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SINN FÉIN senator has called for Met Éireann and RTÉ to display the weather and alerts for entirety of the island of Ireland, instead of the just the Republic during emergencies.
Speaking after raising the issue in the Seanad, Senator Niall Ó Donnghaile said that when weather alerts are reported, they should be done so on an all-Ireland basis.
“It is a cause of great frustration when the north-east of Ireland is amputated from maps that are supposed to be about alerting people to adverse or emergency weather situations,” he said.
“This same frustration also applies the other way too, when weather agencies in the north ignore or leave out the rest of Ireland.
Weather knows no borders; neither should strategies that are meant to be about communicating the very real dangers of emergency weather situations.
Ó Donnghaile raised the issue in the Seanad with junior minister Damien English on Thursday.
English said that the government tried to “do that when we can while respecting all the different jurisdictions, who is in control in different areas and so on”.
In relation to emergencies, English said that responses were locally led in the first instance.
He said that a range of arrangements were in place between local authorities a relevant on both sides of the in order to “cover the response to major emergencies that may occur in Border areas”.
“As the Senator said, the line on the map is not recognised by weather events,” the minister said.
He laid out how various emergency services have agreements to communicate with and assist where necessary their counterparts on the other side of the border.
English also talked about the convening of the national emergency coordination group (NECG) during weather emergencies (as was the case recently during Storm Emma).
“The NECG coordinates the response measures in place and deals with emerging issues,” he said.
The NECG will arrange for relevant Departments and agencies to liaise with their equivalents in Northern Ireland as required.
Ó Donnghaile welcomed the minister’s response, but requested that “bodies like RTÉ and Met Éireann are instructed to adequately reflect the information which… is there and easily obtainable, and to let the general public see that it when they turn on their TVs or open the apps on their phones”.
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Maybe I am totally out of touch but realistically who can afford or justify spending that kind of money at Christmas? and I would hazard a guess that in many cases this is money that has been borrowed and then people put themselves under serious pressure for months on end trying to pay it back! I really do think that the concept of spending within our means has totally gone out the window. People need to take a big reality check and step back and realise that Christmas or indeed any other special occasion shouldn’t and indeed needn’t be about how much money is spent on presents, food, drink etc but on the quality of time we spend with loved ones.
@Mary Cullinane: i think the average household spends 2k per month usually the extra for december will be 800. They do not spend 2800 on christmas alone.
@Mary Cullinane: ah Mary you mean well but the turkey ain’t free and the sprouts, the ham, the nice wine, maybe some bubbles for nye, spuds roasted and normal, USA biscuits, quality street, USA biscuits for the neighbours, selection boxes, flowers for yourself, roses sweets, did I mention sprouts, socks and a cardy for random male, collection for mass, cans of harp for visitors, mixers for those not cheap spirits , stuffing, an Xbox, 3 Xbox games, new phone, a unicorn, some skincare product in a white box with a eye care lotion, new Christmas tree lights, tinsel, ya see Mary we’re up to 10k already but at least January is cold miserable and we can stay in and save money for Decembers madness.
@Derek ODwyer: spot on. Even says it in the story above. Spending in December will be a extra €866 over the average for the other months, so that’s the extra spend for Christmas.
@Chewey Bacca:
Hilarious! I laughed out loud… but HARP!!!!
I won’t be calling round to yours !
Good thing the the dole crowd got their Christmas bonus.
@Free Online Games: by the “dole crowd” are you referring only to the small minority who don’t want to work or are you including the majority who’ve been unlucky to loose their jobs recently?
@Of a break. Of a Kitkat.: I think of the cohort of unemployed people the majority are those that don’t want to work. Anybody that wants a job in Ireland will find one today if they really want one.
@Free Online Games: Pretty dumb thing for you to do in alienating your biggest customer group!
@Free Online Games: sure its tradition and tge apple money will cover it. Any online games going for free ? I heard larry the lounge lizard is a good one
@joe: true anyone can find a job. The problem is finding a job that will run your house, car, family and have a little left over for maybe an extravagance like house/life insurance, medical care, pension. Or maybe just a take away at the weekend.
@Free Online Games: So anyone on social welfare are on the dole as they don’t want to work . You do know Social Welfare receipants are people who are disabled , people with terminal illnesses and old age pensioners , circumstances beyond anybody’s control . Since you appear to know so much tell me how many people are on social welfare because ‘ they don’t want to work ‘ . And I assume when you reach old age you will not take the state pension as you too will then on social welfare . ! Idiot
@Kath Noonan: so do these jobs pay less than social welfare?
@Free Online Games: Even better..the retired baby boomers who broke this country got their bonus too…
@Free Online Games: you fuc#king pri#k
It’s not about the money, on Christmas morning look at all the people around you and be thankful for them. It’s the one day of the year you can all leave behind the rush of every day life, slow down and just spend time together. I have a brother abroad and it’s the one time of year we can all be together. No amount of money spent can match that feeling. I’ve lost my mother and a brother and believe me it makes you appreciate the loved ones left in your life. So from mine to yours, happy Christmas
@Cathriona Daley: the force is strong with this one. Happy Christmas Cathriona
Still lots of stuff way overpriced in shops. Go in the following week and items are half the price.
@shellakybooky:
Outside of food and drink I’ll do 100% of my shopping on line. I use address pal in the UK a lot. I dislike doing it but I dislike being taken for a mug even more. There’s a horrendous disparity in most retail prices here.
@Milk The Drones: same
@shellakybooky: but whats for christmas dinner or are you buying me a time machine
@Milk The Drones:
Heres your sister ! First Christmas ever I bought everything online from UK , including two Jack Murphy full length wax coats, made in Ireland, 130 Euro each here, 2 for 120 GBP ! And free delivery !!!!
Everything here is DOUBLE the price , from cofe pods to cars and we do nothing !
We need to get off our butts and March like the French …. for fair prices !
@shellakybooky: Including the Easter eggs?
I think this could be a strategy largely falsely promoted by the retail group and the gov to try and get people out to spend more money, larger profits and tax take by the both parties concerned.
@Adrian: no its christmas and has been like that since Jesus’s times. Remember Zacauhus the tax collector
Figures like this show just how big the gap is between rich and poor, that average isn’t some houses spending 2 grand and others spending 4, that’s the substantial majority spending far less and the elite spending obscene amounts. The one thing they have in common is most of the money is going to big companies, and will never be seen by your community again. If you’re going to waste money, at least waste it locally
@*The* Brendan Gordon: sure the turkey, ham and the cans of harp are born and bred local and the sprouts and the unicorns are rared in Cavan.
I think its more like, the “haves” will go out and spend an average of 2.7k, while the “have nots” will stay at home and won’t be counted.
@Adrian: My eyes are snowing tears
@Adrian: That’s not how averages work, I’m afraid.
So if it’s €866 more than on any other month, isn’t that the true figure of what’s spent in December
@@UK: but theres no craic in putting up correct stats
We are slaves to the market. to our wage slavery jobs. to mortgage slavery. and you can’t strike because you can’t join a union.
@Sean Conway: irish people like been slaves…why do u think we are part of the EU.
@restinginmyaccpaddy: yes lets ban christmas and leave the EU and setup a caliphate
@restinginmyaccpaddy: Reaganomics has got nearly every country to sell resources to the private corporates. and are at their mercy.
When they say the average household i assume they are talking about the average Wealthy families.
@Dave Barrett: no its the average household
@Chewey Bacca: well im one then. But i dont have or wont be spending what they say .
@Dave Barrett: An average means that 50% spend less and the other 50% spend more. It’s not a very useful metric on its own. It would be much more informative if they were to give a range of, let’s say, +1/-1 SD or talked about percentiles.
@Anne Marie Devlin: What you described is the median
@Anne Marie Devlin: Average is total amount spent divided by number of spenders.
I’ve already spent that on “buy 6″ wine specials in 137 supermarkets…
€2700 ?? 4 x kids ! – I wish
@Oliver Francis: dont forget the dog
@Chewey Bacca:
Cat !!
I am not the average household so !
I have no credit cards or loans because I could not afford to pay them back and my spending for Christmas will be about 1/10 if that
Nearly 3k on needless rubbish..have a thought for the people sleeping on the streets…i am sure a small percentage of that would be welcome to stay alive.
@restinginmyaccpaddy: should elon musk have not spent all that money sending a tesla into space ?
Give my family €20 tops, for a Christmas present, practical presents they can enjoy.
@Diogenes: maybe consider a few lottery tickets thrown in this year
I think that sounds rather like wishful thinking on behalf of the retailers.
I shall be making homemade presents for my family, whether they like it or not!!!!!!!
@Maggie O’Sullivan: make sure to post some pictures, you will make a fortune online when they go viral
@Chewey Bacca: do you think pots of homemade jam can go viral!!
@Maggie O’Sullivan: stick a wasp in them before closing the lid and they will. I’d love a jar myself , what flavours ya thinking ?
I wish I had €2690 to spend this Christmas…
Not a hope I will spend that amount of money
“He hoped that in the next few weeks consumers will “embrace the festival of shopping that the Christmas season brings”.’
What a crass sentiment.
@Fergus: By shopping online with… Amazon, so all the 2700 goes to the UK then lol.
For God sake!! Xmas is about Jesus christ ‘s birth!! Nothing else!!!
@Andre le Flohic: They should revise the date in that case.
@Andre le Flohic: It’s about the retail sector telling you if you want to be happy and fulfilled then spend, spend and spend. Like the old priests telling people to give all their money to the church until it hurts, its the same thing as people will believe anything to feel happy and the commercial Christmas brain washes people into this. That is why January is such an awful month as we realise that spending money at Christmas to be happy is a lie…
Retail group uses journal.ie to promote ridiculous spending by families who can’t afford it.
Is that total household spend or just Christmas specific spending?
Haha €2700 on what? These articles are designed to make you feel inadequate if you don’t spend ridiculous amounts of money on needless crap. Quick spend spend spend consume consume consume or the economy will tank…. Retail Ireland can fcuk right off
Yup 2650 they dont have cos rip off ireland will get in there first
Every December for the last 22yrs I take a day off work to spend with my aunt. Just home from this years trip. Shop til we drop and soak up the atmosphere from 9am til 7pm…love it.
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