Comhrá - the general chat thread

[JaneJeffer]

Hi Craicnetters!

I was looking for the other thread and see it's fallen way down the list so I decided to make a new one for all our daily musings ☘️

We had a huge one in the hallway a couple of weeks ago and none of us could catch him. He was speedy. I don't know where he is now.

My dh found a huge one in the sink a few days ago and he nearly shrieked and he isn't usually bothered by them.

Would the zoo like to know about it 😅

It's mating season for them.

You will have a creche in your house Jane!!

Oh! And the sun came out at 3.06pm. Woo!

Eek!

Hurrah!

https://youtube.com/shorts/MxMtI7_jaCY?si=VckBGGFCTOJN79-D
🥹

Is it too much to hope that the great and good have managed to work out how to set up a €14+ billion trust fund in such a way that it benefits all the countries in Europe that think they should have a slice of it? Called something conciliatory like 'the apple trust'.

Because I hate to think of them frittering it away on bike sheds for themselves.

Perhaps Daragh O'' Brien might get his as* in gear ( other Housing Ministers should have done the same in the past ) and build a few communities like was done back in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s when Ireland was a whole lot poorer than it is today - I'm thinking Crumlin, Marino, Drimnagh, Ballyfermot etc I'm sure the same was done in other cities and towns.
Also huge incentives for "over the shop" living in towns and cities all over Ireland. Those urban areas would reap the rewards @DeanElderberry

Also those children suffering because they can't get scoliosis surgery.

Children with special needs getting their educational needs met.

The people of the Mid West getting the A&E department in University Hospital Limerick sorted out for them so there is room for all the patients to be looked after.

The money is there now.

I reckon they'll squander it and have very little to show for it down the line.

Sadly I think you're right.

New government jet anyone €45,000000

I removed a spider the size of my hand from a roller blind the other day.
I've never seen one as big in real life.
I captured it in a plastic gadget - a wee jar with a magnifying lid to investigate minibeasts- that I got for the dc - a few years back and released the beast outside where it can hunt away for a female spider.

I was fearful I might miss the target when aiming the jar at it. It was a big 'un. But fortunately I caught it.

The money has been there to do those things for years, it's been the lack of will that has stopped them (as you say, look at the houses they built when the state was young), and it's disgraceful. UHL A&E is an all-round disgrace, and again, a big part of the problem is anyone being prepared to tackle the obstructions in the management and the consultants. Though repeatedly opening shiny new buildings that are too small to function properly has got very old.

But this particular lump of money should be spread around a bit for all sorts of reasons about keeping European relationships sweet.

Oh God the spiders - the one that landed on my hand yesterday was one of those cellar spiders, nice little body but enormously long spindly legs. Even the cat recoiled in horror (which was disobliging of her). I have inhibitions about harming or evicting spiders, but might just overcome them

Did anyone else see the article I just read in today's ( Saturday 14th ) Irish Times about assets and money owned by quite a few religious orders in Ireland.
Eyewatering sums.
Yet so many of them want to dodge the financial repercussions of appalling abuse both sexual and physical meted out to children and vulnerable adults in their care.

How can they reconcile this with their vows of poverty and their belief in Christianity- treat others as you would like to be treated ?

Those wee babies in Tuam, still not exhumed.
The boys in Blackrock etc.
The Magdalen Laundries.

Politicians have apologised in the Dáil but until they put their money where their mouth ls are and force the religious orders to pay up, their apologies are worth nothing.

When politicians come knocking on your door soon, please, please remind them that actions speak louder than words.

I won't forget the politicians or their political party who let them off the hook negotiated with the religious orders.

The politicians won't do a thing, and the religious orders (like the hospitals) will cling to the protections offered by the Charity Commissioners and their insurance companies' lawyers.

If the government had any integrity at all they would use this as the trigger to follow Finland's good example and abolish all private schools. Let the €13 billion cushion any shock that arises from that - long term the country will be much more stable without that divisive influence.

I struggled with where the commas were in the figures 😐 what alot of squillions

I can't read it because of paywall and it seems the IT isn't available on the library apps. They used to let you read a few free articles.

Given the low numbers of people in religious organisations nowadays who exactly has the money?

The pope is out there banging on about the American election and abortion instead of addressing what his church has done to countless children.

Can people please stop talking about spdrs?😱 Serious arachnophobia going on her here, and I'm afraid to open Craicnet now for fear of what horrors I'll read about!
Hasn't anybody got a sweet little kitten or puppy or gerbil they can post about instead of those... other things?

I did too !
Unbelievable sums.
Where did all the money come from ?
I know they sold land in the recent past but where did the money to acquire that land in the first place come from?
The numbers in religious orders have dropped like a stone so what will happen to the money when the religious order has no members ?

I think a lot of property was donated to religious orders by devout Catholics who had done well for themselves. The land/houses would have been donated specifically for educational/welfare use, so effectively it was being donated to the people, to be managed by the religious order in question.
When an order sells a donated house plus acres of land for millions of euros to developers for private use, it really rankles - that's not what the original donor intended, they assumed it would remain in public use.

A lot of the orders are international...I assume they have offshore accounts to deal with property.
If I was in charge I would nationalise it all.
Any time I look on rip there is a nun or priest or brother...there can't be many left.

Maybe anyone who has a daughter should encourage them to join the nuns. They could end up owning the lot 😂

On those programmes where people try to trace their mother nuns seemed to be meticulous in financial record keeping...and mothers often paid for the baby's keep.
Not so good on life admin...birth certs, medical records, fostering, planes to usa...death and burial records.

How true @eggandonion