Saturday, April 25, 2009

Irish Politics: KildareStreet.com

New web site (in Beta), Kildare Street.com, allows you to search Irish parliamentary debates (Dáil Éireann and the Seanad), among other things.

A search for "Jesus" found this gem during a debate on gambling legislation:

Dermot Ahern (Minister, Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform; Louth, Fianna Fail):
The FOBT issue is a tiny aspect of the overall matter. As someone who has hardly placed a bet in my life, I would like to have the knowledge of——

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour):
The Minister probably played the little baby Jesus in the nativity play.

The same query also found:


  • Liz McManus: "Jesus, you are fierce cranky, there is no doubt."
  • Ruairi Quinn: "Single party Government, no thanks. Jesus Christ."
  • Martin Cullen: "Jesus, Mary and Joseph."
  • Ruairi Quinn (again): "I draw the Taoiseach’s attention to a last minute 'Jesus we forgot something, we’d better get it in quick' instance."
  • (The winner) Joe Higgins: It further beggars belief that he could not give it back. Did the Taoiseach ever hear of a bank draft? This morning it took me two minutes to draft the letter the Taoiseach could send with it: 'Ah Jaysus lads, you’ll have me in huge trouble if you don’t take back the €50,000.'"

I found another good quote from Pat Rabbitte, "Sometimes one gets the impression that the Minister for Transport, Deputy Brennan, gives the same amount of thought to policy initiatives in transport areas as Britney Spears does to marriage."

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Music: Irish Artists On MySpace

Some current Irish acts on MySpace, with a recommended track for each: