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Shareholders at the Irish Continental Group AGM this week Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland

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 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 the RTE Prime Time investigation into mistreatment of children in creches, the property tax deadline, the unexpected sunshine, contaminated cannabis, and the definitive list of the greatest Irish biscuits.

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. Column: I have always considered myself pro-choice but I can’t support the proposed abortion bill (294 comments)

2= Anger as RTE Prime Time shows mistreatment of creche children (246 comments)

2= Irish biscuits: A definitive ranking from worst to best (246 comments)

4. Swedish riots ‘should serve as a wake-up call’ for Ireland (232 comments)

5. Which TDs did not pay the property tax by the final deadline? (231 comments)

Some of the best comments left on the site this week

(Pete Burrows/Flickr/Creative Commons)

Sound people got a lot of love in the comments this week. This article about some of the soundest people in the world got commenters talking about some of the nicest things they’d seen people do. Some of the best included this one from Derek Hynes…:

I was living abroad and working in a bar and restaurant. These two lads from Liverpool came in every evening for a few pints,
One day I was all over the place. They were having a good laugh at me and asked what’s up with you today? I told them my parents just rang from the airport and they were about to visit for the first time. I was all excited.
Finished work, had a four course meal with my parents and when I went to pay was told that the two lads had settled the bill.

… and this one from Chloe Coyle:

Found a handbag in a shopping centre a few months ago, it was a middle aged woman’s bag with 2 grand in cash inside. There was no phone but I was able to find her address from a letter inside, went to her house and she was in tears.. Gave her the bag and she said she was going to book a flight to Australia to see her new grandchild . She tried giving me 100 euro but couldn’t take that. Wished her well and gave her a hug. Sad to think if someone else had of found the bag they prob wouldn’t have gave it back and that woman wouldn’t have met her grandchild.

Awkward autocorrect moment of the week: Well, there were a lot of them on this article, but Ed Forrest – or at least, his mam – had one of the best/worst:

-your great gran aunt passed away, lol
-mam whys that funny?
-its not funny what do you mean?
-lol means laugh out loud…
-oh no i thought it meant lots of love! Iv texted everyone, oh god I have to ring everyone back

The list of Ireland’s most popular baby names has had some strange additions this year – including Logan. David Murphy was pragmatic:

If I heard someone had called their child Logan because of the Gilmore Girls I would slag the shit out of them. If, however, they had named their son Logan after Wolverine they would get a high five.

If you’re planning on holding a barbecue this bank holiday weekend, here’s some sage cooking advice from Damien Chaney:

Cooking on a BBQ is straight forward enough once you use the right timing/drinking method
Burgers and sausages take 2 beers
Chicken and pork 3 beers
A whole chicken 5 beers and one in the chicken
And remember people you can always add an extra beer on to your cooking time if you like

The RTE Prime Time investigation into mistreatment of children at some creches angered a lot of commenters, particularly parents. Some criticised people who work in creches – but in this comment, childcare worker Jenni Hynes explained why her job means so much to her:

Dan, as a parent and childcare worker I can state that it is certainly possible to care for other children as you would your own. No the love, to the degree of intensity that one loves one’s own children, is not there, but there is certainly tenderness, compassion and a deep sense of caring for and enjoying the company of the children we are entrusted with. It’s not simply a matter of ‘keeping calm’ (which comment implies that all parents who love their children manage to stay calm at all times). It is a job requiring empathy, energy, organisation, understanding of the individual wants, needs and abilities of each child, and the skills to provide for these individual demands. Is this not identical to what good parents do? Just as I see good and ‘challenging’ (as we say in childcare!) in my own children, so too I have seen the good and not so good in the children I have cared for over more than a decade. I have found reason to like every one of those children and yes, reason to love many of them. Every decent childcare worker in the country could say the same. Please do not pass comment without knowledge of what we do and how we feel.

Finally, who knew that biscuits could be so divisive? Earlier this week we published a definitive(ish) list of the greatest Irish biscuits – and readers were outraged. Many questioned the exclusion of Chocolate Kimberleys, while George Sheils got almost 190 thumbs up for this comment detailing the flaws in the list:

Michael, I’ve got to hand it to you that you’ve had the journalistic courage to investigate this topic. I’m surprised that no one else has thought of doing a top twenty list of biscuits. So, fair dues to you.

However, your study is somewhat incomplete.

Quite apart from so shocking omissions (No Fig Rolls, No lemon Puffs etc), I’m really disappointed that you didn’t add a paragaph on HOW to enjoy your biscuit.

For example, it takes quite a bit of creativity, dexterity and skill to remove the outer chocolate covering of a Club Milk for instance, without damaging the biscuit sandwich beneath. First one has to nibble away the four corners (quite easy) but removing the chocoate along the sides is more difficult and as for trying to remove the layer along the front and back well, that takes unreal skill !

Oh, and you ignored mentioning how difficult it is to time precisely how long it takes to dunk a Ginger Nut without the biscuit becoming so soggy that it drops off into the cup. People need to know this kind of stuff.

The 5 most popular comments on the site this week

1. First up, the most popular comment this week came from cullen11 on the article about annoying things men say to women. More than 1,210 people agreed with his/her suggestion for something to never, ever say:

You’re turning in to your mother

2. Sarah Walsh had the second most popular comment this week, with 1,172 people agreeing with her comment beneath an article about how the average weekly earnings for a worker in Ireland is now €697 a week:

Dunno who came up with those figures I’m earning nowhere near that

3. Also on that article about pay, Eileen Dover got 991 thumbs up for this point:

So the boss earns 200k per year. The cleaner earns 20k per year. The average pay is 110k. Would that be about right?

4. In fourth place this week, and a strong contender for good deed of the week, was Seany McDonagh, who got 942 thumbs up for describing what he did when he was asked to jailbreak a phone:

Got handed a phone to jailbreak and unlock a few months back. Seen loads of pics of a girl and her newborn child, also pics of an elderly person I’m hospital. Told the person I was keeping it and sending it back , obviously rang “mam” in it to find out where to send it . Almost 500 pics on it , ya can feck off if ya think I’m gonna mess with someone’s personal photos

5. Last but not least, rounding out the top 5 this week was The Descolada with 907 thumbs up for this comment beneath the article on the man who wrote a letter to AIB to explain why he was closing his account with them:

Right on my man. I’m paying off the last of my loan with them this week then getting the f*** away

Spot any good comments? Let us know: Email christine@thejournal.ie with any and all suggestions for next week’s comments of the week.

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28 Comments
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    Mute Adam Walsh
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    Jan 7th 2015, 7:30 PM

    The only current affairs programme in the world that’s comedy gold

    223
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    Mute Dermot Lane
    Favourite Dermot Lane
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    Jan 7th 2015, 8:17 PM

    Yeah Druid but he can fixate on things sometimes and be a bit of a bully, but always watchable

    55
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    Mute Juninho
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    Jan 7th 2015, 10:25 PM

    I love Vincent but agree he occasionally catches onto the wrong detail in an argument and let’s more serious issues slip. But by and large a great asset to this country.

    30
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    Mute Dermot Ryan
    Favourite Dermot Ryan
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    Jan 7th 2015, 7:41 PM

    Vincent Browne deserves a Political Pension – He has done more for democracy in Ireland than all of Ff fg and lab in the current Dail – i.m.o.

    This is a clip of him giving it to Bertie …. a set of questions that is ….

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6tQN6H_tVY

    105
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    Mute Denis Maher
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    Jan 7th 2015, 7:48 PM

    Two words guaranteed to leave enda Kenny needing an urgent change of underpants……….Vincent brown.

    98
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    Mute Wexford pikeman
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    Jan 7th 2015, 7:48 PM

    Oh Vincent Brown, of all the Vincent Browns in the world, your the Vincent Browniest .

    86
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    Mute gumbridge
    Favourite gumbridge
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    Jan 7th 2015, 7:54 PM

    VB is a national treasure.
    I watched him for the first time in a while last night.
    I don’t think he’s back to the full of his health since the pneumonia, but he seems even more crotchety and abrasive with his guests than ever before.
    May he get to do MANY more shows, and continue putting it up to sleeveens wherever they present themselves.

    64
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    Mute Gus Sheridan
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    Jan 7th 2015, 7:55 PM

    This man is a hero of mine!

    48
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    Mute Eimear Cregg
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    Jan 7th 2015, 7:50 PM

    Would love if they replayed some of the Mario Rosenstock clips ! Comedy gold

    40
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    Mute ConcernedCitizen
    Favourite ConcernedCitizen
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    Jan 7th 2015, 8:06 PM

    I wish Vinny all the best.
    Used to be a big fan but since the Irish Water fiasco started he has unfortunately shown time and again that he has sold out to Denis O’Brien. It hurts to say it but he’s just not the force he was at all. The show descends into meaningless farce on a regular basis with eejits like Marie Louise O’Donnell talking nonsense. Last night’s show was the best in ages so we’ll see.
    Happy 1001 anyway !

    36
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    Mute Tweety McTweeter
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    Jan 7th 2015, 9:14 PM

    The man is a machine.

    He was on Ireland AM at 7:30 this morning after finishing late last night.
    To be fair, he was a little cranky but who wouldn’t be with that much sleep? I’m considering changing my angry chicken avatar to him in his honour.

    28
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    Mute Denis Maher
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    Jan 7th 2015, 7:56 PM

    I hope they show the clip where the FG’er Bernard just will not shut up, Willie 0′dea couldn’t get a word in, fionnan sheehan nearly fell off his chair laughing. One of the best ever. If not its worth checking out on youtube.

    26
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    Mute Dermot Lane
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    Jan 7th 2015, 8:40 PM

    And the time Joan Burton lost the rag with Joe Higgins

    28
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    Mute CreditTiger
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    Jan 7th 2015, 11:07 PM

    “Stop haranguin’ me Vencennnt!!

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    Mute Michael Sands
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    Jan 8th 2015, 5:13 AM

    Are they not called tampons lol.

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    Mute Dermot Ryan
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    Jan 7th 2015, 7:42 PM

    If you want to know the government’s thinking on the need for a snap election then watch the guests on Vincent Browne – He has promised to give them as much time as they returned to his offers to appear on the show when they refused-

    15
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    Mute Celticspirit321
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    Jan 7th 2015, 10:13 PM

    I would live to find out the things Vincent knows about some of the politicians which he can’t repeat due to libel etc

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    Mute Eugene Walsh
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    Jan 7th 2015, 10:43 PM

    Absolutely. But it would probably create a civil unrest.

    10
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    Mute Eugene Walsh
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    Jan 7th 2015, 10:17 PM

    Go on, go on just go on,
    Ya ya ya will ya continue
    Ya ya yaaaaa jeez ya
    GO ON WILL YA!

    11
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    Mute Turlough O' Connor
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    Jan 8th 2015, 12:35 PM

    His memory is phenomenal…. Don’t you just love when some old party hack starts spoofing and Vin can quote exactly what was said and then watch the hack squirming!.. Great pleasure indeed…. Irriplacable…

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    Mute Turlough O' Connor
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    Jan 8th 2015, 12:36 PM

    Irreplaceable .., sorry

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    Mute Michael Sands
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    Jan 8th 2015, 5:16 AM

    What would Vincent think of this, Bieden being racist towards all the Irish…
    Vice President Biden: “I may be Irish, but I’m not stupid.”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nm9BtjqlVXQ

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    Mute Michael Sands
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    Jan 8th 2015, 5:12 AM

    TTIP TTIP Hooray lol.

    1
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