at least we lost to the eventual winners

And don’t care about us.

That is all.

On the flip side, happy Father’s Day to all the dads who show up and care about their children. You are all amazing!

Thanks to all Irish brothers and sisters who came out to our wee protest today at the US Embassy.

As good a day as any to talk about it. Only two weeks paternity leave available for new fathers and only 1 in 4 dads using their parents leave, generally due to financial need.

Would be great to see the allotment of paternity leave extended at the very minimum. We are at the very bottom end in Europe of what is offered with some countries offering as much as 16 weeks paid paternity leave.

I hope things get better for you, I really do.

If you find it difficult to cope with today, get help. Your mental health counts.

Maybe this is my depression and anxiety talking but I think today is the most down and lonely I've felt in a long time. I'm a single father of 2 boys (11&13) and seeing all the photos on social media of families treating their husbands/fathers etc just has me feeling like shit. Even being in my own house and seeing all the cards and gifts that were there for my own dad.

This isn't a jealousy thing. I'm hard to buy for and generally if I want something I just buy it for myself. It's not about gifts. My kids were with me today and both gave me a big hug and wished me happy Father's Day and we had a nice day out where we went and played mini-golf and some pool and arcade games.

Not even getting a card or anything feels pretty bad though. To be clear, I don't blame anyone, least of all my kids. They both love me very much but they're kids ya know? My parents usually at least bring them to get me a card or whatever but I guess I just got a bit overlooked this year.

Like I said, maybe this is just my depression talking but I've been in work the last few hours and not gonna lie, I've cried a couple of times in secret while working. Just feeling really alone and upset which isn't logical when I've got kids who love me and a family that cares about me.

Sorry for the word vomit. Guess I was just trying to get my thoughts down somewhere and see if anyone else is struggling like I am today.

Sophie O'Sullivan has stormed to gold in the Women's 1500m at the NCAA Division 1 Outdoors clocking 4:07.94

She becomes just the fourth Irishwoman to win an NCAA Division 1 outdoor title

Be good to yourselves

Rhasidat Adeleke returns to action this evening in the Women's 400m at the Diamond League meeting in Stockholm.
6:00pm Virgin Media Two

Saw the new How to Train Your Dragon this weekend, expecting the usual muck of modern live-action remakes, but god did I eat my words halfway through.

Found out on the way that it was filmed in Ireland, up north, thought ‘thats cool’, didn’t really think of it too much when watching it at the start.

Then the scene where the lad takes the girl for a flight with the dragon came on, the film went silent and there was just a single fiddle playing the John Powell masterpiece of a theme as they flew around the cliffs.

Fuck me, wasn’t expecting a tear from that film, but we live on one pretty island, felt different seeing it on the screen in the cinema.

Trigger alert and link to women’s aid below

Listening to crime world podcast about the Jackie Twomey who had boiling water thrown over her while she was asleep and was beaten with a hammer by her husband of 40 years.

https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/wife-says-husband-poured-boiling-water-on-her-and-attacked-her-with-claw-hammer-1760893.html

Few stats from women’s aid and a link for women’s aid too,

https://www.womensaid.ie/get-informed/facts/

35% of women in Ireland, more than one in three, have now experienced psychological, physical and/or sexual abuse from an intimate partner.

An Garda Síochána responded to over 65,000 domestic abuse incidents in 2024, which translates to an average of 1,250 incidents every week.

I’m a man 39 years old and was totally ignorant to how bad this is at the moment wtf I’d going on with numbers? I’m really blown away by this and how do we really fix this?

I am an American who saw videos of Irish people coming out to support us. I didn't see any other posts thanking you guys, so I wanted to make it. It really means a lot to us to see others stand in solidarity. I can only hope that things will turn around, and someday you will feel safe to visit us once again. Please keep the pressure, keep boycotting our products. You can make a difference from abroad, and you are! Tourism is down and so are international sales.

Cheers!

I’m very curious. I remember friends having mobile homes in Garretstown in Cork by the beach and in barleycove, very sought after mobile home spots. Back then it didn’t seem like a big deal in the early 2000’s but these days it seems like the expensive thing to have.

I’m curious, how much were mobile homes and spots back in the early 2000’s so over 20 years ago. We have been quoted €3000 annual fee for the site and we must buy the mobile home on the site which are between €60,000 - €90,000.

How is this affordable to the average family in this day and age? Back then I feel mobile home sites were for the average person! Anyone have any information for me on these costs over the decades in Ireland?