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Ned O'Sullivan is not a fan of seagulls

A senator wants something done about 'raucous seagulls stealing children's lollipops'

“It seems the seagulls have lost the run of themselves completely,” Ned O’Sullivan said in the Seanad today.

A FIANNA FÁIL senator has called for the Minister for Environment to intervene and take action against seagulls in Dublin who he says are keeping people awake at night and stealing children’s lollipops.

Ned O’Sullivan said today that while he has nothing against pigeons he is “very much against seagulls”.

“I think something needs to be done to address the seagull problem here in this city,” he said during the Order of Business in the Seanad this morning.

O’Sullivan said it seemed that seagulls have “lost the run of themselves completely” and cited complaints from listeners on a recent RTÉ Liveline programme.

He also cited his own personal experience of living in an apartment block in the capital where he finds it “impossible” to get a night’s sleep because of the seagulls.

“They’re very raucous, they’re keeping people awake,” O’Sullivan said to muffled laughter in the upper house.

“I saw that they’re getting so cheeky now that they attack young children and dispossess them of their lollipops and stuff like that.”

O’Sullivan concluded his brief contribution on the issue by saying that seagulls appared more interested in eating human waste than looking for fish and called on Environment Minister Alan Kelly to examine what can be done.

Read: 8 creatures who are making your life hell at the moment

Read: Here’s the proof that seagulls are the devil incarnate

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79 Comments
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    Mute tk0CXKzL
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    Jul 17th 2014, 11:57 AM

    I’m starting to think voting to keep the Seanad was a bad idea

    595
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    Mute Boganity
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    Jul 17th 2014, 12:00 PM

    Once again FF with their finger on the pulse of whats important to the fate of this nation, they’re a solution looking for a problem

    378
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    Mute royston T justice
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    Jul 17th 2014, 12:36 PM

    If it wasn’t farcical I’d be in stitches right now..

    157
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    Mute Sinead Hanley
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    Jul 17th 2014, 12:56 PM

    Ya well someone would want to warn the gulls that its dangerous to fly while sucking a lollipop.

    198
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    Mute Stuart O' Hare
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    Jul 17th 2014, 12:57 PM

    Chasing a thieving seagull is like buying a lotto ticket. You haven’t got a fooking hope but you just can’t resist it.

    119
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    Mute Declan Conway
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    Jul 17th 2014, 12:58 PM

    A pressing problem that needs prioritising.

    Get the gatling.

    As for the birds…

    97
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    Mute Dr.No
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    Jul 17th 2014, 2:11 PM

    This is the same clown of a senator who voted for Jackie Healy Rae in “Celebrities gone wild” using Oireachtas phones.

    http://www.thejournal.ie/ff-senator-says-he-made-calls-in-support-of-healy-rae-166144-Jun2011/

    77
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    Mute Stephen murphy
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    Jul 17th 2014, 2:17 PM

    Has he said anything about animal welfare, the outdated laws and updating them?

    53
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    Mute Nosmo King
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    Jul 18th 2014, 12:28 AM

    You reap what you sow, ericm !

    2
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    Mute Shane Walsh
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    Jul 17th 2014, 11:57 AM

    Only in Ireland they worry about Seagulls stealing lollipops and not bankers stealing billions.

    424
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    Mute thejournalvigilante
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    Jul 17th 2014, 2:05 PM

    Honestly sick of that “only in Ireland” Idiot politicians everywhere NOT JUST IRELAND

    68
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    Mute ragnar daneskold
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    Jul 17th 2014, 4:21 PM

    ONLY IN IRELAND would you have people getting sick of being labelled of idiotic things happening only in Ireland.

    25
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    Mute thejournalvigilante
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    Jul 17th 2014, 6:33 PM

    ONLY IN IRELAND do you have to put up with broken locks on bathroom doors

    11
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    Mute Leanne Lynch
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    Jul 17th 2014, 12:21 PM

    This could be Waterford Whispers News and not look out of place.

    267
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    Mute Alan Patrick Traynor
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    Jul 22nd 2014, 12:57 PM

    “I suggest we replace Senator O’Sullivan with an “evolved” Kerry Seagull, and as they say: kill two birds with one stone!”

    Irish Poet – Alan Patrick Traynor

    3
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    Mute Dermot Lane
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    Jul 17th 2014, 12:13 PM

    They are raucous, noisy scavengers and they hang around all day on their perch, ready to swoop. And that’s just the senators.

    201
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    Mute Hippocrateeth
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    Jul 17th 2014, 11:58 AM

    Legislation to restrict these avian fiends to raucous squawking for no longer than three consecutive days with optional matinee squawking for the following two days is desperately needed in our city. DCC- ACT NOW.

    175
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    Mute Mark Houlihan
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    Jul 17th 2014, 12:24 PM

    The legislation is there to deal with it it’s just there isn’t enough guards and even when they do get them to court the judges let them off with a suspended sentence

    144
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    Mute Tony Le Blanc
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    Jul 17th 2014, 12:31 PM

    LOL. Cheers dude!

    32
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    Mute John
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    Jul 17th 2014, 12:13 PM

    I’ve nothing against birds in general but I don’t like seagulls as a race, they are sly, opportunistic, scavenging, and lazy. They set up camp and expect to live off our food and water, sometimes taking the lollies right out of our hands. As a member of the ‘coping class’ I’ve had enough of these immigrant birds coming on to land. Is the sea not big enough?

    128
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    Mute Chief
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    Jul 17th 2014, 11:59 AM

    Phew, i thought he said seagulls there for a while. silly me thinking that the main problem this guy has to address is annoying seagulls.

    83
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    Mute The whistler
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    Jul 17th 2014, 12:16 PM

    Are these seagulls even irish? I hear there’s an awful shower of them that came in from abroad

    78
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    Mute Dermot Ryan
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    Jul 18th 2014, 2:17 AM

    The word on the street is Nigeria , but say nothin’. You might be accused of being racist, we’ll keep it among ourselves !

    10
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    Mute fergalreid
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    Jul 17th 2014, 12:00 PM

    Secret ballot or not, I voted to get rid of this shower of gasbags. They belong on barstools, not in the picture gallery of Leinster House.

    70
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    Mute Andrew Nolan
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    Jul 17th 2014, 1:07 PM

    ‘O’Sullivan said it seemed that seagulls have “lost the run of themselves completely”’

    Yeah, they just don’t know their place anymore…bloody gulls even have the junkies and street trash running scared!

    This story has me picturing seagulls in leather jackets, hanging on street corners and acting like teddy boys like in musicals.

    53
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    Mute Niall Condren
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    Jul 17th 2014, 1:14 PM

    I finally feel represented… I too do not want to lose my lollipop

    53
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    Mute Hakuin Murphy
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    Jul 17th 2014, 12:17 PM

    If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire… The Croke Park Streets Committee
    *da da da daah, da da daah….*

    51
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    Mute Graham Kavanagh
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    Jul 17th 2014, 12:12 PM

    Fianna Fail legislating against vermin is like a turkey voting for Christmas. Can we not lay some traps down around leinster house to deal with the problem?

    50
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    Mute Mark Kelly
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    Jul 17th 2014, 12:38 PM

    Basically, he wants something done about seagulls because he can’t sleep at night. They’re not bothering anybody else.

    50
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    Mute tom stamp
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    Jul 17th 2014, 12:55 PM

    no – sure he said someone talked to Joe about it too.

    29
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    Mute Mary D'Arcy
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    Jul 17th 2014, 1:49 PM

    Beg to differ- gull gallivanting – all summer all night – chez moi! Hardly as important a news item as Garth Brooks i suppose…

    18
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    Mute Ariana
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    Jul 17th 2014, 11:58 AM

    They do talk about important stuff there.

    45
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    Mute Stephen murphy
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    Jul 17th 2014, 2:19 PM

    Talk is cheap, action gets things done.

    13
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    Mute Niall Mullins
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    Jul 17th 2014, 2:01 PM

    A tax on lollipops will surely sort that problem.

    38
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    Mute Revolution
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    Jul 17th 2014, 12:23 PM

    How about a cull of raucous politicians?

    37
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    Mute Aaron O Connor
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    Jul 17th 2014, 12:54 PM

    seagulls are nocturnal now are they? damn seagulls running foxes out of the job.

    36
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    Mute H Gethings
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    Jul 17th 2014, 12:57 PM

    If ever there was clearer argument for abolition of seanad, this imbecility from FF about seagulls takes the biscuit,or the lollipop

    31
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    Mute Mike Reid
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    Jul 17th 2014, 12:11 PM

    They better call in the seagull whisperer

    30
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    Mute Munster2014
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    Jul 17th 2014, 12:14 PM

    Probably better off calling Steven Seagull ;)

    67
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    Mute Tony Keely
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    Jul 17th 2014, 12:33 PM

    Send them around to Owen Keegan,he will tell them to be quiet for 3 days or maybe 4, then they will be pissed off and go away forever.

    29
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    Mute Dublinjonny
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    Jul 17th 2014, 11:57 AM

    Well that’s just awkward…..

    28
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    Mute Hippocrateeth
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    Jul 17th 2014, 12:12 PM

    Please tell me that was a pun on the seabird known as the awk.

    33
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    Mute Flash Gordon
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    Jul 17th 2014, 9:20 PM

    Auk !

    4
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    Mute Munchma Quchi
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    Jul 17th 2014, 12:03 PM

    You won’t be laughing when seagull plucks the eye out of some child’s head! There a menace and should be banned.

    27
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    Mute John B
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    Jul 17th 2014, 12:06 PM

    I can feel an Alfred Hitchcock movie coming on…

    52
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    Mute Shane Walsh
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    Jul 17th 2014, 12:12 PM

    Banned? What are they going to do stop them at the Irish border?

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    Mute Dave Butler
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    Jul 17th 2014, 12:15 PM

    How do you ban a seagull?

    61
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    Mute Shawn Rahoon
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    Jul 17th 2014, 12:30 PM

    In my days it would take a brave seagull or the pigeon to come within 50yards from you. They’ve no respect these days.

    59
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    Mute Munchma Quchi
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    Jul 17th 2014, 12:36 PM

    I’m sure a billion euro investment by our government would be enough to set up a Seagull patrol. This “Gull patrol” would then be tasked with shooting all Seagulls on sight. Helicopters kitted out with the latest in anti Gull technology would help in tracking the menace an ensure that people no longer live in fear of Seagull harassment the moment they step outside their front door.

    I don’t know why you’re all so eager to defend the Seagulls. Most of them aren’t even native Irish Seagulls, they fly here in their droves from Eastern Europe and North Africa as they see Ireland as a soft touch.

    52
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    Mute nutzen cider
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    Jul 17th 2014, 12:51 PM

    It’s not the Irish birds that are the problem, it’s them foreign birds with their loose morals and……oops, sorry, wrong board.

    55
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    Mute Ciarán FitzGerald
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    Jul 17th 2014, 1:06 PM

    That’s because 50 yards is the range and they can really feel the lead pellets

    7
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    Mute Joan Murphy
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    Jul 17th 2014, 7:19 PM

    Classic!

    1
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    Mute molly coddled
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    Jul 17th 2014, 2:01 PM

    Oh dear sweet lord what is scary is this idiot is actually serious.
    Mind you it didn’t stop me wetting myself laughing at the sheer idiocy of it.

    27
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    Mute N O'C
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    Jul 17th 2014, 12:54 PM

    Someone buy that clown a calendar – today is not 1st April.

    Also someone explain to him that issues like this should be dealt with at Local Authority level.

    26
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    Mute thejournalvigilante
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    Jul 17th 2014, 2:04 PM

    Seagulls have much of a right to be here as we do! Seagulls do more for Ireland than Ned O’Sullivan!

    This sort of idiotic attempt to garner media attention is pathetic.

    17
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    Mute Francis K. Éirefoto-AbbeyRow
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    Jul 17th 2014, 2:31 PM

    In December 2008, Senator Ned O’Sullivan sent silk ties (worth €25 each) to approximately 400 County councillors. He is the Fianna Fáil Seanad spokesperson on Transport, Tourism and Sport.

    In June 2011, it was revealed that 3,600 premium line votes from a phone in Leinster House at a cost of €2,600 to the Irish taxpayer helped Michael Healy-Rae win Celebrities Go Wild in 2007. O’Sullivan admitted making “around a dozen” calls and texts to support Healy-Rae after being asked to do so by Healy-Rae’s campaign manager.

    You’d need to pay heed to what this guy says. He’s a serious politician. ;)

    16
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    Mute Bigus Bear
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    Jul 17th 2014, 12:48 PM

    Man: Albatross! Albatross! Albatross!
    Customer: Two choc-ices please.
    Man: I haven’t got choc-ices. I only got the albatross. Albatross!
    Customer: What flavour is it?
    Man: It’s a bird, innit? It’s a bloody sea bird . .. it’s not any bloody flavour. Albatross!
    Customer: Do you get wafers with it?
    Man: Course you don’t get bloody wafers with it. Albatross!

    Classic Monty Python!
    However regarding Seanad, the joke is on us…..

    15
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    Mute Shane Mullally
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    Jul 17th 2014, 1:12 PM

    The chap is clearly for the birds!!..

    15
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    Mute Joan Murphy
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    Jul 17th 2014, 1:47 PM

    Really ? That’s the best he can come up with for the wages he’s on ? They really are just making a show of us ! Its getting beyond the beyond now .

    14
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    Mute Master Kaye
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    Jul 17th 2014, 3:08 PM

    This country is a living, breathing satire of democracy. Can it get any more embarrassing?

    12
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    Mute Stables Bar Carrigaline
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    Jul 17th 2014, 4:25 PM

    It’s a valid point to be fair. Some of the wildlife in this country are running wild. Those hedgehogs are a health and safety nightmare for a start.

    12
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    Mute Éanna™
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    Jul 17th 2014, 1:49 PM

    Calm down Mr. O’Seagullivan !!! ……………………………sorry couldn’t resist. But seriously we only have ourselves to blame by electing idiots like this. The country falling apart at the seams and this is the best they can come up with. Pitiful stuff

    12
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    Mute Jon Mackey
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    Jul 17th 2014, 3:55 PM

    That’s what happens when you build apartments where seagulls lived before you did. Welcome to Dublin senator, a port town

    11
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    Mute Jennifer Hislop
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    Jul 17th 2014, 3:23 PM

    Ned, if you’re reading this, I’ve got a rock here that keeps seagulls away, I’d be happy to sell it to you :)

    11
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    Mute Conor Quane
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    Jul 17th 2014, 1:48 PM

    Perhaps set up a new ministry to deal with this crisis? Pat Rabbitte could return to the Cabinet as Minister for Defense Against Seabirds?

    11
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    Mute Alan landers
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    Jul 17th 2014, 1:33 PM

    Totally agree with the senator, these birds are an outrage and must be stopped at all costs

    10
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    Mute Emma Billane
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    Jul 17th 2014, 1:24 PM

    Ridiculous

    8
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    Mute Alan Lyle-Stirling
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    Jul 17th 2014, 3:22 PM

    What a feckin Moron.. No wonder people around the world shake their heads when they see the carry on back home in Ireland.. Bloody embarrassment.. :(

    7
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    Mute Dermot Mc Loughlin
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    Jul 17th 2014, 7:59 PM

    Proof….if anymore was needed….that this country is being ruled by absolute shitheads.

    5
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    Mute Mary D'Arcy
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    Jul 17th 2014, 1:45 PM

    Well having been kept awake half the night, with screaming seagulls, I cannot concur with you screaming hordes…

    5
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    Mute Paul McNevin
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    Jul 17th 2014, 8:53 PM

    I saw a woman(& her dog) attacked by a seagull in Fairview yesterday. They are hovering in 10s & 20s at night.

    4
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    Mute Dave Doyle
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    Jul 18th 2014, 5:32 PM

    I think i’d tolerate a seagull stealing children’s lollipops than a politician stealing children’s medical cards.

    3
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    Mute Vic
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    Jul 17th 2014, 5:05 PM

    Is this real or a Waterford whisperer article??

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    Mute mitch connors
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    Jul 19th 2014, 10:10 PM

    Ha ha , this is nearly as that idiot with the statement about the gondolas on a lake in Kerry . Anyone remember that one ?? A famous tv show was called after it ” don’t feed the gandolas “. ????

    1
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    Mute Anne Carr Khan
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    Jul 17th 2014, 5:11 PM

    Capture the lot of them & let them loose in Leinster House…only problem we will have to wait until mid Sepember now until the fat cats return from their “school holidays”!

    1
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    Mute Alan Patrick Traynor
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    Jul 22nd 2014, 12:55 PM

    “I suggest we replace Senator O’Sullivan with an “evolved” Kerry Seagull, and as they say: kill two birds with one stone!”

    Irish Poet – Alan Patrick Traynor

    1
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    Mute Derry Cullen
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    Jul 18th 2014, 12:17 AM

    I don’t Have the energy or the inclination to post a Shakespearian reply to this Rockape but suffice to say that he needs to get his priorities in order. Cop on for fecks sake

    1
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