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 Dublin Bus, job losses at Superquinn and M&S, shootings, fatbergs, this year’s Budget, the end of Page 3 girls and counterfeit alcohol.
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. Poll: Do you support the Dublin Bus strike? (369 comments)
2. Dublin Bus strike set to continue tomorrow (352 comments)
3. For his next challenge Vincent Browne is taking on God (326 comments)
4. Second man dies as a result of stolen taxi crash (292 comments)
5. Poll: Do you welcome The Irish Sun removing the topless shoot from Page 3? (263 comments)
Some of the best comments left on the site this week
(Sasko Lazarov/Photocall Ireland)
First up, some comments to restore your faith in humanity (yes, really). This article about random acts of kindness inspired readers to share their own stories of unexpected good deeds. We liked this one from Catherine Greenhalgh Tighe…:
A Dublin mini bus driver posted on a public Facebook page today for any elderly people who needed to get to hospital or whatnot and could not afford a cab and were stuck due to bus strike to call him and he left his number …. No doubt he’s been inundated with lovely comments and rightly so …. Thought it was a lovely act of kindness :-)
… this one from Patricia McCann…:
I used to live near portobello Road in London. The parking attendants were lethal . If you Didn’t have a ticket on your car at 8.am it was clamped, even though I was parked outside my front door. One Saturday morning I woke late and with dread I ran down the stairs expecting to find a clamp on the wheel. Instead u found the meter had been feed for 2 hours. Bewildered I looked around me when I heard someone shout ” yo I fed the meter for u can’t let the bastards get you man” it was a guy down the street never met him before , what a star . He would not let me pay him back. He said he just hated authority . Made my day and saved me £200
… and finally, this moving one from James Kiernan:
I was at the funeral of the girlfriend of a work friend in Limerick some months back. At the end of the service I realised my wallet was missing. Cards and about 200 Eur I was about to give up on. As I walked back to the car an elderly couple were beside it.. They simply asked was I missing something. Said I did and after asking my name they produced the wallet. God knows if they stayed there for the hour or so the funeral was on for. Was so thankful. Offered to buy a meal or a few drinks. They refused so I simply shook his hand and gave his wife a massive hug and kiss. Never got their name but also thanked Elayne for looking down :)
A lot of people had a LOT of opinions about the rebranding of Superquinn as Supervalu with the loss of 102 jobs. This comment by Aideen Pollard McManus was particularly poignant.
I worked in Superquinn part time in the early eighties…we were very well treated and the pay was good. Feargal was a great boss who made a great effort to get to know his staff. I worked in Northside, as did my sister, and I’ll always remember at the time of the Stardust tragedy how he treated staff and customers with such compassion and dignity, he promised everyone who was injured that their jobs were safe until they were able to come back, he even gave jobs to siblings of staff who were injured to ensure that there was some income coming into their homes. Of course I hope the sausages and the bakery remain the same, but above all I hope the service stays the same.
Some love it, some hate it, but this article about things Dubliners know about their city brought out some great comments – including this evocative one from Eugene Walsh:
I love Dublin, love the whitt, the turn of phrase, the casual acceptance of greatness, the Nordic look, the mid age man dressed as a …well-kid, the buzz, the acceptance, the selflessness, Griffith avenue, the socks over the shells, the biting wind in November, the buzz of the buses, the image, where me da grew up, Fry’s chocolate, east wall, fleeting glimpses of my dead father, the music, the characters, the chancers, the ciggy bums, the large window pubs, the relentlessness, THE DUBLINERS!
I’m not from Dublin but I do love you!
The article about the Centre for Talented Youth (aka nerdcamp) kicked off a good discussion among readers – including some who had attended it in the past. Elaine explained what the camp meant to her:
I attended the 3 week course 16 years ago when I was 15 (Jesus I just realised how old I am). Anyway I’m from Ballymun and attended the Local Ballymun comprehensive. As a teenager I had a normal amount of friends at school but was a little shy. I always felt like I couldn’t express myself a lot in school as I would get slagged of by my peers even if the idea of going to college came up (all in good nature, they’re still my friends today), however I always felt a little different and kind of dumbed myself down for a period of time. After attending this course my mind was made up, I was definitely attending college after my leaving cert. I went on to study biological sciences at DIT and I’m now working as an embryologist, a job which I can honestly say I love. Friends who didn’t attend college are all in very good jobs themselves but I’m glad that this course gave me the confidence to make the decision that I really wanted deep down in my heart. Other opportunities need to be also made available to kids that show excellence in the more practical subjects so that they can have some guidance too eg woodwork, mechanics etc.
What’s the worst faux pas people can make in Ireland? There were a lot of ideas, but Bob‘s suggestion proved extremely popular:
Putting the milk carton back in the fridge, with not enough Milk in to drown a fly!
The 7 most popular comments on the site this week
(Photocall Ireland)
1. First up, this comment from Emilio got 1,684 thumbs up on the article about the quick-thinking man who wrote his own credit card contract – and then sued the company for breaking it.
Fair play to him, I hope he gets away with it!
2. Next, this from Simon Jester got 1,621 thumbs up on the article about Gardaí being sound at music festivals:
Why not ,after all they are entitled to be human too,occasinaly.
3. BooHoo2U got 1,485 thumbs up for this suggestion on the article about the shop assistant who told Oprah Winfrey that a handbag was too expensive for her to buy:
She should have bought the shop and sacked the assistant
4. Frank Flanagan got 1,432 thumbs up for this article on the piece about two men who died in a car crash involving a stolen taxi:
These guys we in a car they stole, driving wrecklessly at high speed and putting other peoples lives at risk.
Somehow i think i’ll save my sympathy for the ‘real’ victims of the roads this weekend… NOT ones who intentionally cause misery to others.
5. Another comment from the article about Gardai: sluazcanal got 1,387 thumbs up for this:
@john I would actually prefer them to be human when on duty. Do what they like off duty.
6. Paul Gibbons got 1,320 thumbs up for this comment about the taxi driver whose car was hijacked who spoke of his “deep sympathy” for the families of the two victims:
Just goes to show how much more of a man the taxi driver is compared to the other 3…
7. Finally, Paul Nolan got 1,305 thumbs up for this comment on the piece about the Dublin car crash:
Can’t believe this is counted as part of the weekend road fatalities, no road rules or safety procedures can stop idiots robbing a car and crashing it into a bridge
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