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 the same-sex marriage referendum (obviously), a tragic death and a horrendous case of child sex abuse.
So here are the standout comments from the week that was.
The 5 most popular comments this week
1. The horrendous case of child sex abuse reported on this week led to Annie Howe‘s comment which got 2,682 thumbs up.
Truly horrific. The mother sounds like a right piece of work as well. Hopefully these 3 ladies can now move on with their lives. All the best to them.
2. Ana Hick tragically passed away last weekend. Baz Brock received 2,390 green thumbs for his sympathies.
Nobody expects to go on a night out in town and never come home. Terrible for the family. Rest in peace
3. Dell also got 2,103 thumbs up for his comment on the abuse case mentioned above.
That was one of the most harrowing things I’ve ever read. really upsetting. I hope he dies a painful slow death
4. Keniby Khronicles asks a good question – to 1,959 thumbs up – on a story about Revenue giving details to Irish Water.
Whats the point of having data protection laws if the government can change or ignore them to suit their whims?
5. Deco James Connolly said this – and got 1,611 thumbs of agreement – about Rosanna Davison.
Name one thing she’s ever done that didn’t involve self promotion .
The top 5 articles which received the most comments this week
1. Gay cake row: Bakery GUILTY of discrimination, judge rules (414 comments)
2. We asked Joan Burton to rule out another referendum if this one doesn’t pass (399 comments)
3. My No vote isn’t about faith, it’s about children (396 comments)
4. My wonderful gay family: I was raised by two loving, beautiful lesbian mums (375 comments)
5. Kevin Myers is worried about how same-sex couples are going to consummate their marriages (308 comments)
Standout comments of the week
Dalkey mourned the loss of young Ana Hick after her tragic death last weekend. Her neighbour Mary K wrote:
Just over ten years ago when my First baby was born there was a knock on the door.
Outside was my little neighbour, Ana Hick with her beautiful eyes, dark pigtails and gorgeous smile.
Ana: You had your baby, can I be your babysitter?
Me: What age are you now, Ana?
Ana: Eight and a quarter!
( Ana did not get a babysitting job that day, but today as I saw her white coffin leave Dalkey I remembered her outgoing spirit )
Sweet Ana was full of fun, joy and love. She did not have a bad word about anyone. She was cherished by her mother, her father and family.
I cannot imagine her resting in peace, so may Ana, sing and dance in peace x
Daniel O’Donnell was the toast of Donegal this week. David O’Dowd sums it up.
In fairness to him and all the slagging he gets about his music, he has done more for the people of Donegal than our politicians. He makes numerous appearances at charity events, especially for cancer services in the north west, something the government seems to not give a feck about, only turning up when it suits their campaign agendas.
We don’t know if this is true or apocryphal but we liked it from Middle Class Cork.
The story of the ‘I’d like to buy the world a coke’ ad also includes the coke catch phrase, ‘the real thing’. Bill Bracker and his fellow passengers were accomodated in a hotel which is now called the Dromoland Inn. While sitting in the bar Bracker ordered ‘a coke’. As the barman went to get the order, Bracker said, ‘you do have proper coke?’ To which the barman replied, ‘Yea, sure it’s de real thing’. Bracker wrote on a napkin ‘it’s the real thing’ which he also used in the song.
(Bonus content: an interview with Bracker about the ad).
We also love this image of a mini-march to the polling station from Gill B.
Dropping the kids to school back to the estate to meet the other residents & neighbors to walk the polling station together at 9.20am.Big Fat Yes from over 20 of us !!!
We spoke to a number of people who have Crohn’s this week but Shane McCarrick‘s comment really struck home with a lot of readers.
I’ve had Crohn’s for over 30 years- and whenever I’m out and about have to carry a change of underwear and/or clothes with me- just incase I don’t get to a loo on time. People don’t see that there is anything wrong with you- and don’t make allowances. I got given out to by one woman in Liffey Valley when I had to use a disabled loo last weekend. Its not even that she was disabled and needed to use it- because I didn’t look ill- I was being evil for using it. Sometimes you really just want to curl up in a ball and cry.I’m one of the lucky ones who manages to hold down a job- though I have deliberately tailored the posts I’ve gone for to try to make the most of my abilities- without my health being adversely affected. But even when you’re more than capable of doing a job- you still have to put up with work colleagues who makes a massive deal about having some extra clothes hidden away for emergencies (along with shower gear etc). It doesn’t need to affect them- but ‘no way are you entitled to anything that isn’t available to me’. So- you end up giving up the cupboard you had been offered- simply to shut them up. That its now used to store a few boxes of envelopes that aren’t going to be used until next August, is irrelevant- you aren’t being given an accommodation that someone else who knows best doesn’t think you need.The manner in which you don’t look ill- even though you may be taking painkillers that would anaesthesise a horse alongside steroids at a level that would ban you from any competitive sport for life- means you are constantly apologising for your existence. I actually feel sad rather than annoyed when I get well meaning comments along the lines of- ‘Well, you’re out of hospital and you look fine again- isn’t it great that you’re cured’. I could launch into an explanation- a very true but graphic explanation- but when the person is actually well-meaning- and despite the fact that you’re in pain to the extent that you can’t stand up straight- its easier to simply agree- yes, I feel a lot better than I did last week (without adding- a blood transfusion and a week on IV Cortisone- has helped- and I’ll be going back for more blood transfusions in a week or two).The unseen nature of Crohn’s and Colitis- and the reticence among people to acknowledge the issues- because unfortunately they are graphic in nature- means- along with having a physical disease- most sufferers are also forced to suffer in silence- alongside the ridiculous comments we constantly get from those around us- many relating to dietary advice (if I had tuppence for every person who told me I’d be fine if I avoided gluten, or dairy, or ate more vegetables, or went on the Atkins diet- or whatever the current fad du jour might be- I’d be a wealthy person).Life is hard enough- without suffering in silence- and silence is what most people with Crohn’s and Colitis are confined to- they are the diseases that dare not be spoken of. Its good that we have had a few articles on Crohn’s and Colitis in the Journal in the last week. If they help even one person not make an inappropriate or nasty comment to a sufferer- they’ll have been well worthwhile.
It emerged this week that Jay Z and Beyonce bailed protesters out after the Ferguson and Baltimore protests. Egg Head sums it up:
I got 99 problems, and regrettably an institutionally racist police force is one of them.
We found out that Oscar the Grouch has spent many a Christmas in Ireland. Gene Parmesan said:
Ashford Castle, The G and Adare Manor. I guess you save up a lot of money living in a dustbin for the rest of the year!
See any good comments? Send them on to sinead@thejournal.ie
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