We need your help now
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.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
SUPERMARKET SHOPPERS MAY soon be able to use their cúpla focail as they shop.
Supermarket giant Tesco has confirmed that they are examining a plan that would see bi-lingual self-service checkouts installed in their 146 stores across the country.
A company spokesperson confirmed to TheJournal.ie that the plan was being looked into, but could not provide any other details. The spokesperson said that no timelines have been decided and that there had been no decisions on how many checkouts would be installed in each store if the plan was pursued.
Tesco operates a similar system in Wales, where their 74 stores can serve customers in Welsh.
The move comes after a successful pilot project in the Galway Shopping Centre branch, where signs and announcements are made in both languages, classes are held for staff and a designated Irish-speaking checkout is available.
The initiative has seen Tesco nominated for an award by Gaillimh le Gaeilge, a group that works with Galway City Council, Galway Chamber and other groups to boost the Irish language in the county.
Tesco’s spokesperson said that the Galway experiment was well received by both shoppers and staff.
Strangely, the Journal always closes its comments section regarding other political posts and controversies, but when a democratically elected Sinn Féin TD is mentioned, its comment section becomes open season. The politically motivated censorship bias in the Journal is nauseating and infamous.
@Tristan Ua Ceithearnaigh: that’s simply not true, which 5 minutes scrolling would prove. A bit rich considering you just accused someone else of lying.
@Tristan Ua Ceithearnaigh: Don’t worry you’re not paranoid because we are all talking about you and SF.
@Tristan Ua Ceithearnaigh: Tristans embarrassment is palpable. I’m not sure I understand what being ” democratically elected” has to do with O’Snodaigh trousering €50,000 worth of ink cartridges, not paying anything back, promising to make a donation to a charity as a mea culpa but there being no evidence of this being discharged. We’ll say nothing of his postering team being caught with all sorts and jailed for membership of a terrorist organisation. There’s plenty more in the comments below. Maybe Tristan hates people expressing themselves? Politically motivated, eh? Tristan will go on to mention FG and West brits and still find time to cry here because the truth hurts, and O’Snodaigh is laughable.
@Tristan Ua Ceithearnaigh: strange how in the space of a few minutes your comment and Anthony Curran’s suddenly have over 200 likes.
@Dermot Blaine: I noticed that 100s of likes in minutes of posting.
@Tristan Ua Ceithearnaigh: same happen with FG
@Tristan Ua Ceithearnaigh: Chuckeebrother whinge mate.
@honey badger: ahhh the ‘ moral virtue’ of honey again. The non FFG supporting, Zionist genocide loving hypocrite. If it SF related we get historical diatribes but not a moral word uttered about this weeks current news about FG councillor Bill Tormey.
You’ve gotta scroll down 22 articles to find the one about the Fine Gael paedophile. Now tell me again how long that article would remain top of the pile if the guy was from Sinn Féin!
@Anthony Curran: stories go down according as new ones are added. You Shinners need to get over this persecution complex, it’s hard to take you seriously with the giant chip on your shoulder.
@Anthony Curran: There are no comments allowed on that story, comments push stories upward too, as popular ones attract more views. Ye really are running out of ground.
@Paul O’Mahoney: Comments are never allowed when there’s an open court case, but that doesn’t suit the persecution complex
@Dermot Blaine: Ah Dermot, you know that’s not true. Certain stories remain top of the pile for hours on end. Fine Gael paedo stories fall down quicker than yer mot’s kaks.
@Anthony Curran: Well the lad who was grooming the young lad , 16 , didn’t last long, nor SF giving references for a known and convicted sex offender who went on to work with more children.
@Anthony Curran: what I do know is the SF supporters have a persecution complex. It’s pretty obvious.
@Anthony Curran: it up there with FG and McGahon
@Anthony Curran: and people smuggler, allegedly.
A no, surely an ex-Fine Gael independent should get it who wanted immigrants to be sent to an Irishif8vation camo so they’ll vote for her or Lowry, corruption comes naturally to the Irish
@Brian D’Arcy: SF deserve to be ridiculed and slagged off lol
@Hot Jim: go back to sleep.
This guy blew 50,000 on “ink cartridges,” and the noisy neighbours here are having a meltdown over over 2500 on a book launch. One suspects they aren’t sincere.
O’Snofaigh said at the time he’d make a donation to ” charity” to make up for this largesse. I have been unable to locate confirmation of this generous promise being fulfilled.
@honey badger: At least they didn’t spend close to 1 million to get a printer fitted.
@honey badger: remember the car occupants stopped on the way to carry out a bank robbery or something, with a boot full of O’ Snodaigh election paraphinalea?
@honey badger: Here’s a heartwarming photo of O’Snodaigh on his way into work.
https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/batons-drawn-as-sf-storms-seat-of-power/26702000.html
@Dermot Blaine: I do, indeed. One of the perps comments here from time to time..I always ask him why they had ministers home addresses, fake garda jackets, duct tape, & baseball bats as well. He told me its none of my business!
@Ger Whelan:
@Ger Whelan: or bike shed or security hut..
@Ger Whelan: To be fair, if every TD spent the same amount on ink cartridges over the same time frame as Wolfe Toner, it would cost us 8.7 million!
@honey badger: how much would it have cost if every TD bought a printer?. Such an amazing printer that it didn’t fit and they had to spend hundreds of thousands on top of the cost of the printer to make it fit.
@Ger Whelan: You’re only being silly now Ger. Why would a TD want such a huge industry-grade printer for themselves? Ink cartridges for every TD is quite plausible.
@honey badger: Your mates spent millions on e-voting machines that were never used and millions more to store them. So I’d wind yer neck in vadger.
@honey badger: because I’ve learned from experience FF/FG don’t mind wasting millions of tax payers money on useless things.
@honey badger: One of the “perps” ? You still watching reruns of Hill Street Blues ? Ya auld codger ya .. lol.
@honey badger: Honey Badger, the Fine Gael troll forgets to mention that Fine Gael ordered a € million printer and then spent another 25,000 to get a building renovated so that it could be fitted, Not only are Fine Gael collosal money wasters of tax payers money , but they are outrageously incompetent as well. €330,000 spent on a bike shed, and € million on a hut , yet still no one is found answerable.
And all this west Brit Honey Badger can obsess about is ink cartridges.
@Ger Whelan: no but his buddy claimed €50000.
@Tristan Ua Ceithearnaigh: The newest member of SFs spin department has arrived. Can’t debate but resorts to insults and name calling, no wonder they lost 3 elections in a row.
@Tristan Ua Ceithearnaigh: Do you think that they overpaid for the printer? How much do you reckon SF would have got it for?
@Paul O’Mahoney: It’s hardly insulting to call Vadger a west brit. The cap fits.
@Tristan Ua Ceithearnaigh: Tristan, you’re invited to look onto the procurement processes involved in both Leinster House and within the OPW. It is easy (and maybe a little understandable) to point at things you don’t comprehend fully, but you shouldn’t as it highlights your ignorance.
Your issue is with the civil service and a lack of accountability. Now, this is something the government should do more on! We can agree on that. I’m not obsessed with ink cartridges at all! I’m just reminding people that this oaf splurged 50 grand on ink cartridges. Now pay attention – this is the bit that annoyed me: He held his hands up when caught. Didn’t offer to pay the money pay the money back. Instead offered to donate “an amount” to charity. I can find no evidence of this offer being discharged…
@Jason Memail: Surely the printer was a failure of public sector procurement rather than government anyway
@Mick Duvanny: Either way, the comments here seem to take issue with the cost of the printer, talking about it being a waste of taxpayers money. I look forward to hearing how much the SF fans think a different government would have to pay for the same piece of machinery.
@Anthony Curran: Another ad hominem. Christopher Hitchens said he was always thrilled when debate opponents went straight to the ad hominem. It meant they had no answer. And sure, how could you defend a TD blowing €50,000 on ink cartridges, not pay the money back, say he’ll donate to charity instead but seemingly never discharge this face saving promise? We don’t even need to get into his election poster team being caught with all sorts and then jailed for membership of a terrorist organisation – it’s not that relevant to my point. But, yeah, calling me a west brit makes this all go away… ;)
@Tristan Ua Ceithearnaigh:
Let’s not forget Sinn Fein laundering their money in Northern Ireland and Bulgaria
@Jason Memail:
Depends which flats complex supplies it to them.
I have lived in Ballyfermot for the past 15 years and I NEVER seen this TD doing something real, palpable for the the broad community. Most annoying in quietness TD of the area.
@Chris: Aren’t you lucky
@Chris: The undignified grabbing for the position of Fattened Calf by all parties, SF, FF, FG, Ind & whoever else will have a go, highlights that it’s all about self enrichment. They couldn’t give two foooks about the Irish people or the Irish Nation, it’s all about what they can get out of it. When you look at those going for it, from character references for Paedos, Court Cases, Ink Cartridges, we really are scraping the bottom of the barrel. The scrap for Ceann Comhairle as viewed by working Irish Taxpayers only causes more disaffection with Irish politics, take note Simon Harris or the Monk could be the next Ceann Comhairle.
Ah Wolfe Toner himself.
“Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD says his use of 434 printer cartridges between 2007 and 2008 – costing over €50,000 – was merited.”
@Dermot Blaine: Could be worse. He coulda spent €350,000 on a gold plated bike shed!
@Dermot Blaine: It’s late on Friday but that 50k would probably be many times more in today’s money, not quite bike shelter money, but at least the bike shelter will be used for more than one person.
@Anthony Curran: yeah, but the OPW spent that, not an individual TD helping himself to office supplies. Shocking, but not the same thing at all.
@Anthony Curran: You’d only get 140oz of Gold for 350k that’s not a lot of Gold
@Paul O’Mahoney: and it wasn’t just him. His northern brethren were at it too. Sinn Féin MLA Pat Doherty ran up a bill of almost €20,000 on printer toner cartridges in two and a half years at Stormont.
@Dermot Blaine: Must be a fetish
@Dermot Blaine: Have you seen how much Sinn Féin print? Who is tge party that never frequent the Dáil, ftom an employee in the Dáil, Sinn Féin are the hardest working group there, or how about Lucinda Creighton and her partner claiming expenses on Christmas day, want to ho further left, Richard Boyd-Barret claiming €12,000 for his car to be repaired. Tell me again who rejects pay increases while the rest take it, yeah, amazing how some forget so much but hey, let’s not forget about the Fine Gael human trafficer also caught with paedophile images
@Brian D’Arcy: The idea that SF don’t take their full pay is laughable. They can oppose it all they like while grandstanding, safe in the knowledge that they’ll get it anyway. I don’t see any SF TDs giving their pay increases to charity
@Jason Memail: They take the whole salary and expenses, Dessie Ellis aka the Finglas Bomber said he was struggling so they scrapped it.
@Brian D’Arcy: SF are in no position to accuse other parties when it comes to paedophilia, are they? Did FG cover up for this guy like SF did for their perverts? Of course there are people who abuse the expenses system in all parties, but they’re not being nominated for CC right now, are they?
@Brian D’Arcy:
Sinn Fein lied for years to their grass root members claiming the big boys lived on the average industrial wage.
Then Dessie let it slip to a jurno that the greedy lot were all pocketing the full amount plus expenses.
@Anthony Curran: if it was gold plated the Shinners would have it swiped
TDs won’t get out of hand when they see the baseball bat,
Are they for real, i’d rather see Hutch
Not a hope of him getting it.
Kneecap for anyone who steps out of line.
@Tom tom: Now now, any more from you and I’ll get John McGahon to knock yer block off
@Anthony Curran: God ye are really running out of road……
@Anthony Curran: and stick a twix up his hole!
Lucky he only scammed for ‘ink’ cartridges. SF aka The Cartridge Family.
Comedy Gold
This can’t be for real. Is it April 1st ?
@Derick R M: No its Friday the 13th a much scarier day after what’s unfolding…..
Job comes with a guaranteed TD position after the next election in 5 years. (Or whenever )
Or another stint as Comhairle with a TD position in 10 years, so cushy job potentially for 15 years.
And maybe a seat in the Seanad after all that.
And the locals who voted for a TD looses that TDs representation while their Comhairle
Sickening.
@Tom: Suddenly, the job description and payment of the Ceann Comhairle comes under scrutiny and intense fire simply because SinnFéin threw their hat in for job. There are a lot of Fine Gael trolls still very angry that Sinn Féin got more seats than Fine Gael did.
@Tristan Ua Ceithearnaigh: But not as many votes.
@John Madden: 40,000 less than FG, 80,000 less than FF and 160, 000 down on 2020, and how many were elected on the first count? SF supporters here were saying about Harris, Martin, Varaktar that they got elected on long counts, most of SFs TDs got in on the last count and some not reaching quota……but like the 3 in a row lost elections they still think they are important.
@Tristan Ua Ceithearnaigh: suddenly? Are you new here? The Ceann Comhairle salary has been a recurring topic on here for the past week at least
@Dermot Blaine: If he gets it will he take all the money?
@Tristan Ua Ceithearnaigh: That’s hilarious it’s been discussed for the entire week with SF supporters saying it’s outrageous now they want it …..have SF no integrity left? Not that they had much to begin with
@Tristan Ua Ceithearnaigh: do u make it up as u go along
There is always danger afoot when the SF leader praises a member of the party.
Just another fat slob who keeps pigging at the taxpayer trough. Not only did he spend 50,000 euro of Dáil money on printing cartridges, he also tried to claim expenses to do up one of the bathrooms in his house, he sent a parcel-bomb to a British army office which exploded and severely injured two off-duty soldiers, seven of his campaign staff were arrested and jailed for being part of the IRA and to top it all off, he’s a virulent antisemite who openly supports Hamas. The only place that he deserves to be is in a holding cell in Guantanamo Bay.
@Frank O’Hara: he is truly a disgusting excuse for a man
@Hot Jim:
He looks like Chief Wigham from the simpsons
@Frank O’Hara: he did not send a parcel bomb to anyone, it was sent to the office of An Phoblacht by unionist paramilitaries, where he worked as a journalist, he carried it outside where it subsequently exploded injuring two British soldiers. Facts matter.
@Darius Guppy: He sent a parcel-bomb to a British army office that exploded and severely injured two off-duty soldiers. By virtue of carrying the bomb to the building and letting it detonate, he is responsible for sending it! He chose not to dispose of it in a responsible manner and instead deliberately put people in harm’s way.
If he gets it FFG will only need one tame independent for an overall majority…
@lesidees: I thought he would have to vote in favour of the Government too if there was a tied vote on an issue. That would be fun.
@Paul O’Mahoney: Impartial allegedly but no, in a split vote the Ceann Comhairle has the deciding vote. Surely if it’s neutrality they want it should be anyone from a party.
@Brian D’Arcy: No better read the constitution….
@Paul O’Mahoney: I think the ceann comhairle has to vote for the status quo if there is a tie – so if it’s a vote on new government legislation they vote against. But I could be wrong.
On the numbers, if SF or any other opposition TD is Ceann Comhairle, then the total of all non-FFG TDs is 87. If one of those switches sides then FFG has a majority
@lesidees: Remember the early 80s , 3 Governments in 18 months, Ceann Comhairle was always non party I think and that was because he had to preserve the government, legislation been rejected usually meant another election then and it really was like have an extra seat . Ceann Comhaile are meant to be a political when in office and must persevere the Government as he constitutionally is required too.
That’s my understanding
@Paul O’Mahoney: you may be right. Legally/constitutionally I think the CC can vote whichever way they want, but by convention they don’t
@lesidees: They can’t be responsible for taking down a government they don’t have the constitutional right , they can’t vote unless it’s a tie .Its been a while but I thought it was based on the American Senate, casting vote by VP if a tie…….
Anyhow it’s all probably academic.
Gurrier from Sandymount with a dodgy past
Ó Snodaigh is Irish for hankerchief.
Ffs Sinn Féin’s circus and she is bringing in the monkeys
lol
@Hot Jim: Says a man who was slagged off and then kept it as his nickname. Dome chancer still sporting a ‘tache, it ain’t the 1980′s, son.
@Brian D’Arcy: don’t cry lol
As they all look to keep their seat and get another of their own party candidate elected, with the votes they will not need in the next election!
@Gary Kearney: Any Ceann Comhairle gets that, is that new information to you, and yet come on here preaching, strange logic.
@Brian D’Arcy: And will you be happy when he has to support the Government if there’s a tied vote in the Dail? Because he has to.
Nope……
Which part of the Irish electorate don’t want you to govern us do the shinners not get
Looking at the comments on here has made me realise why I haven’t looked at the journal for 12 moths end of.
There are many things I’d love to write about this man, but all of the printing ink, seems to have dissapeared.
The election result did not give SF any role in Government, so best leave it to the winners, and concentrate all elected TD’s on the critical work of holding whatever Government to account. No effective political impact is gained from this CC role.
So happy to have no interest in this beyond posting this silly comment.
@offside again: Yawn ….
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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