Shortlist for the IMPAC award announced today, as follows:
Winner is announced on June 12th, which gives us ten weeks to get them read.
I think I’m just going a bit loo-lah now.
Eamon Keane, on his lunchtime show, ran an interview with some fella from ‘Europe’ to discuss the potential for a European Army. The key point of the interview was that, in such a European Army, Irish soldiers would be expected to wear the same uniform as everyone else, and to be sent off to the sounds of a new European Army Anthem as opposed to Amhrán na bhFiann.
It all got a bit surreal towards the end, between Mr. Europe being insulted by the insinuation that Irish peacekeepers might be more, well, peaceful, than the dutch - and his final comment that they would be investing €1.2 million on finding/composing a new anthem for the European defence force, “Because we wouldn’t want another Ireland’s call”.
While I agree wholeheartedly that we wouldn’t, I really, truly can’t decide if this is a joke or not. Is this an April 1st thing? If so, shouldn’t the mid-day rule apply? And if it’s not a joke, first of all, there already is a European anthem, and secondly, what the HELL is going on in the world of diplomacy that Dutch diplomats are declaring on Irish airwaves that our admittedly embarrasingly awful pretend anthem is in fact truly awful.
Too confused for words. Can only assume/hope/pray that Newstalk have a much better sense of humour than previously supposed.
Is there any hope that this is also an April Fool?
There’s something very, very wrong about listening to a radio news show about how gay couples “shouldn’t and won’t” be allowed to adopt children, when the ads in between the bulletins is from Barnardos: an organisation that could no doubt testify to the number of children in this country (and others) who are in desperate need of a loving home to go to.
To clarify that sentence - there’s something wrong with banning those adoptions anyway, no matter what the ads are for!
There are so many arguments I could line up here, ranging from “if single people can adopt then why can’t two individual men or women adopt too” to “if hetrosexual couples get special rights and tax breaks because they’ll be having kids, does that mean if they don’t have kids they should pay back the tax??”.
But the simplest one is the one I’ve already mentioned.
Too many children in this country need safe, healthy, loving environments to grow up in for us to ban 10% of the population from adopting them on the offchance (okay, admittedly more than an ‘off’ chance) that it might upset the pope.
Enough with the lipservice.
Equality is just that, and anything short of it is pandering nonsense.
Orla Barry has just announced breaking news from the US.
After a very late night meeting and decision last night, Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced that the Hollywood sign is being torn down, with immediate effect.
Orla went on to state that huge protests are expected, and the tourism board won’t be happy because the sign is such an important part of any trip to Hollywood.
Just a thought, maybe check the date on the press release?
[Edited to correct the presenter in question, I listen to too much newstalk]
