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 Irish Water, Sinn Féin and abortion.

So here are the standout comments from the week that was.

The 5 most popular comments this week

1. Steve wasn’t impressed with Dicey’s bar charing 20c for a pint of tap water during the week. He got 2,413 thumbs up. 

Businesses always paid for water so this household charge shouldn’t matter a shit

2. Silent Majority also had his say on the topic and got 2,139 green thumbs. 

They’re doing water for 10c on Tuesdays though in fairness to them.

3. Should cobblestones be removed because of the shoe choices we make? gkrell – and 2,009 of our readers – think not. 

I can’t walk on the grass in my ice skates either. Could the council replace all the grass in public parks please to suit me.

4. And, we’re back to the price of water. On that Dicey’s pint, Fozz says:

And €7.85 after 1am of a Sat night…

5. Ailbhe O’Nolan believes the salary for the new CEO of Rehab is still too high. About 1,407 of you agree. 

Still a ridiculous amount, seeing as she will be getting expenses, bonus payments etc. It’s a charity, €140,000 is a joke

The top 5 articles which received the most comments this week

1. Gerry Adams: ‘Sinn Féin has not covered up abuse at any level’ (450 comments)

2. Pro-choice activists (and one TD) swallow abortion pills in Dublin (306 comments)

3. We’ve been called sluts and bitches on the streets. Have you? (273 comments)

4. More than 100,000 will turn up at water charge protests tomorrow, predicts TD (254 comments)

5. Intimidation of Roma people in Waterford “effectively a lynch mob”- Minister (252 comments)

Laugh of the week

Maybe we should make this the Adebayo section? To give you an insight into how TJ’s newsroom works, the person on the earliest shift writes the poll that day. Over the past fortnight, that person has been Paul Hosford, a fact not lost on the captain.

Another staff member, Michael Freeman, also got some love in the comments section this week.

Some other standout comments

Paul Sherwood Paul Sherwood

Readers were blown away by these beautiful Magdalene-inspired quilts embroidered by an inmate at Limerick Prison.

Sheik Yahbouti said:

These items have real artistic merit. There’s genuine power in his choice of subject matter, and the execution so far as I can see from the photos. Well done to the artist, who may have found a way to change his life through art, and the people who facilitated his discovery.

Carmel commented:

What an incredibly moving tribute to the Magdeline survivors. The contrast of the beautiful craftwork against the horror of the story it depicts, makes it all the more compelling and emotive.

And Silent Majority had this to say:

They’re excellent. Kinda sad that it’s taken prison for him to realise his talents though, if I had his talent I have no doubt it would have been spotted & encouraged in my youth. There are reasons the vast majority of inmates come from the same socio-economic backgrounds, and this right here is one of them.

After a video went viral from New York during the week, staff from TheJournal.ie shared their experiences of street harrassment - and asked you for yours. Niamh Hannon said:

My first week living in Dublin for college age 17, I got lost on my way to Mount Joy Square, musta looked that way too cause I guy approached me asked me where I was going. I said college and walked on like I knew my way. There was nobody around in broad daylight and he followed me asked for my number, asked did I have a boyfriend, told me I was beautiful asked would I go back to his house just up the road, the list goes on. Thankfully a group of people came walking towards us and he fecked off. He never got aggressive but it scared the hell out of me and really made me fear strange men. I’ve had worse experiences since but also better ones like. . .

This Summer I missed my last bus home at about 12.00 at Busaras panic sunk in straight away as they close the station you just wait around outside for the buses. I had no idea what I would do (also had a few drinks so wasn’t thinking so clearly), my phone battery died and only had my card for money. I asked a few people around the station after realising I had no choice. A homeless man ran from bus to bus for me to see if I could get home. An elderly man tried to give me money to put me up in a hotel he was generally worried and was about to miss his own bus. A busman tried to contact my bus to see if he could catch me up to it. In the end I went to the Guards to ring my Mam and let her know what was happening and they helped me get a hotel for the night. I imagined the worst would happen to me that night and it really opened my eyes to the fact there are still a lot of good people out there.

There were numerous interesting contributions – such as this from Fergal Reid and this from Karen Mulreid – on the same thread.

Alan Seag discusses his memory of the Sarah Payne abduction and murder following news that her father was found dead during the week.

I will never forget this case. I had got a small summer job assisting tradesmen in the Dell plant in Limerick. Every morning tea and lunch break for weeks was dominated by coverage on the case. In having a 5 year old sister it was really shocking to me that someone would do such a thing, i couldn’t quite understand it. I was a lot more innocent back then obviously, not really wise to the real world and evils that exist but i distinctly recall being absolutely horrified and terrified for my little sister and other children after this. It was utterly heartbreaking.

I hope he has found peace.

There was much talk this week of nursing home waiting lists and Sarah Casey looks at the situation.

On the other hand, is it fair to expect untrained family members to bear the burden of care for what are often complex medical, cognitive and/or behavioural needs? There is a debate to be had here, particularly as community supports are highly inadequate/under-resourced and respite is almost non-existent.

I agree what is largely referred to here is focused, high support care. However it is not just the elderly who require this, and many places are taken/required by individuals with congenital or acquired disabilities as there are no other suitable alternatives available (at least not in sufficient numbers on a national level). No wonder the waiting lists are so long…

Dorothy Murray shared her experience on the same thread.

try having a mother in law in ireland alone, her kids live in the states, we have done the private home help, the government home help until she fell recently. CUH would not release her alone, so it took 9 weeks for us to get nursing home. Applied for fair deal, also loan for equity to pay nursing home but until then, we have to pay over 2K a month ; sibling refuses to help out, so it falls on my dh and myself to fly back and forth. My dh calls every other day and will go again in a few weeks. So we have basically tried everything. She is 85, has dementia, recovering from a broken hip and cries with the loneliness. It is such a sad case. We really have no option ; can’t move home as we would be unemployed and our kids still need to go to school, she can’t move here because of health reasons and no health insurance.

A survey this week found that most Irish professionals are working longer hours than they’re being paid for. Joan Featherstone had this lovely Irish mammy advice to offer:

I work hard and have always encouraged my kids to do same, they have and have done well, but you have to get a balance, nowadays employers think they own you but never forget they would drop you like a hot potato if it suited them….family and friends will always be there.

See any good comments? Send them on to sinead@thejournal.ie