Marian Finucane

Oops69

This Irish water introduction is an absolute fiasco, Unfortunatley the minister who would be responsible has been dispatched to BRussels never to be heard of again.
Bring back the troika already .

Callan57

Wonder what it will cost to get rid of John Tierney .... substantial exit package in the contract I bet.
Poor Paddy out diging the driveway could to be sacked in the morning but different rules for top boyos you can bet.

CountyHurler

I think that the most frustrating thing is that the contract for this was given to the gas board because they purportedly had "a lot of the expertise and IT systems required already in house".... Then they go on to spend over 80 million on external consultants, despite having the expertise in house??.... And then we are told that they will be a retirement home for all the old water board staff... It all seemed like a little ruse on the part of the civil servants to stuff their own pockets with money...

CountyHurler

So Mary Lou is a victim in this now as well Marion.... simply because she's a woman??? If Mary Lou wants to sit down with dogs she'll get fleas, and if she wants to pretend that none of them were in the RA and lie about it when questioned, then SHE has to be accountable for what she chooses to believe and who she aligns herself with

Oops69

Does MARION do any research on her upcoming topics atall , she seems to plonk herself down ever week with this " educate me" attitude ,and then is all aghast at widely known facts she has just been informed of , is this journalism ?

CountyHurler

Oops69 wrote: »

Does MARION do any research on her upcoming topics atall , she seems to plonk herself down ever week with this " educate me" attitude ,and then is all aghast at widely known facts she has just been informed of , is this journalism ?

She called one of her guests Susan and then corrected herself, calling her proper name Suzanne... but then again Michael O'Regan called her Miriam... Maybe they need badges for the studio?

Callan57

It is disappointing to hear Mary Lou adopting the institutional knee-jerk defence mode we have come to expect from Rome etc - circle the wagons and protect the institution by attacking the individual. The only line she failed to employ (so far) is the "on legal advice" line.

That said, she is a relatively new "convert", intent on her own career & desperate to distance herself from "all that stuff in the past". As far as I know she never lived in Northern Ireland & I doubt she fully appreciates exactly how the IRA operated on the ground there or the power they had over the nationalist population. It does not at all surprise me that a "kangaroo court" would have been the instinctive method of dealing with this allegation, so I can't understand how she can be so sure it didn't happen ... just becasue her mate Gerry says so!

Wonder how long it will be 'till Gerry starts to be seen as a liability rather than an asset?

Oops69

Francis will be gone by then , he only has one lung , is not in good health , the Curia will delay any change until he's gone , on another topic , the poor people of BAllina are in " deep distress" because their priest is having an argy bargy with his former partner and has gone on leave , how pathetic poor " distressed " people of BAllina , ruled by their BIshop, still in 2014 .

Dan Jaman

Dear gawd; Duffy dug down and did a book on children's deaths of '16. Now some other trout has done something on the widows.
Is there no depth to which a desperate author will not sink in their quest for a tale?

BarryD

From the sounds of it, this book very different from Duffy's rose tinted prose. This seems to be more an exercise in debunking myths - no harm in that at all.

Callan57

Oops69 wrote: »

Francis will be gone by then , he only has one lung , is not in good health , the Curia will delay any change until he's gone , on another topic , the poor people of BAllina are in " deep distress" because their priest is having an argy bargy with his former partner and has gone on leave , how pathetic poor " distressed " people of BAllina , ruled by their BIshop, still in 2014 .

The Almighty must be throwing her hands in the air this morning.

I'm sure "some" people in Ballina are "deeply distressed" but I bet the majority are just rolling their eyes at the vagaries of human nature & getting on with their Sunday.

Dan Jaman

Sure, Elgin bought them. For forty quid.
It was like, "Come on down to Bargaintown", back in those days - the Athens / Greek authorities had almost zero regard for the antiquities littering the place, and Elgin found he could fill ships with some of that auld marble rubble.

The Black Oil

This article was in the Village a while ago. Sums up the show rather well - apologies if posted earlier.

With journalists making up almost one third of the guests, we’re immediately plunged into the fatuous incestuousness of a broadcast journalist inviting fellow journalists to interpret the work of other journalists.

As the market leader in Irish newspapers, Independent News & Media provides the most journalists, followed by reporters from the Irish Times and then journalists from RTÉ itself. The next most popular guest category is the politician, and the newspaper panel is a nice soft gig for politicians. It’s a chance to appear on national media to pontificate on matters of current interest as an expert of sorts without having to deal with matters of policy.

Yet it’s the overweening presence of PR people and lobbyists that begs the question: why are professional spinners being invited to interpret the news for us? There’s no question but that they are doing their job superbly just to be getting themselves onto the show and, short of writing the news stories themselves, they couldn’t have a better platform for their clients. The symbiotic relationship between politicians, lobbyists and journalists is normally played out away from the public gaze but in this case its oppositional aspects are allowed to play out in public.

Close behind the voices of the PR experts, we have the well-upholstered and soothing tones of barristers and solicitors. Again, one wonders what particular talents belong to the legal profession that makes them such good interpreters of our weekly news?

Callan57

This is a fascinating interview with Jackie

signostic

a story about Bob who went under the covers with Jackie

Dan Jaman

"Arse in pizza bases"

"Different from the goolies."

Damn cheap radio.

CountyHurler

"France WAS on my mind actually"

yeah, what time is the flight leaving at...

CountyHurler

Let me guess Brendan, the banks wont lose more than 5% to bad debts... Wasnt that your last best assessment?

It really irks me that they present this guy once again as an expert, ignoring that he was COMPLETELY WRONG in his assessment of the banking crisis in 2008.

Callan57

New sponsor for Marian - RaboDirect

Callan57

Irish Water is NOT a private company ... at least get the facts right Marian

Dan Jaman

Callan57 wrote: »

Irish Water is NOT a private company ... at least get the facts right Marian

It WILL be; it's just a matter of tense.

CountyHurler

You put out a trial piece, and if you dont get the right reaction from Government you change it.... I really dont know what the ESRI contributes.. Just another talking shop full of people who dont really seem to have to stand over anything that they report...

Callan57

Dan Jaman wrote: »

It WILL be; it's just a matter of tense.

May well but right now it is NOT - accuracy is important

Oops69

Go on ,spill the beans on Marion in the sixties , I want to see her choke on air. ....even more than the usual spluttering.

Callan57

Listening to this I'm reminded again of what an awfully, awfully small country we are ... same few talking heads talking to each other and telling each other what they want to hear.

CountyHurler

Hang on a f**king minute here John, we were told that they had a lot of the infrastructure in place, and that is why they were given the contract.... Only to find out they spent over 80 million on consultants... I think everybody feels duped by a bunch of self serving people in the civil service

Harry Angstrom

Is it any wonder that Fitzgerald can remember her from the college days? I'd say she turned a few heads in those days....

Callan57

"We fired everyone who was in authority" .... NO we bloody well did not! We fired NOBODY because apparently nobody was to blame it was all systemic don't you know

Oops69

Fitz is an economist but I'm fraid he's a naive one , incredibly so.

Harry Angstrom

Oops69 wrote: »

Fitz is an economist but I'm fraid he's a naive one , incredibly so.

He's a clone of his old man.

CountyHurler

Callan57 wrote: »

"We fired everyone who was in authority" .... NO we bloody well did not! We fired NOBODY because apparently nobody was to blame it was all systemic don't you know

I found that statement confusing as well... Who exactly is he talking about being fired?

Dan Jaman

CountyHurler wrote: »

I found that statement confusing as well... Who exactly is he talking about being fired?

FF only, it appears. As the lead idiots it was appropriate, but many other heads should have rolled.

Oops69

I think she's only going to get info on the minority of caves .....for some reason.

CountyHurler

Oh no, I'm already kinda cringing for this guy..... And the girl... she must be mortified...

ah.. she's a Lithuanian living in London.. I guess it's not so bad..

Harry Angstrom

He calls women "birds"

I can start to see why she dumped him.....

Harry Angstrom

What a completely pointless interview.

CountyHurler

Harry Angstrom wrote: »

He calls women "birds". I can start to see why she dumped him.....

Marian dumped him fairly quickly as well.. She didnt really do much to feign interest in men's topics..

Oops69

MArion trivialises this as ' heartbreak' , clearly it was more than that , his article may have expressed it better than he did on the air.

Dan Jaman

Ah, the Allen dinner guest.

Harry Angstrom

How's the husband these days, Darina?

CountyHurler

Remember now everybody...

DONT MENTION THE THING

Oops69

Dan Jaman wrote: »

Ah, the Allen dinner guest.

Where the hell is Nevan Maguire , so he isn't !

CountyHurler

"Do ye let Tim out of the dungeon for a few hours on Christmas Day? "

Oops69

CountyHurler wrote: »

"Do ye let Tim out of the dungeon for a few hours on Christmas Day? "

No , she throws him a frozen stew on Christmas day .

Harry Angstrom

Yeah Marian, prepare for it early. Stick the Christmas turkey in the oven this afternoon.

CountyHurler

They've got bars?

Dan Jaman

The most cheapskate loft insulation I saw was a layer of 1" fibreglass stretched and stapled over the tops of the joists.
Utter waste of time, that probably worked for a short while.

Harry Angstrom

WTF is this?

An energy expert stating the blindingly obvious. "Switch off your heater when you don't need it". Thanks for that, I never would've guessed.

Dan Jaman

Harry Angstrom wrote: »

WTF is this?

An energy expert stating the blindingly obvious. "Switch off your heater when you don't need it". Thanks for that, I never would've guessed.

"Pull on another cardi."

CountyHurler

What are these magical "TIMER" things that he speaks of ... Have these just been invented?

"You need to get an electrician in to wire the timer... unless of course you're able to do it yourself".... :pac: .. I dont think that wiring a timer is allowed to be done legally by a non qualified electrian with the latest legislation..