EVERY SATURDAY HERE  TheJournal.ie, we like to look back at all the best comments left on the site by you lot over the past week.

This week has been pretty lively in the comments sections. The campaign for the fiscal compact referendum kicked off properly this week and kicked off some big discussions; then there was the warnings about monsoon-like weather, Brian D’Arcy being censured by the Vatican, the Breivik trial,  the roll out of free GP care, and the Garda Corrib rape ‘tape’.

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

So Peaches Geldof has called her first kid Astala. As you do. Anyway, Adam O’Sullivan had some rather good naming advice:

As long as her next child isn’t called Vista she should be okay!

On Thursday,  16-year-old Joanne O’Riordan who was born without limbs spoke at a UN conference in New York  about girls in technology. Her speech was a knockout – and Barry Murphy was one of many commenters who were impressed:

There’s an old saying, “A smooth sea never made a good sailor”. This is a great example of that. This girl has had nothing but barriers in front of her from day 1. She’s only 16 & has the most incredible appetite for life & over coming (everyday) challenges that we all take for granted.
Why is it always those who fight so hard everyday just to do the simplest things in life always see the light at the end of the tunnel?
What an amazing lady!

Meanwhile Mark Power was unimpressed with the news that a small group of billionaires have set up a company to mine minerals and fuel from asteroids passing by earth:

There’s a bunch of wealthy guys with too much time and way too much money on their hands. It’s pretty clear that this venture is going to fail yet their money could help the homeless or mostly any other charity one can think of. Wealth does not buy intelligence, that’s for sure

But as Brian Stokes pointed out on the same article, sometimes it’s just about discovery:

An expansion in world industry and the creation of new industries to achieve their goal will do a lot more to take people out of poverty and homelessness. It’s too easy to always be negative in the first reaction to new ideas, I’m guilty of it myself time and time again. Wish them well and if it’s works the whole world benefits.

The normally-stable Netherlands was thrown into political turmoil this week after budget talks collapsed. Joost Bos described what it was like and how it differs from Ireland:

Unlike Ireland I don’t think many people are feeling the brunt of the recession. Everyone here is vaguely aware there’s a crisis going on, but it’s still easy to find a fairly well-paying job, few people losing their homes. But yes, I don’t think it’s long before the netherlands gets a downgrade.

Earlier this week Iceland’s former prime minister was found guilty of one charge relating to his role in the nation’s banking crisis. Commenters argued over whether the case really stood for anything – and in this comment, Paul Dalton looked at what Iceland has done differently to Ireland:

I would have to say that Iceland have absolutely led by example. They stood up to the EU and IMF, stood up to austerity. They defaulted on debts they knew they could never pay. They re-wrote their constitution in a very democratic and transparent way. I see this trial largely as a show trial. It makes someone stand up and account for their actions. The guilty or not guilty verdict is nearly irrelevant. No one in this country has been called to account for how we ended up in this mess. The people that made the big decisions have gotten away with it.

This week’s burning question asked readers if soap or liquid handwash was better. The latter won by a country mile – but sluazcanal had a very specific use for soap:

Depends. After i calve a cow i use a bar of Lifebouy soap, everything else i use the liquid stuff.

There was a hugely positive reaction to the news that Peats electronics store is set to re-open two branches, just weeks after the company’s chairman had said it was entering liquidation, following a wave of goodwill from customers and suppliers. A lot of people agreed with Alan Bolger’s comment that it will need more than just goodwill to keep going:

It’s up to Irish people now to help keep it trading. It’s hard cash and not good will that keeps it operating. For once let’s look after one of our own…providing they’re competitive of course. Good news story though.

A number of schools have started introducing iPads to replace schoolbooks. Comments were divided over whether this was a good idea or not. Conor O Neill got a lot of support for this:

If a child drops a book its ok. If a child drops a iPad it’s €500. Children will be children

Comments were in almost unanimous support of Fr Brian D’Arcy following Thursday’s news that his columns in the Sunday World are being passed through a censor from the Catholic Church before appearing in print. Mary Cullinane was one of many who wrote about why the Church should support priests like D’Arcy:

The Church hierarchy are a joke, Father Brian is one of the Priests in Ireland that ordinary people can relate to, if the Pope and Bishops had any sense they would be using him and other Priests like him as spokespeople for the Church and not be trying to gag them. I have great time for some Priests but to be honest I don’t bother with the Catholic Church any more because of the high handedness of the hierarchy, whether it’s the way they deal with sex abuse by Priests to the censoring of the likes of Father Brian and so many other issues too many to go into here.

There were a rake of Irish nominees on the BAFTA shortlist – whoo! Dara O Briain wasn’t impressed with the photo we used to illustrate the article though. Oops. Our bad. It ended well though:

Spot any comments which you think should make it into next week’s comments of the week? Mail christine@thejournal.ie