Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
SOMETIMES EVEN THE slow collapse of civilisation can be overshadowed by some good old fashioned showbiz news, and what a relief it was for us all this week when the Gallagher brothers proved that old enmities can indeed be put aside in the name of love, family, music, and what is sure to be a payday the likes of which you and I would not even dare fathom.
Naturally the long-awaited, long-prayed-upon return of such an enormous cultural force has been met with the requisite amount of discourse over whether Oasis were ever really that good (they were), whether Noel and Liam are really that irritating (they are), and whether or not the government is going to stop hotels from price-gouging (let’s face it, probably not).
Still, you have to be a bit of a contrarian not to like the music of Oasis, and it would take a Herculean level of begrudgery to deny this moment to all of the das out there who thought they’d never again have the chance to get their old cagoule out from the back of their wardrobe. All of this is assuming that the brothers – whose relationship for the last 15 years has consisted almost exclusively of hurling Northern English insults like ‘knobhead’ at each other on Twitter and in print media – can keep things on an even keel for the next 12 months.
Somewhat ironically, the return of Oasis coincided with media reports that the UK government is considering plans to ban smoking in beer gardens and outside football stadiums. This is ironic since Oasis is pretty much the most ‘smoking in a beer garden or outside a football stadium’ band to have ever existed, narrowly beating out Kasabian. 55% of The Journal readers have said they do not think such a measure should be introduced here.
It’s a knotty issue that once again calls into question the balance between public health and personal freedom, with no course of action standing out as an unambiguous best case scenario. While I don’t much care for second-hand smoke, either the smell or disease it confers, I am conscious that once smoking is consigned to the literal ash heap of history, the powers that be will be coming for full-fat fizzy drinks. The sugar tax has already whittled down our numbers and one fears that a concerted push from the government could be all that is needed to take the good stuff out of supermarket fridges forever. Is this paranoid fear-mongering on the part of the author? Perhaps, but isn’t that what a weekly column is all about?
Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Speaking of Ireland’s political future, it’s worth checking in with what our various parties are up to during the Dáil summer recess.
The general election has been looming so long that one wonders if we’ll all have lost interest by the time it actually gets here. Fianna Fáil are doing their bit to keep the masses entertained by hoovering up celebrity candidates for Dáil Éireann, including TV presenter and Irish language activist Gráinne Seoige – who will run in Galway West – as well as television journalist Alison Comyn, who will run in her native Louth.
Advertisement
The evidence we have so far is that such a plan could well pay off. It has already worked for Fianna Fáil, who got former RTÉ presenter Cynthia Ní Mhurchú elected in this year’s European elections. Fine Gael doubled their number of celebrity MEPs at the most recent time of asking, with Maria Walsh joined in Brussels by Nina Carberry – a jockey with no political experience who was criticised from some quarters for a perceived lack of campaigning and community engagement ahead of her ascension to Europe.
Former RTÉ presenter Ciarán Mullooly did the job for Independent Ireland, getting elected to the European Parliament despite a lack of political background, while shock jock Niall Boylan only narrowly missed out on a seat in the Dublin constituency.
Much in the same way that shoppers browsing the shelves at the supermarket are more likely to pick up the product that they’ve heard of before, there is evidently some advantage for electoral candidates in carrying a cache of name recognition – particularly if that recognition comes from literally anything besides politics.
If only there were enough champion horse-riders to go around, we could do away with the party logos on ballots altogether and replace them with those mock-ups of whatever fetching little jockey outfits each candidate is wearing, like they do on the betting page of the sports pages. Think of it! Simon Harris in orange and purple stripes, Mary Lou in burgundy sleeves, Michael Healy-Rae wearing the same cap he already wears anyway. Oh, we’d be the envy of every democracy in the world. All of the democracies that are governed by horses, anyways.
Leaving the jockeys to one side for a moment, it is perhaps cause for discomfiture that the pipeline from press corps to politics is so well-lubricated. For decades, it has been par for the course that Ireland’s political correspondents eventually take jobs as advisors to ministers, but the trend of media figures running for office themselves appears to be intensifying. It seems naively utopian in this day and age to think that the fourth estate should remain separate from the political sphere, but even the cynics among us must surely be raising their eyebrows at how blurred the barrier seems to have become.
This is not to say that the celebs (let’s be honest here, most of these people are quasi-celebrities) aren’t competent operators who will slot into the party machinery just fine. It is simply to note the changing complexion of Irish electoral politics, a landscape in which a history of funeral attendance and pothole-fillery is perhaps becoming less important than star power.
This strategy is not guaranteed to work, of course. Fianna Fáil moved quickly to snap up Caio Benicio, one of the heroes who took down the Parnell Street attacker last November, only for Benicio to get nowhere near Dublin City Council in the this summer’s local elections.
No matter what happens at the next general election, an overhaul of Dáil Éireann is pretty much inevitable. Even if Fine Gael hang on to the number of seats they have, or increase them, they’ll still be without almost half of the TDs who have made up their Dáil presence since the 2020 election. Many of Ireland’s most well-known political figures are receding from the limelight, while a new generation come to the fore – even if they are just swapping one side of the RTÉ panel for the other. Whether it yields dividends for the people of Ireland remains to be seen.
And besides, maybe if I grow the readership of this column by just a little bit, Fianna Fáil will pick me to run for Dáil Éireann.
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
Irish charity shops seeing 'massive influx' of Shein clothes - often never worn
4 hrs ago
3.9k
12
PSNI
Man wanted in Germany to stand trial for child sex offences arrested in Portadown
6 hrs ago
6.1k
Cavan
Woman killed in Cavan home named locally, as gardaí launch murder investigation
Updated
20 hrs ago
89.6k
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 138 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 95 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 123 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 93 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 68 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 67 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 32 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 28 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 115 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 56 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 67 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 74 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 33 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 39 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 23 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 77 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 87 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 64 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 46 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 75 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 54 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say