isadub.com » Politics http://isadub.com/blog based on a true story Tue, 30 Sep 2008 17:23:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 What national emergency? http://isadub.com/blog/2008/04/17/what-national-emergency/ http://isadub.com/blog/2008/04/17/what-national-emergency/#comments Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:42:25 +0000 isadub http://isadub.com/blog/2008/04/17/what-national-emergency/ I received my 80 page booklet today from the Office of Emergency Planning. Half of it is written in Irish and the second half is in English. In the foreword, our Dear Leader writes, “there is no reason to think that a major emergency is likely in the immediate future“. Most of the advice seems to be ring 121 and/or do what you’re told by the authorities. So now you know :-)

Office of Emergency Planning booklet coverpage

The booklet is also available on the internet, on CD, in large print, in braille. The website also has Chinese, Russian, and Polish translations.

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The Irish Times summarised the 40 page English section thus:

  • Nuclear incidents: Go in, stay in, tune in [to radio or TV]
  • Flu pandemic: Buy enough food to last at least a week…Make sure you have a thermometer and supply of paracetamol or ibuprofen.
  • Flooding: Don’t try to walk or drive through floodwater
  • Hazardous chemical spills: Stay away from the scene
  • Fire: Before opening a door, feel it with the back of your hand. If it is hot do not open it, as there may be a fire on the other side.

I’m surprised there was no mention of how to deal with the current emergency in our hospitals. It’s yesterday’s news so the politicians probably don’t care about it anymore but the report on Tania McCabe’s death in Our Lady of Lourdes hospital in Drogheda made for grim reading. Mrs McCabe was pregnant with twins but she, and one of her babies, died because of a misdiagnosis.

The latest report found “maternity, paediatric and anaesthetic services are significantly under-resourced to cope with the current demands and that this had an impact on how Tania McCabe was cared for“. Concerns had been raised previously by the hospital’s medical board, An Borad Altranais, and in a report by Judge Maureen Clark. Concerns were also raised by the chairman of a taskforce set up to oversee the delivery of better maternity services in the northeast. Last month, a consultant at the hospital offered to give up part of his salary so more nurses could be employed.

Eithne Donnellan, the Irish Times reporter, finished her story by concluding:

It now remains to be seen if the tragic death of this young woman, leaving behind a grieving husband and two young children, will finally stir the HSE into action.

But with tight controls recently imposed on recruitment in the HSE in order to cut costs, one couldn’t have too much confidence in progress being made by it on these pressing issues anytime soon.

Twenty years ago, it used to be that elderly people wouldn’t go into hospital because medicine wasn’t advanced enough to save their lives. Effectively, when they went into hospital, they knew they were going into hospital to die. Now, it would seem you have a better chance of saving alive if you stay out of hospital.

Oh, and remember those iodine tablets that this same Government gave out to every home a couple of years ago?? Well, you don’t need them now :-)

]]> http://isadub.com/blog/2008/04/17/what-national-emergency/feed/ 0 Revolting Rathoath Rascals http://isadub.com/blog/2008/04/16/rathoath-rascals-revolting/ http://isadub.com/blog/2008/04/16/rathoath-rascals-revolting/#comments Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:19:04 +0000 isadub http://isadub.com/blog/2008/04/16/rathoath-rascals-revolting/ via The Chancer

“Ratoath Fianna Fail councillor Nick Killian is mad as hell, and he’s not gonna take it any more… Here, he enjoys a discourse with some local youths:“

Charming.

The child who posted the video also has a blog. On 19 Feb, he posted this blog:

Ha ha last week was gr8 i had no skool and i went out and got drunk on friday and got caught ha ha it was fun. Here a video we had gr8 fun lighting a tire on fire. Heres a video:

]]> http://isadub.com/blog/2008/04/16/rathoath-rascals-revolting/feed/ 3 Hilarious Bertie youtube video http://isadub.com/blog/2008/01/14/hilarious-bertie-youtube-video/ http://isadub.com/blog/2008/01/14/hilarious-bertie-youtube-video/#comments Mon, 14 Jan 2008 20:06:11 +0000 isadub http://isadub.com/blog/2008/01/14/hilarious-bertie-youtube-video/

Description: Taoiseach of Ireland, Bertie Ahern enters the Dragons’ Den and faces the music. Chanting Fianna Fail policies for the upcoming election, the Dragons let him know what they really think of him.

via Mulley.net.

Original video link here and original website here.

]]> http://isadub.com/blog/2008/01/14/hilarious-bertie-youtube-video/feed/ 1 Children are the new must-have item in Kerry http://isadub.com/blog/2007/12/19/children-are-the-new-must-have-item-in-kerry/ http://isadub.com/blog/2007/12/19/children-are-the-new-must-have-item-in-kerry/#comments Wed, 19 Dec 2007 20:42:08 +0000 isadub http://isadub.com/blog/2007/12/19/children-are-the-new-must-have-item-in-kerry/

No adult will be permitted in a playground unless accompanied by a child

It will be an offence for anyone other than a child to use playground equipment

Only families are allowed to take photographs in playgrounds

Kerry County Council have introduced new byelaws regulating the playgrounds in their county. Introduced because of concern that the playgrounds are not being used for the purposes intended, the new byelaws are designed to stop the ‘overaged’ using playground equipment. Dan Kiely (Fianna Fail) is quoted in The Irish Times (sub req) as saying, ‘Thirty-five-year-olds and 50-year-olds are swinging around at 3am in the morning‘. Presumably they’re swing-abusers and not swingers! And to avoid getting scared in the dark (I made that up), nobody is allowed in playgrounds after dark unless they are a council employee (I didn’t make that up).

Those breaching the laws will be fined €75.

You’ve been warned.

I may have miscounted but I’d like to congratulate the 27 councillors who thought deeply about this issue and debated it at great length. You’re worth every penny euro.

]]> http://isadub.com/blog/2007/12/19/children-are-the-new-must-have-item-in-kerry/feed/ 1 25,000,000 http://isadub.com/blog/2007/11/21/25000000/ http://isadub.com/blog/2007/11/21/25000000/#comments Wed, 21 Nov 2007 00:02:19 +0000 isadub http://isadub.com/blog/2007/11/21/25000000/ you are 1
you and me = 2
2+2=4
4+4=16
16+16=32
32+32=64
64+64=128
128+128=256
256+256=512
512+512=1024

How long do I need to do this to get to 25,000,000 people?

I’m sure that everything that can be said has already been said but I’m absolutely amazed at how much damage one can do with 2 CD’s…

]]> http://isadub.com/blog/2007/11/21/25000000/feed/ 0 UK postal strike nears resolution http://isadub.com/blog/2007/10/15/uk-postal-strike-nears-resolution/ http://isadub.com/blog/2007/10/15/uk-postal-strike-nears-resolution/#comments Mon, 15 Oct 2007 20:31:20 +0000 isadub http://isadub.com/blog/2007/10/15/uk-postal-strike-nears-resolution/ Postal workers in the UK have been on strike for the past few days. Their leaders have negotiated a settlement with management. Normal work will resume once the postal workers agree to the deal…

…Once the deal is posted out to them. Then all they have to do is post the yea/nay forms back to HQ.

It’s no wonder the British are masters at satire.

]]> http://isadub.com/blog/2007/10/15/uk-postal-strike-nears-resolution/feed/ 0 Definition of Politics http://isadub.com/blog/2007/09/27/definition-of-politics/ http://isadub.com/blog/2007/09/27/definition-of-politics/#comments Thu, 27 Sep 2007 18:49:11 +0000 isadub http://isadub.com/blog/2007/09/27/definition-of-politics/ Someone texted the Sean Moncrieff show (NewsTalk106) a joke on the etymology of the word Politics.

POLI from the Greek Poly meaning ‘many‘
TICS from the Greek ‘Blood sucking insects‘.

]]> http://isadub.com/blog/2007/09/27/definition-of-politics/feed/ 1 No comment http://isadub.com/blog/2007/09/27/no-comment/ http://isadub.com/blog/2007/09/27/no-comment/#comments Thu, 27 Sep 2007 18:19:21 +0000 isadub http://isadub.com/blog/2007/09/27/no-comment/ Just read Harry McGee’s blogpost…

Nobody actually openly accused Bertie Ahern of lying yesterday. But if you were to look up a thesaurus, you’d find that just about every possible alternative word for ‘lie’ was used by Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore when describing the Taoiseach’s evidence to the Mahon Tribunal…

]]> http://isadub.com/blog/2007/09/27/no-comment/feed/ 0 Rathmines population = 5million souls http://isadub.com/blog/2007/09/14/rathmines-population-5million-souls/ http://isadub.com/blog/2007/09/14/rathmines-population-5million-souls/#comments Fri, 14 Sep 2007 10:49:35 +0000 isadub http://isadub.com/blog/2007/09/14/rathmines-population-5million-souls/ According to Dublin City Council’s website, the population of Rathmines = 4.9M people.

What is the population of Rathmines etc? #5820

Central Statistics Office – 4,984,000

]]> http://isadub.com/blog/2007/09/14/rathmines-population-5million-souls/feed/ 2 Bertie http://isadub.com/blog/2007/09/14/bertie/ http://isadub.com/blog/2007/09/14/bertie/#comments Fri, 14 Sep 2007 09:36:46 +0000 isadub http://isadub.com/blog/2007/09/14/bertie/ Bertie

Comments, if any, will be very moderated to prevent libel.

]]> http://isadub.com/blog/2007/09/14/bertie/feed/ 1