Soapbox – The Archives
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The Only Loser is Democracy
It must be great to own the news. Not necessarily be the news, but own it. Own the channels of distribution that give the public their knowledge, and in doing so, be the de facto gate-keeper that decides what knowledge becomes public in the first place. Now, presumably you must have some serious amount of money and power to…
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Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
While I think that it is generally accepted that Michael Noonan is one of very few ministers to perform quite well in difficult circumstances over the lifetime of our current administration, the decision to appoint KPMG seems at the very least to violate the basic principle that ‘’Not only must Justice be done; it must…
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Blatter Splatter
So, cowardice and avarice win out again at another Fifa election. Sepp coasts over the line with support from his allies in the football power houses of Monserrat, Tonga and Papua New Guinea. How did Blatter manage to manage to get re-elected? He is a misogynistic, ego maniac who is completely out of touch with…
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D’you who grinds my gears? You, No side.
So, this is where we find ourselves, the only clear debate on the marriage referendum so far, took place on the Late Late show. Super. A saccharine chat show was the only debate that maintained a semblance of discipline. It was the utter antithesis to the cacophony of Dunphyesque screams on Primetime and the Vincent…
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The Presidential Referendum
I recognise this isn’t necessarily going to be the most popular viewpoint. In fact I recognise that this viewpoint might not even be shared with the other contributors to this blog. I feel there’s a more obvious socially expected standpoint when it comes to the Marriage referendum than the Presidential one, it is after all…
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How did Hitler and Stalin get brought into the Marriage Referendum debate?
I’m attempting to remain rational, coherent and as always, see at least two sides to an argument. I’ve failed. Miserably. And I don’t care. As my colleagues here have already posted; there is a referendum (two actually but I’m focusing on one for now) looming, lurking, skulking like an angry bear with a hangover on…
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MacIntyre did not chose wisely.
Media is perception. Media is PR. Oh how I am loathe typing the above sentences. There is no denying it. There is no news story that reaches your eyes and ears that hasn’t been tailored to extract the maximum reaction from the target audience. If it’s in print media, sub-editors eagerly thumb through their battered…
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What women don’t want.
I don’t want quotas. Enda Kenny may want them. Other women may want them. I don’t. I think it’s a farcical idea. It’s an insult to women. In my mind it’s akin to a harried husband saying “yes pet” to his wife while she’s listing out the domestic chores he must complete on a Saturday…