Look at Android today and you’ll see an operating system on smartphones, PMPs, and tablet devices. We don’t expect it to go anywhere else up the scale, such as on to laptops and desktop machines because Google has Chrome OS for that. Look smaller though, and Android may have a bright future on your wrist or hanging around your neck.WIMM Labs is a startup that counts former Rambus, Dell, Roku, Palm, EA, and Opera employees and investors on its books. The company’s idea is a platform called WIMM which puts Android on a tiny device you can wear on your wrist, or slot into other devices.WIMM Labs has created a device measuring just 32 x 36 x 12.5mm that includes a 1-inch capacitive touchscreen, up to 32GB of memory, an accelerometer, magnetometer, built-in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and audio output. Because it runs Android it is also a platform that is very easy to develop for with a new class of micro apps expected to appear for the device. WIMM also has an SDK to support developers with that should make app turnaround fast.Although the WIMM device remains static, it’s the ability to load it with apps and use it with other devices and peripherals that make this an exciting platform. Just as with the iPod nano, a wristwatch case will be made available, but you could also clip it on to your bike for journey feedback, or hang it around your neck and use it as an exercise planner/tracker.The inclusion of Wi-Fi also means access to the Internet, so up-to-date weather readouts, bus timetables, using it to complete a transaction, and even using it as a remote control if Bluetooth is turned on. It can also be linked to other Android devices, such as your phone for text and call previews, but works perfectly fine independent of them.In a device so small battery life is always going to be an issue, but WIMM Labs has overcome this to a large extent by using a dual-mode display. When in use it is a full-color display, but let it sit idle and it switches to a mode more like the Kindle has which is very low power. The end result is a screen that performs when you need it, but conserves a lot of energy while remaining useful when you don’t.WIMM Labs is using Foxconn for manufacturing the device and is opening up the platform to everyone. So if a company wants to create a new watch they can purchase WIMM devices and brand them however they want before shipping them as a watch. The same is true if you are a bike manufacturer who wants to ship it as a gadget for their latest models, or someone who wants this to be the core of their latest exercise system.Although it will be a while before we see a WIMM device hitting the market, a developer kit is expected by the thrid quarter of 2011. After that, it’s just up to manufacturers to come up with product ideas and start shipping the device.Read more at WIMM Labs and betanews
iEmu aims to let you run iOS on Android or PC hardware
Ever wish you could run iOS on your Android phone or tabelt? You may be able to soon, if the iEmu project is successful.Chris Wade, the developer behind iEmu, is working on QEMU-powered virtualization that will allow other devices (including Android phones and tablets, Windows and Linux computers, and even other iOS devices) to emulate Apple’s hardware and boot iOS. While initial support for the Samsung A4 chip has been achieved, and the iOS bootloader and kernel are coming along, there’s still a long, long way to go. The rest of the iPhone and/or iPad hardware (like the touch input controller, audio system, GPU, and USB controller) needs to be emulated now.Actually dual-booting Android on the iPhone has been possible for quite a while — thanks to developments like iPhoDroid. That was possible, of course, because the Android source code was available for developers to tinker with. Since iOS is closed, emulating its hardware is the only real way to get it to boot on other devices.When hardware support has been shored up, Wade can then move on to actually booting iOS. Once they’ve scaled that mountain, it should be possible to start loading up iOS apps on the virtual device — though presumably they’d need to be sideloaded or installed via an alternative source like Cydia.Wade envisions a number of potential users for iEmu, from anazlying iOS malware in a sandboxed environment to QA testing and debugging for iOS apps.If you’re willing to kick in $1,000 on Kickstarter, you’ll receive a 7-inch Dell Streak tablet with the final version of iEmu installed once it’s completed (and a couple of t-shirts for good measure).More at Googez and Kickstarter
This tiny robotic dragonfly drone only costs 119
Quadrotors are becoming more prevalent, but if TechJect has their way, their new dragonfly drone will be the wave of the miniature robotic flying future. Project coifounders Jayant Ratti and Emanuel Jones received a one million dollar grant from the US Air Force to develop the Dragonfly, but are now offering the unit to the public for the price of just $119. The project was put up for funding on Indiegogo with a minimum funding goal of $110,000, and at the time of this writing, is over $800,000.Ratti and Jones claim the unit is useful for more than just the usual quadcopter hobby flying, noting that the Dragonfly could make the perfect spy drone, citing the initial development for the Air Force as proof. The designers also state the current prototype weighs less than one ounce, comparing the weight to that of one AA battery, in other words, much lighter than a standard quadcopter. The unit also comes equipped with cameras and can be piloted by a device as common as an iPhone or tablet.Ratti and Jones claim the unit is indistinguishable from a regular insect found in the wild, but we’re hoping they meant that about the finalized product, because the prototypes shown on the project page look to be easily discernable from real insects.Considering the Dragonfly’s spybot origins, TechJect is pushing its photography applications on potential customers who don’t want to illegally spy on unsuspecting people. The company suggests the Dragonfly could provide the perfect up-close sports shot, tailing the action, but being small enough to stay out of the way. Considering the unit can seamlessly switch from hover mode (like a helicopter) to fly mode (like a plane), it should actually be maneuverable enough to pull off some pretty complicated aerial techniques. The small size makes it fairly portable, able to be carried just about anywhere should the need for it arise.The Dragonfly is customizable upon purchase — the color of its body, the design of its wings, and various upgrades like different types of cameras. The unit also comes with its own SDK, so more advanced users can customize the Dragonfly as much as their know-how will allow.Since the project is on Indiegogo, funding it will net you some units and more. From a pledge of $119 snagging you a noiseless Alpha Dragonfly unit, to a pledge of $949 nabbing you 17 Dragonfly units of various models, there are some pretty desirable pledges (ranging up to $2899) should you want to have your own army of spybots roving your neighborhood.Learn more about the project or invest at Indiegogo.
If people know that youre a footballer theyre not going to want
‘If people know that you’re a footballer, they’re not going to want to employ you’ Ryan Coulter and James Chambers chat to The42 about the harsh realities many League of Ireland footballers face in the off-season. https://vine.co/v/5nqFeOvqxv6The issue of footballers needing to be deeply committed to their primary profession for the other nine months of the year complicates the matter further. Not too many companies are willing to take on staff for just three months each year.Of course, that’s the difficulty,” Chambers says. “The only thing I found was helpful to me in retail, the company were only looking for someone for the Christmas period. It suited me down to the ground. That’s why I continued to go back because we both had an understanding that it was going to suit us both.“(Finding that job) was pot luck, to be honest. Then last year, the company I was with knew that I was going to be going off to America, so they were completely fine with it.”One of the benefits of playing in the US is that Chambers now gets the rare luxury of a 52-week salary, although it wasn’t a “major factor” in his decision to move abroad.It was something that interested me to go and to try America. When the opportunity arose, I was going to take it anyway. But the fact that the contracts are actual contracts, that was another bonus. It wasn’t anything major, but it was a small factor, it was nice.“My sole focus is getting fit and being ready to go for pre-season in January, as opposed to thinking: ‘Where are my next few pounds going to come from? Where is my next move from here?’”And while player salaries and uncertain futures are among the most serious issues in football currently, perhaps unsurprisingly, Chambers says these topics are seldom discussed in the ultra-macho environment of the dressing room.“It wouldn’t be a major part (of discussion) because players live in the now and the present. It’s a cliché, but really, all they care about is the upcoming game and training and enjoying yourself. That’s what it’s about.Nobody’s going to start talking about the future, because truthfully, it scares a lot of footballers. And there’s a male bravado environment in the dressing room, so nobody wants to be the one that seems like they’re the weak link and like they’re a little bit petrified of what’s around the corner.”Such uncertainty and doubt is not healthy for players in the long term and often seemingly leads to worrying consequences. In 2014, a study conducted by the players’ international union, Fifpro, assessing six leagues including the League of Ireland, found that 26% of current players suffered from depression or anxiety, while this number rose to 39% among retired players. It remains to be seen whether Dundalk’s unprecedented success in the Europa League will make a difference in the long term to the overall health of the League of Ireland. Source: Brian LawlessWhile reiterating the importance of the work done by the PFAI in raising awareness about the potential pitfalls that players can succumb to, Coulter is still alarmed by the number of footballers he encounters with no obvious future ambitions.“From playing with younger lads, it is remarkable the amount of them that don’t really have a plan set up for when football finishes and they’re living for the here and now.What happens if I don’t get a club or what happens if I get injured? Any of the negatives I don’t think they’re looking at. They’re thinking: ‘If I have another good season here, maybe I’ll get away to England.’ I’ll do this or I’ll do that. You’ve got to have a fallback plan. Fundamentally, that was why I ended up in America.“I was with Dundalk’s A team at the time and I was second choice up there and I said to the manager: ‘Look, I’ve got a few offers to take scholarships in America and I’m going to go.’Why did I do that? Because fast forward four years later, I come back and I’m playing in the league, but the difference is, I’m playing in the league now with a degree behind me and some kind of security, whereas had I just stayed, yeah I’d have played a lot more games in the league and people would know more about me, but what happens then when I retire? It’s Ryan Coulter with four more years in the league, but Ryan Coulter without a degree. Who would I prefer to be? The Ryan Coulter I am now.“You look at the fallback plan for most of the players in the league and they probably haven’t got it. The PFAI mentioned a statistic about a staggering amount of people (in the league) that don’t even have a Junior Cert. That’s worrying stuff.There are lads that are working full time and playing part time on the side and they’re in good jobs with good options to be able to progress in companies. I know we’ve a few lads in the team working in banks and various other places. They’re good steady career jobs. Even when you retired from football, you’d stay in them.“But it is worrying when you look across the leagues, especially with the lack of stability in them, the fact that it’s a one-year rolling contract, so many of these players could easily fall out of the league. What do they do then?”The42 is on Snapchat! Tap the button below on your phone to add! Image: James Crombie/INPHO Nov 27th 2016, 9:30 PM By Paul Fennessy Ron Atkinson on the Desailly controversy, Paul McGrath and his best-ever signings>‘I always felt sorry for the fans. They would never realise what is going on behind the scenes’> Share116 Tweet Email 8 Comments THE LIFE OF a footballer is generally perceived as glamorous, yet for the vast majority in this profession, glory is in short supply.Only the Irish Sea separates the Premier League and the League of Ireland geographically, but in most other respects, the two are worlds apart.While an average Premier League player is a millionaire, the typical League of Ireland footballer is constantly fearing for his future, unsure where the next step may lie.While Dundalk have managed to buck this depressing trend with their astonishing and highly lucrative (by Irish teams’ standards at least) European exploits, they are a welcome anomaly to the generally less encouraging developments of late.In recent years, the league has unfortunately been dominated by bad news stories centred on clubs struggling to stay afloat and player wages stagnating at best.And since Cork’s surprise FAI Cup final triumph, earlier this month, for everyone bar Stephen Kenny’s Europa League challengers, the off-season has well and truly set in.It is a period that many players dread. The financial limitations of Irish clubs means most players are restricted to 44-week salaries and one-year contracts. Once the season ends, the uncertainty sets in. What is supposed to be a period of rest and relaxation is actually the most stressful part of the year for some. As The42‘s resident League of Ireland columnist John O’Sullivan once put it: “The off-season doesn’t exist, not for you. The only thing that turns off is income.”Players contemplate the pros and cons of going on the dole versus getting a part-time job as they wait patiently for contract offers.So the League of Ireland is a surreal environment in many ways. Players, if they impress on a consistent enough basis, can be called up to Ireland squads, and yet still play in front of half-empty stadiums more often than not.It is a league whereby, virtually every young player — if they’re honest — hopes to escape and seal a move abroad to England or another far more exotic location.And one individual who did manage seal a move abroad and earn a full-time contract was James Chambers. The Dubliner spent over a decade plying his trade in the League of Ireland with a number of clubs, including Shelbourne, Shamrock Rovers and St Patrick’s Athletic.In his last year with Pat’s in 2015, Chambers claimed the club’s Player of the Season award and also made the PFAI Team of the Year. In January 2016, however, Bethlehem Steel — a Pennsylvania-based side in the United Soccer League, the third tier of the American Soccer Pyramid — came calling.And while it has taken Chambers some time to grow accustomed to his new surroundings, he is enjoying life in the States so far. Moreover, the midfielder finished the US season particularly strongly, scoring some eye-catching goals in the process.With the North American campaign having ended, Chambers has returned to his native Dublin and is already back in the gym with his personal trainer, as he prepares for next season, having taken just two weeks for “complete rest”.“It went okay,” he tells The42, when asked about his debut season in the US. “I still think I’ve more to offer. I’m getting used to the style of the game and stuff like that.“With the couple of goals towards the end of the season, people started to take a bit more notice (of me).In the US, it’s different, people are more concerned with your stats, with your assists and with your goals than they are maybe with your performance. So, as a player, you’ve got to be tuned into that side of things as well — that’s what they like over there.” Although he is happy with life at present, at 29, Chambers is already contemplating career options after football. Coaching and media work are two potential paths, and he is about to start his youth cert, while the ex-Hamilton Academical player has already acquired plenty of experience coaching various age groups for Malahide and his local team, Baldoyle.I don’t think everybody who plays the game can be a coach,” he says. “I might fall into the bracket that I know a certain amount, but after that, my mind might go blank and I might not really take to it that much. It’s definitely something that I want to dip my toe into and figure out for myself.“It’s different when you help with the younger age groups, you get more satisfaction out of it because you see a bit more of them taking on board what you’re saying as opposed to the senior players.You’re just there to facilitate the senior players really. You may give them some ideas, but as regards them getting much better under your tutelage, (the chances are) very slim, especially at the amateur level, because the guys are just doing it for fun. It’s a couple of days a week to stay active, and there’s a fun element.“It’s different with the kids, they want to get better. Obviously, it’s fun too, but they’re looking to progress and they’re only young kids, so they all want to be professional footballers.”Furthermore, as someone who spent several years playing in the League of Ireland, Chambers is more than a little familiar with the difficulties of keeping busy during the off-season.Some footballers would put money aside to sign on for welfare and live off their savings,” he explains. “Others would do the same, but work. Some guys would probably do neither and just live off the welfare essentially.“That’s the world we live in and for players coming into the league or being in the league, you know what it’s all about. You have no choice but to deal with it. It’s not ideal and it’s not right — if you’re trying to run a professional league, there needs to be a professional environment. For me, the last three or four years on the trot, I’ve worked in Brown Thomas. Last year, I worked in a company out in Park West. I knew a person out there. Ryan Coulter (file pic). Add us: the42.ie Source: Bethlehem Steel FC/Twitter 41,039 Views James Chambers doesn’t care if you think he’s out of range. 😎 pic.twitter.com/SUhqd8SfgU— Bethlehem Steel FC (@BSteelFC) August 23, 2016 http://the42.ie/3097804 James Chambers had two stints at St Pat’s during his time in the League of Ireland. Source: Ryan Byrne/INPHOChambers, who has spoken openly about his problems with depression in the past, feels too many players are ill prepared for life outside of football.I’m of the older generation,” he says. “All we did was play football, there was no thought of what we were going to do after football. Whereas now, it’s becoming a younger man’s league, especially the League of Ireland — that’s my opinion from the outside.“Players now need to start thinking about (the future) early doors. ‘I need to go to college, to get an education and you can still play part-time on the side. But when I have that piece of paper in my pocket, then I can start to pursue a full-time career. If it doesn’t work out, I can always fall back on it.’Some players think: ‘I’m going to be a professional earning 200 or 300 a week,’ when they’re 18 or 19. But unless you’re one of the few that continues to go up the ladder, the likes of (Dundalk star) Daryl Horgan and people like that, you’ll need to look at life outside of football, and that comes a lot quicker than is (often) anticipated by the player himself.”Chambers will return for another season in America shortly and one person who would ideally like to follow suit is Ryan Coulter.Coulter, whose father Phil is the indeed the famous Irish musician, spent the end of last season with Longford Town, having left a financially stricken Athlone side earlier in the campaign.In 2009, he was part of Dundalk’s A side and was their second-choice first-team goalkeeper for a brief period.However, Coulter left the Lilywhites for the University of San Diego, gaining a degree in communications and marketing in the process, while playing football on the side in America.After completing his degree, Coulter returned to Ireland and had a stint at Sligo Rovers in 2014. He had hoped to return to the US prior to the start of last season, but had to undergo an operation to get a lump removed from his back. By the time he recovered, the slots for international players joining American sides had “dried up,” so he opted for another season in the domestic league.I came back and signed with Athlone with Alan Matthews and played five games there and then there was a mass exodus out of Athlone. Fortunately enough, I had a number of calls from different managers around the Premier Division. I took Longford up as the option. There were other options, but to me, it seemed like a good move and I knew I’d be busy if I got into the team — although there were no guarantees.“Fortunately, I got straight into the team and went on to play half the season. I know the team got relegated, but from a personal standpoint, to get in and play 15 games or whatever it was, I was happy from that point of view.”Following Longford’s relegation, Coulter became one of the many out-of-contract League of Ireland players looking for a new club.While he has received no “concrete” offers yet, a return to the US is the 27-year-old’s preferred destination.I’ve been in university over there for five years. I did very well while I was over there. I have an American girlfriend. And with the toing and froing and the lack of stability in the league here, it makes it quite difficult to settle down (in Ireland).“My head would almost be set on trying to get away to America. I’d be open to a couple of different options here, but first and foremost, I’d be looking to America to get settled.” A number of ex-League of Ireland players, including Eamon Zayed, have enjoyed plenty of success Stateside. Source: Donall Farmer/INPHOIrish and British players are often criticised for their ostensible reluctance to play football in countries further afield. However, there are signs that the situation is changing of late. Robbie Keane, Kevin Doyle and Sean St Ledger may be the most high-profile examples, both some notable ex-League of Ireland players including Eamon Zayed, Colin Falvey and Richie Ryan have also enjoyed encouraging spells Stateside in recent times.Nevertheless, Coulter still feels not nearly enough Irish footballers are aware of the benefits of playing abroad in places other than England.Unfortunately, so many people in this country have the blinkers on and they don’t really see the bigger picture,” he says. “It’s England or it’s back to the League of Ireland, where it’s ‘oh, I’ve failed and I’ll just have to play in the League of Ireland,’ which isn’t the case.“You’d look at kids here, and I’d have been the same at youth level, you’re thinking: ‘I’ve got to get over to England.’There’s more to football than just England. People think ‘I’ll go over and sign for a Championship team and be on several grand a week, happy days, I’ll be living the high life. But a lot of these kids go over and it doesn’t happen for them.“Even the fallout with a lot of Irish kids, they don’t even come back to play in the League of Ireland, they fall completely out of the game. I’d be urging players to stay here to get a bit of experience and maturity before they go away to see what professional football is all about, because it is tough and it is ruthless.”Moreover, the uncertainty and the unsatisfactory wages are big reasons why Coulter would prefer a move abroad rather than another campaign in the League of Ireland.How someone can be considered a full-time pro on a 44-week contract is beyond me,” he says. “It’s a shame because there are a lot of great pros in the league and to subject them to 44-week contracts is embarrassing really.“The players put so much work in and to have it ‘rewarded’ with these short-term contracts is just not right.” Paddy McCourt (left), Neil McCafferty (centre) and Ryan Coulter (right) pictured at the Mark Farren Fundraiser Exhibition Match in 2015. Source: Presseye/Lorcan Doherty/INPHOLike Chambers, Coulter, who is also preparing for his youth coaching cert as well as undertaking an online personal trainer course, emphasises the importance of staying occupied during the dreaded off-season.“Once the season finishes, it really does dry up and you find that you’ve so much free time on your hands,” he says.On a Tuesday night if you’ve got training, you’re thinking about training all day. You’re leaving the house at four o’clock to get there for half five or six to get through the traffic. An hour-and-a-half training session still takes about four hours out of your day depending on how far away you live from training.“But once it all finishes, you have got a lot of time on your hands. I even found the same being full-time in Sligo. If you don’t stimulate your mind, you can just waste your day doing nothing.You have to work (in the off-season) as well. I know a lot of lads that would have kids and wives and whatever else. A lot of them sign on (to the dole) because it just guarantees that they’re able to put a roof over their heads. With the 44-week contracts, sometimes, the players are left with no alternatives.“Once the season finishes, if they’re going around trying to hand out CVs for jobs, that might take two-to-four weeks to get done. Then you’re looking at only getting work for only two-and-a-half months anyway. So if people know that you’re a footballer, they’re not going to want to employ you in a job you’re going to want to stay in.You might get temporary work in a sports shop. But if you want to get work for experience after football, it’s going to be extremely different. If you’re an architect or an engineer or any business and you’re looking to get a bit of experience, businesses are going to be reluctant to take you in, because they know you’ll just be walking out the door in two months.”Coulter is at his most passionate when the aforementioned 2014 study is mentioned. He says he is not surprised by the 26% figure in relation to footballers’ problems with depression.When you look at the league historically, or even this past season, you have teams struggling to pay wages. You have teams talking about pay cuts and possibly going under. From having been in that situation, where the team is talking about pay cuts and saying ‘you have to take a deduction,’ we might have to let players go or we might have to do this.“When you sign a contract with a club, you’re signing, you’ve agreed on the money. We’re not talking about 10 grand a week where you think ‘look, I’m going to be grand, I don’t have to worry about my money situation’. The League of Ireland is set up in a way where you really have to go in and fight for every euro that you’re going to get, because teams are trying to pinch it as much as they can.When you allocate what you’re earning from the club into paying your electricity, your gas and everything else, and to be able to put money aside when the season finishes, now all of a sudden when you have people talking about pay cuts and everything else, you’re thinking ‘where’s this money going to come from for all this?’ Be it putting a child through school, buying school uniforms, putting dinner on the table, paying bills, phone bills, car insurance, whatever it’s going to be, absolutely that’s going to stress you out.“I don’t have any kids, but I’ve a girlfriend and even for me, it’s stressful when they start talking about these things. Luckily enough, the PFAI are there as well and are able to back you up when these things come around.It may affect your performance, but first and foremost, mentally you’re going to struggle, because you’re going to be worried about everything else apart from your football.” Ryan Coulter (file pic). Image: James Crombie/INPHO Sunday 27 Nov 2016, 9:30 PM “Basically, I’ve worked during the off-season, because it’s not ideal sitting around the house. You miss the game, but you don’t want to be sitting around, moping, either. As much as football is your main source of income, you need to stay busy, otherwise you’d go crazy.” Short URL Tweet thisShare on FacebookEmail this article
How much weight have the Operation Transformation leaders collectively lost Its the
How much weight have the Operation Transformation leaders collectively lost? It’s the week in numbers Plus: how many crimes were committed by people out on bail last year? Share Tweet Email Saturday 25 Feb 2017, 6:30 PM Image: Andres Poveda Photography Tweet thisShare on FacebookEmail this article https://jrnl.ie/3255027 8 Comments Short URL Feb 25th 2017, 6:30 PM Image: Andres Poveda Photography EVERY WEEK, TheJournal.ie offers a selection of statistics and numerical nuggets to help you digest the week that has just passed.2,000: The number of Tesco workers on strike as industrial action continues.7,129: The number of people who died in Ireland in the third quarter of 2016.2: The number of Brit awards David Bowie posthumously won this year.56,000: The number of people who were left without power after Storm Doris blew through the country on Thursday.110: The number of jobs global tech from Rioch said it is bringing to Swords.18,926: The number of crimes people who were out on bail committed last year.10: The number of stones in weight lost by the five leaders of Operation Transformation.25%: The percentage of staff that Digicel plans to cut from its global operations.71: The number of homes Irish construction company Cairn Homes is building off the Malahide Road in Balgriffin, most of which have been snapped up already.14: The number of Australian football fans banned after they displayed a lewd banner during a match.140: the number of miles out to sea a joint rescue operation by the Irish Navy and Coast Guard took place.Read: Like our weekly numerical breakdown? Check out more > By Cormac Fitzgerald 16,716 Views 
Heres What Happened Today Tuesday
By Paul Hosford 14,587 Views Feb 28th 2017, 8:55 PM INTERNATIONAL http://jrnl.ie/3264230 Tweet thisShare on FacebookEmail this article Get our daily news round up: White House advisor Kellyanne Conway sparked debate with this picture of her with her feet on an Oval Office couch. Source: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP#IT’S HIM: Donald Trump claimed that Barack Obama was behind some of the protests against him.#OLGA KORBUT: A legendary Soviet gymnast has sold her Olympic medal collection to “save herself from starvation”.#SHARPSHOOTER: Two people were injured when a French policeman accidentally fired on two people at a speech by President Francois Hollande.PARTING SHOTUS President Donald Trump yesterday said that “nobody” could have predicted how complicated healthcare reform would be. One person who found that proclamation hilarious was senator Bernie Sanders. Watch his reaction as CNN’s Anderson Cooper puts the idea to him. Source: Elizabeth Preza/YouTube
Share2 Tweet Email No Comments NEED TO CATCH up? TheJournal.ie brings you a round-up of today’s news.IRELAND Copper stills approach Slane Distillery ahead of their installation. Source: Emer O’Reilly I ORPRTwo reports into the Grace abuse case were released, highlighting major deficiencies in her careFormer TD Peter Mathews died aged 65The NTA announced it would plug some gaps in Bus Éireann servicesGardaí were investigating a report that a child had been offered for sale in LimerickA UK judge called the Tunisian response to a terror attack which killed three Irish citizens “shambolic and cowardly”A man accused of being an admin on the Silk Road website was put into custodyThe family of a child left with severe cerebral palsy at birth received an apology from University Hospital Galway Tuesday 28 Feb 2017, 8:55 PM Short URL Here’s What Happened Today: Tuesday Grace, Silk Road and Peter Mathews – it’s the Fix. 
We werent even allowed in the station Is it possible to bring
34,651 Views “We weren’t even allowed in the station!” – Is it possible to bring pets on Irish transport? Croatian national Snjezana Frketic has travelled the world with her dog Onni – Ireland is the first place where she hasn’t been allowed to bring Onni on a train. Short URL Feb 15th 2017, 6:10 AM The only exception to this law is in the case of a customer with a guide-dog or an assistance dog. Owners must carry the correct identification and ensure that the dog is wearing the correct tag or coat.This would suggest that the choice is entirely at the bus driver’s discretion, which would appear to be a little less strict than Bus Éireann’s approach.Luas operator Transdev didn’t reply to our query. However, the Luas website’s frequently-asked-questions section suggests that, again, the tram service is mostly a guide-dogs-only zone:Other dogs and animals are allowed on the tram provided they are in an appropriate enclosed pet carrier case / box. Their travel is at the discretion of Luas Staff.SurveySo it doesn’t seem Ireland’s transport network has any plans to loosen its rules regarding access for pets.Not that Snjezana is giving up just yet. She has started an online survey which she is planning to give to Irish Rail in a bid to change their regulations when it reaches 1,200 responses (the mandatory limit for consideration in a country Ireland’s size – you can take that survey here).“I got an official response from Irish Rail which is that their customer policy is only orientated towards people without dogs or with small dogs. People with bigger dogs don’t even have the possibility to be customers. I find that really discriminating,” she says.There are people who need their dogs as an emotional support. There are people who don’t have a driving licence or a car. Being punished for having a pet such as bigger dog, and a bigger dog is anything above 8kg) is affecting some people’s quality of life. Snjezana and OnniYOU MAY HAVE a pet. You may use public transport in your daily life. But have you tried to do both recently? Probably not.In Ireland, certain bizarre occasions notwithstanding, we tend to keep our buses and our furry friends well apart. But that isn’t the case in other countries.Croatian national Snjezana Frketic has been in Ireland since December. She’s fresh from two years of travelling and working on Dublin’s north side.Everywhere she went in that two years, her six-year-old white German Shepherd dog Onni went with her. Until she got to Ireland.“We have travelled through many countries together – the USA, Canada, Mexico, France, Germany, Belgium, Croatia – transport of pets in other countries is always more or less the same: yes they are allowed, mostly without a muzzle, and rarely free of charge. With a special ticket mostly,” she told TheJournal.ie.Coming to Ireland made me realise that Irish public transport – as well as hiking trails, restaurants, and other things – is not welcoming towards medium or big-size dogs.For 33-year-old Snjezana, the difference in standards first became apparent when her and Onni got stuck in the rain in Wexford and were trying to get to Dublin.“None of the trains or buses were willing to take us. We couldn’t even stay inside the train station, rather we were told to stay outside. And it was freezing!What our transport services sayTheJournal.ie inquired of Ireland’s major transport providers what their attitude to pets aboard their vehicles is, and what their rationale is.The four questioned – Bus Éireann, Dublin Bus, Irish Rail, and Luas – all have relatively similar policies at present. And they don’t seem to be in any hurry to change them.Irish Rail, who Snjezana would most like to make use of as she and Onni are used to travelling by train, allow guide and assistance dogs at all times.Smaller dogs and cats can be carried on board in a passenger’s lap or in a carry-container free of charge. Larger animals (which Onni certainly is) are persona non grata however, and if a fellow passenger objects to a pet, the owner is expected to move.Larger dogs can be accommodated on rare occasions in an unoccupied guard’s car, although this only applies on two routes in Ireland. A charge is applied in such circumstances.“We already regard our policy as pet-friendly,” a spokesman told us.Up until approximately eight years ago, we only permitted guide dogs and assistance dogs in the passenger area, and have relaxed this to allow smaller dogs and cats to be carried.Bus Éireann allow only guide and assistance dogs and they have to be clearly jacketed as such. “Dogs, cats or any other animals or live fowl of any description WILL NOT be carried,” the company says on its site.A spokesperson told us the rules in place are “for health and safety reasons”.Dublin Bus are less clear as to what’s acceptable and what isn’t. A query to the company was met with this response: “Under the Dublin Bus bye-laws, customers shall not bring any bird, animal, article or thing onto a bus if it is likely to cause annoyance or damage to any customer or damage to any property in the opinion of a Dublin Bus employee (driver or inspector).” Onni relaxing 76 Comments Wednesday 15 Feb 2017, 6:10 AM By Cianan Brennan Tweet thisShare on FacebookEmail this article Share989 Tweet Email5 And on the other hand, there are financial benefits for Irish Rail as well. I think it is time for Ireland to catch up with the rest of the world on this matter.“Now I’m here in Ireland I want to use my spare time doing stuff outdoors. Like hiking in Wicklow. But you cannot reach Wicklow with your dog here. You have to hire a car. And that’s not much good if you don’t want to hire a car,” she adds.You can take Snjezana’s survey hereRead: Prisoner parenting course aims to prevent mothers and fathers from reoffendingRead: This teddy is being reunited with its owner after being left behind at Cork Airport http://jrnl.ie/3239991 
At just 128 miles from Dublin Ireland needs assurances about Sellafield TD
As the clock ticks down, get all the best Brexit news and analysis in your inbox: 7,564 Views Tweet thisShare on FacebookEmail this article Apr 27th 2017, 6:07 AM IRELAND NEEDS ASSURANCES from the UK that it will maintain the highest safety standards at the Sellafield nuclear power plant post-Brexit, said Fianna Fáil’s Timmy Dooley.Government officials will today discuss the UK’s decision to withdraw from Euratom, an organisation that has controlled the peaceful use of nuclear energy in Europe since 1957.The UK-Ireland Contact Group on Radiological Matters is meeting in Dublin today to discuss the matter, with a second meeting to be held in London later this year.“It is our concern that if the UK is outside the EU agreement that it wouldn’t be bound by the same safety standards that exist at present,” said Dooley.He said Ireland has continuously had concerns about the Sellafield plant and what impacts any incident would have to the Irish public.“They [the UK] have never dissuaded our concerns in any real way, in my opinion, and never really shared or cared for our very genuine concerns,” he said.Sellafield legacy issues and new power plantsThe group meeting today includes departmental officials and representatives from the relevant regulatory bodies – the United Kingdom’s Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) and the Office for Radiological Protection.Twice yearly the group meets to discuss a range of radiological and nuclear related issues such as other developments in the EU and the UK new build programme. Updates are also provided by the various agencies on progress made on legacy issues, including Sellafield.Following its withdrawal from Euratom, the UK will now have to strike new deals with over 20 countries both inside and outside the EU that it holds co-operation treaties with on nuclear safety. Sellafield Source: PA Archive/PA ImagesDooley said Ireland has very real concerns about the Sellafield plant across the Irish Sea, adding that the government needs to ensure that Ireland is protected.The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Denis Naughten was asked earlier this month what correspondence his department has had with the UK government and the Office for Nuclear Regulation with regard to its decision to withdrawal from the Euratom treaty.The minister replied that his department had not yet raised the issue with the UK authorities, but said the issue would be discussed at the next meeting.However, he said department officials maintain on-going contact with their counterparts in the UK throughout the year, as well as respective regulators.Threat to Ireland However, Dooley said the minister must assure the public that the issue of Sellafield and nuclear safety is not lost in the mix of complicated Brexit discussions. 42 Comments Image: Peter Byrne Share8 Tweet Email We are raising these concerns to ensure that they all get addressed in the negotiations and so that it is not just something that is left there and that is a threat to us.
Image: Peter Byrne By Christina Finn Short URL An agreement of some sort will have to be signed, but we need assurances that standards in nuclear safety are maintained. The UK need to sign up to ongoing standards so that we are protected. We are very anxious to keep the same standards… and this should be on the minister’s radar.New power plant for Somerset With Brexit looming, there are also concerns about the UK’s future plans for nuclear power – such as the plant planned at Hinkley Point C in Somerset where the second of two nuclear reactors will switch on in the middle of the next decade, according to The Guardian. General view of Hinkley Point A Magnox Nuclear power station (centre), Hinkley Point B power station (right) and the proposed site for Hinkley point C Nuclear power station (left) Source: Andrew MatthewsSpeaking about the new power plant, Naughten said the Irish government have been aware of the plans to build new nuclear power stations at sites judged as potentially suitable since 2009.He said that while Ireland is not a nuclear energy producing country, it acknowledges the right of States to determine their own energy mix.Highest standards“However, we expect that, where a State chooses to develop a nuclear power industry, this will be done in line with the highest international standards with respect to safety and environmental protection,” he added.Naughten said Ireland has been actively involved in the consultation process on the proposed new build programme, adding that it is a standing agenda item at UK-Ireland Contact Group on Radiological Matters meetings.Dooley said that post-Brexit there is “little we can do about what future nuclear developments there might be in Britain.”There is no sign of the Sellafield plant winding down anytime soon, with the plant this week seeking long-term construction partners to carry out work at the nuclear plant over the next 20 years.Dooley said the Irish public should get some sort of guarantees that existing operations be held to international standards, and called for the Irish government to be kept up to date on matters such as maintenance programmes at the UK plants.Read: New children’s hospital will be the length of Grafton Street and as big as Dundrum Shopping Centre>Read: Ireland can’t wait for EU ban on microbeads and is pressing on with its own> At just 128 miles from Dublin, Ireland needs assurances about Sellafield – TD The UK-Ireland Contact Group on Radiological Matters is meeting in Dublin today. Thursday 27 Apr 2017, 6:07 AM https://jrnl.ie/3359089 
UK landlord bans coloured people as they leave his properties smelling like
87 Comments Image: Gareth Fuller PA Wire/PA Images Tweet thisShare on FacebookEmail this article A UK LANDLORD who, when listing his requirements for potential tenants said “no coloured people”, has defended his comments saying that he’d do the same thing again.In an email seen by The Sun newspaper, buy-to-let landlord Fergus Wilson issued the directive to letting agents Evolution, who handle some of his properties.Wilson said: “No coloured people because of the curry smell at the end of the tenancy”.He said that he finds it hard to rent out or sell properties to white British people after having Asian tenants.Wilson said that he does not apologise for the comments, and “faced with the same circumstances, [he] would do it again”.To be honest, we’re getting overloaded with coloured people. It is a problem with certain types of coloured people – those who consume curry – it sticks to the carpet. Mar 29th 2017, 12:53 PM By Sean Murray UK landlord bans ‘coloured’ people as they leave his properties ‘smelling like curry’ “And I’d do it again,” Fergus Wilson said. Wednesday 29 Mar 2017, 12:53 PM
Image: Gareth Fuller PA Wire/PA Images Short URL 46,651 Views He said he was “wary” of letting to Indians after losing out more than £12,000 in rent and paying re-carpeting costs because one of the properties smelled of curry.“I have said I will not be taking Asian, and Pakistani and Indian people generally where the nationality consumes a lot of curry,” Wilson said.The landlord said that while some had called it racist, he claimed to have received a lot of support from people on the matter.While he said he “appreciates you have such things as British Asians”, a white person would not want to buy a house that smelled like curry, Wilson added.The UK’s Equality and Human Rights Commission will investigate the matter, the Guardian reports, as his actions were “disgusting” and “unlawful” according to its chief executive Rebecca Hilsenrath.She said: “We will investigate and will be asking Mr Wilson to explain his actions. Unless we are satisfied that he will not commit unlawful acts in the future we will take legal action.”Read: Inmate who escaped from open prison in 2015 returned to custodyRead: ‘No turning back’: The UK has triggered Article 50 to leave the EU Share622 Tweet Email3 http://jrnl.ie/3312807 
Sec Gen accused of calling committee a mob Robert Watt says he
He added that they were living in a “virtual dictatorship” where there is no accountability to the public about the waste of taxpayers’ money. Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy, who originally sought the attendance of Quinn, said that it is entirely within the committee’s remit to question processes and the failure of processes, in this case, the NCH. Fleming said, that as far as he can recall, there has never been an incidence of an official refusing to attend the committee, who added that he felt it was disrespectful that the committee only heard last night that Quinn would not be attending. By Christina Finn “I don’t consider a colloquial expression like that to be helpful and it is unbecoming of your office.”Watt sighed openly when Independent TD Catherine Connolly questioned the secretary general over the comment again, asking if he said it or not, and whether he will speak to the journalist who tweeted the remark if it is not true. “If I said it I apologise for that and that was not meant to be offensive in any way,” he said, adding again that he did not have “any recollection” of what he said 45 minutes previous. Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy said she did not want to labour the point, but added that the remark “didn’t get this meeting off to a good start”. Source: TheJournal.ie/YouTube 14,313 Views Thursday 7 Mar 2019, 10:13 AM 38 Comments SECRETARY GENERAL OF Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DEPR), Robert Watt, has said he did not mean to cause offence to committee members by referring to them as a “mob”. Members of the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee (PAC) were not happy today when reports filtered through from a journalist’s tweet that Watt, who was due to appear before the committee, said the chairperson “has to control the mob”. Sinn Féin’s David Cullinane referred to the tweet before Watt took his seat at the committee today, stating that it was “unacceptable”. “I think that is outrageous,” he said. Mar 7th 2019, 10:13 AM Secretary General Robert Watt Secretary General Robert Watt 09.02.19 Costs, changes and controversies: The decades-long saga behind the NCH 12.02.19 ‘I sincerely apologise’: Harris tells Dáil he should have given further detail on children’s hospital costs https://jrnl.ie/4528153 
12.02.19 ‘I sincerely apologise’: Harris tells Dáil he should have given further detail on children’s hospital costs Subscribe for more videos 16.02.19 ‘I’m happy for the project to continue’: Simon Harris rules out re-tendering children’s hospital Source: @OcionnaithWhen Watt took his seat, he was questioned about his remarks outside the committee room, and asked if he did say the above remark. Watt hesitated and said “if anyone takes offence to what I said I apologise”. He was asked whether he did say the comment a few minutes prior outside the committee room. Watt replied: “I don’t recall saying it… I don’t recollect to be honest.”He then added: “It is a colloquial expression… if I said something to offend, it was not meant to offend.”Fine Gael’s Alan Farrell said he was disappointed with Watt’s comments outside the committee room, stating: Related Reads 09.02.19 Costs, changes and controversies: The decades-long saga behind the NCH 16.02.19 ‘I’m happy for the project to continue’: Simon Harris rules out re-tendering children’s hospital Share5 Tweet Email2 Today’s meeting got off to a bumpy start today, after members were only told last night that the Chief Procurement Officer Paul Quinn would not be appearing before them.Quinn was due to face questioning over his role and oversight of the National Children#’s Hospital (NCH). He sat on the hospital board, though Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has stated that he did so on a personal capacity. This has been widely disputed by the opposition, who state that a department circular states that Quinn was obliged to report back to his line minister about any concerns relating to the project. Members of the committee were outraged today when the committee chair Sean Fleming said Robert Watt, Secretary General of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, informed him that Quinn would not be attending today. Fleming said that Watt is the accounting officer, and therefore he is the only one accountable to the committee. He said the decision for Quinn not to attend is at Watt’s behest. Sinn Féin’s David Cullinane said there is a level of contempt being shown to Oireachtas committees, while Fianna Fáil’s Marc McSharry said “two fingers” were being given to the committee, along with a message of “we’ll do what we want, when we want”. Related Reads Tweet thisShare on FacebookEmail this article Short URL Sec Gen accused of calling committee ‘a mob’, Robert Watt says he didn’t recall and did not mean to offend Sinn Féin’s David Cullinane said there is a level of contempt being shown to Oireachtas committees. 
Black box recovered from crashed Ethiopian Airlines flight
Rescuers work beside the wreckage of an Ethiopian Airlines’ aircraft at the crash site Image: Xinhua News Agency/PA Images Image: Xinhua News Agency/PA Images Mar 11th 2019, 7:22 AM Source: Leo Varadkar/Twitter Short URL By Hayley Halpin https://jrnl.ie/4534157 Share52 Tweet Email Monday 11 Mar 2019, 10:39 AM Updated Mar 11th 2019, 10:39 AM THE DIGITAL FLIGHT data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder from the Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed yesterday, killing 157 people, including one Irish person, has been recovered, according to the airline.The brand new Max 8 plane, being flown by Ethiopian Airlines, crashed just six minutes into its flight from Addis Ababa to Nairobi in Kenya, killing all those on board.The airline this morning announced that it is pulling its fleet of 737 Max from service, just hours after China’s air safety regulator ordered domestic airlines to do the same.Last October, the same model of plane, operated by Lion Air, crashed in Indonesia, killing 189.Since the Lion Air accident, the 737 MAX has faced growing skepticism from the aviation community. The program had already encountered problems during development.In May 2017, Boeing had halted 737 MAX test flights due to quality concerns with the engine produced by CFM International, a company jointly owned by France’s Safran Aircraft Engines and GE Aviation.While Teal Group expert Richard Aboulafia said it was “too soon to make any kind of meaningful comment,” another industry expert stressed the similarities between the two incidents.“It’s the same plane. Like Lion Air, the (Ethiopian Airlines) accident took place shortly after takeoff and the pilots signaled they were experiencing problems, then the plane crashed. The similarities are clear,” the expert added, requesting anonymity.Chinese aviation authorities have also noted the “similarities” between the two deadly incidents.Boeing said it was “deeply saddened” by the Ethiopian Airlines incident, adding that a technical team would be providing assistance to investigators.VictimsEight crew and 149 passengers from 35 countries perished when Flight ET 302 smashed into a field.The Irish person who was among those who died was last night named as Michael Ryan, originally from Lahinch, Co Clare. Michael Ryan was Deputy Chief Engineer at the United Nations’ World Food Programme and was based at its Rome headquarters, a spokesperson confirmed to TheJournal.ie.“All of WFP’s thoughts and condolences are with the families of those killed.”A Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson told TheJournal.ie: “The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is aware of the incident and providing consular assistance.Also among the dead were tourists, business travellers, and UN staff, including some who worked for the World Food Programme, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).The IOM said early indications were that 19 staff members of UN-affiliated organisations died in the crash.Many were headed for an annual assembly of the UN Environment Programme, which opens in Nairobi today with 4,700 heads of state, ministers, business leaders, senior UN officials and civil society representatives.Ethiopia’s parliament has declared a national day of mourning today. According to the airline, Kenya had the largest number of casualties with 32, followed by Canada with 18, Ethiopia nine, then Italy, China, and the United States with eight each.Britain and France each had seven people on board, Egypt six, and Germany five – though the breakdown was not final.France’s government later said there were eight French victims.“Our thoughts tonight are with families of all those lost in the Ethiopian Airlines crash, including Irish engineer Michael Ryan,” Taoiseach Leo Varadkar tweeted.“Michael was doing life-changing work in Africa with the World Food Programme. Deepest sympathies to family, colleagues & friends.” 
Rescuers work beside the wreckage of an Ethiopian Airlines’ aircraft at the crash site Our thoughts are with the families and the Department of Foreign Affairs remains ready to act in any way that they can and give any support to the families.Tánaiste Simon Coveney said that it is a “tragedy” for the families involved. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and British Prime Minister Theresa May both described the news as “devastating”.InvestigationEthiopian Airlines, Africa’s biggest carrier, said the search of the crash site had been suspended overnight, but would resume in daylight.“A committee comprising of Ethiopian Airlines, Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority and Ethiopian Transport Authority has been set up to carry out the investigations,” it added.Once the… deceased are identified, their bodies will be delivered to their families and loved ones.The US National Transportation Safety Board also said it would send investigators to assist.With reporting by – © AFP 2019 Black box recovered from crashed Ethiopian Airlines flight 157 people were killed in yesterday’s crash, including Irishman Michael Ryan. 31 Comments Our thoughts tonight are with families of all those lost in the Ethiopian Airlines crash, including Irish engineer Michael Ryan. Michael was doing life-changing work in Africa with the World Food Programme. Deepest sympathies to family, colleagues & friends— Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) March 10, 2019 32,191 Views Speaking to reporters yesterday, the Minister for Business Heather Humphreys said:“I just want to say I am very sorry to hear about the Ethiopian airline that crashed this morning and I understand from media reports that there is one Irish citizen on that. Tweet thisShare on FacebookEmail this article
Gsoc received 24 new protected disclosures from officers last year there are
Short URL Share16 Tweet Email Image: Sam Boal via RollingNews.ie Apr 2nd 2019, 1:58 PM Image: Sam Boal via RollingNews.ie Tuesday 2 Apr 2019, 1:58 PM 6 Comments 7,934 Views https://jrnl.ie/4572968 By Garreth MacNamee THE GARDA OMBUDSMAN Gsoc said it has received 24 new protected disclosures from gardaí in 2018.These disclosures brought to 49 the number being dealt with by Gsoc’s Protected Disclosures Unit in 2018, adding to 25 that were still being examined or investigated at the end of 2017.Gsoc previously identified the need for a separate unit within the commission which would deal solely with protected disclosures and made a case for additional staff.Ten new staff members have been allocated since 2017 to deal exclusively with protected disclosures such was the number being received into Gsoc’s offices. Four investigating officers were working in the unit by the end of 2018, with another five investigating officers and an analyst set to join the unit during 2019.Last year, 13 cases were discontinued following a combination of factors, according to the report. The remaining 36 cases were undergoing investigation or examination at the end of 2018.Gsoc has a role in investigating protected disclosures made by members of An Garda Síochána. It said that 24 disclosures under the act have been made since 2014.Prior to 2014, there had been procedures in place in relation to whistleblowers in An Garda Síochána via the Confidential Recipient system.However, the 2014 Act promised to improve the structure and increase protections for gardaí and civilians in the force. Gsoc received 24 new protected disclosures from officers last year – there are now 49 active cases Ten new staff members have been allocated since 2017 to deal exclusively with protected disclosures. Tweet thisShare on FacebookEmail this article
Lives have been destroyed It has taken away soccer careers People are
Ciara McCormack in action for the Republic of Ireland in a World Cup qualifier against Switzerland in March 2010. Source: The42 Rugby Weekly/SoundCloud Monday 22 Apr 2019, 8:00 AM By Eoin O’Callaghan 57,460 Views How one player witnessed him rubbing another player’s thigh while in a carHow Birarda summoned a player to his hotel room for a one-on-one conversation, shut the door behind her and asked ‘What are you going to do about it’ regarding her non-starting statusHow he sent sexually suggestive texts to a playerHow he arranged one-on-one meetings with a player, sought validation on his appearance and personality and later wanted the player to meet him privately in his apartment. When the player felt it was inappropriate and stopped responding to texts, he froze her out at team meetings, training and games.How he sent messages to a player of a sexual nature. During a game, he told her how good her body looked in a wet white jersey and how he’d specifically decided the team would wear it for that reason Last month, Andrea Neil – a deeply respected and legendary figure who played for Canada in four Women’s World Cup tournaments – came forward and revealed that in 2008, shortly after retiring, she first heard rumours about Birarda. She passed on her concerns to a coach within Canada Soccer and she was involved in the subsequent investigation that resulted in Birarda’s exit.The internal investigation in 2008 was handled by a lawyer based in Vancouver named Anne Chopra. According to Neil’s testimony, Chopra told her she would be recommending to Canada Soccer and the Vancouver Whitecaps that Birarda avoid coaching in the future.Up until the end of February this year, Birarda was a coach at Coastal FC, a club based about 45 minutes outside Vancouver. He was responsible for underage girls’ teams for close to a decade. Before that, he oversaw the U15 girls team at Tsawwassen Soccer Club, another team based on the outskirts of the city. McCormack was stunned when she found out. “It was mind-blowing,” she says. It felt like a big middle finger to all of us. Just the audacity of it. And it’s representative of the culture here: the organisations run things, they bully and do whatever they want. The players are little specks that don’t matter at all. He has been on an elite level pathway for girls to get to the youth national team for the last 10 years. Canada Soccer are going around the country talking about player safety and you have this guy who is still front and centre. We were speechless. This guy who caused so much carnage.” “He’s just been suspended by his club. In theory, he could go to another club tomorrow and coach. Canada Soccer is in charge of the coaching licences and they haven’t pulled his. If his club lifts his suspension tomorrow, he just goes right back on the field. That part hasn’t been redressed either. That’s extremely disturbing.”Canada Soccer and Vancouver Whitecaps have issued statements that sidestep many of the issues raised by former players.Both organisations have effectively alluded to the internal investigation in 2008 and Birarda’s subsequent removal as a ‘case closed’ situation. But the investigation has come under scrutiny from McCormack and Neil, as well as the group of U20 players who claim hardly any of those directly involved were actually interviewed and that despite some of the squad being underage, no parents were informed of developments either. There’s also the terminology used by Canada Soccer and the Whitecaps regarding Birarda’s departure. If he was removed because of inappropriate behaviour, including sexually-charged interactions with players – some of them minors, how could both organisations morally hide behind the carefully-crafted vagueness of his removal? “If he (Birarda) is not hired because of ‘rumours’ then there’s discrimination and he can cite that – it’s horrific,” McCormack says. “But another example of vulnerability. It’s not even about an organisation having certain policies in place. It’s just about having decent human beings that do the right thing and protect people and genuinely seem like they give a shit in those situations. It’s horrifying that they displayed such a complete lack of care towards players’ wellbeing consistently over the last decade. And the same people are still in charge. Even the statements they’ve been making…it’s like this bully mentality – ‘we’re not answerable to anybody’. Like, people’s lives have been destroyed because of this. It has taken away soccer careers. People are in therapy because of it.”I got a hold of one of my former team-mates – an old room-mate – and I hadn’t spoken to her in 10 years. I messaged her to see if she knew what was going on and she asked me to call her. She told me she’d been crying all morning. She told me her story of what happened and that she’d totally repressed everything. She talked about it to a few people close to her when it happened but she quit soccer soon after it. She said it had brought up a lot of repressed stuff that she hadn’t dealt with because the elite athlete culture is to power through stuff and just keep going. It’s been brushed under the rug but now it’s reaffirming to all of us that we’re not crazy and that what happened to us was so wrong. We’re all dealing with this, looking at how we were so vulnerable, how our passion for the sport was used as a weapon against us, that if we were brave enough to speak up we lost opportunities in our own playing careers. Personally, I’ve been spontaneously crying a lot over the last month. Other women who are part of this group have said the same thing. Just being heard now has started the healing process for a lot of us. It’s been a very emotional time to be going back and revisiting painful memories.” The Whitecaps have made some curious additional comments.They’ve said that Chopra (referenced in their communication as the ‘Ombudsperson’) had no recommendations to make after completing her investigation in 2008, which contradicts the very specific claims made by Neil in her statement. The Whitecaps have also revealed that they’ve contacted the Vancouver Police Department this month after becoming concerned about potentially fresh information that wasn’t uncovered in 2008. Both developments cast an extremely long shadow on the finer details of the original investigation.According to CBC’s Karin Larsen, Chopra signed a non-disclosure agreement with the Whitecaps and Canada Soccer so she can’t disclose the report’s findings. She did say that her role was to investigate and present the facts. And she also maintains that she never made any recommendations regarding Birarda.“It was a total sham investigation,” McCormack says. “If there was a report, we’re the ones who participated in the ‘investigation’ so we should have access to that. And they’re not sharing it with us. What they’re holding onto is that there was an investigation, there were no recommendations and that’s why they all moved on.”At various moments throughout our conversation, McCormack’s voice cracks. She also spoke with Chopra as part of the 2008 investigation and detailed everything she included in her blog post 11 years later. While it was taking place, Birarda was coaching the players ahead of the pending World Cup. But, he caught wind of the enquiry and pulled some aside at training to grill them on what they knew about it. Players were terrified. In a climate of fear, the message was simple: you know the consequences of talking. “He was let go six weeks before they went to a World Cup,” McCormack says. Obviously, something serious happened, the fact that such strong action was taken. To allow him go back on a field with teenage girls again just two months later…Actions speak a hell of a lot louder than words and it shows they couldn’t give two craps about the kids whatsoever and it’s more about covering up and protecting their reputation. To have the power to ensure he doesn’t return to a pitch and then allowing him right back in, in front of everybody. It’s not like he’s been in a small town where nobody knew. He’s on an elite pathway. He’s front and centre. I can’t even fathom it.”“Canada Soccer controls the coaching licences. If he wasn’t good enough to coach for their organisation, why allow him go back into the community? It’s wilful disregard for player safety. You liken it to the Catholic Church. I’m sure every mother and father of a 13 or 14 year-old would want to know of any misconduct that resulted in a coach being ‘let go’ from a previous job.” Last Wednesday night, members of the Vancouver Whitecaps’ supporters group, The Southsiders, staged a walk-out protest in solidarity with the litany of the club’s former female players who have made allegations of inappropriate behaviour, some sexually-charged, against ex-coach Bob Birarda. Source: JONATHAN HAYWARDIn Vancouver, there was a telling development earlier this week. In the 35th minute of Wednesday night’s Major League Soccer game between the Whitecaps and Los Angeles FC at BC Place, two influential fan groups, the Southsiders and Curva Collective, staged a walkout protest and gathered in the concourse instead. Some LAFC fans did likewise.It was to support the women at the centre of this story.A story that – unfortunately for Canada Soccer and the Vancouver Whitecaps – shows no signs of going away. “It’s just the arrogance of these organisations,” McCormack says. They think they can just put these BS statements out there and we’re all supposed to walk away. But we’re knee-deep in this now. It’s not even about us. We’re going to fight hard to make sure the next generation of kids never have to experience anything like this. The irony is that the World Cup starts in two months and the age-group involved in this story would be at their peak right now if they hadn’t gone through this. At the U20 level there were some really good players who stepped aside. Eden Hingwing quit two months before the 2008 World Cup because she didn’t want to be part of this inappropriate, sexual environment. From a soccer perspective, it changed the makeup of the World Cup team playing this summer. Players who spoke up lost opportunities. There was a soccer cost. And a very high emotional cost.”“But the big lesson for me is that speaking up, doing the right thing and standing up for people is way more important than any athletic accomplishment. Sport gets so idealised. People who never made it on a big stage have acted with such bravery and courage throughout this situation. True courage, true character. I hope it gives them an opportunity to heal. I don’t think we’re looking to the organisations – they’ve shown their true colours from the start. The girls who are a part of this group should be really proud of themselves for taking a stand then and now. Hopefully it gives everybody a chance to move forward. At least it’s out there.” Gavan Casey and Murray Kinsella are joined by Bernard Jackman to discuss Izzy Folau’s impending sacking by Australia and all the week’s news on the latest episode of The42 Rugby Weekly: ‘Lives have been destroyed. It has taken away soccer careers. People are in therapy because of it’ Former Republic of Ireland international Ciara McCormack and a litany of her former club team-mates have made extensive allegations against an ex-coach. Apr 22nd 2019, 8:01 AM Share Tweet Email3 
https://the42.ie/4596835 Image: Donall Farmer/INPHO IN LATE FEBRUARY, Ciara McCormack sat down at her laptop and started typing.She’d blogged for over a decade, the life of a pro soccer player providing some pretty good material down through the years. There were her stints in far-flung locations in Norway and Australia, her Republic of Ireland caps, memories of the lessons learned while on a scholarship at Yale and wider rumination on retirement and coaching. But this post was different. She’d written it many times before but always fell short of publishing it. She spent hours researching and piecing everything together. This time, she just felt compelled to send it out into the world.Click. And it was done.She went out for some fresh air. And some cookies.“I was standing in the checkout line at Whole Foods,” she tells The42. “There was a girl behind me, kind of looking at me. She said, ‘Are you Ciara McCormack?’ And we got chatting. She was about ten years younger than me and had played on the Canadian youth teams and provincial teams. We had a bunch of mutual friends and were connected on Facebook and all of that stuff. And I said to her, ‘This is so weird running into you because I just wrote this blog post about Bob Birarda – did he ever coach you?’ And she just started to tear up. And she said, ‘Ciara, I’ve been in therapy for the last couple of years because of that guy.’”McCormack, a native of Vancouver but whose parents are both from Ireland, titled the blog post ‘A Horrific Canadian Soccer Story – The Story Nobody Wants To Listen To But Everyone Needs To Hear’. Its publication has had a seismic impact.The details are staggering and offer a damning indictment of both the Vancouver Whitecaps organisation and Canada Soccer, the national governing body.“I’d not been in that Whole Foods for six weeks,” McCormack says. “This girl I met never shopped there before. I’m a big believer that things happen for a reason and it just felt like a sign, like I needed to do this. Whatever happens next is supposed to happen. And that kind of pushed me over the edge.”McCormack had known Birarda since she was in high school and by 2007, he was a highly-regarded and influential figure juggling three different high-profile roles: head coach of Canada’s U20 women’s team, head coach of the Whitecaps’ women’s team and an assistant coaching job with the senior Canadian women’s side.At the time, McCormack, a gifted and experienced player, was playing with the Whitecaps – seen as a crucial stepping stone towards involvement with the national team – and thoroughly enjoying Birarda’s training. But, she alleges in the blog that Birarda’s coaching ascent led to a substantial shift in atmosphere. He became more threatening, bullying, intimidating and anyone who spoke up was reminded that he had control over how much or how little they played. Team members were fearful of losing game time and, on a wider scale, the chance to represent their country. After all, he was an integral part of the pathway.As the issues lingered, McCormack and a team-mate who’d been particularly affected by Birarda’s behaviour, sought the counsel of the Whitecaps’ president and Canadian soccer icon Bob Lenarduzzi. After meeting and detailing everything in confidence, Lenarduzzi later called McCormack to say he’d spoken to Birarda and told him about the entire conversation. McCormack was stunned. How could he have been so flippant about confidentiality? How could he have been been so short-sighted about the vulnerability of both players? Eventually, McCormack signed with a team in Ottawa. Her team-mate stayed put and, despite having previously been first-choice, hardly played again under Birarda, drifting away from the game completely not long afterwards. McCormack, who had been training with the Canadian national team, never got another invitation to return.With hindsight, the entire episode highlighted two important things: Birarda’s increased inappropriateness and the Whitecaps’ lack of awareness regarding player welfare protocol.And inevitably, things got worse. In preparation for the U20 World Cup in 2008, the entire Canadian women’s squad lived in an apartment complex in Vancouver for months. Incredibly, Birarda – who lived in a suburb of the city – was also given an apartment in the same building. McCormack, by that stage living and playing abroad, was consistently updated. The bullying intensified but now there were descriptions of sexually-charged text messages too and allegations of various sexually-charged interactions with players, some underage. But just weeks before the World Cup, Birarda suddenly left both the Canadian national team and the Whitecaps, the departure officially described in statements at the time as being ‘in the best interests of both parties’. No further explanation was given. Until McCormack published her blog post. “I’ve been carrying this for 11 years and part of finally doing it is probably maturity, realising I had written it so many times and how it’s something that still really upset me,” she says. “I felt it needed to be spoken about and that we had been silenced. There’s more of a climate now. Last summer, I sat there for four hours just crying, listening to the victim impact statements in the Larry Nasser case. So much of what the girls were saying resonated in terms of the type of environment. That kind of shook me. Then CBC (Canada’s national broadcaster) did a big story on sexual abuse in Canadian sport and that was the final trigger for me in terms of people possibly recognising this and maybe there being a chance this would be heard. I was on The National – our big news show – and I asked questions of the panelists, these so-called experts from various sporting associations who were so sub-par. It angered me and I was like, ‘Are they apathetic? Do they just not know?’ And that’s what made me angry and I think I’m the most articulate when I’m angry.”McCormack’s allegations were quickly backed up by a collection of 13 other players who played for Birarda in 2007/2008. The majority of the group played for both the Canadian U20 side and the Vancouver Whitecaps and they levelled more allegations against Birarda, including: Ciara McCormack in action for the Republic of Ireland in a World Cup qualifier against Switzerland in March 2010. Image: Donall Farmer/INPHO Short URL 4 Comments Tweet thisShare on FacebookEmail this article
The 22yearold attracting Premier League interest who lit up todays World Cup
Despite his young age, the talented attacking midfielder already has 20 caps and three goals for Russia at senior level.In addition, Golovin is coming off a decent season at club level, with CSKA Moscow finishing second behind city rivals Lokomotiv. He made 38 appearances in all, scoring seven goals, and featuring in both the Champions League and Europa League, scoring an eye-catching free kick in the 4-1 loss to Arsenal at the Emirates back in March.It will be no surprise to learn that even before today’s game, the £10 million-rated player has been linked with moves to a number of clubs, including Chelsea, Arsenal and Juventus.And if he can maintain his current level of performance over the next few weeks, then surely he won’t be at CSKA for much longer.The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us! Share23 Tweet Email1 By Paul Fennessy Thursday 14 Jun 2018, 8:05 PM 35,228 Views THERE WERE TWO players who particularly stood out in Russia’s emphatic 5-0 win over a hapless Saudi Arabia outfit in today’s World Cup opener.The first was Denis Cheryshev, the 27-year-old Villarreal player.Cheryshev only came on as a substitute for the injured Alan Dzagoev, with the CSKA Moscow midfielder unfortunate to pull his hamstring early on.Yet Cheryshev made a swift impact, brilliantly blasting home a well-worked move just before half-time and then producing a sublime finish for Russia’s fourth in second-half stoppage time.It’s a second for Cheryshev…https://t.co/f2LAOYqcor #rtesoccer #worldcup pic.twitter.com/z2A0cpdO7g— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) June 14, 2018 http://the42.ie/4071638 Follow us: the42.ie Short URL 23 Comments Playing in front of President Vladimir Putin and an expectant host nation, if Aleksandr Golovin was nervous, he certainly didn’t show it.It must be stated that Russia were playing against Saudi Arabia, who are the second worst team in the competition in 67th place according to the Fifa rankings. There is a caveat though — the Russians in 70th position are supposedly the worst, which is an indication of the flawed nature of such systems.Saudi Arabia today certainly made a case for themselves being the worst team competing in Russia, with a generous defence frequently helping the hosts to run riot.The delight on his face says it all as Dzyuba puts Russia 3-0 up https://t.co/f2LAOYqcor #rtesoccer #worldcup pic.twitter.com/JIqPtEMwkF— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) June 14, 2018 Image: Xinhua News Agency/PA Images The 22-year-old attracting Premier League interest who lit up today’s World Cup opener Aleksandr Golovin has the potential to be a star of the tournament. Jun 14th 2018, 8:05 PM Tweet thisShare on FacebookEmail this article Russia’s Aleksandr Golovin (L) vies with Saudi Arabia’s Osama Hawsawi during the opening match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Moscow. Image: Xinhua News Agency/PA Images Source: SportVideosMM/YouTubeThe youngster, who in addition to his eye for a pass possesses good pace and dribbling ability, will face stiffer tests, but he has the ability to hurt better teams than the Saudis.While it is still obviously early days, there were signs he has the potential to be the tournament’s breakout star á la James Rodriguez in Brazil four years ago.He has been a player of great promise for some time, honing his skills playing futsal as a youngster. He joined his current club CSKA Moscow in 2012, winning the Uefa European U17 Championship with Russia a year later and also helping his country finish second in the Uefa European U19 Championship in 2015, while breaking into his club side as early as the 2015-16 campaign.Golovin caps a five-star Russian display https://t.co/f2LAOYqcor #rtesoccer #worldcup pic.twitter.com/rHaLrhAN3x— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) June 14, 2018 Russia’s Aleksandr Golovin (L) vies with Saudi Arabia’s Osama Hawsawi during the opening match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Moscow. Here is the first goal of the 2018 World Cup>Mesut Özil dreams of beating England in the World Cup final> Given that Cheryshev spent over a decade at Real Madrid, albeit mainly as a youth and reserve team player, it was perhaps no surprise that his quality was apparent against a team with 20 out of 23 squad members plying their trade in the Saudi Arabian league, whose quality is hardly on a par with the top European competitions.But there was another player on the pitch who was arguably even more impressive than Cheryshev and at 22, has greater potential to go far in the game.Yury Gazinsky with his first goal for Russia scores the opening goal of World Cup 2018 to put the hosts 1-0 up againnst Saudi Arabia after 12 minutes https://t.co/f2LAOYqcor #rtesoccer #worldcup pic.twitter.com/Rh3cJOfJ1r— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) June 14, 2018 And while he was allowed plenty of time and space, no matter the context, Golovin has an absolute wand of a right foot.He produced two glorious crosses for the first and third goals, before the icing on the cake — a beautiful curling free kick in the dying moments that found the back of the net and added to the feel-good atmopshere at the Stadion Luzhniki in Moscow.
Humiliation for Johnson UK front pages react to last nights Brexit vote
The Daily Telegraph plays it straight with “Johnson demands election”.Just like the Daily Mirror, the I goes with “Johnson loses control”.The Daily Express takes its own take with “Parliament surrenders to the EU”. “PM loses historic vote” leads The Times. The Guardian runs with “Humiliation for Johnson as Tory rebels turn against him”. And finally, the Metro runs with “Now the MPs take control”. ‘Humiliation for Johnson’: UK front pages react to last night’s Brexit vote UK MPs voted last night to debate a bill that would extend the current Brexit deadline. Sep 4th 2019, 7:00 AM LAST NIGHT, UK MPs voted to debate a bill today that would extend the current Brexit deadline to 31 January 2020 at the earliest. MPs now have the chance to pass all stages of the bill today. It will then go to the House of Lords. The motion prevented the delay of the debate on Benn’s bill beyond 5pm this Friday. As a result of the vote, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he is tabling a motion for the general election because he will not accept the Benn bill. He added that he will not go along with the bill and that he does not want an election. However, he said that if MPs vote for a delay to Brexit tomorrow, he will seek to hold an election. Labour leader in the House of Lords Angela Smith has tabled a motion to be debated tomorrow that would make sure all stages of the Benn bill were completed by 5pm this Friday.Boris Johnson has said that this proposed legislation intends to “chop the legs out from under the government”.So, let’s see what spin the UK newspapers have put on Johnson’s first major hurdle as Prime Minister. The Daily Mirror has run with “Boris loses control”.The Sun runs with the more direct “Over to you Britain”. Share41 Tweet Email 41 Comments By Hayley Halpin Tweet thisShare on FacebookEmail this article https://jrnl.ie/4794784 As the clock ticks down, get all the best Brexit news and analysis in your inbox: Short URL 66,036 Views Wednesday 4 Sep 2019, 7:00 AM
As it happened No breakthroughs as Boris Johnson and Leo Varadkar met
Dora dismisses Gruevski quip on doublename
Facebook Twitter: @NeosKosmos Instagram Published statements by the prime minister of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Nikola Gruevski, regarding Skopje’s insistence on a “double-name formula” to overcome the thorny “name issue” still plaguing bilateral relations between the two neighbours have been dismissed by the Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis last week.“This statement shows that Mr. Gruevski has not realised the message of the international community, which is clear and unified: for the sake of his country’s and his people’s Euro-Atlantic course, a mutually acceptable solution to this issue must be achieved; a composite name with a geographical qualifier, erga omnes,” the Greek foreign minister underlined in a press release.The FYROM prime minister was quoted by a local political magazine as stating that the “double-name” solution constitutes a “natural position” for his landlocked country. He also accused official Greece of insisting that the one-time Yugoslav republic alter its constitutional name to “Republic of Northern Macedonia” both for external and internal use.
AEU President calls for action on teacher shortages
The Australian Education Union has called for a national approach to tackling teacher shortages after a new survey found almost 60 per cent of schools had trouble getting the teachers they needed.In the survey of 1,473 public school principals across the nation, 59 per cent of principalsreported problems with the supply of teachers in the past year and 57 per cent said the problem was getting worse.Releasing the survey in Canberra, AEU Federal President Angelo Gavrielatos said schools faced a range of problems including major shortages of teachers qualified to teach key subjects, difficulties recruiting and retaining staff and a short pay scale that made it difficult to keep experienced teachers in the classroom.“The survey found that because of the shortages, 59 per cent of secondary schools had teachers working outside their area of expertise,” Mr Gavrielatos said.Mr Gavrielatos called for long-term plan to address the chronic problems with the supply of teachers and for significant improvemens in the pay and working conditions for teachers.“Australian teachers spend more hours in the classroom than those in almost any other major nation and yet they are paid below-average wages.We have had a record investment in new classrooms and facilities. Now it is time to invest in teachers and end the under-funding of public schools so we can maximise the benefits of these facilities and give every child the individual attention they deserve.”The survey also found:Principals said the top priority for the Rudd Government should be investing more in teachers (30 per cent) followed by increasing teacher numbers (22 per cent).Schools are relying on fund-raising to pay for the basics. Almost 90 per cent of principals said fundraising was important for their school with the number one use of the money being to pay for library resources and textbooks (57 per cent).Student class sizes are still too high with 80 per cent of students being taught in classes with 20 or more students and 32 per cent in classes of 26 or more.Ms Gillard says the Government knows there is a problem and is providing extra funding to encourage graduates to become specialist teachers.“We obviously can’t make teachers overnight, and we inherited a school system that had been neglected for more than 10 years by the Liberal government, but our education revolution is already delivering measures to induce teachers in the maths and science fields,” she said.The Federal Government had committed $550 million to inspire and reward teachers and principals, and $626 million to boost the number of maths and science teachers in schools. Facebook Twitter: @NeosKosmos Instagram
14 agreements signed during Chinese VP visit in Greece
FOURTEEN bilateral agreements were signed yesterday, between Greece and China during a visit to Athens by China’s vice-president Zhang Dejiang and members of the Chinese Council of ministers. The Chinese vice-premier was on a three-day visit, at the invitation of Greek Vice-Premier Theodoros Pangalos. The two vice-premiers and their delegations met on Tuesday morning for talks which led to the signing of the 14 agreements involving the shipping sector, transport, tourism and telecoms, as well as Greek exports of olive oil to China. Zhang Dejiang, who signed the contracts at a ceremony in Athens where Deputy Prime Minister Theodoros Pangalos was present, said that Beijing wants to stand by Greece in its moment of crisis. “The government is going to encourage Chinese entrepreneurs to come to Greece to make partnerships and investments,” he said after the ceremony. “We are convinced that the Greek Government is capable of overcoming the crisis and returning to stable growth.” During the meeting with Pangalos, Zhang expressed China’s support for the Greek Government and its efforts to overcome the economic crisis, saying that there was “mutual desire by Athens and Beijing to strengthen beneficial cooperation in order to deal with the economic crisis.” Later, Zhang Dejiang, was received by Hellenic Republic President Karolos Papoulias and attended a dinner hosted by Prime Minister George Papandreou. Facebook Twitter: @NeosKosmos Instagram
Greeks in the Far Orient book launch
Over 200 people were invited by the Mayor of Unley City Council to attend the book launch of Professor Anastasios Tamis’ book Greeks in the Far Orient on Friday 4 November in Adelaide. The event was held at Unley City Council Hall was attended by the Shadow Education Minister of SA David Pisoni. The main presentation of the book launch was given by the SA Multicultural Affairs Minister and Philhellene Julian Stefani.At the end of the book launch, Professor Tamis thanked everyone who was involved and supported him on this project. The book, which took five years to research, explores the plight of a group of 40,000 Greek and Cypriot immigrants who settled in Asia at the end of the 19th century. Greeks in the Far Orient will cost $48 if purchased at the various book launched to take place around Australia but is also available $70 in your local book store. Facebook Twitter: @NeosKosmos Instagram