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Former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond.

Disaster of an end there for U21s but shocking refereeing not to blow a foul on Norway equaliser in last minute.

Two great goals in fairness. That bit of magic from Ebosele is good to see.

SF have made a mess of things no doubt but Jesus nobody really cares about safeguarding because if they did they'd also be hanging the BHF out to dry.

What specifically did BHP get wrong?

You would have thought a charity that works with children would have some sort of security checks in place like access NI, which is a must even in GAA clubs for coaches.

Sam McBride's article had the following regarding Access NI (caveat his article seems eager to completely absolve BHF)

###
McMonagle's role was not one where he was expected to have unsupervised access to children and so — as with most jobs — there was no requirement for him to be vetted by Access NI.

Even if he had been vetted, a basic or standard check would not have revealed he was being investigated by police; only an enhanced check — required for the riskiest roles — would have carried that information.

Mr McKinney said they had roles such as nurses who were vetted through Access NI "but this role wasn't in that sphere and therefore there wasn't' any need".

Mr McKinney said that the PSNI had never taken McMonagle's work devices for forensic examination, even though the charity had offered to hand them

On Saturday, the BHF revealed that it had contacted a "senior Sinn Fein HR official" in August 2023 to seek clarification on the references given, and the individual confirmed that they had been bona fide references from two Sinn Féin press officers.

I haven't seen or heard any controversy in the media about other Parties child abuse issues currently.
I posted in the SF thread mentioning the silence on the issue (meaning from the many loquacious pro SF posters here).

I'll call BS. Look at your post. It was your typical SF baiting. So I make no apology in agreeing with SC on your hypocrisy. IMO.

Been top story on the nationalist Irish News all week, although southern media hardly touched it even though it broke during Sinn Fein Ard Fheis. Partitionist media at it again? Rosfan had a right to post just as Snapchat was right to post The Ditch story on FG's secret phone call with Israel over Occupied Territories Bill. That story too got little coverage in mainstream media.

For the record FF Ceann Comhairle should have resigned over reference he wrote for rapist back in 2006, a story that broke in 2020 I think. It would appear Sinn Fein knew of the references for paedophile for over a year and press officers did not resign till they got wind media was about to break the story. There seems to a very high tolerance for this across all parties. But don't shoot the messenger.

I tell you what, you pull me up the posts RF made on the two incidents SC mentioned at the time and I'll withdraw my posts and offer RF and yourself an apology. Till then, I'll reserve the right to call out hypocrisy regardless of your annoyance at it.
And to be clear had RF raised the issue without his usual antagonistic attempt at baiting SF posters it wouldn't have been a problem.

Sorry, I don't buy that logic. Was Sinead O'Connor a hypocrit for calling out the paedophila of the Catholic Church because I don't recall her tearing up a picture of any Rockstars in her industry where paedophiles and sex abuse of minors was rife. No, she was brave. I call it all out - it helps not to have a cultish devotion to a political party, a religion, or indeed a soccer team  - and Ireland's shameful history of coverups and tolerance at the highest levels, of which this is only the latest. This is a current story, a week in the headlines before Rosfan even posted it.

Since you seem to be his official spokesperson (and given he can't seem to formulate a reply for himself) maybe you can enlighten us as to whether Rossfan commented on the stories surrounding the current FF Dáil speaker or the current FG senator when they were front page news? If he didn't, might it not be plausible that his concern this time round has a whole lot more to do with a desire for political point scoring than with concerns about sexual offences and cover ups?

I'll go one further in fact. Go re-read his opening post on this story and then try seriously telling us that his wording wasn't just an attempt at goading SF supporters.

I though it was a fair point that there was silence on this one. Sinn Fein will brazen this out just like Fianna Fáil or FG would brazen it out and have in past. A pox on all their houses. Irish solutions to Irish problems, as the man said. That's all I have to say. Now about those phone pouches. Must get one.

I haven't seen or heard any controversy in the media about other Parties child abuse issues currently.
I posted in the SF thread mentioning the silence on the issue (meaning from the many loquacious pro SF posters here).

I'll call BS. Look at your post. It was your typical SF baiting. So I make no apology in agreeing with SC on your hypocrisy. IMO.

Been top story on the nationalist Irish News all week, although southern media hardly touched it even though it broke during Sinn Fein Ard Fheis. Partitionist media at it again? Rosfan had a right to post just as Snapchat was right to post The Ditch story on FG's secret phone call with Israel over Occupied Territories Bill. That story too got little coverage in mainstream media.

For the record FF Ceann Comhairle should have resigned over reference he wrote for rapist back in 2006, a story that broke in 2020 I think. It would appear Sinn Fein knew of the references for paedophile for over a year and press officers did not resign till they got wind media was about to break the story. There seems to a very high tolerance for this across all parties. But don't shoot the messenger.

I tell you what, you pull me up the posts RF made on the two incidents SC mentioned at the time and I'll withdraw my posts and offer RF and yourself an apology. Till then, I'll reserve the right to call out hypocrisy regardless of your annoyance at it.
And to be clear had RF raised the issue without his usual antagonistic attempt at baiting SF posters it wouldn't have been a problem.

Sorry, I don't buy that logic. Was Sinead O'Connor a hypocrit for calling out the paedophila of the Catholic Church because I don't recall her tearing up a picture of any Rockstars in her industry where paedophiles and sex abuse of minors was rife. No, she was brave. I call it all out - it helps not to have a cultish devotion to a political party, a religion, or indeed a soccer team  - and Ireland's shameful history of coverups and tolerance at the highest levels, of which this is only the latest. This is a current story, a week in the headlines before Rosfan even posted it.

I haven't seen or heard any controversy in the media about other Parties child abuse issues currently.
I posted in the SF thread mentioning the silence on the issue (meaning from the many loquacious pro SF posters here).

I'll call BS. Look at your post. It was your typical SF baiting. So I make no apology in agreeing with SC on your hypocrisy. IMO.

Been top story on the nationalist Irish News all week, although southern media hardly touched it even though it broke during Sinn Fein Ard Fheis. Partitionist media at it again? Rosfan had a right to post just as Snapchat was right to post The Ditch story on FG's secret phone call with Israel over Occupied Territories Bill. That story too got little coverage in mainstream media.

For the record FF Ceann Comhairle should have resigned over reference he wrote for rapist back in 2006, a story that broke in 2020 I think. It would appear Sinn Fein knew of the references for paedophile for over a year and press officers did not resign till they got wind media was about to break the story. There seems to a very high tolerance for this across all parties. But don't shoot the messenger.

Not many posts here on this subject....
I wonder why


https://m.sundayworld.com/news/irish-news/charity-that-employed-pervert-michael-mcmonagle-says-it-contacted-sinn-fein-over-references/a1899971670.html

Yeah it's surprising alright. I mean, two SF staffers gave references to a sex offender and were fired by the party with SF making a bit of a hames of the subsequent fallout. I'd have thought you'd have been all over the story by now. Then again, I don't remember you being too vocal about the current FF Dáil speaker having also given a reference to a sex offender. Or about a current FG senator who sexually violated someone in their sleep with a chocolate bar.

Yeah. It's funny alright, the way people can be so selective about the policital sex offence scandals that they find worthy of commenting on, and the ones they don't.

Ouch!! 😂

Is that an ouch or just another excuse why Ireland for a century or more has turned a blind eye to child abuse, paedophiles in political, religious and sporting circles. We could also add Paul Tweed and Jim Allister/TUV or Gerry Adams on how he dealt with his brother, Liam (and some still think Gerry should be Irish President). Albert Reynolds resigned when the Attorney General failed to extradite a paedophile priest. But he did so kicking and screaming until he had no option. O'Neill has been caught lying through her teeth. Sexual abuse of children is not an excuse for whataboutery. There should be zero tolerance. And Ireland has a very shameful history, unionist, nationalist, FF, FG, SF Catholics, Protestants.

So many brilliant songs, lonesome songs like Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down and humorous ones like Darby's Castle. He was a poet. Rest in Peace.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
I guess that's why they call it the Blues
Crocodile Rock (the Muppets version - Elton was good for a laugh back in the day)

Looks like The King is Dead!
Who's next?

Was always minerals in west of Ireland. Remember science class once and the teacher (priest) asked class if they could name examples of minerals. One lad, not even trying to be smart, of course said: Coke, Fanta, 7 Up.

Go on to phrases.

Your heads a marley.

My da used to say  something similar

Where did it  come from?

Marley = marble

Like the street song Tommy Makem used to sing. Wee Willie lost his marley, down the Springfield Road

Could easily name a few great Quo songs from their classic era from 1968-76, starting with Pictures of Matchstick Men - one of best psychedelic songs ever written.

Puc would need a hell of a lot of cash thrown at it to bring it up to UEFA standards. The knocking down the old terracing and replacing it with identical terracing at great expense was absolute lunacy

Indeed.

In fact it would effectively have to be rebuilt completely, otherwise there is about as much chance of my back garden hosting Euro games as PUC!

And if anyone should wonder why I am so confident in stating this, then they only have to read UEFA's Tournament Requirements document for the last Euro's in 2024. It is 190 pages long, of which 98 pages refer to stadium provision:
https://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/OfficialDocument/uefaorg/Regulations/02/46/30/61/2463061_DOWNLOAD.pdf
(Sector 6, page 48 onwards)

That should shorten the winter for yiz 

Could you share it with the "Shove Casement..." Gary McAllister who seems to think Windsor Park was ever an option.

I've spoken to Gary. His view is that if it was ever seriously being considered that £200m? £300m? £400m? was available to be spent on Casement in order to help it host the Euro's, then even part of such a sum would actually allow Windsor to be rebuilt to 30k to a design that would satisfy UEFA.

I appreciate you sharing his view (although I see he is the papers again today). To add I'd say Gary and the NI supporters were very vocal in their opposition to a stadium for all at the Maze. That eventually resulted in the money for the so called national stadium being split, and the IFA renovated Windsor Park to be a 18000 all-seater, which the fans said was all that was needed.

It's a bit rich for Gary to be saying give the money now to Windsor to make a new stadium that will seat 30,000 for a few additional reasons, beyond of the fact they were instrumental in scuppering one top class stadium for 3 major sports.

1) The GAA is starting off with over 100 million guaranteed (between their fair Stormont cut, the Irish government, and their own funds). The IFA have at a guess nothing. So it would have cost the British government more.
2) People like David Jeffrey complain that Windsor has no atmosphere for Linfield games. Linfield draw an average of 3,000 and N.Ire soccer team are not in need of bigger capacity.
3) There is very little opportunity to expand Windsor Park, as I am sure IFA know, because I did read a couple of years ago they did look into it. Planning permission would be difficult.
4) On top of that residents around Windsor have objected to Sunday football, so the religous rules interfering with soccer will be a problem for UEFA/FIFA, and indeed I read that Linfield still have No Sunday Football written into their rule book.

In summary, people like the NI supporters group with their chants of "Shove Casement Park Up Your H***" are the reason North will play no part in Euro 28. I hope that penny drops eventually but I doubt it will.