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Updated 9.05am
DAMIEN ENGLISH, the junior education and jobs minister, caused a bit of a stir when he went on Prime Time last night with what appeared to be a few notes scrawled on his hand.
English was on with Miriam O’Callaghan and the Socialist TD Ruth Coppinger to talk Irish Water and was, predictably, defending the government while admitting mistakes had been made.
As he gesticulated it became apparent there was something written on his hand.
Cog notes? A shopping list? Or some other form of reminder? No one is quite sure and that includes the Minister himself who was at a loss to remember what it was.
“I’ve no idea, I write on my hand all day, every day. There was a shopping list on there and probably bits to do with the day,” English told TheJournal.ie this morning.
“I can hardly read my own writing so good luck to anyone trying to decipher that,” he added before joking that he’d “better go wash my hands now!”
Even if it’s impossible to tell what it was there have been some suggestions rolling in on Twitter…
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If you have no idea what the cause is how can you rule out terrorism?
@Walt Jabsco: Because, as I’ve read from other sources, no traces of explosives have been found so far, and the pilot had refused to undergo the deicing procedure, as well as the aircraft maintenance company is under investigation for not following procedure in regards to oil change and air filter replacement.
@Larissa Caroline Nikolaus:
Terrorism might be unlikely, but until such time as the precise cause has been established (which it hasn’t yet) how can anything be ruled out?
@Larissa Caroline Nikolaus: “oil change and air filter replacemenr”? Are you having a laugh?
@Walt Jabsco: In that case you can’t rule out exploding mutant gerbils either.
@Dazz: There little ba***rds them gerbils .They get everywhere
@Ger Healy: Why, do you think airplanes magically maintain themselves, and don’t require oil, or air filters?
The Russian prosecutor’s office launched criminal proceedings for suspected violations of air traffic safety rules. They found reports that the airliner had been banned from operating international routes in 2015 and had resumed operation after it changed its policy in 2016. Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Transport (Rostransnadzor) stated that during their examination on the accident aircraft, the airliner had violated the procedure of the oil change in the gearboxes and the washing of the air starter filter.
from: “СК возбудил дело после крушения Ан-148 в Подмосковье”. РИА Новости (in Russian). 11 February 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
Does terrorism have to be mentioned now with every tragedy
@Shaun Gallagher: Unfortunately it’s indicative of the world we live in that it must be considered. To dismiss it and refuse to consider it as a possibility smacks of political interference and indicates it may be the real cause.
@Shaun Gallagher: Only in western countries….the phony war of terrorism.
Interesting name in the passanger manifest. Vyacheslav Ivanov.
@PutinBot 5000:
Doubt it’s the same one that died last october though…
@Walt Jabsco: Vyacheslav Ivanov-Rosatom-Clinton-Uranium.
@PutinBot 5000: Fake news. The Rosatom lad’s name is Vyacheslav Pershukov Alexandrovich (b. 1958).
https://rosatom.ru/en/about-us/governance/management-board/pershukov/
The guy on the plane, Ivanov, was born in ‘86.
You’ll need better sources than /r/TheDonald, brother.
@Malachi: Thanks bro. You’re like a Qi elf :-)
@PutinBot 5000: Lol
I do hope the de-icing was carried out correctly pre flight.
Unfortunately many Russian pilots have a terrible reputation for skipping this vital procedure.
https://youtu.be/5GIU94dg1ek
have your say