Vincent Ward

CountryWide - RTÉ Radio 1 The CountryWide team feature the events, people and happenings that bring colour and life to communities, towns and villages across the country.

Q: Why was the person responsible for the Blackwater fish kill never found?

A: it wasn’t anybody’s job.

I talked to the heads of all the agencies involved in the investigation, about why the biggest pollution event in Irish history fell between the cracks.

Listen: 👉 www.rte.ie/radio/radio1...

❗️Violation of EU airspace is a hybrid war by the Russian Federation, it's time to call a spade a spade - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen

But now they’ll have to increase that to meet the minimum wage, right?

Minimum wage in Ireland is now more than AIB’s starting salary 🙃

Honestly thought this was Jim Gavin at first

Germany’s ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel has blamed Poland and the Baltic states for triggering Putin’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, saying they refused to support an initiative for direct talks with Russia in 2021.

Absolutely Barbaric and inexcusable. Russia is a terrorist state using IDF tactics.

I’ve been saying for years that we need to move to an impact based warning system like the UK Met Office use. The winds we saw yesterday have a much bigger impact this time of year and also when peak of storm is during work day. The Met Éireann system is based on specific thresholds being met.

Out of sight, out of mind. That’s the general attitude in Ireland. Letting others worry about defense and security and then judging them for it.

I would like some people to reconcile the warmongering EU itching to start a war with Russia that gets talked about in Ireland, and the actual EU that has spent the last 2-3 weeks ensuring at least a dozen separate Russian drone attacks and not fired one shot into Russia in response.

Just as other European states should give credit to the Baltics for being correct in their assessment of Russia, other European countries should give credit to Ireland for being correct in its assessment of Israel.

Catherine Connolly is a Thundering Disgrace Connolly's historical amoralism.

Catherine Connolly is a Thundering Disgrace
www.irishpoliticsnewsletter.ie/p/catherine-...

A damning read. Perfectly articulating the blind spots of Connolly and her ilk. Ireland need to wake up to the realities of Russian fascist imperialism and not simply criticise those who are taking steps to defend Europe.

And Russians are now buying airplane parts through Belarus. Bravo.

Still the best explanation of Russian tactics and the difficulty of deterrence.

From: Yes, Prime Minister.

Crowd of Connacht rugby supporters, including a child in green jacket waving a green Connacht flag with the pitch in the background on a cloudy evening

Connacht rugby players in green and black uniforms, celebrating on the field together

Pregame view of Huntington Bank Stadium at the University of Minnesota, with the marching band on the field and the sun setting with Minneapolis downtown skyline in the background

Coach PJ Feck leading the Gopher football team out of the tunnel. Players are wearing maroon and carrying various team and national flags.

2025 United Rugby Championship (URC) season begins in 22 days!

@biffthetick.bsky.social and @rugbykino.bsky.social are doing an exchange this season, with Biff following #Connacht rugby and Cian following U of Minnesota #Gopher football and will be reviewing the games and sports as they go.

Nazi symbols are banned in Germany. But genocidal statements are perfectly acceptable. Maybe if it were the UK and he tweeted something, it might be an arrestable offence.

Said the spider to the fly

Bravo Belgium 🇧🇪 and EU 🇪🇺 👏
Stellar security work 🙄

@galen.reich.me.uk this is a terrific tool and well done on putting it together! Is there a reason why some councils are not shown? i.e. Galway? Is it due to lack of available public recordings?

Bellingcat Council Meeting Transcript Search Find verbatim quotes from council meetings in the UK and Ireland using this free open source research tool by Bellingcat.

My latest Bellingcat tool is out!

It lets you search what was said in council meetings across the UK and Ireland, and takes you directly to the right part of the video session to verify.

Check it out and let me know what you think! 👇

council-search.bellingcat.com

If ever there was a living metaphor of how the US is on a spiral of self-harm, it is this.

Nicolae Ceaușescu was known as the Genius of the Carpathians, the Man of Humanity, the Hero of Heroes and Romania's First Architect. He was endlessly praised by his inner circle, the media, and state-organized public demonstrations.

And then came December 25, 1989.

Scary thought.

Trump says countries are “attacking our tech companies” with digital taxes, threatening tariffs and bans. Yet he stayed silent when Russia attacked one of our tech factories by dropping bombs on it.

Give this man the Nobel Peace prize already

5 days of diplomacy, 5 days of deadly Russian attacks on Ukraine Despite the flurry of diplomacy between the U.S., Russia, Ukraine, and Europe over the last five days on ending the war, Moscow has continued to allow its forces to unleash daily attacks on Ukrainian ...

At least 31 civilians have been killed and 145 injured in Russian strikes across Ukraine since U.S. President Donald Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Aug. 15.

Thoughts and Prayers