Messages

Another great night and nice to not be geo-blocked in the north.  RTE must regret not having their panel in the stadium, it would capture the atmosphere even better.

If anyone thinks DAERA choose culling the cows as the easy option then they should compare the reaction to it to the complete non event rounding them up and taking the cows away would have been. From a reputational and paperwork point of view culling would always be the worst choice and likely more expensive.
Any marksman would have been present as part of the risk assessment. They wouldn't be much use if at home and something went wrong. It may be a balls up but the primary cause was a farmer incapable of looking after his animals.

? You think they did this expecting a backlash but thought "it's the right thing to do, we'll bear all the stick we get"

Or were they expecting it to be a routine culling job and were too lazy/stupid/incompetent or combination of all to gather the cattle up and take them to a mart?

What mart could they be taken to?

DAERA have state of the art handling facilities at the ports - somewhere to pen the cattle until next steps were sorted really shouldn't have been a problem.
 
Would also like to say that I don't believe anyone should lose their job (very highly unlikely given NICS culture).  In my opinion mistakes were made but calling for heads is just performative by the UFU to get the social media activists off their case, which is pretty poor on their part.
I'll stand corrected if the inquiry throws up something that hasn't been revealed yet which might shed new light. 

What next steps are you suggesting?

Onward disposal to a meat plant / onward sale to another herd... 

50% of the animals were unfit for human consumption so cant go to a meat plant and what other herd would take animals that are restricted?

I meant onwards to a meat plant for slaughter.  If they're condemned, still the correct place for slaughter rather than an open air large scale turkey shoot (imho).

As an aside, it's pretty amazing in this day and age that there are no videos of the event.

If anyone thinks DAERA choose culling the cows as the easy option then they should compare the reaction to it to the complete non event rounding them up and taking the cows away would have been. From a reputational and paperwork point of view culling would always be the worst choice and likely more expensive.
Any marksman would have been present as part of the risk assessment. They wouldn't be much use if at home and something went wrong. It may be a balls up but the primary cause was a farmer incapable of looking after his animals.

? You think they did this expecting a backlash but thought "it's the right thing to do, we'll bear all the stick we get"

Or were they expecting it to be a routine culling job and were too lazy/stupid/incompetent or combination of all to gather the cattle up and take them to a mart?

What mart could they be taken to?

DAERA have state of the art handling facilities at the ports - somewhere to pen the cattle until next steps were sorted really shouldn't have been a problem.
 
Would also like to say that I don't believe anyone should lose their job (very highly unlikely given NICS culture).  In my opinion mistakes were made but calling for heads is just performative by the UFU to get the social media activists off their case, which is pretty poor on their part.
I'll stand corrected if the inquiry throws up something that hasn't been revealed yet which might shed new light. 

What next steps are you suggesting?

Onward disposal to a meat plant / onward sale to another herd... 

If anyone thinks DAERA choose culling the cows as the easy option then they should compare the reaction to it to the complete non event rounding them up and taking the cows away would have been. From a reputational and paperwork point of view culling would always be the worst choice and likely more expensive.
Any marksman would have been present as part of the risk assessment. They wouldn't be much use if at home and something went wrong. It may be a balls up but the primary cause was a farmer incapable of looking after his animals.

? You think they did this expecting a backlash but thought "it's the right thing to do, we'll bear all the stick we get"

Or were they expecting it to be a routine culling job and were too lazy/stupid/incompetent or combination of all to gather the cattle up and take them to a mart?

What mart could they be taken to?

DAERA have state of the art handling facilities at the ports - somewhere to pen the cattle until next steps were sorted really shouldn't have been a problem.
 
Would also like to say that I don't believe anyone should lose their job (very highly unlikely given NICS culture).  In my opinion mistakes were made but calling for heads is just performative by the UFU to get the social media activists off their case, which is pretty poor on their part.
I'll stand corrected if the inquiry throws up something that hasn't been revealed yet which might shed new light. 

What would a risk assessment say about the possibility of a stray bullet injuring someone (or worse) in a public space with people watching on?

No idea do you have evidence of stray bullets?

Common sense would say that it was a fair possibility, no?

If the team is highly trained in firearms???

Yeah stray bullets have never injured anyone ever, you're right.

Did I say that? We are discussing this incident. Do you know if there were any reports of stray bullets?

Shooting running cattle from presumably a distance if they were that wild no one could get near them to round them up? Not saying it was likely but certainly a possibility.

The point about stray bullets is wouldn't that be in a risk assessment. That's dozens of shots fired - surely a major consideration?

I've no evidence of stray bullets by the way, but if several calves were injured, does that suggest every shot was pinpoint?

I'd assume so. I'm no expert but this is talked about in the video. The vets talked at length about the training the team has had and their experience in carrying out these actions.The injured calf on social media was also discussed. The private vet and the Daera vet could not confirm if the injury was caused by a gunshot.Watch the video I found it very interesting.

If you ask me which is the greater risk, I'd say the firearms option every time.  That's the long and the short of it.  Just my opinion.

What would a risk assessment say about the possibility of a stray bullet injuring someone (or worse) in a public space with people watching on?

No idea do you have evidence of stray bullets?

Common sense would say that it was a fair possibility, no?

If the team is highly trained in firearms???

Yeah stray bullets have never injured anyone ever, you're right.

Did I say that? We are discussing this incident. Do you know if there were any reports of stray bullets?

Shooting running cattle from presumably a distance if they were that wild no one could get near them to round them up? Not saying it was likely but certainly a possibility.

The point about stray bullets is wouldn't that be in a risk assessment. That's dozens of shots fired - surely a major consideration?

I've no evidence of stray bullets by the way, but if several calves were injured, does that suggest every shot was pinpoint?

What would a risk assessment say about the possibility of a stray bullet injuring someone (or worse) in a public space with people watching on?

This cattle cull is a handlin. 

Surely there was a more common sense way to deal with 51 cattle in a field than turning it into an open air shooting range?

UFU now calling for Minister, Perm Sec and Chief Vet Brian Dooher to resign, plus a pile on from DUP, UUP, TUV. 

Feels like there are multiple agendas here?

[Wouldn't begrudge anyone the the uni experience even if the degree is a load of dung. You're a long time working.]

All the usual stuff in the news / media today, over 30 years since I got my results, seems like yesterday.

Well done to those who got the grades they wanted but when you see them being interviewed and they are going on about the course they are planning to do at Uni I end up saying to myself good luck to them as some seem to be doing completely stupid courses with little job prospects on the other side.

Wouldn't begrudge anyone the the uni experience even if the degree is a load of dung. You're a long time working.

Would agree with that, great days.  And if you've got a bit about you when you go out into the world of work you'll be fine down the line. A dangerous day for some though, bit of panic set in if the grades aren't what was hoped for and maybe snatch at a course rather than be left behind.  You're just a money commodity to the Uni's these days

I'll give credit where it's due, Rois-Maire Donnelly speaks well as Lord Mayor and was the right person at the right time for the Fleadh. Comes across as open minded and represents a positive future for the city.

Very impressed by Antrim today.  Handling was really excellent at times. Congratulations to all.

For those who have been to Fleadh's before, is this level of amplified music normal on the streets? It's great for the crowds but a lot of buskers can't be heard unless you're on top of them

Revolution de Cuba (or whatever it's called) were flat out playing Michael Jackson.  Now to be fair there were a lot of people having a great time at it and the city is big enough for everyone, but it did wipe that street out for musicians.
Yer man playing Elvis was blaring away 20 yards from one of the Fleadh performer stages, that seemed a bit unfair on any acoustic musicians booked for it - but then again, who tells Elvis to move on? 

Give yourself an hour to dander round it and get your bearings.  There's definitely good vibes, everyone out for a good time and some music. A good few wee ones busking, bring your change for tips. One of the outdoor bar singers was pretty rubbish and there were Lambeg drums and whistles on the gig rig who weren't much better. 
The electric building is brilliantly transformed, you can get a pizza and pint and enjoy the stage music which was very good. Overall there seemed a shortage of sessions in the streets/pubs, but maybe that'll pick up towards the weekend or maybe I'm not familiar enough with 'the scene'. I also wonder is it actually busier with young musicians in the afternoon?  It's a noisy environment with too much piped music, outdoor lads on mics and the generators from stalls, so tough going for a group of 12 year olds trying to play.
I'm not shy criticising the bureaucracy in this place but they've done a nice job here and they're flexing to close more roads around City Hall given the numbers which is a good call.

Said it many times, square ball is impossible to adjudicate when it's tight and should be got rid of.  Causes more rows than it solves.  That said, today's was straight forward.
Well done to Antrim, thought they were going to kick themselves out of it.  Entertaining open game.

So if a free in a game have everyone on top of keeper? That's messy. The amount of comments I see online of people saying why can't there be one square ball rule like men's football. It's the exact same.

What's so special about the keeper?