brexit in the UK? (211 comments)
5. 28 dead and 60 others injured in Istanbul airport blast – official says (204 comments)
Standout comments
Ater it emerged that a man was shot by a garda during a planned operation incident near Foynes, county Limerick, scientia wrote:
Men and women tasked with the job of making life and death decision while their own lives hang in the balance forced to scrap for basic wages. These incidents really put it into perspective.
Food for thought.
People were shocked after an audit of the suicide prevention charity Console found that half a million euro was spent on foreign trips, designer clothes, eating out and other expenses between 2012 and 2014 – while another half a million was spent on salaries and cars for former CEO Paul Kelly and his wife Patricia Kelly.
JoseMacPhisto, a former Console volunteer, wrote:
As someone who used to volunteer for Console I am particularly disgusted at this. The counsellors whom I worked alongside were professionals, and relied on the wage as their only income. But this wage was irregularly payed to say the least, and things were always very tight within the service.
That Paul Kelly was earning that amount of money in the first place, before abusing his position to sequester half a million between him and his family, leaves me virtually speechless, and wholly indignant.
Worst off, it’s a terrible advert for a wonderful charity for whom people contribute an extraordinary amount of help and goodwill to people facing one of the most difficult situations imaginable. I hope people here won’t tarnish the charity by association.
While Dominick Lodola summed up how a lot of people are feeling after the revelations:
Lost for words.
As always, the weather provided much commentary this week. Here are some of our favourite comments from a post about how, shall we say, shite the weather has been:
Barry Aston and Maoilséachlaoin got straight to the point with these inputs:
john culhane had this to say about the Irish summer:
Ah the monsoon season is a week early this year. Roll on September…
While Charlene Vaughan made us all this kind offer:
Picked a good week to go on hols then..will try pack the sun on way home
Fingers crossed, Charlene!
During the week, Dublin City Council’s Transport Committee passed a motion calling for new Luas trams to be “capable of being fitted with self-driving software“.
It was only a matter of time before this happened:
All together now:
In an interesting move, Don Henley banned any kind of mobile use – including texting, calling, taking photos or videos – at his solo gig at the 3Arena last night.
Concert organisers Aiken Promotions said in a statement: “In order to maximise your enjoyment as well as the enjoyment of those around you, please turn off your mobile phones and other electronic devices during the concert.”
Many of you agreed with the stance.
Jimmyjoe Wallace wrote:
Proper order too. Can we bring this rule in for all gigs? Strict enforcement too, of course.
Jason Ebbs added:
Same should apply in the cinema. People continually checking their phones. If you can’t go into a cinema for a couple of hours without constantly checking your phone you have no hope.
While Conor church had this idea:
If we can also add in people singing loudly during acoustic songs that would be great
That would *might* be difficult to enforce.
Speaking of singing, earlier this week a US federal judge signed off on a settlement that puts the song Happy Birthday in the public domain.
Attorney Daniel Schacht said: “This is a huge victory for the public and for the artists who want to use ‘Happy Birthday to you’ in their videos and music.”
The decision led Martin Flood to ask:
I’m guessing a refund for my previous 42 years is out of the question?
You might be out of luck there, Martin.
Finally, on foot of news that the Irish fans are to receive a prestigious award from the mayor of Paris for their “exemplary sportsmanship” during the country’s run to the last 16 of the Euros, Joe Murphy commented:
Well done to all the travelling supporters, you did your country proud
See any good comments? Send them to orla@thejournal.ie.
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