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FactCheck: Many of the claims made about Covid-19 in a leaflet sent to Dublin households are false or misleading

The leaflet was distributed in the name of Anti-Corruption Ireland, an anti-government group.

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IN RECENT DAYS, a leaflet containing a number of false, misleading and nonsensical claims about Covid-19 has been dropped into households in Dublin.

The leaflet, which bears the logo and contact information for Anti-Corruption Ireland (ACI), a largely online anti-government group, claims that Covid-19 is a “staged event to usher in a police state and a globalist ‘one world’ government”, which has become a trope of conspiracy theorists during the pandemic.

It claims that the facts around coronavirus are wrong; warns that the pandemic is a step towards tyranny; and says that vaccines are dangerous. 

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Many of these claims go against public health advice and are targeted at vulnerable people who may be more susceptible to the messaging. 

The leaflet was sent into us by a reader, asking for the claims to be verified. We have gone through the leaflet and factchecked the main claims made in it. 

  • Let us know if you too have received this leaflet in your area, and share this piece on social media if you have.

An overview of the claims in this article:

Claim: The government is unelected.

Verdict: NONSENSE

Claim: The government is massaging the Covid-19 death rates to inflate them and frighten the public.

Verdict: FALSE

Claim: 99.8% of patients recover from Covid-19.

Verdict: UNPROVEN

Claim: 80% of “test-positive” people experience no symptoms.

Verdict: FALSE

Claim: Covid-19 is no more serious than the flu.

Verdict: FALSE

Claim: The WHO admits the virus is not believed to spread through surfaces.

Verdict: FALSE

Claim: The WHO admits the virus is not believed to spread through the air.

Verdict: Mostly FALSE

Claim: Staying indoors weakens physical and mental health.

Verdict: MISLEADING

Claim: Masks reduce oxygen intake.

Verdict: FALSE

Claim: Masks are dangerous harbours for germs

Verdict: FALSE

Claim: Masks harm your immune system

Verdict: NONSENSE

Claim: The HPV vaccine has harmed hundreds of teenage girls in Ireland.

Verdict: FALSE

Claim: The HPV vaccine can increase the risk of cancer by 44%.

Verdict: FALSE

Claim: India cut ties with Bill Gates after doctors linked the polio vaccine to thousands of cases of childhood paralysis.

Verdict: FALSE

Claim: Vaccines contain material from aborted babies which can alter the recipient’s DNA.

Verdict: FALSE

Claim: More than 80 studies link vaccines to autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders.

Verdict: FALSE

Claim: More than $4 billion has been paid out for vaccine injuries and death.

Verdict: MISLEADING

Claim: The US Supreme Court has ruled that vaccines are unavoidably unsafe.

Verdict: FALSE

Claim: The Covid-19 restrictions are part of an orchestrated ploy to implement the final phase of UN Agenda 2030, a ‘New World Order’ plan to destroy nation states and depopulate Earth.

Verdict: NONSENSE

Here is the evidence and the verdict for each of the claims:

NO FEE CABINET MEETING GROUP SHOT Julien Behal Photography Julien Behal Photography

Claim: The government is unelected.

Evidence: A general election was held on 8 February of this year, and three parties formed a coalition majority government in June.

Independent observers declared it to be a free and fair election.

It is often cited that Sinn Féin won more seats than Fine Gael. However, they were unable to garner enough support from other parties in the Dáil to form a government.

It is common for a party to win many seats but not be included in government. For example, at the outset of the 30th Dáil, Fine Gael held more seats than all other parties excluding Fianna Fáil combined but did not enter government.

Verdict: NONSENSE

195Covid-19 press_90604663 (1) Dr Ronan Glynn and Prof Philip Nolan speaking at a NPHET briefing. Sasko Lazarov / RollingNews.ie Sasko Lazarov / RollingNews.ie / RollingNews.ie

Claim: The government is massaging the Covid-19 death rates to inflate them and frighten the public.

Evidence: Let’s start with the basics here: At the time of writing, 1,806 deaths of people with either confirmed, probable, or possible Covid-19 have been reported to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC).

Ireland – along with the likes of the USA and Germany – follows the definition of what a Covid-19 death is as laid out in World Health Organisation guidelines:

A death due to Covid-19 is defined for surveillance purposes as a death resulting from a clinically compatible illness, in a probable or confirmed Covid-19 case, unless there is a clear alternative cause of death that cannot be related to Covid disease (eg trauma).
There should be no period of complete recovery from Covid-19 between illness and death. A death due to Covid-19 may not be attributed to another disease (eg cancer) and should be counted independently of pre-existing conditions that are suspected of triggering a severe course of Covid-19.

The result is that Covid-19 was a factor in all of those 1,806 deaths.

When this figure is quoted, the fact that many of these people had underlying conditions is often wheeled-out. That is a far-right trope used to suggest Covid-19 death rates are being inflated as a way of justifying continued restrictions on the public.

A report by the HPSC did highlight that the vast majority of people who have died with a positive diagnosis of Covid-19 had an underlying condition.

What is classed as an underlying condition can range from cancer to diabetes and high blood pressure. An underlying condition does not mean that the person was already sick and possibly going to pass away anyway.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health said:

It is important to note that a third of people in Ireland (32%) have a long-standing health condition. This is a significant part of our society. Every single person with an underlying medical condition is important. Their lives matter.
Those with underlying medical conditions who have died from Covid-19 may have continued to live for a long time if they had not contracted it.

We have debunked this type of claim in more detail here.

Another factor here is that the government and relevant health authorities provide enough data to ensure confidence that the figures are not being massaged. In fact, the “probable” and “possible” deaths are occasionally denotified, meaning it has been deemed that the person did not die with Covid-19.

This is flagged in press releases and noted at National Public Health Emergency Team briefings – see an example for yourself here.

A report by the Health Information Quality Authority suggested in July that the total number of deaths may be a slight overestimation, but the report’s authors said the HPSC’s estimate was still “an accurate estimate”.

Verdict: FALSE

shutterstock_1745351552 File photo of a patient with Covid-19 in an intensive care. Shutterstock / Photocarioca Shutterstock / Photocarioca / Photocarioca

Claim: 99.8% of patients recover from Covid-19.

Evidence: This is a nuanced area of discussion where figures are often misquoted.

We will generally see mortality rates discussed as case fatality rates (CFR), and infection fatality rates (IFR).

The CFR deals with the cases that are clinically diagnosed.

The latest data from the HPSC puts Ireland’s CFR at 4.33%, meaning 95.67% of patients have recovered from the virus.

Worldwide, the average is currently around 2.7%.

But the CFR doesn’t paint a true picture of the situation.

The IFR is an estimate that takes into account cases we don’t know about. Maybe people were asymptomatic, fell outside of their country’s testing regime, or just didn’t present for a test, and so they were never counted as a confirmed case. The IFR takes this into account.

That’s what this 99.8% figure is, it’s an IFR of 0.2%. 

According to a seroprevalence study carried out by the HSE, we know that as of mid-July, around three times more people had been infected with Covid-19 than were picked up by testing.

This exact figure quoted by on the leaflet – 99.8% – likely originates from the Centre for Disease Control in the United States, which estimated back in June the mortality rate to be 0.26%.

But the same document made a range of predictions, including a “best estimate” of 0.4%, USA Today reports.

That figure is now out of date. The CDC’s current best estimate is as follows:

  • .003% among people aged 0 to 19
  • 0.02% among people aged 20 to 49
  • 0.5% among people aged 50 to 69
  • 5.4% among people aged 70+

You can see it for yourself here – just don’t make the same mistake as Fox News and mistake ratios for percentages.

USA Today quotes an epidemiologist who said the true rate likely lies between 0.2% and 1.5%.

FullFact highlights two other estimates of IFR – the World Health Organisation puts it at between 0.5% to 1%, while a study in England estimated it to be 0.9%.

Another study from the United Kingdom makes two predictions – 0.3% and 0.49%, depending on the data set used.

The numbers might seem low, but are many multiples the IFR of influenza – estimated to be 0.1% in the United States.

It’s also a very crude measurement of a very complex disease. We know that even if you clinically “recover” – as in, become symptom-free and test negative – people are left with life-changing complications as a result of Covid-19.

Healthy adults end up in ICU.

People have problems with their liver, lungs, and heart. Some have hair loss, some may have bowel problems, and others have impaired cognitive ability.

Many have fatigue which lasts for months.

How likely you are to die from Covid-19 will also depend on a range of factors – for example, if the ICUs are already full at your local hospital.

It is inaccurate to say the IFR is 0.2%, and it will not be clear for some time what the true percentage of people who recover from Covid-19 is.

VERDICT: UNPROVEN

shutterstock_1670019910 Shutterstock Shutterstock

Claim: 80% of “test-positive” people experience no symptoms

Evidence: The World Health Organisation said in March that 80% of people have either no symptoms or mild symptoms – not that 80% would have no symptoms at all.

And the remaining 20%? 15% will end up in hospital requiring oxygen, and 5% will end up on a ventilator.

These fractions of severe illness also vary by country – for example in Ireland, in the region of 10% of people end up in hospital, while in the United Kingdom it’s 30% – and is highly dependent on the level of testing and the demographics involved.

These figures would have skewed higher earlier in the pandemic when testing wasn’t as widely available.

WHO’s figures are from when we didn’t know as much as we know now about the virus. The CDC estimated more recently that 40% of cases have no symptoms.

One significant study looked at examples from numerous settings – ranging from the Diamond Princess cruise ship to a homeless shelter in Boston – and suggested a similar rate.

Others small studies yield an estimate of between 30% and 40%, as the Guardian reports here, quoting a study from Iceland and another of Japanese citizens evacuated from Wuhan.

This could happen if you’re found to be a close contact of a confirmed case but have yet to develop symptoms, or you could be completely asymptomatic for the duration of the infection.

Here’s an example of one study has yielded a result of 80% – this one of 128 passengers on a cruise ship.

Another, even smaller study of just 115 people by the Office of National Statistics in the UK yielded a figure of 78% – as the report itself reads, “this suggests there is a potentially large number of asymptomatic cases, it is important to note that symptoms were self-reported rather than professionally diagnosed, and those without any evidence of symptoms will include instances where the questions relating to symptoms were not answered”.

However, as BBC News reports here, some of the 78% – 33%, to be exact – were pre-symptomatic.

If asymptomatic transmission is a significant driver of infection – as has been tentatively but not definitively suggested by the ECDC – large numbers of symptomatic spreaders can pose a massive difficulty in terms of bringing this virus under control.

Verdict: FALSE 

shutterstock_1523330795 Shutterstock Shutterstock

Claim: Covid-19 is no more serious than the flu

Evidence: The World Health Organisation has observed that people are more likely to experience serious and critical illness as a result of Covid-19 than influenza:

These fractions of severe and critical infection would be higher than what is observed for influenza infection.

Put simply, more people will experience severe illness as a result of Covid-19 than of influenza.

Remember as well that we can vaccinate against and treat people with influenza. This is not the case for Covid-19.

Let’s roll back to the leaflet’s unproven claim on the mortality rate: if their own figure of 0.2% was true, this is still double the infection fatality rate for the flu.

Excess mortality – the ‘extra’ deaths that occur in a society outside of the norm – also shows that Covid-19 is having a more severe impact than the flu.

RTÉ’s Brainstorm has this piece from four researchers who demonstrate that the excess mortality is higher due to Covid-19 than for the flu. Death notices published on RIP.ie  – found to correlate more than 99% with officially registered deaths – peaked at 56% above normal levels in April, the researchers found.

Another simple way of looking at it is this: During the 2018/2019 influenza season, the two viruses in circulation – H1N1 and H3N2 – killed a total of 97 people in Ireland.

The mortality rate is still not a perfect gauge. As FullFact highlights here, all the evidence points towards Covid-19 being a much more contagious illness with a higher fraction of people developing severe illness.

At a very basic level, we have vaccines and several treatments for influenza, and none for Covid-19. Some have shown promise, but there are limitations - dexamethasone, for example, is used to treat the severely ill only.

Finally, here’s a quote from Dr Colm Henry, chief clinical officer with the HSE, from a NPHET briefing last month:

[Covid-19 is] not like the flu. If you look at the admission rates, those who are admitted who then need intensive care – let me give you an example. During the first phase, 12% of people admitted to hospital needed intensive care.
This is not the flu. This is a serious illness, which can cause death and which we’re now learning has serious after-effects. There’s a price to be paid for even young people catching Covid-19.

Verdict: FALSE

shutterstock_1626450310 Shutterstock Shutterstock

Claim: The WHO admits the virus is not believed to spread through surfaces.

Evidence: This is straight from the World Health Organisation’s website:

[Droplets expelled by people coughing, sneezing, or speaking] can land on objects and surfaces around the person such as tables, doorknobs and handrails. People can become infected by touching these objects or surfaces, then touching their eyes, nose or mouth. This is why it is important to wash your hands regularly with soap and water or clean with alcohol-based hand rub.

Verdict: FALSE

shutterstock_1682886874 Shutterstock Shutterstock

Claim: The WHO admits the virus is not believed to spread through the air.

Evidence: The World Health Organisation has remained mostly on the fence about airborne transmission of Covid-19, known as aerosol transmission.

We must divide this up into two areas: Healthcare settings, and non-healthcare settings.

In healthcare settings, the WHO believes aerosol transmission can occur when certain aerosol-producing medical procedures – such as intubation – are carried out.

In non-healthcare settings, there are numerous examples and some studies which lend support to the theory that Covid-19 can be transmitted through the air. The WHO believes it “cannot be ruled out” but “more studies are urgently needed”.

The organisation has been criticised for its position on this, as a number of scientists believe there is mounting evidence that Covid-19 is airborne.

Verdict: Mostly FALSE as WHO has not given a definite opinion this

shutterstock_1196187574 Shutterstock Shutterstock

Claim: Staying indoors weakens physical and mental health.

Evidence: There is evidence which points towards staying indoors and not going outdoors as being bad for your mental and physical health - but this has never been suggested by the Irish government or health authorities during this pandemic.

Even when the public was told to not go further than 2km from their home during the height of lockdown, that 2km was for exercise. People in at-risk groups were advised to get fresh air in an outdoor area while avoiding other people.

Verdict: MISLEADING

shutterstock_1723426246 Shutterstock Shutterstock

Claim: Masks reduce oxygen intake

Evidence: The World Health Organisation advises that wearing face coverings – including medical masks such as N95- or FFP3-rated devices – does not reduce oxygen intake.

“The prolonged use of medical masks can be uncomfortable,” the advice reads.

However, it does not lead to CO2 intoxication nor oxygen deficiency. While wearing a medical mask, make sure it fits properly and that it is tight enough to allow you to breathe normally. Do not re-use a disposable mask and always change it as soon as it gets damp.

These are routinely worn by employees in areas such as healthcare and construction.

These masks, as well as cotton face coverings, are designed to be somewhat porous, allowing carbon dioxide and oxygen to pass through freely while blocking respiratory droplets. They do not block airflow to any extent that would cause hypoxia.

Verdict: FALSE

shutterstock_1737539435 Shutterstock Shutterstock

Claim: Masks are dangerous harbours for germs

Evidence: A key part of the advice on wearing masks has been to not wear them for long periods of time and to wash them frequently, ideally after every use, with hot soapy water. If you don’t do this, you’re giving the mask a chance to be a carrier for bacteria.

Experts say you’re to treat them the same as your underwear. And you’re washing and changing your underwear frequently, right? We hope you are, anyway. And what if your underwear is wet or soiled?

Let’s stop – you get the gist. Common sense applies here.

But even if your mask hasn’t been cleaned in a few days, you will not run the risk of fungal or bacterial infections.

Claims that you could catch both pleurisy and Legionnaires have also been debunked.

There is a small risk in extreme situations where masks are filthy and the wearer has an open wound, The Associated Press reports.

The dangers posed by wearing a mask are minimal.

Acne caused by masks or ‘maskne’ is possible, particularly for healthcare workers, but it is a build-up of your skin’s natural oils and sweat rather than germs, and there are ways to avoid it - but these are not germs and is not considered dangerous.

Verdict: FALSE

shutterstock_1663756195 Shutterstock Shutterstock

Claim: Masks harm your immune system

Evidence: Health experts have told AFP Fact Check this is just not correct and there is no scientific evidence to support it.

It quotes the American Lung Association, which said that ‘there is absolutely no scientific evidence that mask wearing or physical distancing weakens the immune system’.

BBC Reality Check came to the same conclusion. 

Verdict: NONSENSE

shutterstock_1726510693 Shutterstock Shutterstock

Claim: The HPV vaccine has harmed hundreds of teenage girls in Ireland

Evidence: We previously published an in-depth FactCheck on the HPV vaccine, which found:

  • A very large number of clinical trials and scientific studies have proven HPV vaccines, including Gardasil, to be highly effective in preventing the virus that causes 70% of cervical cancer
  • These trials and studies have also proven HPV vaccines, including Gardasil, to be very safe, with extremely low rates of serious possible side effects (four out of 195,270 vaccinated individuals experienced a serious side effect following vaccination, that’s 0.002%)
  • What little scientific research has been done contradicting this overwhelming consensus, has consistently been shown to be flawed and unreliable
  • There is no evidence whatsoever that HPV vaccination caused the health difficulties observed among the 400 young women represented by the group Regret.

Verdict: FALSE

shutterstock_1096632179 Shutterstock Shutterstock

Claim: The HPV vaccine can increase the risk of cancer by 44%

Evidence. Before we begin exploring the evidence, it’s important to stress – as demonstrated by our previous FactCheck – that there is an overwhelming body of evidence to show that the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine is safe. That alone is almost grounds to dismiss this claim.

The claim originates in a 2006 report on the commonly used Gardasil vaccine.

There were more than 20,000 people involved in this trial.

In one study group of almost 300 people, a negative efficacy of 44.6% was recorded; there were more cases of CIN 2/3 – abnormal cells found on the surface of the cervix – in the placebo group than the group who received the vaccine.

However, this paints an inaccurate picture of the efficacy of the vaccine.

We spoke to Dr Kevin Ault, OBGYN at the University of Kansas Cancer Center, whose main area of research has been the development of a vaccine against HPV and was involved in some of the vaccine trials.

Dr Ault is also a member of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

He explained that a small percentage, in the region of 1% or 2%, of the entire cohort involved in this study had an HPV infection at the beginning of this study:

Since they were already infected at the beginning of the trial, they didn’t get any benefit from the vaccine.

He notes as well that it was such a small group among a larger study that it isn’t statistically significant:

When you looked at the larger picture, we didn’t find that the vaccine increased their risk.

Again, this study is from more than a decade ago.

Let’s look at a larger group from a more recent piece of research.

For example, 60,000,000 people in this study by the Lancet, published last year.

This finding was not replicated. Instead, they found:

“Our results provide strong evidence that HPV vaccination works to prevent cervical cancer in real-world settings as both HPV infections that cause most cervical cancers and precancerous cervical lesions are decreasing.”

This is just one of the many studies that prove the vaccine’s efficacy. Another was published this month, with a sample size of more than 1.6 million – the conclusion was that “among Swedish girls and women 10 to 30 years old, quadrivalent HPV vaccination was associated with a substantially reduced risk of invasive cervical cancer at the population level”.

Verdict: FALSE

u-s-seattle-bill-gates-interview-china PA Images PA Images

Claim: India cut ties with Bill Gates after doctors linked the polio vaccine to thousands of cases of childhood paralysis.

Evidence: India has not cut ties with Bill Gates, as FullFact reports here.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation continues to operate in India, working with a range of organisations from local government to community groups with an aim to improve ‘the lives of India’s poor and marginalised’.

The same publication notes that elevated levels of paralysis in some parts of the world, such as the United Kingdom where there is no polio vaccination programme, have not been linked to the vaccine. Instead, it can be the result of increased monitoring or other illnesses.

An element which is often quoted with this conspiracy is that circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV) can occur, but a number of factors must be present, such as poor sanitation and an under-immunised population. After the deactivated virus from the vaccine is excreted, it can then be picked up by humans again, and if allowed to circulate for a significant period of time, it can undergo enough mutations to become a dangerous illness again.

This is extremely rare – WHO highlights that 10 billion doses of the oral polio vaccine have been administered since 2000, with just 760 cases of cVDPV, and a number of changes to the genetic makeup of the vaccine allows the risk to be further reduced.

Verdict: FALSE

shutterstock_1429658561 Shutterstock Shutterstock

Claim: Vaccines contain material from aborted babies which can alter the recipient’s DNA

Evidence: The trope that vaccines contain material from terminations derives from how genetic material from aborted fetuses was used to start cell lines. These allow some vaccines to be produced; a cell substrate is used to create large quantities of the virus.

The cell lines have multiplied over decades, to such scale that no new fetal tissue since the original cells has been required for them.

For example, fibroblast cells from the lungs of two aborted fetuses, obtained with permission in the 1960s and from women who sought terminations for unrelated reasons were used to create the MRC-5 and WI-38 cell lines used to create vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella, rabies, and polio, among many others. The original cells or genetic tissue no longer exist, but the cell line continues to function as required. If any of the cell line’s DNA structure still exists in the vaccine itself, it exists in minute quantities, and is not able to interact with your own DNA, as ABC News reports.

As National Geographic explains here:

“But by and large, new technologies have come along, making cells derived from aborted fetuses no longer necessary.”

The Catholic Church opposes abortion but there is support for vaccination programmes, even with this in mind, if no other vaccine is available.

There is absolutely no evidence that human or animal DNA in a vaccine could alter your own DNA. This, as Reuters explains here, is simply not how vaccines work.

Verdict: FALSE

shutterstock_542046412 Shutterstock Shutterstock

Claim: More than 80 studies link vaccines to autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders.

Evidence: Vaccines do not cause autism. Significant research has been carried out in this area. The original study which made the link was also thoroughly discredited.

No reputable study has ever found a link between vaccines and autism.

It is often suggested that thimerosal (a mercury-containing organic compound) in vaccines can cause neurodevelopmental disorders. There is no evidence that this poses a health risk, and a study which suggested it does has been dismissed as extremely poor quality, with better studies indicating that there is no risk.

Verdict: FALSE

United_States_Court_of_Federal_Claims Wikimedia Wikimedia

Claim: More than $4 billion has been paid out for vaccine injuries and death.

Evidence:  The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program in the United States has paid out this amount.

The programme was set up in the 1980s to provide financial compensation to people seeking legal redress who are found to have been injured by a vaccine.

Even in cases where the person is not found to have been injured, they may still receive compensation through a settlement.

Billions of doses of vaccine have been administered to people in the US in recent decades: there were 3.4 billion doses given between 2006 and 2017 alone, for example.

Since 1988, a total of 6,600 people have received compensation from the programme. This means that for every million doses of vaccine that were administered in the US, roughly 1 person got money from the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Programme (NVICP).

Of these, 70% of the claims were settled (meaning no conclusion was made, including a few dozen off the now-discredited Wakefield study).

Many of the remaining cases related to vaccine delivery (such as alleged shoulder injuries). FactCheck.org has an extensive piece here on the scheme.

Around 520 claims related to deaths have been compensated in 30 years, the New York Times reports.

Of these, almost half were connected with a whooping cough vaccine that has not been used for two decades. A further 90 were connected with a flu vaccine.

Time magazine has also published a deep-dive on NVICP. The publication explains that ‘a fever, a short-term allergic reaction, soreness at the site of the injection’ can all be reasons for compensation.

In fact, the programme is cited as a demonstration of how overwhelmingly safe vaccines are due to the low number of successful claims.

A report in the US by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that vaccines prevented more than 730,000 deaths among children in the US and over 21 million hospitalisations from 1993 to 2013. 

Verdict: MISLEADING

washington-2017-the-united-states-supreme-court

Claim: The US Supreme Court has ruled that vaccines are unavoidably unsafe

Evidence: This is a complex one.

Firstly, the term “unavoidably unsafe” originates in a piece of US legal opinion known as the Restatement of Torts § 402A (1965).

The choice of language was one that doesn’t properly express that this is actually a positive term. A product that is “unavoidably unsafe” should be given protection from liability due to the benefit it offers to society despite its inherent risks, and is the opposite of “unreasonably dangerous”.

Bruesewitz v. Wyeth was a 2011 case taken in the US Supreme Court centered on whether Congress, in passing the law which created the aforementioned NVICP, had this “unavoidably unsafe” phrase in mind when it referred to “side effects that were unavoidable”.

It boils down to whether vaccine manufacturers should be open to liability if it can be proved that there is a better design for their product – essentially one which is safer – or if these companies are exempt as long as they properly prepare the vaccine and provide adequate warnings.

The Supreme Court decided the latter: Vaccines do not fall into the category of ‘unavoidably unsafe’.

Doris Ress, a professor of Law at UC Hastings College of Law in California, offers a clear explanation of this here.

Verdict: FALSE

shutterstock_1091235857 Shutterstock Shutterstock

Claim: The Covid-19 restrictions are part of an orchestrated ploy to implement the final phase of UN Agenda 2030, a ‘New World Order’ plan to destroy nation states and depopulate Earth.

Evidence: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a non-binding resolution from the United Nations, is more concerned with the likes of water management and gender equality than world domination.

This is a long-running conspiracy theory that regained momentum recently, particularly on social media like Facebook.

Read more about how it has been seized upon by conspiracy theorists and the far right here.

Verdict: NONSENSE

Edited by Christine Bohan. Additional reporting from previous FactChecks by Órla Ryan and Dan Mac Guill.

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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:16 AM

    Jesus so many tweets included the journalist barely had to write a word

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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:21 AM

    As usual

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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:52 AM

    For once I agree with you there.
    I wouldn’t watch tubridy if they were paying me to.
    So I guess I’ll just have to take the “journalists” word that yer man nailed it.

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    Jan 9th 2016, 12:35 PM

    The rubber bandits are upper middle class lads putting on lower class act. They are very articulate.

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    Jan 9th 2016, 1:34 PM

    Good to see he dressed up for the occasion by wearing his best plastic bag.

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    Jan 9th 2016, 2:11 PM

    Exactly what I thought, so many I gave up reading them….journalists my ass!

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    Jan 9th 2016, 3:03 PM

    I reckon he got fed up giving Tesco’s free advertising. I don’t recognise the logo on the new bag.

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    Jan 9th 2016, 3:20 PM

    Replay it on RTE Player

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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:31 PM

    I’m looking forward to reading the tweets about the article on the journal about the tweets in the article on the journal about the tweets.

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    Mute Very angry sales rep
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:22 AM

    Only in p.c. Ireland would someone suggest a memorial wall for 1916 to also include enemy soldiers along with Irish heroes, worst idea ever and I hope it never happens.

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    Mute Eel Knack Mole
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:33 AM

    What about the innocent people shot on the street? Who are the enemy, how do we define it and most importantly…

    Why do a group of people living off the fame of their great grandparents get to decide what happens??! It is the absolute opposite of what republicanism actually means.

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    Mute Mjhint
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:38 AM

    You think so that conflict monuments around the world should be torn down. Go to the beaches of Normandy & see the monuments for an occupying army everywhere. There are heros on all sides. There is 2 sides to every conflict. To deny that is to deny history.

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    Mute Comexicity
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:47 AM

    That was blind boy’s point, inclusivity of all perspectives, not one particular grouping hijacking it for their own purposes. Sinn Fein supporter Robert Ballagh came across as an outraged fool at this suggestion.

    Also slightly ironic to hear tax exempt artists complaining about equality in society.

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    Mute Alan Lawlor
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:50 AM

    Exactly- our war was against the British administration- the British soldiers were the pawns.
    Yes, some of those soldiers would have enjoyed a chance to shoot a few Fenian “sc¥m” (as they may have perceived them).
    But, how many of those soldiers fought and died bravely, as they saw they were protecting the innocent civilians of all persuasions? IMHO , probably most.

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    Mute (♐️)Sagiton Games.
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:53 AM

    It’s simple.
    Our enemy usually liked to say sh*t like
    “God save the king” and other nonsense.

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    Mute Jho Harris
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:55 AM

    The bag man was bad but that toe rag Yates was 10 times worse. This is a man who was on about a pluralistic Ireland who can’t get by on ministerial pension. The same man who believes in an all encompassing that fled to The UK for an easier ride when his greed caught up with him. He wants to see the names of British soldiers on a memorial for those who laid down their lives for Ireland’s freedom; I wonder Ivan The Terrible, does that include those who might have been killed after they had formed part of the firing squads?

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    Mute Alan Lawlor
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    Jan 9th 2016, 12:00 PM

    The course of history and time, for nearly every Irish person (and many British), has shown the Irish to have been on the side of right, and the British soldiers to have been on the side of wrong.
    However, that makes their deaths even more tragic, not less. Those soldiers were mostly from poor uneducated backgrounds with little independent appreciation of the wider politics or the just cause of the Irish. They were reluctantly following orders and were filled with the British propaganda that the rebels were merely radical terrorists, endangering the lives of innocent civilians

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    Mute Andrew Corcoran
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    Jan 9th 2016, 12:24 PM

    Alan, that propaganda is still being circulated today by people like John Bruton, a man who surely wishes 1916 and the war of independence had never happened ensuring he never got his knighthood.

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    Mute Wil van der Putten
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    Jan 9th 2016, 1:07 PM

    Heroes on the Nazi side?? Most French, Belgian and Dutch people would see American, Canadian and British troops as liberating armies, not occupying. You have a warped sense of history my friend.

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    Mute Mr Phil Officer
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    Jan 9th 2016, 1:16 PM

    The British soldiers are already commemorated on Poppy Day over in England, the Irish rebels wouldn’t be considered by the British on that day. JC the new English Labour Party leader suggested something similar in the English Parliament regarding IRA volunteers and there was uproar in the Houses of Parliament, why should we remember theirs who committed atrocities on this island if they aren’t willing to even recognise ours.

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    Mute Mjhint
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    Jan 9th 2016, 1:17 PM

    Will you obviously have never been to Normandy. I was talking about German armed forces. Book a holiday it’s well worth the history lesson. There were great soldiers & commanders in the German army of ww2 so I’m guessing the same applies for the war in Ireland when it comes to the brits.

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    Mute Tordelback
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    Jan 9th 2016, 1:55 PM

    @Wil, how many of the German 711th or 716th divisions in Normandy were conscripts, and how many were Nazi ideologues? What about Polish conscripts? How many of the 11 million Wehrmacht casualties (across all for TS)/ were ‘evil’? The war graves in Normandy rightly recognise death in war as a tragedy, not a goodies v. Baddies score sheet.

    Our 1916 commemorations should do the same.

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    Mute Johnneary
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    Jan 9th 2016, 10:35 PM

    Amen VASR
    PC statues of Black and Tans Psychopaths raping Irish Women and Children.
    Sound just like what “Je Suis” the PC Rape Central Germany, Sweden, Belgium, France, UK etc Eurozone has turned into.

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    Mute Kieron Duffin
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:42 AM

    Did I read somewhere that Blindboy Boatclub lectured in History over in Limerick ? I could be wrong, I know he’s a very educated man at the very least. Good on him, a voice of a generation.

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    Mute NO 2 FF/FG/LAB
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:30 AM

    It’s hilarious when I hear people coming along saying this is a joke, sure he wears a plastic bag over his head so why take him seriously. Yet not 1 person is able to refute the fine and detailed points he made regarding the vision and failures of the rising. If more riled up right wingers would bother to learn about the rising as much as blind boy did the country would be a much more well informed place.

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    Mute Richard III
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:40 AM

    I’m sure RTE could have got someone else to represent Ireland’s present day youth than ‘bag head’(or whatever he calls himself). Is Ireland’s youth’ self esteem so low that they feel this is adequate representation?

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    Mute NO 2 FF/FG/LAB
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:50 AM

    Considering 1/4 of Irelands youth are abroad and the remaining 3/4 didn’t ask blind boy personally to go onto the show I’m not going to answer that non question. I represent myself & but I was more than happy to have blind boy represent my views on 1916 & modern society last night

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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:54 AM

    “Non question” ? yeah I was being retourical

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    Mute NO 2 FF/FG/LAB
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:56 AM

    If you feel he made any points wrong that would do a diservice to the youth of Ireland then please let us know and stop the trolling

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    Mute Gearóid Ó Briain
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:57 AM

    When a man with a bag on his face makes more sense than previously elected politicians, I don’t think the problem lies with our youth.

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    Mute Mick O Callaghan
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    Jan 9th 2016, 12:02 PM

    Don’t speak about which you know nothing about Richard. You make yourself seem stupid. Are ya stupid Richard. I’d say you are. The rubberbandits are two very well educated and intelligent young men. No better representation if he knows what he is talking about.leave the fact he has a bag on his head out of it. Bagophobic.

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    Mute Richard III
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    Jan 9th 2016, 12:18 PM

    ‘Bag head’ spoke very well and brought up a few valid points about present day issues of course. But I feel having a bag on his head (tired of saying this) robbed him of validation and dignity and the people he was representing. Oh, me “trolling”? You are a touchey so and so No.2……..

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    Mute NO 2 FF/FG/LAB
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    Jan 9th 2016, 12:20 PM

    So you’ve nothing against what he said, happy days and that’s that. See not being a troll actually allows for better communication.

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    Mute Richard III
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    Jan 9th 2016, 12:27 PM

    No I don’t think I’m stupid Mick, as Wilde once said “Irony is wasted on the stupid”

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    Mute Andrew Corcoran
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    Jan 9th 2016, 12:28 PM

    Richard’s the sort of person who looked down his nose at punks or people with tattoos or anyone else who doesn’t fit into his view of who should be taken seriously. Talk about judging a book by its cover.

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    Mute NO 2 FF/FG/LAB
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    Jan 9th 2016, 12:39 PM

    Pretty ironic statement there Richard.

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    Mute Joe Bloggs
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    Jan 9th 2016, 3:04 PM

    I betcha Blindboy could spell “rhetorical”

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    Mute Richard III
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    Jan 9th 2016, 3:49 PM

    My bad Joe, auto-type error

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    Mute Nigel O'Neill
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    Jan 9th 2016, 10:02 PM

    @Richard III they certainly would not be represented well by ignorance such as you have shown in your post. Plus let me tell you this, the younger generation of this country today are removed, thank crunchie, from the stain of civil war politics and the parties their grandfathers voted for, so they can see through the propoganda that somebody wearing a tie is better placed to speak to the people or lead us, far more than someone with a bag on their head!! That misconception , my dear friend is a thing of the past. The younger generation have seen how people in ties and suits have run riot over their generation that has lost them so many of their peers to emigration or worse, suicide.

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    Mute Dylan Prendergast
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:26 AM

    I was a bit sneer like towards Blindboy in the past but listening to him weekly on 2fm with Chris and Ciara has really changed my opinion on him. He says some very intelligent things that I agree with him on.

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    Mute Pt pat
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:22 AM

    I wonder what blindboy said that convinced Caoimhe’s da to marry her.

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    Mute Brendan McLoughlin
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:30 AM

    I know that the heat of studio lights can be grilling. Fair play to Blindboy for lasting the pace with the Spar bag. He made good points.

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    Mute Fiona deFreyne
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:43 AM

    Blindboy made excellent and hard hitting points, referring to the hard reality of Ireland for most of those in the 15 to 35 age bracket.

    My children will leave Ireland for better life, better opportunity and fairer treatment elsewhere.

    Ireland is now run for the benefit of a limited number, at the expense of the many. That’s how it is.

    Mortgages and rents are unaffordable in Ireland. Health care is inadequate. Access to schools for non Catholics is increasingly difficult. We will get US style taxes and a further diminution in public services. Non income taxes will increase but not in progressive form .

    Add LPT, increasing water charges to a private operator, broadcasting charges, increased cost of insurance, services and the basics in life. Ireland is becoming unaffordable. More will descend into poverty. The rich will get much richer. The lower income group will fall into greater and greater social deprivation.

    And so it has been decreed by Enda ” US style Taxes” Kenny, backed by DO B.

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    Mute Reg
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    Jan 9th 2016, 12:10 PM

    You write some good posts Fiona but please stop repeating the lie that Irish Water is a “private” company. Yes it is a private limited company which means that the shares are privately owned and cannot be publicly traded. In the case of Irish water, it is fully owned by the state just like many other “private” companies owned by the state.

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    Mute Fiona deFreyne
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    Jan 9th 2016, 12:23 PM

    Reg, I am talking of the near future when water charges are multiplied by a factor of at least 5 and when DO B, if he can get over his difficulties with CAB, will purchase.

    I would have a different view if Irish Warer had been established as a dedicated statutory corporation, as was ESB and Bord na Mona for example.

    What gave the game away was the initial requirement, later reluctantly rescinded, to provide the PPS number when registering and the lies I received when I sought written answers for this.

    By the way, an investment bank was retained to advise on the potential saleability of IW and the range of potential buyers.

    IW is ideally positioned, from a corporate legal perspective, to be sold off in a market sale.

    As an interesting exercise, assume 1.5 million fully paying households in Ireland and then take the full sist of expensive water provision in Ireland, the total annual budget in Ireland, even after the supposed slim down and yiu will get an average and astonishing price her household.

    Fresh water supply is a very expensive instrastructural investment and very expensive to maintain.

    The more that water is conserved, the higher cost per unit of water since most of IWs costs are of a fixed nature.

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    Mute Reg
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    Jan 9th 2016, 12:32 PM

    Many of your points are true but I have asked this question many, many times and nobody has ever answered. Who will sell it?

    No party is advocating the sale of Irish Water and there will be no requirement to consider it as the state finance stabilise. With the mistakes made in the UK by state privatisations it is now realised that core state assets should be retained is state ownership. Despite the deep recession we have just experienced, no significant core assets were sold.

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    Mute Fiona deFreyne
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    Jan 9th 2016, 12:41 PM

    An FG dominated Government will sell IW on a market sale. FG Christian Democrat ideology favours privitisation of utilities despite the previous bad experience in the UK and in Ireland.

    It would required very simple legislation, a maximum of 2 weeks work in the Parliamentary Draftsman’s office, to prepare a simple Bill to establish IW as a statutory corporation. I know of 2 TDs who offered the heads of legislation privately to Government but we’re decisively rebuffed.

    We actually don’t need a Constitutional Referendum on this, merely primary legislation placing IW on a long term statutory footing, but that will not happen. DO B would not permit it. DO B is keen to replenish his coffers.

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    Mute Reg
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    Jan 9th 2016, 12:48 PM

    I agree that we don’t need to put these kinds of things in the constitution. However FG will never be in government on their own and even if they were the public outcry and pressure would be overwelming. It won’t be sold despite your constant references to DOB.

    Then look at the purchaser, who on their right mind would buy it? It won’t be self-financing for many, many years. There would be large scale public opposition to paying a real private company for water. They’d be off their heads to buy it!

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    Mute Fiona deFreyne
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    Jan 9th 2016, 1:03 PM

    Labour would have no difficulty supporting the market sale of Irish Water. SF would agree to get into power. FF is expedient. Renua would be strongly supportive and FG would dress it up as sold to reduce the National debt.

    Once the level of water charges is increased to break even, there would be massive interest. Getting hands on a large customer base, the entire households of the country, is a strategic play. It is of massive cross sales value. The customer database is worth a fortune even without the revenues from the water charges but the water charges revenues will help to pay for the customer database.

    I mention DO B because he has already started to ring fence the support area do for IW in the same way that he actually acquitted the Mast sites for the GSM masts even before he bid for the 2nd GSm Licence in August 1995.

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    Mute Rashers Tierney
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    Jan 9th 2016, 2:21 PM

    Reg, if you think it hasn’t already been sold you are being naive. At the very least memoranda of understanding will have been signed. What remains is to get the infrastructure up to scratch AT PUBLIC EXPENSE prior to sale. I note that the fact that Paris, Berlin and a number of other places had to re-municipalize water subsequent to privatisation because of public revolt over it. Strange that ;-)

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    Mute Rashers Tierney
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    Jan 9th 2016, 2:23 PM

    Is never mentioned

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    Mute SickOfCorruption
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    Jan 9th 2016, 7:39 PM

    Grrr…. Journal… Do some testing… It is impossible to post.
    IW was set up for one reason and one reason only, to privati$e our nations water supply. To think otherwise is either, naive or purposeful self delusion.

    We could have a referendum on voting age but not the future ownership of our water supply, that could be signed away by 2 signatures… Don’t make me laugh.

    IW is the greatest betr@yal of our nation in 100 years!…..
    Testing….

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    Mute Hugh G. Johnson
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:50 AM

    Even with a plastic bag on his head he is more aesthetically pleasing then Ryan Tubridy.

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    Mute John Joe Collins
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:20 AM

    Is this for real they are trying to have a serious conversation about irish history and theres a fella sitting there with a plastic bag on his face. Gay byrne must be delighted with how his show has ended up

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    Mute Armin Tamzarian
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:25 AM

    I’d rather listen to that guy with a bag on his face than the rest of the guests and presenter with a rod up their @rse….

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    Mute Mr. Rightside
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:29 AM

    The Journal and daily edge journalist first to scoff at successful billionaire Donald Trump hold a pavee in a plastic bag up as some intellectual inspiration.

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    Mute NO 2 FF/FG/LAB
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:34 AM

    The self made billion that got handed 1 million dollars off daddy when he wanted to start a business after 20 years of privilege? Ah right yea… success isn’t valued with digits it’s valued with sustainability, harmony and happiness.

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    Mute Mr. Rightside
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:38 AM

    Ye maybe to you hippies on the commune.

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    Mute NO 2 FF/FG/LAB
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:39 AM

    I work for a large multinational in dublin 4, if you wish to imply dublin 4 is a commune then by all means keep waffling

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    Mute Mr. Rightside
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:42 AM

    #sellout

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    Mute NO 2 FF/FG/LAB
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:52 AM

    Humans adapt pretty well Mr rightside, some even learn to distinguish between the country you want to see and the country you currently live in.

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    Mute Johnneary
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    Jan 9th 2016, 1:47 PM

    Maybe Trump will put an end to Tax inversion, repatriate trillions of US money and rid our country of tax dodging “multitaxionals” and their cardboard cutout Latte slugging “workers” in their decoy drone “factories” and “offices”??
    We wouldn’t have to put up with so many featherbrained geeks loike, morto.

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    Mute Joe Bloggs
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    Jan 9th 2016, 3:09 PM

    What’s “tax inversion”?

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    Mute Seán Domhnall O'Sullivan
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    Jan 9th 2016, 6:05 PM

    very ignorant remarks from many adults who never learned not to judge a book by its cover. Blindboy is more eloquent and historically informed than the lot of em. He spoke the harsh truth and thats just a shame for those who can’t take it, can’t accept the still very real oppression going on in this so called republic.

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    Mute Johnneary
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    Jan 9th 2016, 10:28 PM
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    Mute robert ludden
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:41 AM

    Sick of “journalism” that is just copy and paste from Twitter these days, happening to much. Write a bloody story will you

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    Mute Paul Mc
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    Jan 9th 2016, 12:23 PM

    Hope you didn’t read Mc Kennas tripe a few articles down,now that was something I wish I had not read.He told a story it might even be considered as a fairy tale.

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    Mute Might Oak
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    Jan 9th 2016, 12:28 PM

    The rubberbandits are a group that does satire. They are upper middle class lads from the well to do part of limerick who rip the p1ss out of what they see in there city. Why is everyone so surprised that they can hold a serious conversation?

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    Mute Johnny
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    Jan 9th 2016, 1:24 PM

    Actually their act is to reflect Irish people’s perception of Limerick people…using material suitable for that purpose, it is very clever and delivered by two boys with real talent.

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    Mute Charles Williams
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    Jan 9th 2016, 3:30 PM

    He nailed it when he said that all his generation do is emigrate or jump in rivers.The reason for this of course was the decision of the FF Green Government tto bail out the banks and bondholders, the policy continued by FG, Labour Government. The decision to put the interests of bankers and bondholders before the Irish people must be the biggest betrayal in the course of Irish history.We make elect a Government but others outside interests control that Government.

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    Mute Simon Williamson
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:26 AM

    1916 me hole

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    Mute NO 2 FF/FG/LAB
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:31 AM

    Your hole is free thanks to the events of that year, show some respect arse cheeks

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    Mute knowing it all!
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:43 AM

    Typical irish all we do is dwell on the past. The only one of the 4 that spoke any sense war the Rubberbandit. Why was the Robert Ballachulish there for? So what if a lot of the people in 1916 Artists or Poets, in 1916 they fought for a political reasons and that was for a free Ireland not for being able to write poetry or create more art. Why did he bring up the memorial wall I Washington about the Vietnam war? ?? That wall is for the 1000s of American soldiers sent 1000s of miles away to fight a war that basically had nothing to do with them. Not one alive today knows what really went on in 1916 and there is a saying g the paper never refused ink, so we can only go by what others wrote about it and accept their views if we want. And you can bet your bottom dolor the for all of those irish people who wanted freedom from England there also thise irish who didn’t want it as well. So if the day we gained our independence from the English is so important why don’t we celebrate it every year like a national holiday like the Americans celebrate their 4th of July ??????

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    Mute Fintan C Hennessy
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:49 AM

    What?

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    Mute Reg
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:49 AM

    Robert Ballagh in his country tweeds is some pain in the hole. Doesn’t have a good word t say about our country.

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    Mute Coles
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    Jan 9th 2016, 12:10 PM

    Probably because he understands his history. He knows how the ideals of the Rising was undermined by the Right Wing conservative forces that became Fine Gael.

    Read ‘The Irish Counter Revolution 1921-1936′ by John Regan.

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    Mute Fiona deFreyne
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    Jan 9th 2016, 12:13 PM

    Affectionate, passionate and frustrated criticism from an artist living and working in Ireland favourably contrasts with the mindless and vacuous “all is good news” flogged by parties in Government.

    If we love our country, despite its faults, we have a duty to criticise what is bad and to seek its improvement and reform, even at the risk of antagonising FG fascist types.

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    Mute Reg
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    Jan 9th 2016, 12:26 PM

    I have no problem with affectionate, passionate and frustrated criticism. However I am sick to the back teeth of Robert Ballagh’s constant moaning. We have achieved a lot in 100 years, it’s not perfect and we could do much better and that should be acknowledged also,

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    Mute Fiona deFreyne
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    Jan 9th 2016, 12:51 PM

    The IMF rescue was not a dream. Poverty, homelessness and extreme inequality are real. Social deprivation exists.

    Passivity, servility and placidity will ensure that the Governance of this country is not reformed and improved. We need a fairer, more just society, a more inclusive society and a society in which all have the opportunity, if they so desire, not merely to survive but to thrive and to excel.

    Already, US corporations are decrying our failure in our educational system to produce innovative, free thinking, lateral thinking and problem solving type students. We produce plenty of lawyers, accountants, bureaucrats and such like.

    We are too conventional, conformist and complacent.

    Young Scientist shows what can be achieved.

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    Mute Comexicity
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    Jan 9th 2016, 12:57 PM

    Robert Ballagh was strangely a huge supporter of CJH in the 1980′s. Here’s Ballagh’s most known piece of art.

    http://www.rhagallery.ie/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/ballagh3.jpg

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    Mute Reg
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    Jan 9th 2016, 1:02 PM

    Yes those things exist and more should be done to eradicate it. However when you look back at the poverty and equality of 100 years ago we have come a very long way.

    Totally agree with you about our education system which is lacking in so many areas. I have been critical of it and the church’s continued domination of the school system in many topics here.

    Hoping to go to Young Scientist today with the kids!

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    Mute Wil van der Putten
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    Jan 9th 2016, 1:12 PM

    Obviously you didn’t pay attention in history classes in school. Apart from a few small interludes, it was FF governments that were in charge.

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    Mute Patrick Finnerty
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    Jan 9th 2016, 5:49 PM

    Ballagh comes across as a cantankerous old bore. Didn’t want to listen to or agree with anyone. Seems to be outraged that the 1916 rising didn’t result in Utopia.

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    Mute Louise Aíne Finnegan
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    Jan 9th 2016, 2:57 PM

    I was in the audience last night and blindboy was easily the best one on the 1916 pannel. Ivan yates came accross as very conceited and arrogant and dont get me started on the other guy that was there.

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    Mute Jamie McCormack
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:27 PM

    Did you get a pressie?

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    Mute Kirsha Sova
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    Jan 9th 2016, 1:17 PM

    Sometimes it’s not the lad with the plastic bag on his head who’s the fool ,but the lad in the suit .

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    Mute Marc Power
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:41 AM

    I am so going out to get a plastic bag on my head. Finally maybe people will take me serious

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    Mute NO 2 FF/FG/LAB
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:55 AM

    Plastic bag is neither here nor there, the substance is in the message

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    Mute Marc Power
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    Jan 9th 2016, 12:44 PM

    Bit if a sense if humour wouldn’t go amiss either it would seem

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    Mute NO 2 FF/FG/LAB
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    Jan 9th 2016, 1:02 PM

    Rubberbandits are a great laugh, they do actual jokes worth laughing for

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    Mute Richard III
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:32 AM

    If he wants to make a serious point on a serious subject then take the f***in bag off your head!

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    Mute NO 2 FF/FG/LAB
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:35 AM

    The bag is irrelevant, it’s an easy cop out for people who cannot refute his points anyway

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    Mute Richard III
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:44 AM

    The bag is relevant, ‘look there’s some bloke with a shopping bag on his head’

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    Mute NO 2 FF/FG/LAB
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:53 AM

    And look here’s some bloke with nothing to say about the brilliant points made by blindboy

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    Mute Seán Domhnall O'Sullivan
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    Jan 9th 2016, 5:59 PM

    Ivan Yates looks like my fundamentalist religious aunt. Spitting image. Out of th two I’d say its more to the pity for Ivan. Blindboy was on the way to playin a blinder!

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    Mute Michaelcaffrey
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    Jan 9th 2016, 12:31 PM

    It’s sad to witness all of the intolerance and bitter undertones in many of these blog exchanges these days. I honestly believe that an Ireland that refuses to accept everyone from it’s heroes to the seemingly insignificant, will never really be free. Alas we seem so far from the values of the Proclamation today.

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    Mute Fiona deFreyne
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    Jan 9th 2016, 12:54 PM

    We truly have travelled far away from the values and ideals of the Proclamation.

    In fairness, we Irish do dissonance and hyprocrisy superbly well. We can extol the Proclamation and do the opposite with no difficulty.

    We can celebrate the Proclamation and be determined to ensure that it is never realised.

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    Mute Stephen Deegan
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:36 AM

    I think it’s a bit of a pity that the only person that RTE could get to represent the new generation is a guy with a bag on his head. Now, don’t get me wrong, Blindboy is a legend, and his word is truth, but I just think his anonymity takes from his wisdom a little.

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    Mute NO 2 FF/FG/LAB
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:38 AM

    Funny I always kind thought it adds to the wisdom as once we know the person we then start to look into the personality, the history and the connections etc which generally muddies the waters of our perception towards them.

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    Mute Fiona deFreyne
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    Jan 9th 2016, 12:08 PM

    No 2 FF/FG/LAB – so true and such an excellent point so well made. Thank you.

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    Mute Coles
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    Jan 9th 2016, 12:22 PM

    Well said.

    I would expect RTE and the Independent News and Media Group to make it a priority to unmask the Blindboy.

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    Mute Stephen Deegan
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    Jan 9th 2016, 4:43 PM

    Well said. I didn’t think of that.
    Opinion: Changed.

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    Mute orla
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    Jan 9th 2016, 1:48 PM

    We received our freedom in the 26 counties, but successive governments gave it away to E.U. We are not a free people because blue shirts, don’t want to build Ireland from scratch, the E.U. is a Gravy Train for them, they sold us down the swanny.I don’t know 1 political party who will stand beside the people, most want to stay in the EU.Enda going on about how Brexit by Uk, would destroy our economy, well why don’t we join them, lets start afresh! Starting with the Punt.

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    Mute Sean O'Riordan
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    Jan 9th 2016, 1:55 PM

    What people need to realise is that the Irish revolution was mostly a load of bull.The British did not hand over rule without thinking of what effect it would have on its empire.Today we are a separate entity but we still speak English,we still use the Roman/British legal system.The Irish education is supplied by a pre-revolution company Gill and Macmillan.Hence why the truth about Irish famine is kept from Irish society because real statistics are hidden.Today Irish people follow British football teams,British music and watch British tv immersing themselves in British culture.So who really won the war?Also note that we are no longer Irish in any case due to the fact we are dictated by the European union for God’s sake.If you believe that we were independent and I don’t think we were,then we certainly are not since we joined the European union.All in all we are not whom we think we are.The Irish are a paradox,a people who truly are not sure of their true origins.Are identity is usually somewhere between Guinness(created by British man)a shamrock and gaa(also pushed by British to create tribalism in the land and divide up counties.Now let’s celebrate this utter non sense.http://www.historyireland.com/18th-19th-century-history/keeping-the-lid-on-an-irish-revolution-the-gosselin-balfour-correspondence/

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    Mute Tomás Ó'Murchú
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    Jan 9th 2016, 6:21 PM

    ‘At a boy, Blindboy.

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    Mute Sean O'Riordan
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    Jan 9th 2016, 1:59 PM

    Our true origins are pagon mystical beings…not Christian!….The land of the druids…whom were plundered by Roman Christians spreading another myth.

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    Mute John maghuire
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    Jan 9th 2016, 7:56 PM

    Blind boy nailed it on the head, our new enemy is the 3% with 50% of the wealth…..

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    Mute royston T justice
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    Jan 9th 2016, 1:05 PM

    Fock me where is the story in here?

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    Mute Simon Quinn
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:44 AM

    Did he say more than what is in the YouTube video attached? Because he just talks b*llox in that video..

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    Mute Quango
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    Jan 9th 2016, 11:59 AM

    What points of his would you contest? How would you retort?

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    Mute Gary
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    Jan 9th 2016, 1:44 PM

    What a joke. Some idiot with a plastic bag over his head makes it onto the late late show. FFS.

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    Mute Michael Sands
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    Jan 9th 2016, 9:50 PM

    Celebrating the past and not knowing what we are celebrating as the E.U. and bankers are doing to us what was being done in 1916 by the English and whom those involved in the Rising was fighting against?
    If they were alive today those in that Rising would have another one against the Troika, E.U. and MERKEL, a FACT.

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    Mute Joe Bloggs
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    Jan 9th 2016, 3:08 PM

    The Journal should introduce a limit on the word count of comments, its not a forum for ego trippers.

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    Mute Fiona deFreyne
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    Jan 9th 2016, 5:56 PM

    Dump down the content of the comments by imposing a 140 character limit.

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    Mute Sean O'Riordan
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    Jan 9th 2016, 9:19 PM

    Joe I’m gonnaa cut your Jacobs off!

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    Mute Neil Holland
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    Jan 9th 2016, 1:56 PM

    “Incvlusivity” – eh, I think you meant Inclusiveness.

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