Tag: ireland

Ireland had no excess deaths during pandemic – OECD report

Ireland had no excess deaths during the core pandemic years of 2020-2022, the Department of Health has said, citing new research.

It cites a new ‘Working Paper’ from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) showing that Ireland was one of nine OECD countries to avoid excess deaths during this period, registering the fourth lowest rate behind New Zealand, Iceland and Norway.

The OECD said its report represents preliminary results or research in progress.

Excess deaths refer to the number of deaths from all causes during a period of time, above what would normally be expected.

The OECD measured the difference between the number of people who would have died between 2020 and 2022 and the number of people who would have been expected to die during that time, if the pandemic had not happened.

Excess death figures include those who died from Covid-19 without having been tested as well as from other illnesses.

The Department of Health said that previous estimates of excess deaths during the pandemic did not take into account changes in population size and demographics here.

Ireland’s total population rose by 8% between the 2016 and 2022 census and the number of people aged 65 and over increased by 22% during the same period.

Keep reading

Irish politician says those who protested after children were stabbed in Dublin should be ‘shot in the head’

During a meeting of Limerick City and County Council on Monday, members took turns voicing their opinions about the fiery, but mostly peaceful, protests that broke out in Dublin four days earlier in response to reports that the man who stabbed a woman and three children in the Irish capital was an Algerian migrant.

While most of the council members condemned the actions of those who took part, one went further than the rest. Azad Talukder, who serves as Cathaoirleach of the LCCC’s Metropolitan District, suggested the protestors should be “shot in the head.”

“I strongly believe that this is not the face of Ireland,” Talukder said, according to the Limerick Post. “This is just some criminals looting the shops. I don’t think they follow any ideological purpose. They come to the streets and just rob. They should get punishment.”

“Not even an animal does these kind of thing,” he added. “It is very shameful and they should get public punishment.”

Talukder went on to state, in no uncertain terms, that he’d “like to see them shot in the head or bring the public in and beat them until they die.”

His comments were quickly withdrawn after being objected to by Labour Party councillor Conor Sheehan, who reminded him that “you can’t call for people to be shot in the council chamber.”

Talukder apologized, saying his emotions had gotten the better of him.

As the Immigrant Council reports, Talukder is originally from Bangladesh, and moved to Ireland in 2000 to start a family. Nearly 20 years later, he was elected as the first Muslim councillor in the nation’s history.

Keep reading

Authorities Demand Access To Private Social Media Conversations To Spy On Anti-Mass Migration Sentiment

Authorities in Ireland are set to be given access to private social media conversations in order to spy on anti-mass migration sentiment following the riots in Dublin.

After an Algerian migrant stabbed three children outside a primary school, fiery but mostly peaceful protests broke out in the Irish capital.

Authorities reacted by being more outraged at the protesters than the actual would-be child murderer, who should have been deported 20 years ago and was previously released after being arrested for carrying a knife.

Now Irish people who share spicy memes in WhatsApp chat groups are going to be under government surveillance should this new ‘hate speech’ legislation pass.

“Gardai will be able to access and intercept private conversations on social media sites under new legislation, as the Justice Minister promised to crack down on crime following the riots in Dublin,” reports the Irish Times.

Keep reading

Elon Musk Warns Irish They Could Be Arrested For Having a Meme on Their Phone

Elon Musk has warned Irish people that they could literally be arrested and imprisoned for having a meme on their phone if new hate speech laws are passed.

The new laws were introduced in response to the Dublin riots, with authorities keen to punish people who were angry over an Algerian migrant stabbing three children in broad daylight.

The law creates a new crime of inciting violence or hatred againsts persons by possessing material which offends the “protected characteristics” of an individual or group.

Musk responded to the controversy by posting on X, “Language being proposed as law in Ireland means this could literally happen to you for having a meme on your phone.”

The post was accompanied by a video of a SWAT team smashing down a door and invading someone’s house.

Keep reading

Conor McGregor Being Investigated For ‘Online Hate Speech’ For Comments on Mass Migration

Martial artist superstar Conor McGregor is being investigated by Irish authorities for ‘online hate speech’ after he expressed anger at children being stabbed in Dublin.

Over the last week, McGregor has been outspoken about the impact mass migration is having on his homeland, remarking, “Ireland, we are at war,” in relation to the chronic housing shortage that has made basic living unaffordable for many citizens.

“Do not let any irish property be took over unannounced. Evaporate said property. It’s a war,” he added.

Following the stabbing of three children by an Algerian migrant in Dublin, the former UFC champion condemned authorities for targeting Irish people who staged fiery but mostly peaceful protests in response.

“Innocent children ruthlessly stabbed by a mentally deranged non-national in Dublin, Ireland today,” he posted on X. “Our chief of police had this to say on the riots in the aftermath. Drew, not good enough. There is grave danger among us in Ireland that should never be here in the first place.”

Keep reading

Omagh’s mystery hum keeps Tyrone residents awake

Council officials are looking at calling in noise specialists in an attempt to locate a mystery hum disturbing residents of a Co Tyrone town.

People in Omagh have been reporting a persistent low level hum or buzz in the town for several weeks.

Noise officers have been sent out to investigate it and have heard it, but have so far been unable to identify the source.

Senior official at Fermanagh and Omagh council John Boyle told a recent meeting the issue would “not be an easy one to crack”.

He said existing equipment was not sensitive enough to find the source and they would either have to buy new equipment or employ a specialist contractor.

Among the potential culprits being investigated are air-conditioning units or power lines.

The council has been in contact with the company responsible for electricity distribution.

The issue was first raised by Alliance councillor Stephen Donnelly. He said he has received multiple reports from a wide area of the town.

Keep reading

“We Are Restricting Freedom… For The Common Good”: Irish Green Party Calls For Limiting Free Speech

The Irish Green Party followed many on the left around the world, including our own Democratic Party, this week and came out for censorship and speech controls. Indeed, the party went full Orwellian as its chairwoman Pauline O’Reilly called for “restricting freedom” to protect it.

O’Reilly’s comments are part of the introduction of the Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022. We previously discussed this massive assault on free speech.

The legislation that would criminalize “incitement to violence or hatred against” people with “protected characteristics,” as well as “condoning, denying or grossly trivialising genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes against peace.”

Limiting free speech has become an article of faith for many on the left. I have written about my distress (as someone who grew up in a liberal, politically active Democratic family in Chicago) in watching the abandonment of free speech values by the party. Democratic leaders now uniformly call for censorship and speech regulations. President Biden even charged that companies who refused to censor opposing views on social media were “killing people.”  Others have denounced free speech as “a white man’s obsession.”

The anti-free speech movement has become openly Orwellian in claiming to protect freedom by limiting freedom.  It also employs using terms like disinformation, misinformation, and malinformation to obscure their effort to silence those with opposing views. Rather than use “censorship,” they refer to “content moderation.”

That effort was on full display this week in Ireland with this anti-free speech legislation.

Keep reading

Irish government proposes mass culling of cows to meet radical net zero climate targets

The Irish government would need to set aside a €600 million budget in order to cull 65,000 cows every year for three years in order to meet its climate targets, according to internal reports seen by the Irish Independent.

The newspaper reported that 10 percent of all livestock in Ireland would need to be “displaced” in the coming years in order to comply with the government’s ambitious plans of achieving net zero carbon emissions by no later than 2050 and reducing emissions by 51 percent by 2030.

A mass culling of 200,000 cows over three years could be one way to help the Irish agricultural sector “close the gap” on its emissions targets, according to the briefing paper by the Department of Agriculture.

The plan would see Irish farmers compensated for the loss of their dairy herd, with the report suggesting a budget of €600 million would be required.

Farmers, however, aren’t convinced of the need to resort to such drastic measures and believe that other polluting industries aren’t being required to suffer the same fate.

Pat McCormack, the president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, told Newsweek on Tuesday that the Irish dairy herd isn’t any bigger than it was at the turn of the century.

“Our herd isn’t any larger than it was 25, 30 years ago. Can the same be said for the transport industry, can the same be said for the aviation industry?” he asked.

When asked whether farmers consider the cull of its dairy herd to be reasonable, McCormack replied: “If there is a scheme, it needs to be a voluntary scheme. That’s absolutely critical because there’s no point in culling numbers from an individual who has borrowed on the back of a huge financial commitment on the back of achieving a certain target that’s taken from under him.”

Keep reading

Irish LGBT City Councilor Resigns After Allegations of Abusing Teen Boy

A young Irish man’s accusations that a Galway City Councilor groomed and sexually abused him since age 16 led to a politician’s resignation.

The alleged victim shared two videos on Twitter accusing Galway, Ireland’s first openly LGBT city councilor, Owen Hanley, of grooming and abusing him, according to a Post Millenial report.

“I am a victim of sexual abuse, catfishing, and underage grooming. Owen Hanley did this to me,” alleged the Twitter account using the name Jaimie Mac Giolla Bháin on New Year’s Day. “Mr. Hanley operated a fake Twitter account under the name Irish Jock, using the handle @leftmuscle. He posed as a teenager and reached out to me on Twitter, knowing who I was from previous engagements in the Social Democrats.”

Bháin described being coaxed into transmitting explicit images of himself over “a long period,” beginning after he turned 16 and continuing until February 2022.

After he discovered Hanley was behind the Twitter account, Bháin said he confronted the councilor with his evidence. Hanley denied the allegations, the alleged victim stated. He added that all traces of the accounts Bháin claimed Hanley operated were erased from Twitter and his profile pictures removed.

Keep reading

Ireland Considers Enacting A Bill Criminalizing The Possession Of Hateful Material

We recently discussed a troubling conviction in Great Britain of a man for his “toxic ideology.” Now Ireland appears ready to replicate that case a thousand fold. The proposed Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022 would criminalize the possession of material deemed hateful.

It is a full frontal assault on speech and associational rights. The law would allow for sweeping authoritarian measures in defining opposing viewpoints hateful. Ireland appears to be picking up the cudgel of speech criminalization from Britain, an abusive power once used against the Irish.

The law is a free speech nightmare.  Even before addressing the crime of possession of harmful material, the law would “provide for an offence of condoning, denying or grossly trivialising genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes against peace.” The crime of condoning, denying or grossly trivailising” criminal conduct would make most autocrats blush. The lack of any meaningful definition invites arbitrary enforcement. The law expressly states the intent to combat “forms and expressions of racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law.”

What is so striking about the law is how utterly unapologetic it is in the use of criminal law to curtail not just free speech but free thought. It allows for the prosecution of citizens for “preparing or possessing material likely to incite violence or hatred against persons on account of their protected characteristics.” That could sweep deeply into not just political but literary expression.

The interest of the Irish in assuming such authoritarian measures is chilling given their own history under British rule, including violent crackdowns on nonviolent protests like “Bloody Sunday.”  Free speech is now in a free fall in Great Britain and Ireland appears eager to follow suit.

Keep reading