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Smoke rises from the scene of the explosion at the fertiliser plant in West, Texas on Thursday Andy Bartee/AP/Press Association Images

Top readers' comments of the week

Here’s our round-up of the best, the most interesting and the most commented-on pieces from the past week. Did you make it in?

EVERY SATURDAY MORNING we like to take a look at all the best comments left on the site by you lot over the past week.

This week there was a lot of talk about a number of major stories: the inquest into the death of Savita Halappanavar, the bombs at the Boston Marathon, the rejection of Croke Park deal by unions, the explosion at the fertiliser plant in Texas and the funeral of Margaret Thatcher.

So here, in no particular order, are the standout comments from the week that was.

The top 5 articles which received the most comments this week

1. Croke Park II rejected as SIPTU, INTO, Unite and INMO vote No (341 comments)

2. Massive manhunt underway for ‘dangerous’ second Boston bomber (284 comments).

3. Thatcher: “You can’t trust the Irish, they are all liars” (279 comments)

4. Howlin responds to Croke Park II rejection, says ‘the arithmetic hasn’t changed’ (249 comments)

5. Three dead, 140 injured in Boston Marathon blasts (234 comments)

Some of the best comments left on the site this week

A lot of readers were unimpressed with the suggestion from a Mayo councillor to ban people from wearing hoodies in a bid to deter crime. Damien O’Connell was succinct:

This sounds just like Charlton Heston calling for the ban of trench coats after the Columbine high school massacre. . .

This week there were claims that some survivors of the Magdalene laundries are still under the care of religious orders and have not been made aware of the possibility of receiving some kind of compensation. Cliodhna O’Sullivan described how she had encountered women who had been institutionalised for their entire lives:

Saddest week of my general nurse training was spent in a lock up ward in a physciatric hospital in ’91 four women in there who had become pregnant had their babies taken from them were effectively locked up for the rest of their lives given drugs they didn’t need.

This column by 26-year-old graduate Aoife O’Connor about how she tried to do everything right but still can’t get a job rang a bell with a lot of people. Bernie Groom posted this comment about how hard she has to fight just to get through the day right now:

My heart goes out to you and I know exactly how you feel. Both myself and my husband are job hunting and have many rejection letters, phone calls and e mails, the latest today.

We also have done everything right to no avail. We don’t have the luxury of moving someplace else what with children in secondary school and one in university plus elderly parents living nearby with no other family to care for them.

I am at my wits ends we are living minute to minute not even having the luxury of living day to day. I never thought in a million years that this is where we would be at this stage of our lives. With no hope on the horizon of anything changing for the better.

Not sure how much more rejection I can take or how much fight I have left in me anymore. If it wasn’t for our children don’t think I’d still be here.

You might feel like you know the ever-huggable president Michael D Higgins who celebrated his 72nd birthday this week – but you’ve probably never had the experience that Helen Clifford has:

He goes to the same dentist as I do. You’ve never felt stoned until you’ve been injected with painkillers before having a wisdom tooth pulled, sent to the waiting room while it sets in and then Michael D. appears.

Masked raiders escaped with €500k worth of rhino heads and horns from the National Museum Archive this week. John Mullen described how there are gradual changes to the practice:

I live in Holland and this subject was discussed at length here recently in the wake of a spate of similar incidents throughout Europe. If there’s a positive side to this it is that the recent spate of similar thefts Europe wide must be a reflection of increased success at stopping the poachers at source. The game wardens are involved in a sometimes deadly game of cat and mouse with the poachers and suffer relative to their number serious casualties in their struggle to protect endangered species such as rhino elephant’s and gorillas. Good to see their efforts are beginning to bear fruit.

The 5 most popular comments on the site this week

1. The most popular comment this week came from Gary Dunn as one by one, the major unions voted against the extension to the Croke Park pay deal. His comment got 1,338 thumbs up:

Im in the private sector and i hope you all vote no to this deal.

2+3: This is unprecedented in the history of Comments of the Week: both the second AND third most popular comments this week came from one user in one thread. Here’s what happened (because it needs some explaining).

On the article about how an episode of Family Guy was withdrawn after internet users spliced clips of it together to make it seem as though the show referenced the Boston Marathon attacks, Colm Connolly got 1,188 thumbs up for this:

I was under the impression every one had heard

Two users got involved:

Heard what?
DON’T!

Leaving Colm to deliver the punchline (and get 1,134 thumbs up in doing so):

Well everybody’s heard about the bird, I said bird bird bird, bird Is the word ……….

For everyone scratching their head right now – which is probably a lot of people – here’s the context, which was helpfully provided by David Higgins on the thread:

(Video: FoxBroadcasting/YouTube)

4. Getting back on track, the fourth most popular comment came from Joseph Wearen on this article about the new insolvency guidelines for people in massive debt, which received 881 thumbs up:

So the banks are running the country and not the, or any government? The banks will dictate how much a person/family will be allowed to live on? This is democracy when unelected private companies assume the role of dictator? The government should be dissolved immediately as it is not fit for purpose and obviously has no executive power whatsoever except to rubberstamp EU/ECB and other banks’ policies. A Vichy Government in thrall to an occupying force, contrary to the Irish Constitution and therefore guilty of treason.

5. A survey by AA found that people in Offaly are most likely to fill their car with the wrong fuel while young women living in Laois are most likely to cause a flat battery by leaving their car lights on. Or, as Maeve Dempsey found out (and got 857 thumbs up for):

And if you’re a female, aged 26, called Maeve, from Waterford and living in the West, then you’ll probably manage all of the above at once, on a miserable Sunday in May, having bought your car on the Saturday…

(Michael D Higgins image via Photocall Ireland)

If you spot any good comments during the week, let us know! Mail christine@thejournal.ie with any suggestions for next week’s list.

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42 Comments
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    Mute Dave Barrett
    Favourite Dave Barrett
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 2:42 PM

    Just ban celebrities.

    400
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    Mute Martin Galvin
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 8:02 PM

    @Dave Barrett: If people are calling for a ban on the overpaid court jesters from promoting junk food, they need a good hard look at themselves ….. The fact that they think that their children, or themselves, are influenced by this, says more about their fragile-mindedness than anything else …. By the way, it’s not your ‘glands’, you’re just eating too much crap, and if your kids are constantly asking you for junk food, just say ‘no’ …. They’ll thank you for it in later life…. Own your lack of assertiveness….

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    Mute Anna Carr
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 8:48 PM

    @Dave Barrett: lol

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    Mute Dian
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 2:40 PM

    Majority? No one asked me …

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    Mute HonestGrump
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 2:53 PM

    @Dian: Me neither.

    Did any Journal reader get asked?

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    Mute Nollaig Kelly
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 5:38 PM

    @Dian: not me

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    Mute HonestGrump
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 7:18 PM

    @HonestGrump:

    Four hours have passed and not a single person has said they were asked the question.

    It’s clear this is just another bullish!te article invented by the useless reporters of this rag.

    13
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    Mute Mjhint
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 2:43 PM

    Bán them from expressing their political opinions as well.

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    Mute Edmund Spencer
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 3:58 PM

    @Mjhint: Generally I’m in favour of less regulation on most things but I’d absolutely stand behind this being signed into law.

    34
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    Mute Contrary Mary
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 2:48 PM

    I’m more concerned with celebrity changing impressionable young minds’ attitudes on illegal drug use, sexuality and body image issue, thanks for asking.

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    Mute The Grand Nagus
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 2:56 PM

    That’s a mighty fine burger.

    108
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    Mute Harriet Shields
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 3:20 PM

    I’d prefer to ban them from promoting diets and wellness merchandise that has not scientific backing what so ever.

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    Mute Cynical
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 2:58 PM

    But we still advertise alcohol during sporting events, surely a burger and fries is much healthier than that?

    60
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    Mute Robert O Farrell
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 3:22 PM

    First off the dreadful Snoop Dog Just Eat ads need banning. We’ve all suffered enough this past year or so.

    73
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    Mute Brian Kelly
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 2:39 PM

    Jesus I would love some junk food right now (licking my lips) at that wonderful picture of a double burger & chips! Yummyyyyyyyy!!!!

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    Mute Richard Cronin
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 2:47 PM

    @Brian Kelly: I have a hankering now some spicy chicken wings & chips

    34
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    Mute Charmaine ☘ Irish
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 3:03 PM

    @Richard Cronin: me too.. think Eddie rockets burger, chips and wings with franks hot sauce.. definitely getting it now..

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    Mute Mike
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 3:32 PM

    @Charmaine ☘ Irish: Sold…Takeaway for me tonight

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    Mute Mirabelle Stonegate
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 3:54 PM

    @Brian Kelly: I had a big plate of chicken fried rice for lunch.. it was yummy! and surprisingly, not that unhealthy!

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    Mute Proudly Italian
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 3:06 PM

    How ridiculous… just teach kids to eat well, starting from school. But not just ‘banning’ sweets from their lunch box, I mean real eating lessons. Then, they can enjoy some junk food every now and then…

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    Mute Mirabelle Stonegate
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 3:59 PM

    @Proudly Italian: If people learned to cook properly, some things considered junk can be rather healthy.

    I had chicken fried rice for lunch today. I used a packet of microwave coconut chicken from aldi (no additives, nothing unexpected), and then added some leftover roast chicken, soya sauce, spicebag seasoning and an egg.

    Rice in the pan first. Toss in the seasoning. Then the soya sauce and chicken. Lastly, push everything to one side, scramble the egg, then mix it through for a couple of minutes. I probably used a tablespoon of oil at most. Likely, I used less.

    I regularly eat egg fried rice for lunch. Most of the time, it’s just leftover rice from dinner the night before. Today though, I needed to stay off wheat, and didn’t want wheat free pasta again.. so I grabbed one of those microwave packs of rice in aldi this morning, and threw this together. If I wanted to, I could have thrown in veg of some sort, but I wasn’t in the mood for veg.

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    Mute William Tallon
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 4:07 PM

    @Mirabelle Stonegate: I’d consider changing my diet if I were you as it seems to have given you a bad case of logorrhoea…

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    Mute Eamonn Martin
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 4:14 PM

    @Proudly Italian: Fully agree. Cancel culture has gone mental. Educate people and then let them make their own decisions.
    This goes for way more than just food. Please stop the bad man on tv making me do the bad things and now I’m all sad. Weak people ask for these things.

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    Mute Mirabelle Stonegate
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 5:20 PM

    @William Tallon: why? Because I wasn’t in the mood for veg for one meal? That’s not going to cause significant issues in fairness.

    My favourite thing to make is pizza. I make homemade dough for the base. Then its topped with veg and a little meat. The next day, any leftovers get made into either a fried rice or pasta dish which actually tends to stretch to two meals. I usually put red pepper, spinach, corn and pineapple on my pizzas, as well as plain tomato puree. Yes,I’m a pineapple on pizza person.

    Also, being both wheat and lactose intolerant, its very easy to keep myself.. regular. In fact, I’ve currently having a few days of detoxing from wheat atm, because I’ve somehow had far too much lately.

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    Mute William Tallon
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 6:10 PM

    @Mirabelle Stonegate: Logorrhea on steroids or maybe it’s meant as a parody of pompous food columnists that’s unfortunately fallen flat like a bad soufflé…

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    Mute Seeking Truth
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 5:00 PM

    Are celebrities the real reason we overeat? I do not think so. Loads of other reasons.

    19
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    Mute Craic_a_tower
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 4:05 PM

    How many celebrities promote the spraying of toxic chemicals on your self at an overly inflated price to production? 3% of the population are allergic to perfume after all. They also promote environmentally damaging products and fast disposable fashion.

    20
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    Mute Tomo
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 5:02 PM

    Who cares? Educate people on the risks. We don’t learn about much to do with life in school (taxes, cooking, germ theory, personal hygiene, drug use, etc). Educate people seriously about these things and peoples’ behaviours will change. That’s the only way to tackle this. Some people really don’t understand dietary requirements that their body need to prosper.

    Let adults consume whatever they want. Education is the key to most problems.

    17
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    Mute Tarraing Mo Liathróidí
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 4:55 PM

    I’d prefer celebrities and the Z list knock off celebrities RTE usually find for the late late or their radio shows banned before banning them promoting junk food, cos their personalities and talent is as bad for your health to watch as a big Mac

    18
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    Mute JustMeHere
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 3:07 PM

    Riveting stuff….

    11
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    Mute Peter B
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 6:15 PM

    I really feel like eating a burger and chips after reading that……..I’m off Burger King for a Rebel Whopper

    9
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    Mute Nollaig Kelly
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 5:38 PM

    Get kids off their arse and away from video games and off social media and then let them go outside and run around
    I grew up in the 70s and most things we ate would be seen as unhealthy today. Frying in lard everything seemed to have added sugar if it didn’t we added it, but very rarely was there fat kids as I said above we got outside and ran around and so on
    Today people want to blame everthing but the problem

    24
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    Mute Anna Carr
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 8:56 PM

    @Nollaig Kelly: well said. I saw a program of kids playing on the street in the 70s and the boys bomming up and down on their Rally choppers and girls playing skipping with their dad’s tow rope, elastic, and clapping hands against one another’s hands and just wonderful memories. We were so happy

    6
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    Mute Anna Carr
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 8:51 PM

    Ffs what difference will that make. If ppl want to drink they’ll drink. If they want to smoke they’ll smoke. If they want to be grossly unhealthy and feed their kids junk they’ll do that. Banning celebrities isn’t going to change anything. I’m annoyed that I can’t get points on my clubcard anymore from alcohol, that’s how I used to get great vouchers haha.

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    Mute William Tallon
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 2:53 PM
    6
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    Mute Sense of Doubt
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 7:49 PM

    Pity they couldn’t extent it to a ban on them expressing ill understood trendy political views. It would make the world a little bit more bearable.

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    Mute Eoghan Deegan
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 6:27 PM

    Probably more to do with being sick of seeing those people on TV, and less to do with the food!!

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    Mute Brian Flavin
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    Apr 22nd 2021, 6:05 PM

    Who care. Won’t ban

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    Mute thesaltyurchin
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    Apr 23rd 2021, 8:27 AM

    “can’t understand it, ban it”

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