Brian O'Neill 
Things seem to go from bad to worse for Elon Musk’s disastrous purchase of Twitter. He paid $44 billion for the site last year, and its value keeps dropping. The estimated value was $15 billion during the summer, but it has declined even further, probably to $5-10 billion. He really is the architect of his misfortune as he implements one terrible idea after another. Twitter’s primary value was its brand, so no one understood why it was renamed X. It …
The idea for Open Sunday is to let you discuss what you like. Just two rules. Keep it civil and no man/woman playing. Brian O'NeillI help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism, I am not a member of any political party. Oddly for a member of the Slugger team, I am not that interested in daily …
In addition to our normal open Sunday, we have a politics-free post to give you all a break. So discuss what you like here, but no politics. Brian O'NeillI help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism, I am not a member of any political party. Oddly for a member of the Slugger team, I am not …
Wow, quite the scenes on social media. Shops were looted, cars on fire, buses and Luas set on fire, Gardaí attacked etc. The Patriots’ are now inside Arnotts, that well known bastion of Left wing politics. pic.twitter.com/kVRXXMG6dt — John O’Brennan (@JohnOBrennan2) November 23, 2023 It seemed to have been triggered by a multiple stabbing incident on Parnell Square this afternoon which left five people hospitalised, including the perpetrator. From the Irish Times: There have been violent clashes between large groups …
Over in the Guardian, Rory Carroll writes about Sinn Féin’s legal actions against several media outlets and individual journalists. From the article: In Ireland, Mary Lou McDonald, the leader of Sinn Féin, is suing the national broadcaster RTÉ for defamation, while her husband, Martin Lanigan, is suing the author of a biography of McDonald. Chris Andrews, a Sinn Féin member of Ireland’s parliament, is suing the Irish Times and one of its reporters. In Northern Ireland, Gerry Kelly, a Sinn …
According to this morning’s Nolan Show, the DUP have given up on their 7 tests. For a reminder, they were: They include no new checks of any sort on goods being traded between GB and NI. That excludes pre-Brexit checks on livestock and goods which are moving onwards from NI. Compatibility with the Act of Union which says all parts of the UK should be on equal footing when it comes to trade Avoiding any diversion of trade where NI …
The BBC reports: Northern Ireland has not been allocated any money from a £1bn funding scheme because of Stormont’s collapse, the UK government has said. The Department for Levelling Up announced funding for 55 projects across Great Britain. It said no money has been provided to Northern Ireland “at this time” because of the absence of an executive and assembly. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) branded the move “economic blackmail”. The party has been blocking a restoration of Northern Ireland’s …
Pity the poor social media manager who posted this post on the Number 10 Instagram account. The original version contained the Irish flag. Even more bizarre, do you wonder what the Scottish dancers have to do with Northern Ireland? If you were of a cynical mind you would almost think our glorious rulers have absolutely no insight into anything outside London let alone over the Irish Sea. a hasty edit pic.twitter.com/QMLSf4mmbn — Adam Payne (@adampayne26) November 21, 2023 Brian O'NeillI …
It turns out the small Antrim town of Ballyclare is home to Northern Ireland’s first legal medical cannabis cafe. If you have a private prescription for medical cannabis you can puff away in peace, all completely legal. The BBC has a report on the cafe. It is called Stay Medicated and they specialise in dry herb vaping. Basically, you stick it in a vape pen type yoke and away you go. I have mixed views on cannabis. On the plus …
Ben Dunne had quite a colourful life. Born into the Dunnes Stores retail family, he rose through the ranks to become the top boss of the supermarket chain. There is a northern connection to the Dunnes story, the founder of Dunnes Ben Dunne Sr was from Rostrevor. Things started to go wrong for Ben in 1981 when the IRA kidnapped him. From Wikipedia: On the morning of Friday 16 October 1981, Dunne was on his way to open a new …
The idea for Open Sunday is to let you discuss what you like. Just two rules. Keep it civil and no man/woman playing. Brian O'NeillI help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism, I am not a member of any political party. Oddly for a member of the Slugger team, I am not that interested in daily …
In addition to our normal open Sunday, we have a politics-free post to give you all a break. So discuss what you like here, but no politics. Brian O'NeillI help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism, I am not a member of any political party. Oddly for a member of the Slugger team, I am not …
I don’t envy Micheál Martin trying to walk the diplomatic middle ground with his visit to the Middle East. Meeting with both sides of the conflict is very tricky in such a volatile situation. Very good to meet with Palestinian Authority PM @DrShtayyeh in Ramallah. I expressed my sympathy to the Palestinian people over civilian deaths in Gaza We discussed the role the international community must play in the path to peace & Ireland’s support for the two State solution …
I had to double-check that this one was legit, but it seems our ex-First Minister has been busy in his retirement writing a self-help book called Witty Putdowns and Clever Insults. Dame Arlene Foster announced the release to an eager literary audience: Peter Robinson’s book Witty Putdowns & Clever Insults is now available from Amazon. For 2 days he is offering the eBook version FREE. His hope is that readers will give it an honest rating on the Amazon site. …
Over at the BBC John Campbell has been analysing the latest property stats from NISRA. From the article: Prices were up by 3.1% compared to the second quarter and were 2.1% higher than the same period last year. That took the average price to £179,530 with a range from £160,396 in Fermanagh and Omagh to £207,824 in Lisburn and Castlereagh. In cash terms, the average price is now roughly back to where it was at the end of 2006. That …
Some good news for a change. Unemployment is at an all-time low. From the BBC: Northern Ireland’s unemployment rate reached a record low of just 2.1% between July and September, new official figures suggest. The figures also show that the employment rate increased over the quarter and over the year to 72.2%. The number of employed people aged 16 and over was estimated at 874,000, which was up by 7,000 from the previous quarter and up by 23,000 from the …
The Department of Finance predicts a potential overspend of more than one billion pounds this year. David Sterling, former Head of the civil service says there's an absence of hope, adding that it could take up to five years to fix the financial problems. We hear from a range… — View From Stormont (@ViewFrmStormont) November 13, 2023 It is the hope that kills you… Brian O'NeillI help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running …
The BBC reports on strange goings on in Omagh. From the report: People in Omagh say they are fed up with the persistent humming, which is disrupting their sleep. The night-time noise has been reported in a wide area of the County Tyrone town in recent weeks. Fermanagh and Omagh District Council’s attempts to trace it have so far not been successful. Now, noise experts could be called in by a Northern Ireland council as it struggles to find the …
Our always popular live event returns to the Black Box on Tuesday, the 19th of December. Join Alex Kane, Allison Morris and Alan Meban as they reflect on the year in politics. This event is sponsored by Brown O’Connor. This event always sells out, so if you want to go, click here to book your tickets now…. Brian O'NeillI help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in …
Home Secretary Suella Braverman sacked, as UK PM Rishi Sunak begins reshuffle – follow live coveragehttps://t.co/GRdgCqPt22 — BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) November 13, 2023 Brian O'NeillI help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism, I am not a member of any political party. Oddly for a member of the Slugger team, I am not that interested in …
