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 mystery woman on O’Connell Street, water restrictions, Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane, cannabis, a same-sex marriage referendum, Gerry Adams, and the differences between men and women (because hey, that never gets old).

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. Stop exporting your abortion problem, Britain tells Ireland (502 comments)

2. Gay rights groups welcome marriage referendum plan, Catholic Bishops don’t (401 comments)

3. Same-sex marriage vote to be one of a number of referendums to be held in 2015 (383 comments)

4. Poll: Is Gerry Adams’s position compromised by the Disappeared documentary (332 comments)

5. Dáil rejects Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan’s cannabis regulation motion (288 comments)

Some of the best comments left on the site this week

(Image: Bernard Walsh/RTE)

First up: some bad punnage. Clerys is set to reopen this month after being badly damaged in a summer flood. From Chris Murphy:

I can see Clery’s now that the rain has gone

On a similar theme, here’s the cheesy – but appropriate – joke of the week: An Garda Síochána did a Q&A on their Twitter account and in between all the crime-fighting questions, they were asked that perennial favourite: Blur or Oasis? Ru Ní Digs and Kevin Dobson had some suggestions:

What would the Gardaí know about Oasis or Blur ??? They’re all Police fans.

I’ll get my coat!!!

Every step you take, they’ll be watching you.

There’s going to be a US remake of Love/Hate – which led commenter Eric Edert to suggest an Irish remake of Breaking Bad set in Connemara rather than in the desert. Daniel‘s plot suggestion got a lot of thumbs up from other readers:

Blue Poitin in a caravan made by a teacher who is disgruntled with the pension levy “I’m the fella that feckin knocks”

This week marked the 50th anniversary of The Beatles’ only gig in Ireland. Pat explained how his mother met them – even if she never realised it at the time:

Hi to all the people who would have loved to have met the Beatles in person – ye are going to love this story. My mother was from mid cork and she was working in the hotel the Beatles were staying in so on the afternoon they were expected to arrive she was told to work in the gift shop and so there she was until these lovely four young men came into the shop to buy some gifts ( as you do). She attained to them and spoke to them and wrapped their gifts and was very impressed by how nice these young boys were in all she was in the company for 20 mins. After they left her boss came in and was allowed to go on a break so off she went to the staff kitchen where of course she was mobbed by the other female staff members she could not understand what all the fuss was about until it was explained to her who she had just served. To put a long story short she was from rural Ireland of the 1960′s and she did not have a clue who were the Beatles !!!

Dublin has got a problem with dog owners not cleaning up after their pets. Bernard got a lot of support from other readers for his point about why there’s so much litter and dirt in parts of the capital city:

Dog shite, cigarette butts, spitting and general litter & refuse – parts of Dublin are disgustingly and embarrassingly dirty. The stats as reported in this story tell the story, most people think it’s a problem, yet a sizeable minority actively contribute to it. They contribute because a) they couldn’t care less b) it’s someone else’s problem to clean up. There seems to be no civic pride or community spirit. The sort of person who allows their mutt to foul the streets probably believes it’s someone else’s job to clean up after their mess and not just dog poo. Yet they’ll be the first to whinge if their “rights” are curtailed. It’s symptomatic of a wider “I’m alright Jack, feck you” culture. Shame, shame, shame.

There has been a huge increase in the number of farmers ringing a special rural helpline as they face problems with money and the fodder shortage earlier this year. Field of Barley was sympathetic:

Some of the flippant remarks are distasteful. I’m not a farmer but do feel sympathetic for them after last winter’s shortage of feeding/silage etc and watching their animals suffering-anybody with a heart would. Then when they had to pay over the odds for fodder, something they wouldn’t have budgeted for, it could only lead to stress, anxiety, suicide unfortunately. #talk to somebody and look for help, it is out there

Finally, something different. The sister of Taidhg Burke – the bassist of Irish band The Calvinists who died after a car crash in Cork earlier this month – left this moving comment on an article about his death.

In it, she calls on commenters to think about they write before posting as it can have a big effect on the people who read it. You can – and should – read the whole thing here, but here’s part of it:

Getting back to the reason I am writing here – It was brought to my attention that there were comments written here about my brothers death being a suicide as a result of depression, so I went online on my phone, in disbelief, and saw the comments. It absolutely disgusted me to read them and I hoped that the rest of our family would not see them. Now that his funeral arrangements have concluded I am writing to set the record straight with regards to the circumstances. I am very very thankful that Aoife Barry did the right thing and took the initiative to remove the comments we are all referring to as they were extremely insensitive. We as a family have been dealing with enough pain over the past fortnight without having that rubbish to deal with too.

I hope people will think twice before writing such hurtful remarks in future and remember that those who die are always a brother, sister, son, daughter, mother or father to someone who is really hurting. There were in excess of 3000 people that attended my brothers removal and they cued for hours in the freezing cold to pay their respects. This is testament to a great man. It is clear that it was not only one individual you risked hurting, but thousands. Be more mindful of this in future, and you owe Aoife both a thank you and an apology.

The 5 most popular comments this week

(Pic via Imgur)

1. First up this week is Tony Canning who got 1,925 thumbs up for his comment about the strange case of Samantha Azzopardi who has gone back to Australia after being found in a distressed state on  Dublin’s O’Connell Street:

This has been a very very strange tale….

2. Next up Matt, who got 1,585 thumbs up for his comment about the €7.15 pint — eek! — found in Temple Bar:

People don’t complain because they are in shock. Sit over the 1 beer listen to some music then leave. €7.15 is a disgrace and does the city no good. Places like this deserve to close down. Nothing can justify those prices.

3. In third place, some straight speaking from bignazza. He got 1,482 green thumbs for this blunt contribution on the article about things women face that men just don’t understand:

Dear di*k, cheers for not bleeding once a month.
Sincerely
Men

4. The British abortion provider which took out ads in Irish newspapers last weekend sparked a huge discussion among readers. Hughsheehy supported the agency and got 1,406 thumbs up for this:

It’s the challenge no-one in Ireland wants to face.

Well done bpas.

5. Finally, also on one of the articles about Samantha Azzopardi, ‘Bull’ Mick Daly got 1,284 thumbs up for his point aimed at someone who questioned the amount of coverage the story received:

It is our business,we foot the bill,the HSE again paid for by us said there wasnt an issue with her mental health,a con artist.good riddance