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 John McNulty (yes, still), the homelessness crisis and the publican who hires only Irish staff to greet customers.
So here are the standout comments from the week that was.
The 5 most popular comments this week
Three of the most-voted up comments of the week were on a story about a woman and her children who were living in tents. She said she was evicted from her temporary accommodation for talking to a journalist.
There were 2,124 thumbs up for royston T justice who said:
Must have been a right shock after a week away in Spain on holidays, especially as it’s a school week too, tragic news.. Sorry must go, have a mortgage to attend to..
LittleBlackPetal questioned the veracity of the story, with 1,871 readers agreeing.
Her family can’t give them a roof over their heads but can pay for a holiday and spending money for a family of four? I know people can still receive gifts but if their parents can afford such a generous gift, surely they have enough room to squeeze their grandchildren in at night.I could be wrong but I don’t think she is genuinely as down on her luck as she’s making out.
As did Michael O’Neill who got a similar thumb count at 1,812.
Her parents can afford to give her a holiday in Spain but can’t afford to let her stay at their house. So the taxpayer has to pay for her accommodation.What’s wrong with this picture?
4. Publican Charlie Chawke hires only Irish people to greet his customers. Silent Majority – and 1,785 of you – agree with his policy.
French restaurants tend to hire French waiters, similarly Asian restaurants appear to favour Asian staff, so what’s wrong with Irish pubs preferring Irish staff? Fact is, we’re all still stuck with national stereotypes, both positive & negative, so it’s wrong to blame the publican who has realised the prejudices of his clientele. He’s a businessman at the end of the day, and he wouldn’t have such a policy unless he benefited financially from it.
5. And Clancy Wiggum brought it back to the original article about the mother and her two kids living in a tent. She got 1,720 thumbs for simply saying:
There’s an awful whiff of bullshit about this story.
The top 5 articles which received the most comments this week
1. Publican refuses to hire foreign nationals to greet customers (306 comments)
2. Thousands march for “realistic abortion access in Ireland” (303 comments)
3. Anti-water charge protesters say ‘don’t register’ – Irish Water says it’ll cost you (288 comments)
4. Poll: Would you support the use of Irish airports for attacks on Islamic State militants? (219 comments)
5. Laughter and applause for Phil Hogan, as Sinn Féin challenge falls flat (217 comments)
The big issue this week
TheJournal.ie ran a week-long series on homelessness with one story focusing on children in care when they turn 18. Selita had some insights:
I have worked with many young people after they have left care. It is a mix of emotions as they get closer to 18, for months all the talk is about how they can’t wait to leave residential care, then as it gets closer the stress of the reality sets in. It’s not like an 18 year heading off to college in Dublin, knowing they can go home to a family as the weekend. These kids are out on their own after institutional care and a chaotic life that brought them there, it’s heartbreaking to see the loneliness
Puns of the week
Nice work, Shane and Paul.
We also enjoyed this from Business Cat on water charges:
Though I do use a litter box & I lick myself clean, so consumption isn’t high anyway.
About 10,000 Chinese pigeons had their anuses checked for ‘suspicious materials‘ ahead of Wednesday’s National Day celebrations. Huey reckoned there’d be some keen volunteers for the gig.
A nice job for the pigeon fanciers?
Some of our favourite comments
The death of a 15 year old girl on Tuesday sparked a conversation about mental health education in schools. Stiofán De Priondárgas said:
I don’t want to come across as religion bashing but always thought a class dedicated to social and mental health issues would be more beneficial to students. There is a lot of pressure to “fit in” and to be accepted, teenagers can be be quite cruel to each other in that regard. They all come from different backgrounds and have different experiences in their upbringing that many don’t understand. Plus the pressure to perform in exams. It wasn’t till my college years I got the help that I needed. Too many suicides In this country. RIP
This made us laugh. Thanks William Grogan.
A neighbour, whose house is being renovated, called in last week. Our Golden Retriever had stolen the workmen’s lunch three times on the trot. Her indoors found the silver foil from one sandwich in the garden. Bad dog!
Spot any good comments? Send them through to us by email at sinead@thejournal.ie.
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