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EVERY SATURDAY MORNING we take a look at all the best comments left on the site by our readers over the past seven days.
This week there was a lot of talk about gangland crime, the general election and Paul O’Connell’s retirement.
The 5 most popular comments this week
1. Shane Denham got 2,604 likes for this comment under a story about the fatal shooting of Eddie Hutch Senior, believed to be in retaliation for the killing of David Byrne.
Annnnnddddd… they’re off..
2. In relation to clashes at a protest held by anti-Islamic group Pediga, Brandon McGrane got 1,842 green thumbs for this comment:
I’m not saying these peoples ideals are right in anyway. But doesn’t everyone have the right to a peaceful protest?
3. The third most popular comment this week was cathal‘s effort under a post about Liverpool fans staging a walkout over ticket price increases:
In fairness to Mingolet, he showed solidarity with supporters and downed tools on the 77th minute aswell.
That one got 1,193 likes.
4. During the week Paul O’Connell announced his retirement from rugby. Some 1,124 of you approved of Irishoversea‘s description of O’Connell:
True Irish sporting legend..
5. After gardaí appealed for information in tracing a vehicle used in the shooting of Eddie Hutch Senior, Fred wrote:
Good luck to the Gardaí. Hopefully they are given the necessary resources to fight these criminals and bring them to justice.
That comment got 1,102 likes.
The top 5 articles which received the most comments this week
1. RTÉ cameraman injured in demonstrations on O’Connell Street (712 comments)
2. Retaliation: Eddie Hutch, brother of ‘The Monk’, shot dead in Dublin city (416 comments)
3. Sinn Féin wants to scrap the Special Criminal Court (306 comments)
4. ‘Get the f*** out of Wicklow’: Enda met his first protesters of the election today (261 comments)
5. As it happened: The first leader’s debate of the 2016 general election (257 comments)
Standout comments
During the week a seriously ill Australian boy was granted his wish to become a superhero like Iron Man, with police staging an elaborate event on the Sydney Opera House steps.
Jimmy Murphy wrote:
Wonderful superhero. Iron man is good too.
While, Spud added:
There is still hope for humanity lads. Great story indeed! :)
Richard Cynical was unimpressed by the Beyoncé/Coldplay/Bruno Mars half-time performance at the Super Bowl last weekend:
they have nothing on the garda band
Speaking of gardai, Leadóg Hackett has this to say after guards rescued swans confused by Storm Imogen:
The children of lir got out again.
Under another animal story – this time one about a rabbit the size of a dog, Rory Byrne wrote:
eeeeeeh….. whats up dog? (sorry).
No need to apologise, Rory.
After Donald Trump had a go at Pope Francis ahead of his visit to Mexico, Permo Dermo observed:
Trump seems to be pontificating more than Pope Francis these days
Meanwhile, Young Politician had this kind offer for the National Lottery as after it appealed for the winner of an unclaimed €500,000 prize to come forward.
I would be happy to take charge of the money until the rightful claimant comes forward.
A graphic clip from the latest Sasha Baron Cohen film got quite the reaction from an audience at Jimmy Kimmel Live.
It prompted Mick Power to write:
Thought they were watching tonight’s debate
(He’s referencing this, by the way.)
Finally, in a meta moment, here is last week’s COTW winner, Dylan, talking about his new-found status:
Hopefully the fame won’t go to my head.
Previous winner stephen had this to add:
I’ve won it several times, didn’t change me one bit, but I do find it easier to get seats at my favourite restaurants.
We’re happy to help.
See any good comments? Email them to orla@thejournal.ie.
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First went to London in the early 80′s working in bars , met so many Irish who hadn’t been home in years , men like these ….God rest them.
With the funds raised , it would be nice to bring them home to Cork and bury them in their hometown , together .
“They are believed to have been estranged for a number of years”. Being buried together might not be what they want!
I worked in London for 20years and there are a lot of old Irish over there who worked very hard in a time when Irish weren’t welcomed and have lost touch with home and have no family around , very sad .
RIP lads
An example of how disposable that generation of immigrants were for ireland. It really does seem we dumped people out like trash on the edge of english society.
Well austerity has managed to do the same to several generations in the last five years. This country likes to hurt it’s own
they have paid enough taxes and PRSI to cover burial cost
How did you work that out ? according to the article they went to London when they where about 18
Like many Irish people who have gone before me, I made North London my temporary home and saw some very sad cases of older generations falling through the gaps. Always lend support to London Irish Centre and other welfare organisations that provide support and comfort to people living in isolation. The once bustling Irish communities such as Kilburn, Cricklewood, Willesden etc are experiencing dwindling Irish populations that contribute to isolation of older people who might not be able to afford to move.
“Two Irish twins”? Two twins suggests four people, am I being pedantic? Don’t mean to be.
Pedantic and incorrect.
Pedantic?? More like D!ckhead
Joe, you’re not being pedantic. Pedantry is excessive or slavish attention to rules. You’re simply ignorant of the basic meaning of simple words.
“Two twins” simply means two people who are twins. It might be redundant, as the fact that they are twins tells us that there are two of them. But “twin” doesn’t mean “set of twins”, nor does “two” mean “four”.
the problem to me reading all these stories nowadays is that the effort should be put in before they die, I never heard too many complain about the size of their own funeral
When is the funeral. Ill go of I can get off work.
If I understand this correctly, the brothers emigrated in the mid-1950′s and since then their country of origin didn’t care about them – and they didn’t care about their country. In the intervening years they became estranged even from each other. This is sad, but why all the hullabaloo now, when they are dead?
Good point Rashers but a lot of time older Irish people feel that they cannot go back to Ireland for psychological reasons. They feel that Ireland has moved on, England being the country they lived most of their lives in and Irish people were not always accepted in this society either. Another thing is that Irish people sometimes feel that they didn’t make a success of their life over in England and couldn’t face going back home without a huge incinerate and having made a success of themselves. Not saying that this is the case here but it happens more often than not.
Unidentical I assume
Because the authorities do not want to pay for the funerals and that is a main reason for this?
have your say