Marking Time » Recent Comments

Recent Comments

susan rose on Clare Island at 9:46 am October 16, 2009:

Have just discovered that my husband's maternal ancestors came from Clare I sland. Hope to visit one day - but desperately searching for any info regarding the family. They came to Newcastle in the 1870's and 1850's? Theyare thr Ruddy family - some of the Ruddy family obviously still on the isalnd in the 20th century. Are they related? Can anyone help?

seamus on links for 2009-01-20 at 10:11 pm January 21, 2009:

What worries me most about the credit crunch, is that if one of my cheques is returned stamped ‘insufficient funds’. I won’t know whether that refers to mine or the bank’s

blo on links for 2008-12-12 at 7:35 pm December 22, 2008:

David Norris has alleged Ministerial Harrassment for raising this issue http://www.mamanpoulet.com/?p= 549

Mark Waters on links for 2008-12-12 at 11:00 pm December 14, 2008:

I can't disagree with that. Unfortunately human nature tends to treat people as members of groups rather than as individuals and that's where a counter action is required.

Belinda on links for 2008-12-12 at 4:09 am December 14, 2008:

I should add, and you need to treat people as individuals, not as members of groups.

Belinda on links for 2008-12-12 at 4:08 am December 14, 2008:

People need to focus on individual rights, not group rights. Focussing on equal outcomes invariably leads to individual injustice as groups tend to perform differently. For instance, in Dan Seligman's book 'A Question of Intelligence' he notes that East Asians tend to outperform whites on non-verbal elements in the tests (whether taken in the US, Asia, or the UK & also when adopted by non Asian families). So, expecting whites to be as represented in math/science professions per population seems unrealistic. Likewise, Ashkenazi Jews consistently score above average on psychometric tests. Not every group is going to be represented in the professions to the same extent. There is, however, overlap amongst groups so you can't imply much about an individual based on a group average. This is why insisting on equal outcomes rather than equal opportunity is beating up against human nature & evolution....

You article is very well written with great points. Its a pity that the entire country (west brits included) dont think along the same lines. As forDavid M's comment. I particularly hate cigarettes and smoking so I think that my taxes should not be spent on helping smokers recover from their self inflicted sickness. The government decide on where the money goes so leave off. You cant please all the people all of the time.

@Treasa: There's many things that could be done, the point is that it wasn't in the government's interest to do any of them. They rode the wave to its logical conclusion: smashed upon the rocks. For them to say that all this was unpredictable and based on factors outside their control is a lie.

[I deleted this entire post and the comment by accident and had to rebuild it so the dates are wrong].

Low interest rates could have been countered by regulatory tools. Instead, the Central Bank sat back and did nothing while the banks steadily diluted lending criteria to the extent where norms just didn't appear to exist any more. That being said, the Irish Times' holier than thou attitude is somewhat negated by the fact that they are regularly calling the bottom of a property market which is only starting into freefall in their property pages. In terms of learning stuff, human nature generally cannot get its head around the idea that there is no such thing as a free lunch. If we were the type to learn that lesson, the eircom flotation would have taught us all we need to know. Much of Ireland's property related blues can be traced back to the conviction that it's an easy way to make money.

virginia on Seals at Howth at 10:51 am June 11, 2008:

las fotos son muy bonitas yo ire el fin de semana que viene haber si las veo!!! porque creo que es un poco complicado

vicen on Seals at Howth at 10:50 am June 11, 2008:

I think It's a beautiful language. It is part of the culture of Ireland and I think it should be preserved. Slan go foihl.

Angela Flynn on Clare Island at 8:28 pm May 9, 2008: