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Met Éireann head of forecasting Evelyn Cusack Sam Boal

Met Éireann objected to Dave over Diarmuid as part of storm names poll

Internal records detail how there was healthy debate over what names to include.

MET ÉIREANN OBJECTED to swapping out Irish name Diarmuid for the English name Dave in polls on what to call this season’s storms.

The meteorology service teamed up with colleagues in the UK and the Netherlands to pick out names for inclement weather in the autumn, and the winter to come.

Internal records detail how there was healthy debate over what names to include to ensure each country was well represented.

In one email, a member of the cross-border selection team said they wanted to include more common names in the polls, because so few remained in the running.

An email said: “I know it is always a bit challenging to get the final list agreed … [and] sorry to be a pain but I would like to suggest we make a couple of changes to simplify some of the names as there are now very few simple names on the list.”

As a suggestion, they said: “In the voting swap Diarmuid or Dafydd for Dave (this came out very high in our public vote anyway).”

In response, Met Éireann head of forecasting Evelyn Cusack wrote to plead the case for keeping Diarmuid in the running

She wrote: “Dave is another English name and for diversity Diarmuid and Dafydd tick the Irish and Welsh boxes. That’s why we decided to put these to the public vote for some interest and fun and to get greater engagement. Therefore, I vote not to replace with Dave.”

The inclusion of Diarmuid had already been the subject of discussion after one mooted list had included it as Dermot instead.

Met Éireann communications meteorologist Bonnie Diamond wrote: “Suggestion to change ‘Dermot’ to Diarmuid – this is a traditional Irish name; Dermot is actually the anglicised version. It is pronounced ‘Deer – mud’.”

There was also discussion over the inclusion of the name Arwen, which had originally been intended as a Welsh candidate.

However, it later emerged it might not “be a true Welsh name anyway”, according to emails.

The met services wondered as well whether there might be block-voting from the various countries to choose their own names.

An email said: “Is that a good or a bad thing? If we thought a little friendly rival was good, then we could always very explicitly have one of each Irish, Dutch, Scottish, Welsh and English [names] within the list from which to choose.”

Earlier emails detail how Met Éireann were keen to have a uniquely Irish name added to the voting.

Another email from Bonnie Diamond said: “We’d love to have a distinctive Irish name in the list, so can we please include ‘Méabh’ in the public vote in August? This is an Irish female name roughly meaning Celtic Queen.”

Met Éireann also queried the inclusion of the name Charlie on the list, which they felt might cause confusion for Irish people.

“Hurricane Charley was a big weather event in Ireland in the 1980′s with flooding and fatalities, so we can’t have a Storm Charlie,” said an email.

They also asked for the fadas to be included on Pól and Seán, according to the records that were released under FOI.

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    Mute John Dublin
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    Nov 20th 2020, 8:41 AM

    Will Priti Patel also pursue the West Midlands police officers who framed 6 innocent Irish men and tortured them into giving false statements implicating themselves in a crime they didn’t commit?

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    Mute frank_1916
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    Nov 20th 2020, 9:00 AM

    @John Dublin: that won’t happen they were too many involved it was get results right or wrong

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    Mute Margaret Doyle
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    Nov 20th 2020, 9:55 AM

    Sky news is full of invalid statements, ie, a phone call with a warning too late, so who made the phone call?. There were always passwords issued to political organizations, otherwise anyone could ring up and say there was a bomb planted. In the same breath they say it was the provisional IRA but they never admitted responsibility . You see where I’m coming from . Totally uneducated in critical thinking. They all need to go back to school, preferably Junior infants.

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    Mute Mad Worldman
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    Nov 20th 2020, 5:17 PM

    @Margaret Doyle: sky news has a right wing English nationalist bias and really should not be reporting unproven allegations. It seems anti Irish prejudice is alive and well in England.

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    Mute Kevin50
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    Nov 20th 2020, 1:34 PM

    I sympathise with all who suffered because of the Birmingham bomb atrocity and they are right to seek truth and justice just like those suffered in the Monaghan and Dublin bombings are right to seek truth and justice which was the worst atrocity of the troubles

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    Mute muirhill121
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    Nov 20th 2020, 8:04 PM

    He was luckier than the last ones they arrested!

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    Mute Tim Oconnell
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    Nov 20th 2020, 7:22 PM

    What did the police expect to find ?

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    Mute Tim Oconnell
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    Nov 20th 2020, 7:24 PM

    What did the police expect to find? Really

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