EVERY SATURDAY MORNING we like to take a look at all the best comments left on the site by you lot over the past week.

This week there was a lot of talk about the publication of the draft abortion legislation, the Supreme Court rejecting Marie Fleming’s ‘right to die’ appeal, the awkwardness of Irish names abroad, cannibalism, prison officers and a mother who disappeared for 11 years.

So here, in no particular order, are the standout comments from the week that was.

The top 5 articles which received the most comments this week

1. The 11 worst things about having an Irish name abroad (503 comments)

2. What the Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill 2013 contains (385 comments)

3. Gerry Adams: ‘Sinn Féin is not a pro-abortion party’ (270 comments)

4. Supreme Court dismisses Marie Fleming’s ‘right to die’ appeal (205 comments)

5. Poll: How do you feel about the contents of the abortion bill? (189 comments)

Moment of solidarity of the week

Photo via Shutterstock

The article on the worst things about having an Irish name abroad rang a bell with a lot of people who had clearly been suffering in silence for a looooong time. One of our favourites came from Paul Donnelly…:

Have a buddy called Donacha who was out here visiting in vancouver, some canadian guy asked him his name, he told him, the guy turned round called his mates over…’ Here guys come here meet this irish guy his name is THUNDERCAT

…while Padraig Stapleton got both sympathy and awe for this…:

Living in London and my name gets confused with all sorts. Even once got a letter addressed to ‘Baldrick’…

… and Clíodhna Ztoical summed up the plight of many:

First day of classes in New York College:
Me: Hi I’m Cliodhna
Them: Cleaner?
Me: No Cliodhna
Them: Cleaner-na?
Me: *really slowly* Cliodhna
Them: Spell it
Me: Trust me that will make it worse.

Some of the best comments left on the site this week

Photocall Ireland

Last month was the coldest April in 24 years (and the windiest for the past 63 years). Ireland just can’t catch a break. Jack Bowden was optimistic though:

If we just have an average summer it’ll be the hottest driest summer in 8 years.

If you could get ANYTHING delivered, what would you pick? There were a lot of great suggestions in response to this piece, but Samantha Wallace got more than 200 thumbs up for her incredibly detailed suggestion:

Sunday survival kits: solpadine, a new fluffy trackie and bed socks, still water, a 6 pack of cheese & onion, a 4 pack of Dime Bars, a jar of Nutella complete with scoop, a tub of Ben & Jerry’s peanut-butter-me-up, 2 jambons, 3 hash browns, a pan of Brennans white bread and a block of Kerrygold, a bag of each variety of Haribo, 2 bags of manhattan popcorn, a volunteer dog-walker/house cleaner and a box set of The Sopranos. And have that here by 9am please!!

Did you see the 13-year-old with his own company who appeared on Junior Dragon’s Den on Sunday? One commenter mentioned how he always wanted to shout “Climb a tree!” at the kids who appear on such programmes – which led to the 13-year-old in question, Jordan Casey, weighing in to explain what happened the last time he tried that:

Thanks! Last time I climbed a tree I fell off and broke my ankle.. So, probably not doing that anymore.But, that doesn’t mean we “work” all day.We have a balance, I play soccer All the time! It’s a hobby and I love it

Should adults be banned from using sunbeds? Lorraine Valentine used to use them a lot - but then a health scare put her off them:

I used sun beds quite a lot when i was younger .. in fact i had one in my house for months on end..I ended up 3 years ago with skin cancer.. thankfully they caught in time and were able to remove the area of skin , i did go to my doctor with questions about the area for years and she said ahhh it’s dry skin and something made me go further about it and it was diagnosed in seconds in Saint James Hosptal.. i now have a inch long scar on my chest that had 12 stiches a reminder of how stupid i was! So from now on if it’s daytime regardless of sun out or not i wear sun screen as advised by my surgeon… A scary time and a lesson learned!

There were a huge number of comments in response to the draft abortion legislation published by the government this week. One thing that came up again and again was the situation of women pregnant with a child that will not survive outside the womb. Michelle described her own situation:

I am currently carrying a baby with anencephaly and I can tell u that this has been so hard on me and my family. When we where told what was wrong with our son I was 17 weeks pregnant I’m now just over 29 weeks and can say that if a termination was in this country I probably would have taken it. Emotional it a struggle to feel a little person moving and kicking inside ur belly and known that he is going to die. I think Ireland should be open to terminations for situations like this. The only good thing to come from this is that we are donating his heart values and hopefully these will make some sick little baby better. A termination is no easy way out for a much wanted child and anyone that thinks it is has obliviously never been through a situation like this I would never wish it on anyone.

There were a lot of suggestions for the most heinous lies you probably tell every day, but this one from Paula Kelly proved the most popular:

I’ll just be two minutes in Penneys

The 5 most popular comments on the site this week

1. The most popular comment this week came from Rory Walshe with more than 2,216 thumbs up on the tragic story about the 5-year-old boy in the US who shot dead his little sister with a gun he’d been given as a gift.

I got my first bike when I was 4. His parents are idiots.

2. A lot of the most popular comments this week were on stories about tragedies. TheClothesline.ie got 925 thumbs up for this comment on the article about a 4-year-old Indian girl who died after being raped:

That’s one of the most barbaric things I’ve ever read.
What type of sick F*** does that

3. Norma Kealy got 889 thumbs up for this seemingly-universal comment about memories people had about Xtra-vision.

Trying to look surprised when they told you you owed them for a late return . And blaming it on another family member!

4. Coming back to the article about the 5-year-old who shot his sister, Martina Lavin got 874 thumbs up for this:

boggles is right! how on earth can a parent give their 4 yr old child a bloody rifle as a present??? they should be locked up! poor little guy and his sister.

5. Finally, Kev O’Sullivan had the fifth most popular comment this week with more than 860 thumbs up for his take on the draft legislation on abortion:

You all do realise in practical terms this is a complete waste of time. Who would seriously stand in front of 3 strangers and say I’m gonna kill myself if you don’t give me an abortion. Women are still being forced to travel abroad for fear of offending a few people’s morals.

Spot any good comments which deserve to be recognised? Let us know: mail christine@thejournal.ie with any suggestions for next week’s comments of the week.