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Top readers’ comments of the week

Here’s our round-up of the most interesting and most popular comments from the past seven days. Did you make it in?

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 the crap weather, same-sex marriage as the Pantigate controversy rolls on and cats. Seemingly, the Internet still loves cats.

So here are the standout comments from the week that was.

The 5 most popular comments this week

image1. This image was sent to us by Jay Coleman with the caption, ‘Nature is mightier than my shed’. His subsequent comment received 2,216 green thumbs or support.

My poor shed :(

2. We think Brendan McGill spoke for us all when he said the following on a DailyEdge.ie article about the ‘drunk leprechaun’ app that is making Irish people furious. Well, he definitely spoke for 1,636 of us.

I can’t stand it when Americans call it Patty’s Day! Grrrr

3. He’s becoming a regular feature in this article but Jeremy Usbourne had the third most thumbed up comment this week with his response to Jay Coleman’s “poor shed” above. He got the nod from 1,500 thumbs when he said:

Looks like you have no choice but to move the wife & kids back into the house now…

… At least till you get a new shed.

4. Steve M stepped out in support of 2FM’s John Clarke after he told listeners that he was leaving the station. It looks like 1,471 people agree with his sentiment:

He is right about the music being played on the majority of radio stations nowdays…..utter tripe.

5. Sarah Cullington made 1,435 of you happy with this reaction to finding out that the upside-down Union Jack flag is used as a distress call.

No. 5, the upside down Union Jack is surely the most subtle distress signal EVER! I know the British are reserved but really…

This is what she was talking about.

imageThe top 5 articles which received the most comments this week

1. Martin: There’s a danger marriage will lose originality if gay marriage allowed (370 comments)

2. Panti: I’m expecting an apology from RTE (287 comments)

3. Pics: Pro-choice activists protest Spanish abortion plans at embassy in Dublin (263 comments)

4. Fine Gael councillor Burqa ban comments ‘not Fine Gael policy (250 comments)

5. Poll: Do you support a ban on smacking children? (248 comments)

Some of the best comments left on the site this week image Back in March 2012, Gertie Kiersey, then-97, with two-year-old Lilly Clarke Hanrahan at the reopening of the Dollstore at Powerscourt Centre. (Image: Julien Behal/PA Wire)

We included the above photo in our daily news roundup two years ago at the reopening of the Dublin institute, the Doll’s Hospital and Teddy Bear Clinic, at Powerscourt Centre. Melissa Porter Nolan, from the store, left this message on Tuesday.

It is with great sadness we learned of  the passing of Gertie Kiersty on Friday 7th February 2014, in her 100th year. One of our oldest & most loyal customers. Gertie was guest of honour at the re-opening of the Dolls’ Hospital and Teddy Bear Clinic in its new home at the Powerscourt Townhouse Centre in Dublin in March 2012. She was a joy to all who know her & will be sadly missed.

Barry O’Rourke showed us what it is like to be a paramedic in a busy city centre following our report that 3,475 calls were attended by a solo responder in a six-month period last year.

Im a paramedic in Dublin city and I dont think the average person realises how violent and seedy this city is. I personally in the course of my duty,over a 20 year period,have been threatened with guns..knives..a sword..syringes..fists and even a shovel..all while trying to administer care..I even had my ear glued back on after I was attacked by a vicious mob..and thats just my story..all my colleagues have similar tales..and I feel its getting worse..you just dont know whats going on behind any door on any street at any time..and to send a sole responder to some of these incidences is irresponsible and regressive to say the least.

Contributor to TheScore.ie, Kate McEvoy, raised quite the debate with an article asking RTÉ to show more live coverage of the women’s rugby team as they defend their Grand Slam title. Cathal Murphy had some interesting points.

When girls can’t watch women’s sports on TV the message is: you’re not good enough to be on TV, you’re not interesting, women’s sports are not relevant, get back into the kitchen. The fact that you or I or anyone else might find women’s rugby of a “lesser quality” is neither here nor there. We can’t decide what sports to broadcast based on subjective ideas of quality, because if that was the case, then, hey, I will be first in the line calling for soccer to be removed from the schedules: it’s boring rubbish played by petulant millionaires that I have absolutely no interest in. And don’t get me started on equestrianism or F1… But hey, you know what? thousands of other people DO want to see those sports. Thousands of people want to see women’s sports on TV too: women, for a start. And if you want to argue objective rather than subjective quality, again, I refer you to the women’s grand slam last year. When girls can’t watch women’s sports on tv the message is: you’re not good enough to be on tv, you’re not interesting, women’s sports are not relevant, get back into the kitchen. We need to grow up in this country and start respecting all of our citizens equally. Anything less is beneath us.

Reacting to 12-year-old Niamh Keegan’s letter on her thoughts about Pantigate, Val Lynam wrote to Niamh’s mother:

Hi Maria, my daughter is almost 10 and unfortunately gets a lot of abuse because she is coloured. She has only ever been invited to ONE school birthday party in her entire life. So when I read your daughter’s letter about homophobia it made me cry. I pray that my beautiful daughter will be surrounded by Niamh’s for the rest of her life. What a wonderful, beautiful child you have raised!! Thank you for sharing her words of wisdom with us!!

Amy Diviney is all for equal opportunities. On a piece about the DSPCA’s cat speed dating event, she stuck up for her feline friends.

Typical anti-cat comments present I see…don’t know why you can’t be a dog person and leave it at that, I personally prefer cats but I don’t feel the need to trash dogs at every opportunity!

So the weather wasn’t great this week. Not great at all. Paul Cotrulia nailed one of the more minor problems that the storms brought.

Someone should start manufacturing inside out umbrellas so when it’s very windy they become normal umbrellas

(And, yes, we’d buy one of them. Hell, we’d buy dozens of ‘em).

imageImage: Steve Berry via Flick/Creative Commons

This was the image used to accompany a Valentine’s Day article about the chemistry of falling in love. And the first two commenters didn’t fail to notice.

Jeanniejampots said:

Aww I had that chemistry set! Loved it! Was total nerdy kid!

While Paul Mitchell told us:

I got a Chemistry Set one Christmas too.
I just mixed everything together hoping that it would explode.
It didn’t :(

Bahrain-born rugby player Harry McNulty spoke to TheScore.ie this week about his time at Munster Academy. We’re just going to leave this entire conversation here. image

And finally, yesterday, we asked you if you were celebrated Valentine’s Day and Alan Ruane‘s response to the poll made us all, ‘Awwwwwww’.

Every year. It’s my daughters birthday.

Happy Birthday to your daughter Alan. Hope you all had a great day.

Spot any good comments? Send them through to us by email at sinead@thejournal.ie.

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