RTÉ News informs¹ us that a zoo in County Cork “has announced the birth of a François' langur monkey [...] The baby's gender has yet to be determined”. Since when do animals have a “gender” (as opposed to a sex)? [1]:

RTE.ie

Fota Wildlife Park welcomes birth of endangered monkey

Fota Wildlife Park in Co Cork has announced the birth of a François' langur monkey, a species classified as endangered by the International Union ...

It's old news but I want to comment on the row that occurred when Volodymyr Zelensky met Donald Trump and J. D. Vance on February 28. 1. The two Americans disgraced themselves and their country. 2. Vance was more to blame than Trump. 3. Some people portray this as an ambush by Trump and Vance, prepared in advance. I don't think so. 4. Zelensky behaved unwisely. For example, he should not have challenged J. D. Vance and he should have remained silent as Trump was reproving him. 5. Zelensky's English is not good enough to enable him to be pugnacious. 6. It was very risky to hold such a meeting in public. That should have been clear ahead of time.

BBC News reports¹: “Work is under way to make all men in Poland undergo military training, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said. In a speech to the Polish parliament, Tusk said the government aimed to give full details in the coming months. Efforts are being made to "prepare large-scale military training for every adult male in Poland," he told the Sejm. "We will try to have a model ready by the end of this year so that every adult male in Poland is trained in the event of war, so that this reserve is comparable and adequate to the potential threats." [...] Tusk said women may also undergo military training, but "war, is still to a greater extent the domain of men".” The Guardian adds²: “After his speech, he told reporters he was not considering a return of universal military service, but rather a reserve system based on the model in Switzerland. In that country, every man is obliged to serve in the military or an alternative civilian service while women can volunteer if they choose.” I call on Irish politicians, nearly all of whom are committed to “gender equality”, to condemn this gross unfairness to men. [1]:

Donald Tusk announces military training plans for all men in Poland

Poland's prime minister said his government plans to have a model ready by the end of the year.

[2]:

the Guardian

Poland plans military training for every adult male amid growing European security fears

PM Donald Tusk says country needs army of 500,000 and backs withdrawal from treaty banning landmines

“More female than male doctors for first time ever in the UK”. March 6, 2024.

More female than male doctors for first time ever in the UK

A GMC Website page that might be of interest to you.

The above press release is from the General Medical Council. It says: “there are now 164,440 women (50.04%) registered with a licence to practise, compared with 164,195 men (49.96%)” One doctor is quoted as saying: “we see huge variations in the type of medical specialties women doctors go into – the majority choosing to be a GP or paediatrician – but very few are choosing surgery. These disparities are not acceptable for career progression” I would like to ask this doctor if the disparity in paediatrics, where 60.8% of doctors are women, is a problem. The page briefly notes that: “for the first time, there are more doctors from ethnic minority backgrounds than white doctors working in the UK” At the 2021 census, 83% of the UK's population was white¹. Evidently, disparities are not a problem if they favour women or non-whites. [1]:

Demographics of the United Kingdom - Wikipedia

This headline appeared today on the home page¹ of the Daily Telegraph: “Daring German carnival floats mock Trump, Putin and AfD”. In Germany, that's anything but daring. [1]: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/

Simon Harris described¹ Ukraine as “the largest country on the continent of Europe”, but it's dwarfed by European Russia. [1]:

RTE.ie

Tánaiste to bring proposal for €100m in aid to Ukraine

Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris will bring a proposal to Cabinet on Tuesday providing an additional €100 million in finan...

Check out the definition of ”domestic violence”¹ on Citizens Information, which includes things that are aren't violence at all. Posted after the line below. [1]:

Safety orders, protection orders and barring orders in Ireland

Irish law provides protection for those living in violent or abusive situations in the home. What are safety orders, protection orders and barring...

------ Domestic violence is the use of physical or emotional force or threat of physical force, including sexual violence, in an intimate relationship. As well as physical violence, domestic violence can also involve: • Emotional abuse • The destruction of property • Controlling behaviour such as isolation from friends, family and other potential sources of support • Threats to others including children • Stalking • Control over access to money, personal items, food, transportation and communication

A recent story¹ on RTÉ News said: “Ten people - four men, three women and three children - ranging in age from five to 59, lost their lives in the tragedy” [1]:

RTE.ie

Creeslough families to challenge planning decision

A solicitor representing families who lost loved ones in the explosion in Creeslough more than two years ago has said they intend to challenge the ...

Why count men and women separately? I think it's because the author places a higher value on a woman's life than a man's. But that can't be reconciled with the “gender equality” that we constantly hear about from the establishment.

Here are 2 paragraphs from a recent RTÉ News article¹: “US Senator Jim Risch, who is the head of the powerful group charged with leading US foreign policy legislation, said that Ireland's "strategic position" comes with "significant responsibility". "Ireland must increase its defence spending to safeguard vital undersea cables from our shared enemies," the Republican Senator for Idaho said in a statement to RTÉ News.” [1]:

RTE.ie

US senator calls on Ireland to increase defence spending

The Chair of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee has called on Ireland to increase its defence spending to ensure the protection of undersea ...

We should pay another country to do this for us. It would be a lot cheaper than doing it ourselves. The best candidate is probably the UK.

In October 2024, the CSO published a web page of statistics¹ on men and women in Ireland. (I've written “men and women” but the page always puts them in the opposite order.) Three things caught my eye. [1]:

Press Statement - Snapshot of the lives of Women and Men in Ireland in 2024 - CSO - Central Statistics Office

October 23, 2024.

The Revenue Commissioners' “Gender Pay Gap Report” for 2024¹ says: “Revenue has made important strides in fostering gender parity and in mitigating its gender pay gap. Since 2017, female representation across all senior management grades has significantly increased and has now reached 56 per cent.” [1]: downloadable from

Gender pay gap

This page details the reporting from Revenue on the gender pay gap

However, a table on page 1 tells us that in 2019, the balance in senior management was 50/50, so from the point of view of “gender parity”, the organization has regressed since 2019. Is “gender parity” just code for “advancing the interests of women”? It can't be that “gender parity” refers to pay parity, since the passage above clearly regards “gender parity” and the “gender pay gap” as two different things. The balance between the sexes is particularly lopsided at the Principal Officer grade, with 63% of employees being women. (See page 7, top row.)

A recent story¹ on RTÉ News said: “The 2024 I Wish Report showed that 60% of Irish teenage girls believe that gender inequality is the biggest barrier preventing them from pursuing careers in STEM.” [1]: https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2025/0206/1495000-showcase-to-encourage-girls-to-take-up-careers-in-stem/ I checked the report² myself. RTÉ's claim seems to be drawn from page 8. [2]: https://www.iwish.ie/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/I-WISH-2024-Survey-Report.pdf The page is so poorly written that it's hard to know what the underlying question was, but it appears that girls were asked to identify “Barriers to STEM Careers”. Therefore, on the evidence of this document, RTÉ's story is wrong, because the question asked about “barriers”, not “the biggest barrier” or “the biggest barriers”. In any case, 60% of respondents did indeed cite “Poor gender equality in STEM careers”. However: • 60% cited “Lack of information about careers in STEM”; • 58% cited “Lack of school visits by female role models”.

A recent publication¹ from the CSO reported the following from a survey of 25-year-olds: “Almost one in five (18.1%) men had experienced people acting as if they were afraid of them at least a few times a year.” [1]:

Press Statement - Growing up in Ireland Cohort '98 at Age 25 - Main Results - CSO - Central Statistics Office

It's interesting they would ask that question.

George Lee writes¹: “What Storm Éowyn should have driven home to people in power is that storms are getting bigger” [1]:

RTE.ie

Storm Éowyn underlines the climate risks that lie ahead

If there is one major lesson to be taken from the devastation inflicted by the extraordinary winds of Storm Éowyn, it is surely that we need to fo...

But 7 paragraphs before that, he writes: “The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said clearly in its science reports that it has very little confidence about the links between extreme wind events like Storm Éowyn and climate change.”

Writing¹ in the Irish Times, Kevin O'Sullivan describes Storm Éowyn² as “Probably Ireland’s worst ever storm”. In what time period? Since the founding of the Irish Free State in 1922? Since Ireland became separated by sea from Britain over 14,000 years ago? [1]:

The Irish Times

Storm Éowyn: Can Ireland’s electricity, water and phone networks cope with extreme weather?

‘We’re not resilient to today’s climate,‘ says expert as State and utility companies face greater pressure to prepare for stormier weather

[2]:

Storm Éowyn - Wikipedia

In a story about Storm Éowyn¹, RTÉ News reports² that: “Mr [Micheál] Martin said that [...] the number and severity of storms of this nature were increasing” [1]:

Storm Éowyn - Wikipedia

[2]:

RTE.ie

RTÉ Weather - Forecast

Weather forecast by RTÉ and Met Éireann. Get the most accurate hourly and 7 day weather forecast for the Republic of Ireland and Europe with dail...

That doesn't sound right to me. Below is some contrary evidence that I have quickly rounded up. Kendon et al. recently examined³ the UK's climate. Figure 60 on page 75 of their paper shows no increase in widespread high winds since 1969. [3]: “State of the UK Climate 2023”. https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/joc.8553 For honesty's sake, I should quote the following caveat from the paper: “interpreting trends in storminess from UK wind speed data is not straightforward due to the limitations of available data, and results should be treated with caution. The wind network on which Figure 60 is based comprises around 120 to 130 stations in the 1970s increasing to 180 stations in the 1990s before falling back to around 150 stations. Figure 60 has not been adjusted to take into account this changing network” Since Micheál Martin was probably thinking of climate change when he said the above, it's worth quoting from another recent RTÉ News article⁴: ”there is not that much research and agreement in relation to climate change and wind. Professor of Physical Geography at Maynooth University and climate expert, Peter Thorne, said there are vanishingly few studies that have come up with a definitive link between the frequency or intensity of windstorms and climate change. "That doesn't, necessarily, mean that there is no link, but it is important to be honest as to what we don’t know," he said.” [4]:

RTE.ie

RTÉ Weather - Forecast

Weather forecast by RTÉ and Met Éireann. Get the most accurate hourly and 7 day weather forecast for the Republic of Ireland and Europe with dail...

Sam Bidwell believes¹ the Southport murderer should be executed. He writes: “Parliament should pass an act which specifically authorises the death penalty for Axel Rudakubana. [...] There is no risk of “getting the wrong man” — this attack was well-documented, and Rudakubana pled guilty to the charges against him. His guilt isn’t just “beyond reasonable doubt” — it is beyond any doubt.” [1]:

The Critic Magazine

The case for execution | Sam Bidwell | The Critic Magazine

Exceptional times call for exceptional measures. In 1723, the German maestro George Frideric Handel was appointed as Composer of Music for King Geo...

I agree that the murderer should have been condemned to death, but I think the opportunity for doing so has passed. However, this crime should be the spur that leads Parliament to restore capital punishment in cases where the evidence of guilt is overwhelming. If Parliament attaints this killer, it will face pressure to do the same in future cases, where the evidence may be much weaker. In the next 30 years, this could easily lead to the execution of an innocent person.

I want to comment on the Department of Education's Gender Pay Gap Report¹ for 2024. [1]: https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/b1659-gender-pay-gap-report-2024/, published on December 19, 2024. Here are 3 quotes from that document: 1. “The Department of Education has made great strides in fostering gender parity across all senior management grades, with over 66% of senior managers being women.” 2. “As the Department has more women than men employed at almost all of the grades, the question could be asked as to why any gender pay gap exists at all.” 3. Under “Measures to address the gender pay gap”: “participation of Department staff at Dublin Pride and other Pride-related events”. And my comments: 1. If 66% of senior managers were men, would the Department be satisfied? Would it describe that state of affairs as “gender parity”? 2. Unless I'm missing something, that sentence is seriously innumerate. 3. What does participation in Pride have to do with the “gender pay gap”?

The housing shortage will last a long time. This would be true even if our underperforming state suddenly became a high performer. So we need a palliative for the short and medium term. I think the Irish government should pay Irish citizens to emigrate. Some traditional destinations for Irish emigration, notably the UK, are also short of housing. However, there must be foreign countries that have affordable housing and reasonable employment prospects. Lest we annoy the receiving countries, the scheme should disperse the emigrants so that they don't drive up the cost of housing too much. I don't expect the next government to adopt this idea. If they did, they would probably leave immigration unchanged, or even ramp it up (since many immigrants will accept worse housing conditions than the Irish), thus accelerating population replacement. Of course, as a nationalist, I want to see immigration reduce to a trickle, housing shortage or no housing shortage.

As anyone who follows Irish politics will know, the next government recently published a Programme for Government: https://www.finegael.ie/app/uploads/2025/01/Programme-for-Government-2025.pdf I will use this thread to comment.