'Paddy's Day' paddywhackery

'An auld sod' for you Mr President

BRIAN COWEN'S reluctance for pre-March elections might have had something to do with shaking Barack Obama's hand.
With everything else slipping from his grasp, Brian must have hoped he'd have one last 'shindig' at The White House handing over a bowl of shamrock on March 17th.

The Maghreb's Citizen Kanes

THE Maghreb's Citizen Kanes have facilitated street protesters demands for societal freedoms already experienced by those who have internet access.

The virtual anonymity of social media facilitates a kind of free-flow of comment and opinion for citizen journalists without fear of peer group censure or any requirement to conform to social norms.

The disjointed story told by a reading of such frenzied uploads by cyber hacks, out of context and out of sequence, has wrong footed the region's dinosaur leaders as technology enabled agitation outpaces their ability to control dissent.

The diffusion of raw, unedited, mobile phone images to our TV screens is a mix of political and social dissent mixed in with public spectacle.

The street killings and recent hanging by Iranian authorities of 'dissidents' for alleged involvement in street protests three years previously indicates a personal sacrifice paid by demonstrators.

The ownership or control of cyber comment in western democracies will challenge their citizens tolerance for freedom and liberty when such countries are already engaged in an aggressive campaign to close down comment or viewpoints framed as 'politically incorrect' or perceived as being out of step with societal norms.

What's that on your head?

Jackie Healy Rae, Kerry's golden boy

JACKIE Healy Rae doesn't do Peter Marks or Toni&Guy for male grooming.
The handsome devil of '58 swaped his GAA jersey for a cloth cap long ago and has come up smelling of roses, not cow pats, after ringing concessions from Fianna Fail before voting on the Finance Bill.
He's pure 'Kerry Gold' with not so much as a price on his head but something that looks suspiciously like bull shit.

Occupation? Dissident

'That's where they shot
Sam Marshall"

WORDS can take on different meanings from the one intended.

Some of our northern 'cousins' believe occupation has something to do with the British Army roaming the six counties whereas others just answer 'dissident'.
With Sinn Fein travelling down the rocky road to Dublin, the Belfast dissident republicans have simply closed down that city's Antrim Road for more than 48 hours.

MM to lead FF into opposition

Martin replaces Cowan
as Fianna Fail party leader

MICHAEL Martin seccured his election as eight leader of Fianna Fail yesterday.

With less than five weeks to go until polling day, there is little prospect that his party will form a fourth successive coalition government.

Most likely the only 'bounce' from Martin's election will be a hop, skip and a jump across the floor of the Dail to the opposition benches.

TV3's Midday 'yap flaps'

Midday's Elaine Crowley hosts
another panel of female 'yap flaps'

TV3's Midday show affords Ireland's 'gobby' female guests a platform to air their opinions on anything.
The 'Blood on the Streets' hysteria about Ireland's economic mess from this morning's 'yap flaps' was amusing.
Their concerns about Sky Sports sexism missed the 'offside' banter completely.
Soccer lads use the 'offside rule/playing offside' expression as a euphemism for getting sex 'on the side' off someone other than their partner.

Ireland's PapaDoc agus BabyDoc Dohertys

PapaDoc Pat Doherty, British MP

BabyDoc Pearse Doherty, Irish TD