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 Jeremy Clarkson, the same-sex marriage referendum and Neighbours.
So here, in no particular order, are the standout comments from the week that was.
The 5 most popular comments this week
1. After our historic Six Nations win last weekend, head coach Joe Schmidt rightly got a lot of praise.
Speaking shortly after Ireland’s rugby success he said he was now on “dad duty” to look after his 11-year-old son Luke who suffers from epilepsy.
Some 4,888 of you approved of AJ McLaughlin‘s take on the situation:
Not just one of the best rugby coaches in the world but totally grounded and clearly a loving father. Respect.
2. Mr. Dave thinks the latest development on Irish Water bills is bad news for the Labour party, 4,028 people agree.
Alan Kelly proposing ‘Fast Track Courts’ for people who won’t pay the water charge.
Where are the Fast Track Courts for the the Bankers/Developers that brought this country down Minister Kelly? RIP Labour.
3. As the world came to terms with the tragic Alps plane crash, Colm Mac Coisdealbha had this to say:
You never know whats going on in someones head but no need to take everyone down with you
2,527 of you agreed.
4. More rugby reaction, with 2,466 people giving a green thumb to Jim McGourty for his input:
We’ll never see another day’s rugby like that. Immense.
5. Following on from last week’s mass anti-water charge protest, 2,171 of you liked Eamonn Boylan‘s stance:
Still not paying!!
The top 5 articles which received the most comments this week
1. ‘Does this look like a dying movement?’ – Tens of thousands protest in Dublin (566 comments)
2. We now have a ‘drop dead date’ for Irish Water registration (481 comments)
3. Plan to take water charges from wages a ‘bullying’ tactic – Murphy (395 comments)
4. Some priests aren’t going to take a stance on the same-sex marriage referendum (378 comments)
5. Businesses aren’t AT ALL happy about tomorrow’s O’Connell Street protest (375 comments)
Standout comments of the week
John Connell’s article on male suicide sparked an interesting discussion in the comments section.
Kieran OKeeffe asked why more money isn’t allocated to the area of mental health:
Why isn’t mental health getting the funding it needs?if ten people a week were dying on our roads money wouldnt be an issue..
Meanwhile, Shane Kearney had this to say about stigma:
This is a huge issue. However, I believe that there are many problems young men face other than the constantly used ‘toxic masculinity’. Nine times out of ten, if you reach out to someone for help, you will get the “You need to talk to someone” line, despite just opening up. There is such a massive stigma involved with issues such as depression, mental issues etc that by simply reaching out for treatment(and exposure), you are putting yourself at a risk of being ostracised. Be honest, if most people caught a glimpse of a scarred wrist, they would (and do, trust me) act like they had come across someone with two heads and try to disassociate with that person. Not to mention the elephant in the room………..that if you are not in a comfortable financial position, getting adequate help is extremely hard.
In light of her decision to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes, Stephen Duggan praised Angeline Jolie for going public:
I’ve lost a MIL (67) and cousin (35) to cancer in the past year. I give huge plaudits to AJ for being so public about her own crusade against this awful disease, it may actually save lives. I wish her nothing but long life and health in her future and hope that she and her family come through all this with a positive result.
Nicely put, Stephen.
Kevin Whyte shared his views on another topical issue: home repossessions:
There are people that cannot pay, people that will not pay, people that could have paid but decided to see if they would get a deal, and people that never intended to pay.
Only those that cannot pay should be supported
In a week of resignations and sackings, we should all spare a thought for Larry K – the real victim in the wake of Zayn Malik leaving One Diretion:
Ah man now my huge tattoo of the 5 of them just looks stupid!!
Speaking of departures, lots of you sent us your two cents on the BBC not renewing Jeremy Clarkson’s contract following his ‘fracas’ with a Top Gear producer.
Most of you, including Ronan Sexton, thought the BBC made the right call:
Bullying cannot be tolerated. This sends out that message, back in his box where all bullies belong.
Meanwhile, Daisy Chainsaw thinks no one else would get away with violent behaviour in the workplace:
Absolutely. My opinion on Clarkson aside, he physically assaulted a colleague. If you or I did that we’d be gone.
In other news, it seems Noel is getting a bit tired of his slow internet connection…
Is this instead of broadband?
And finally, our own Nicky Ryan weighed into the controversial blaa vs bap debate:
Blaas are blaas. Blaas are not baps and will never be baps. Anyone who thinks that a blaa is a bap has clearly never eaten a blaa or a bap.
See any good comments? Send them on to sinead@thejournal.ie
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