Podcasts about east wall

Peter Sheridan, Screenwriter and Director joins Ray for a fascinating chat about the play and life growing up in East Wall.

Szwecja podczas Wojny Zimowej (1939–1940) odegrała wyjątkową rolę, balansując między neutralnością a strategicznym wsparciem dla Finlandii. W tym filmie analizujemy kluczowe decyzje polityczne, wpływ działań ZSRR na region oraz sposoby, w jakie Szwecja zachowała swoje interesy w obliczu globalnego konfliktu. Czy neutralność była rzeczywistą niezależnością, czy przemyślaną kalkulacją? Poznaj szczegóły tego kluczowego momentu w historii Europy wraz z Beczką Prochu. #historia #podcasthistoryczny

Bitwa o Dniepr była jedną z najważniejszych operacji II wojny światowej, przeprowadzoną przez Armię Czerwoną w 1943 roku. W tym filmie poznasz historię forsowania Dniepru, które zmienili losy wojny na froncie wschodnim. Dlaczego Bitwa o Dniepr była kluczowa? Jakie były jej skutki militarne i polityczne? #historia #podcasthistoryczny

Time for a Change of Government.The southern general election was called last Friday. In just over two weeks' time 174 Teachtaí Dála (TDs) will be elected to the Dáil – an increase of 14 over the number elected in the 2020 general election.On Sunday I was in Dublin for the Save Moore Street rally but afterwards I was in Caledon Road and St. Mary's Road in East Wall with a Sinn Féin canvas team urging voters to give their number 1 vote to Mary Lou McDonald and their number 2 vote to Janice Boylan. The response was very good.Judicial Review lodged in defence of Moore StreetThe battle to save the 1916 Moore Street Battlefield site has entered a new and critical phase with the decision by the Moore Street Preservation Trust to seek leave for a judicial review of the decision by An Bord Pleanála to allow the developer's plan to proceed. Almost two decades after the campaign to protect this important historic part of the Easter 1916 revolutionary story the campaign has reached a decisive moment.New Mural in support of PalestiniansAt the weekend a new mural was unveiled in Andersonstown in west Belfast highlighting the shared experience of struggle and solidarity between the peoples of Ireland and Palestine. Well done to Marty Lyons and Michael Doherty and the organisers.

This podcast hit paid subscribers' inboxes on May 3. It dropped for free subscribers on May 10. To receive future pods as soon as they're live, and to support independent ski journalism, please consider an upgrade to a paid subscription. You can also subscribe to the free tier below:WhoJosh Jorgensen, CEO of Mission Ridge, Washington and Blacktail Mountain, MontanaRecorded onApril 15, 2024About Mission RidgeClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: Larry ScrivanichLocated in: Wenatchee, WashingtonYear founded: 1966Pass affiliations:* Indy Pass – 2 days with holiday and weekend blackouts (TBD for 2024-25 ski season)* Indy+ Pass – 2 days with no blackouts* Powder Alliance – 3 days with holiday and Saturday blackoutsClosest neighboring ski areas: Badger Mountain (:51), Leavenworth Ski Hill (:53) – travel times may vary considerably given weather conditions, time of day, and time of year.Base elevation: 4,570 feetSummit elevation: 6,820 feetVertical drop: 2,250 feetSkiable Acres: 2,000Average annual snowfall: 200 inchesTrail count: 70+ (10% easiest, 60% more difficult, 30% most difficult)Lift count: 7 (1 high-speed quad, 3 doubles, 2 ropetows, 1 carpet – view Lift Blog's inventory of Mission Ridge's lift fleet)View historic Mission Ridge trailmaps on skimap.org.About BlacktailClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: Larry ScrivanichLocated in: Lakeside, MontanaYear founded: 1998Pass affiliations:* Indy Pass – 2 days with holiday and weekend blackouts (TBD for 2024-25 ski season)* Indy+ Pass – 2 days with no blackouts* Powder Alliance – 3 days with holiday blackoutsClosest neighboring ski areas: Whitefish (1:18) - travel times may vary considerably given weather conditions, time of day, and time of year.Base elevation: 5,236 feetSummit elevation: 6,780 feetVertical drop: 1,544 feetSkiable Acres: 1,000+Average annual snowfall: 250 inchesTrail count: (15% easier, 65% more difficult, 20% most difficult)Lift count: 4 (1 triple, 2 doubles, 1 carpet – view Lift Blog's inventory of Blacktail's lift fleet)View historic Blacktail trailmaps on skimap.org.Why I interviewed himSo much of Pacific Northwest skiing's business model amounts to wait-and-pray, hoping that, sometime in November-December, the heaping snowfalls that have spiraled in off the ocean for millennia do so again. It's one of the few regions in modern commercial skiing, anywhere in the world, where the snow is reliable enough and voluminous enough that this good-ole-boy strategy still works: 460 inches per year at Stevens Pass; 428 at Summit at Snoqualmie; 466 at Crystal; 400 at White Pass; a disgusting 701 at Baker. It's no wonder that most of these ski areas have either no snowguns, or so few that a motivated scrapper could toss the whole collection in the back of a single U-Haul.But Mission Ridge possesses no such natural gifts. The place is snowy enough – 200 inches in an average winter – that it doesn't seem ridiculous that someone thought to run lifts up the mountain. But by Washington State standards, the place is practically Palm Beach. That means the owners have had to work a lot harder, and in a far more deliberate way than their competitors, to deliver a consistent snowsportskiing experience since the bump opened in 1966.Which is a long way of saying that Mission Ridge probably has more snowmaking than the rest of Washington's ski areas combined. Which, often, is barely enough to hang at the party. This year, however, as most Washington ski areas spent half the winter thinking “Gee, maybe we ought to have more than zero snowguns,” Mission was clocking its third-best skier numbers ever.The Pacific Northwest, as a whole, finished the season fairly strong. The snow showed up, as it always does. A bunch of traditional late operators – Crystal, Meadows, Bachelor, Timberline – remain open as of early May. But, whether driven by climate change, rising consumer expectations, or a need to offer more consistent schedules to seasonal employees, the region is probably going to have to build out a mechanical complement to its abundant natural snows at some point. From a regulatory point of view, this won't be so easy in a region where people worry themselves into a coma about the catastrophic damage that umbrellas inflict upon raindrops. But Mission Ridge, standing above Wenatchee for decades as a place of recreation and employment, proves that using resources to enable recreation is not incompatible with preserving them.That's going to be a useful example to have around.What we talked aboutA lousy start to winter; a top three year for Mission anyway; snowmaking in Washington; Blacktail's worst snowfall season ever and the potential to add snowmaking to the ski area; was this crappy winter an anomaly or a harbinger?; how Blacktail's “long history of struggle” echoes the history of Mission Ridge; what could Blacktail become?; Blacktail's access road; how Blacktail rose on Forest Service land in the 1990s; Blacktail expansion potential; assessing Blacktail's lift fleet; could the company purchase more ski areas?; the evolution of Summit at Snoqualmie; Mission Ridge's large and transformative proposed expansion; why the expansion probably needs to come before chairlift upgrades; Fantasy Lift Upgrade; and why Mission Ridge replaced a used detachable quad with another used detachable quad.Why I thought that now was a good time for this interviewWashington skiing is endangered by a pretty basic problem: more people in this ever-richer, ever more-populous state want to ski than there are ski areas for them to visit. Building new ski areas is impossible – you'd have better luck flying an American flag from the roof of the Kremlin than introducing a new mountain to Washington State. That shortage is compounded by the lack of slopeside development, which compels every skier to drive to the hill every day that they want to ski. This circumstance reflects a false commitment to environmental preservation, which mistakes a build-nothing philosophy for watching over Mother Earth, an outmoded way of thinking that fails to appreciate the impacts of sprawl and car culture on the larger natural ecosystem.Which is where Mission Ridge, with its large proposed ski-and-stay expansion, is potentially so important. If Mission Ridge can navigate the bureaucratic obstacle course that's been dropped in its path, it could build the first substantial slopeside village in the Pacific Northwest. That could be huge. See, it would say, you can have measured development in the mountains without drowning all the grizzly bears. And since not everyone would have to drive up the mountain every day anymore, it would probably actually reduce traffic overall. The squirrels win and so do the skiers. Or something like that.And then we have Blacktail. Three-ish years ago, Mission Ridge purchased this little-known Montana bump, one of the West's few upside-down ski areas, an unlikely late addition to the Forest Service ski area network seated south of Whitefish Mountain and Glacier National Park. I was surprised when Mission bought it. I think everyone else was too. Mission Ridge is a fine ski area, and one with multi-mountain roots – it was once part of the same parent company that owned Schweitzer (now the property of Alterra) – but it's not exactly Telluride. How did a regional bump that was still running three Riblet doubles from the ‘60s and ‘70s afford another ski area two states away? And why would they want it? And what were they going to do with it?All of which I discuss, sort of, with Jorgensen. Mission and Blacktail are hardly the strangest duo in American skiing. They make more sense, as a unit, than jointly owned Red Lodge, Montana and Homewood, California. But they're also not as logical as New York's Labrador and Song, Pennsylvania's Camelback and Blue, or Massachusett's Berkshire East and Catamount, each of which sits within easy driving distance of its sister resort. So how do they fit together? Maybe they don't need to.Questions I wish I'd askedThere's a pretty cool story about a military bomber crashing into the mountain (and some associated relics) that I would have liked to have gotten into. I'd also have liked to talk a bit more about Wenatchee, which Mission's website calls “Washington's only true ski town.” I also intended to get a bit more into the particulars of the expansion, including the proposed terrain and lifts, and what sort of shape the bedbase would take. And I didn't really ask, as I normally do, about the Indy Pass and the reciprocal season pass relationship between the two ski areas.What I got wrongI said that Mission Ridge's first high-speed quad, Liberator Express, came used from Crystal Mountain. The lift actually came used from Winter Park. Jorgensen corrected that fact in the podcast. My mis-statement was the result of crossing my wires while prepping for this interview – the Crystal chairlift at Blacktail moved to Montana from Crystal Mountain, Washington. In the moment, I mixed up the mountains' lift fleets.Why you should ski Mission RidgeMission Ridge holds echoes of Arapahoe Basin's East Wall or pre-tram Big Sky: so much damn terrain, just a bit too far above the lifts for most of us to bother with. That, along with the relatively low snowfall and Smithsonian lift fleet, are the main knocks on the place (depending, of course, upon your willingness to hike and love of vintage machinery).But, on the whole, this is a good, big ski area that, because of its snowmaking infrastructure, is one of the most reliable operators for several hundred miles in any direction. The intermediate masses will find a huge, approachable footprint. Beginners will find their own dedicated lift. Better skiers, once they wear out the blacks off lifts 2 and 4, can hike the ridge for basically endless lines. And if you miss daylight, Mission hosts some of the longest top-to-bottom night-skiing runs in America, spanning the resort's entire 2,250 vertical feet (Keystone's Dercum mountain rises approximately 2,300 vertical feet).If Mission can pull off this expansion, it could ignite a financial ripple effect that would transform the resort quickly: on-site housing and expanded beginner terrain could bring more people (especially families), which would bring more revenue, which would funnel enough cash in to finally upgrade those old Riblets and, maybe, string the long-planned Lift 5 to the high saddle. That would be amazing. But it would also transform Mission into something different than what it is today. Go see it now, so you can appreciate whatever it becomes.Why you should ski BlacktailBlacktail's original mission, in the words of founder Steve Spencer, was to be the affordable locals' bump, a downhome alternative to ever-more-expensive Whitefish, a bit more than an hour up the road. That was in 1998, pre-Epic, pre-Ikon, pre-triple-digit single-day lift tickets. Fast forward to 2024, and Whitefish is considered a big-mountain outlier, a monster that's avoided every pass coalition and offers perhaps the most affordable lift ticket of any large, modern ski area in America (its top 2023-24 lift ticket price was $97).That has certainly complicated Blacktail's market positioning. It can't play Smugglers' Notch ($106 top lift ticket price) to neighboring Stowe ($220-ish). And while Blacktail's lift tickets and season passes ($450 early-bird for the 2024-25 ski season), are set at a discount to Whitefish's, the larger mountain's season pass goes for just $749, a bargain for a 3,000-acre sprawl served by four high-speed lifts.So Blacktail has to do what any ski area that's orbiting a bigger, taller, snowier competitor with more and better terrain does: be something else. There will always be a market for small and local skiing, just like there will always be a market for diners and bars with pool tables and dartboards hanging from the walls.That appeal is easy enough for locals to understand. For frequent, hassle-free skiing, small is usually better than big. It's more complicated to pitch a top-of-the-mountain parking lot to you, a probably not-local, who, if you haul yourself all the way to Montana, is probably going to want the fireworks show. But one cool thing about lingering in the small and foreign is that the experience unites the oft-opposed-in-skiing forces of novelty and calm. Typically, our ski travels involve the raucous and the loud and the fast and the enormous. But there is something utterly inspiring about setting yourself down on an unfamiliar but almost empty mountain, smaller than Mt. Megaphone but not necessarily small at all, and just setting yourself free to explore. Whatever Blacktail doesn't give you, it will at least give you that.Podcast NotesOn Mission Ridge's proposed expansionWhile we discuss the mountain's proposed expansion in a general way, we don't go deep into specifics of lifts and trails. This map gives the best perspective on how the expansion would blow Mission Ridge out into a major ski area - the key here is less the ski expansion itself than the housing that would attend it:Here's an overhead view:Video overviews:The project, like most ski area expansions in U.S. America, has taken about 700 years longer than it should have. The local radio station published this update in October:Progress is being made with the long-planned expansion of Mission Ridge Ski & Board Resort.Chelan County is working with the resort on an Environmental Impact Statement.County Natural Resources Director Mike Kaputa says it'll be ready in the next eight months or so."We are getting closer and closer to having a draft Environmental Impact Statement and I think that's probably, I hate to put a month out there, but I think it's probably looking like May when we'll have a draft that goes out for public comment."The expansion plan for Mission Ridge has been in the works since 2014, and the resort brought a lawsuit against the county in 2021 over delays in the process.The lawsuit was dismissed earlier this year.Kaputa gave an update on progress with the Mission Ridge expansion before county commissioners Monday, where he said they're trying to get the scope of the Environmental Impact Statement right."You want to be as thorough as possible," Kaputa said. "You don't want to overdo it. You want to anticipate comments. I'm sure we'll get lots of comments when it comes out."In 2014, Larry Scrivanich, owner of Mission Ridge, purchased approximately 779 acres of private land adjacent to the current Mission Ridge Ski and Board Resort. Since then, Mission Ridge has been forging ahead with plans for expansion.The expansion plans call for onsite lodging and accommodations, which Mission Ridge calls a game changer, which would differentiate the resort from others in the Northwest.I'm all about process, due diligence, and checks-and-balances, but it's possible we've overcorrected here.On snowfall totals throughout WashingtonMission gets plenty of snow, but it's practically barren compared to the rest of Washington's large ski areas:On the founding of BlacktailBlacktail is an outlier in U.S. skiing in that it opened in 1998 on Forest Service land – decades after similarly leased ski areas debuted. Daily Inter Lake summarizes the unusual circumstances behind this late arrival:Steve Spencer had been skiing and working at Big Mountain [now Whitefish] for many years, starting with ski patrol and eventually rising to mountain manager, when he noticed fewer and fewer locals on the hill.With 14 years as manager of Big Mountain under his belt, Spencer sought to create an alternative to the famous resort that was affordable and accessible for locals. He got together with several business partners and looked at mountains that they thought would fit the bill.They considered sites in the Swan Range and Lolo Peak, located in the Bitterroot Range west of Missoula, but they knew the odds of getting a Forest Service permit to build a ski area there were slim to none.They had their eyes on a site west of Flathead Lake, however, that seemed to check all the right boxes. The mountain they focused on was entirely surrounded by private land, and there were no endangered species in the area that needed protection from development.Spencer consulted with local environmental groups before he'd spent even “two nickels” on the proposal. He knew that without their support, the project was dead on arrival.That mountain was known as Blacktail, and when the Forest Service OK'd ski operations there, it was the first ski area created on public land since 1978, when Beaver Creek Resort was given permission to use National Forest land in Colorado.Blacktail Mountain Ski Area celebrates its 25th anniversary next year, it is still the most recent in the country to be approved through that process.On Glacier National Park and Flathead LakeEven if you've never heard of Blacktail, it's stuffed into a dense neighborhood of outdoor legends in northern Montana, including Glacier National Park and Whitefish ski area:On WhitefishWith 3,000 skiable acres, a 2,353-foot vertical drop, and four high-speed lifts, Whitefish, just up the road from Blacktail, looms enormously over the smaller mountain's potential:But while Whitefish presents as an Epkon titan, it acts more like a backwater, with peak-day lift tickets still hanging out below the $100 mark, and no megapass membership on its marquee. I explored this unusual positioning with the mountain's president, Nick Polumbus, on the podcast last year (and also here).On “Big Mountain”For eons, Whitefish was known as “Big Mountain,” a name they ditched in 2007 because, as president and CEO at the time Fred Jones explained, the ski area was “often underestimated and misunderstood” with its “highly generic” name.On “upside-down” ski areasUpside-down ski areas are fairly common in the United States, but they're novel enough that most people feel compelled to explain what they mean when they bring one up: a ski area with the main lodge and parking at the top, rather than the bottom, of the hill.These sorts of ski areas are fairly common in the Midwest and proliferate in the Mid-Atlantic, but are rare out west. An incomplete list includes Wintergreen, Virginia; Snowshoe, West Virginia; Laurel, Blue Knob, Jack Frost, and Ski Big Bear, Pennsylvania; Otsego, Treetops, and the Jackson Creek Summit side of Snowriver, Michigan; and Spirit Mountain and Afton Alps, Minnesota. A few of these ski areas also maintain lower-level parking lots. Shawnee Mountain, Pennsylvania, debuted as an upside-down ski area, but, through a tremendous engineering effort, reversed that in the 1970s – a project that CEO Nick Fredericks detailed for us in a 2021 Storm Skiing Podcast.On LIDAR mappingJorgensen mentions LIDAR mapping of Mission Ridge's potential expansion. If you're unfamiliar with this technology, it's capable of giving astonishing insights into the past:On Blacktail's chairliftsAll three of Blacktail's chairlifts came used to the ski area for its 1998 opening. The Crystal double is from Crystal Mountain, Washington; the Olympic triple is from Canada Olympic Park in Alberta; and the Thunderhead double migrated from Steamboat, Colorado.On Riblet chairliftsFor decades, the Riblet double has been the workhorse of Pacific Northwest skiing. Simple, beautiful, reliable, and inexpensive, dozens of these machines still crank up the region's hills. But the company dissolved more than two decades ago, and its lifts are slowly retiring. Mission Ridge retains three (chairs 1, 3, and 4, which date, respectively, to 1966, 1967, and 1971), and has stated its intent to replace them all, whenever funds are available to do so.On the history of Summit at SnoqualmieThe Summit at Snoqualmie, where Jorgensen began his career, remains one of America's most confusing ski areas: the name is convoluted and long, and the campus sprawls over four once-separate ski areas, one of which sits across an interstate with no ski connection to the others. There's no easy way to understand that Alpental – one of Washington's best ski areas – is part of, but separate from, the Summit at Snoqualmie complex, and each of the three Summit areas – East, Central, and West - maintains a separate trailmap on the website, in spite of the fact that the three are interconnected by ski trails. It's all just very confusing. The ski area's website maintains a page outlining how these four ski areas became one ski area that is still really four ski areas. This 1998 trailmap gives the best perspective on where the various ski nodes sit in relation to one another:Because someone always gets mad about everything, some of you were probably all pissed off that I referred to the 1990s version of Summit at Snoqualmie as a “primitive” ski area, but the map above demonstrates why: 17 of 24 chairlifts were Riblet doubles; nine ropetows supplemented this system, and the mountain had no snowmaking (it still doesn't). Call it “retro” or whatever you want, but the place was not exactly Beaver Creek.On Vail and Alterra's Washington timelineI mentioned Washington's entrance onto the national ski scene over the past decade. What I meant by that was the addition of Summit and Crystal onto the Ikon Pass for the 2018-19 ski season, and Stevens Pass onto the Epic Pass the following winter. But Washington skiing – and Mt. Baker in particular – has always been a staple in the Temple of the Brobots, and Boyne Resorts, pre-Ikon, owned Crystal from 1997 to 2017.On Anthony LakesJorgensen mentioned that he applied for the general manager position at Anthony Lakes, a little-known 900-footer lodged in the western Oregon hinterlands. One triple chair serves the entire ski area:The Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing year-round. Join us.The Storm publishes year-round, and guarantees 100 articles per year. This is article 33/100 in 2024, and number 533 since launching on Oct. 13, 2019. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

Tents have now sprung up in Ringsend and East Wall hours after asylum-seekers were moved from Grand Canal yesterday. Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast this morning was Eugene Quinn, National Director of the Jesuit Refugee Service, Ireland.

Tents have now sprung up in Ringsend and East Wall hours after asylum-seekers were moved from Grand Canal yesterday. Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast this morning was Eugene Quinn, National Director of the Jesuit Refugee Service, Ireland.

Playwright, screenwriter and director Peter Sheridan brings his play Philo back to the stage later this month. The show is set around East Wall in Dublin and features the story of two women from very different backgrounds. Peter and the star of the show, Neilí Conroy, joined Oliver to talk about the production.

"Workers from the "Museu de Arte Popular" assembled at Torre de Belém before heading to the Lisbon city center for a conference. During this gathering, one of the museum collaborators pointed out a location on the east wall where you can hear both the sounds of the sea and the Torre de Belém garden, thanks to the unique acoustic properties of the wall." Recorded in Belém, Portugal by Carlos Berrizbeitia. Part of the Sound of Adventure project in partnership with Exodus Travels. To learn more and explore the full collection, visit https://citiesandmemory.com/adventure.

SIRO, the ESB and Vodafone joint venture company currently rolling out a €1 billion Gigabit broadband network across Ireland, has announced that its services are now available to 50,000 homes and businesses in Dublin City, and to 100,000 premises overall across the wider Dublin area. The €100 million rollout is part of a strategy to make services powered by SIRO available to areas underserved by fibre to the home broadband. The expansion in the capital follows close collaboration with Dublin City Council's Telecoms Unit and with the broadband officers in the other three Dublin local authorities to advance its Dublin network roll-out. Within Dublin City Council's borders this includes 'new' SIRO areas such as Dublin's Docklands, East Wall, Walkinstown, Kimmage and Crumlin. SIRO's network is already well established in other parts of the city such as Fairview, Raheny, Finglas, Artane or Coolock. This is in addition to SIRO's expanded network footprint across the four Dublin local authority areas, which now encompasses more than 30 suburban towns from Balbriggan in Fingal as far south as Shankill in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown. SIRO plans to continue to build across Dublin city and county where other commercial opportunities exist. Lord Mayor of Dublin, Daithí de Róiste noted: "This is a really positive investment for Dublin, and I am delighted that the City Council have been able to support SIRO in the delivery of this essential digital infrastructure particularly in areas such as East Wall, Docklands. Kimmage and Crumlin. We need to ensure that all of our communities have access to high quality broadband services and are not left behind as the adoption of new technologies and digital services continue to accelerate." SIRO John Keaney Chief Executive Officer, noted: "The presumption that our cities already enjoy universal full fibre connectivity can be inaccurate. Poor broadband can exist in areas of our cities and its suburbs, just as much as it can be found in more remote areas. "Yet, future-proofed and reliable fibre connectivity is key to the economic life of our capital city and in all the communities which make up its constituent parts. "SIRO is rolling out our network across Dublin, city and county, because a real need exists to address existing connectivity blackspots. By now reaching areas underserved by fibre to the home broadband, such as the Docklands, East Wall or Crumlin and Walkinstown, we are striving to ensure these areas have the broadband infrastructure essential for the future wider social and economic development of the city," added Mr. Keaney. Smart City Program Manager at Dublin City Council, Jamie Cudden stated: "Investments like this from SIRO support our ambition to future-proof Dublin ensuring that we can take advantage of new and emerging technology trends. When we established our Telecoms Unit in 2022, we committed to work with the telecoms sector to help streamline and accelerate network rollout through better co-ordination and collaboration. The real winners here are communities across Dublin who will have access to world class digital infrastructure and choice of providers." SIRO is a joint venture between ESB and Vodafone, formed in 2015, to roll out a new full fibre broadband network across Ireland. To date, SIRO has rolled out network to every county in Ireland with its broadband network in over 135 towns and cities and available to almost 550,000 homes and businesses nationwide. The company is on track to reach 700,000 premises by 2026. More about Irish Tech News Irish Tech News are Ireland's No. 1 Online Tech Publication and often Ireland's No.1 Tech Podcast too. You can find hundreds of fantastic previous episodes and subscribe using whatever platform you like via our Anchor.fm page here: https://anchor.fm/irish-tech-news If you'd like to be featured in an upcoming Podcast email us at Simon@IrishTechNews.ie now to discuss. Irish Tech News have a range of services available to help promote your...

Integration Report by Barry Lenihan at East Wall

This episode, making a return to Hearts of Oak is the veteran Irish journalist, playwright, author, campaigner and political activist, John Waters. We have all seen the pictures coming from 'The Emerald Isle' of the protests against uncontrolled immigration. These demonstrations are very similar to what has been happening in the UK and John joins us to discuss the impact that mass immigration is having on Ireland. The damage to community cohesion and the blatant disregard for what is best for the citizens of Ireland is producing a pressure cooker atmosphere, those who raise concerns are branded as racists, bigots and being far right. Loving ones country is no longer accepted or tolerated by our politicians and media, have the government overplayed their hand and can the people of Ireland reclaim their country? Join us for John's expert analysis on this situation. John Waters is an Irish Thinker, Talker, and Writer. From the life of the spirit of society to the infinite reach of rock ‘n' roll; from the puzzle of the human ‘I' to the true nature of money; from the attempted murder of fatherhood to the slow death of the novel, he speaks and writes about the meaning of life in the modern world. He began part-time work as a journalist in 1981, with Hot Press, Ireland's leading rock ‘n' roll magazine and went full-time in 1984, when he moved from the Wild West to the capital, Dublin. As a journalist, magazine editor and columnist, he specialised from the start in raising unpopular issues of public importance, including the psychic cost of colonialism and the denial of rights to fathers under what is called family 'law'. He was a columnist with The Irish Times for 24 years when being Ireland's premier newspaper still meant something. He left in 2014 when this had come to mean diddly-squat, and drew the blinds fully on Irish journalism a year later. Since then, his articles have appeared in publications such as First Things, frontpagemag.com, The Spectator, and The Spectator USA. He has published ten books, the latest, Give Us Back the Bad Roads (2018), being a reflection on the cultural disintegration of Ireland since 1990, in the form of a letter to his late father. Connect with and support John... SUBSTACK: https://johnwaters.substack.com/ WEBSITE: https://anti-corruptionireland.com/ Interview recorded 20.2.23 *Special thanks to Bosch Fawstin for recording our intro/outro on this podcast. Check out his art https://theboschfawstinstore.blogspot.com/ and follow him on GETTR https://gettr.com/user/BoschFawstin To sign up for our weekly email, find our social media, podcasts, video, livestreaming platforms and more... https://heartsofoak.org/connect/ [0:22] John Waters, it is wonderful to have you with us and thank you for joining us once again. It's a pleasure to be on with you again, Peter. Thank you very much. Not at all. It's been, goodness, two years. I look back and it's January 2021, so please, accept my apologies for not having you on. More often we will do. And for the viewers and listeners, you can follow John on his substack, johnwaters.substack.com. I get it into my inbox and it will give you John's perspective and thoughts on a whole range of events. So, I do encourage you to go sign up for that and you can even sign up for the paid version, if you so wish and support John in that way. John, you're probably looking at the substack and I was reading through it today looking at your description. I noticed that you call yourself an Irish thinker, writer, and as Irish thinker, talker, and writer. That's the one. [1:23]I would have just put you on as a journalist, but that word is connotations. But yet you're the first guest I've ever had on who defines himself by being a thinker and a talker. Yeah, yeah. Well, exactly. You've put your finger on there. I use, I come up with, try and come up with words of self-description that are not journalists, even though as a child I couldn't, the idea of being a journalist and having that name appended, that word appended to my name was like beyond a dream, you know, and now you know just connotations of just lying and scumry and just speaking on behalf of the power, attacking the vulnerable, you know, and so on and so on and so on. So yeah, it's really just an alternative to being regarded as describing myself really as a lying scum-bag, which you know, actually, I will try a little harder and I must come up with some more words for that because I think I'm going to need them for a little longer. [2:14] I think I could say this, someone born on the island of Ireland, born in the north and live in the south, it's so Irish. People think of the Irish as talkers, as thinkers. So it kind of fits into that little stereotype. It does, yeah. It's a little bit pretentious, I have to say, a little bit affected, but it needs most. I kind of toy with the idea of reporter, but it doesn't really get me. I am, but it's a particular kind of writing, I guess. So journalist is a word, which, as I say, once treasured and hopeful, I hope will be treasured once again in our culture and our civilization. But at the moment it's the, it's the byword of a scumbag, you know? [2:58] Well, one issue that journalists have been silent on, we could have a range of issues, but the one we'll look at today is immigration and what's been happening in Ireland. Looking at it from over here on the mainland, as I would have called GB when I was back living in Ireland, Northern Ireland. But it seems to be an immigration level that's much higher than we've seen before. And the Irish have traditionally been a people of hospitality, of generosity, of open arms. But do you want to just give us your thoughts, your assessment on what exactly has been happening regarding immigration at the moment? [3:35] Well, as you say, Ireland always had a steady stream of people coming here to live and work and stay and be welcomed. And we didn't ever have an issue of rejecting any such people. But what's happening now and what has been happening for over 20 years is actually quite different, but increasingly so, acceleratingly so in the past three years since the so-called pandemic, which was used as a cover to bring in huge numbers, by night in planes. You would see them in the morning in Dublin with their cases dragging behind them, like 10 or 12 of them having come in from the airport. At the same time that the Irish people were locked down, and forbidden to go any more than 2 kilometres from their own homes. Half the world was coming to join us without any consultation with the Irish people. And this was a kind of an acceleration of a trend that had been with us with us for maybe 20 years going back to 2004 and the opening of the European borders, which you know. [4:33] The Irish people voted for. I didn't vote for it. I didn't agree with it. Not necessarily for that reason, although you know for reasons that I had fears that what was what is happening now would indeed happen. But so people did vote for the expansion of the European community and so on, the union and I didn't quibble with that. But it was clear from very early on, from maybe about 2005, 2007, that there were a lot of people coming into Ireland who were not Europeans and who didn't originate in Europe, that they were using Europe as a stepping stone to get into Ireland. Again, that was kind of something that had no context or no explanation in the context of what we had voted for. It wasn't being elaborated upon by politicians and so on. [5:24] And I remember at that time, around that time when I began to become aware of that, I started asking questions about it, but you weren't permitted to ask questions. To ask questions was racist. So if you wanted to know, I mean Ireland was at the time a population of under 4 million. And if you wanted to say, well, okay, well, like, you know, to somebody who wanted to open up our borders, well, like to what extent, you know, like, what is Ireland? You know, Is Ireland, as Thomas Davis prophesied, just a sand bank on which we walk about and indifferently and it doesn't really matter who's here, it doesn't matter why they're here, it doesn't matter, where they come from, it doesn't matter what their agendas are, or can we actually fix a number? That was the question that seemed to me to be the most germane, to say to these people, okay. [6:07] Fine, you want to bring in people, okay, but can you tell us who you're bringing in and can you tell us what your end game is? How many do you want to bring in? A population of less than 4 million? What? Another million? Oh, don't be ridiculous. Okay, fine. So you're saying that's too many. Okay, that's the start. Okay. Well, then let's say at the other end, the hypothesis maybe will say a dozen people. [6:34] Oh you play games, no no I'm not playing games, so it's not what is not a dozen, is not twelve, that's too few, fair enough I probably agree with you. [6:45] Now somewhere between twelve and a million is a figure that we need to fix on so can we work on that a little bit and maybe we end up with a figure that say four hundred and fifty thousand and twenty five. Right. OK. So on Monday morning after that, the four hundred, and fifty thousand and twenty sixth person arrives at Dublin airport and walks up the plane and says, here I am. And we say, sorry, you're very sorry. You're in hard luck. You know. [7:16] We're full up now. We've taken our quota. We said we would. And that says, I'm very sorry, but you're going to have to go back on the next plane. Is that racist? Is that racist? Well, of course, we know the answer to that it is racist, because there was never any question in these minds other than that. They would have free access, free free reign to bring as many people as they wanted into Ireland, which is an unlimited number. They have no limits. And they say this now, by the way, they say there is no upward seeding, there's no cap on migrants. We've already taken in nearly 100,000 Ukrainians, for example, in the last 10 months. And they're saying that we could expect the same again within a year. I mean, you know, and moreover, there's a concept which has been in use here in general, which we again is subterranean, of family reunification, whereby once one person comes in, they're entitled to bring in their extended family. And there's actually no upward limit on that either it appears but the average that we have found per person. [8:21] It's quite a shocking number is 20. So you think about say a hundred thousand Ukrainians coming into Ireland and having the right to bring in 20 people a piece say, and it's more if they want. [8:37] Well, what's that? You know, like, like, like that's 2 million people like that, without a single conversation with the Irish people about what they wish for their country, what they fear from this tendency. But Ireland has had a massive change. The Ireland I grew up in in the 80s is a world away from the Ireland today. And that massive change, I mean, depending how you look at it, I look at it as someone who's, maybe a Christian or a conservative and see that massive change with the church being quite strong, with a cohesion in Ireland, understanding what it meant to be Irish. But that has been upended and Ireland has turned for me one of the most conservative countries, one of the most liberal countries. And a lot of those changes, I think, have happened again without the public necessarily being engaged with and asked and discussed, what are the consequences of these actions? Are they good or bad for the country? Is that a kind of fair assessment?   Oh, yeah, for sure. I mean. [9:57] Basically we were told. I mean, this is essentially what we're talking about here, Peter, is, totalitarianism, as defined by Václav Havel, you know, where he was talking about, you know, that the future is prepared for you and you were told you must live in it and there are no options, there is no menu. This is it, you move in. You're no longer a sovereign person in your country. You are just simply a passenger and you're the same. You have the same rights if you have [10:24] as anybody who comes in. In fact, in practice, what we're finding is that the Indigenous population no longer have rights in this context at all. And the reason for that is very interesting, because what it actually is, it relates back to the United Nations and the United Nations taking up of the 1964 Civil Rights Act in the United States, which kind of gave a legal oomph to a, lot of the ideologies that were beginning to float around at that point. And in effect, what it means is that when a migrant comes to Ireland or any other country in Europe. [10:57] They are in effect a floating piece of UN jurisdiction. They bring with them all those kind of entitlements and rights which the UN will now provide them with but it is the Irish people who must pay for them. With their communities, with their homes, with their safety, with their security, with whatever is necessary in order to fulfil the contract with the UN has extended to this individual migrant. And the Irish people have no right to speak back to this. It is quite clear. They're, you know, they're just being bullied. I mean by so-called entertainers, by celebrities, so-called by NGOs, by government civil servants, all paid out of the Irish taxpayers' pocket. Now abusing the Irish taxpayer for asking simple questions about the future direction of his country and the chances of his or her children having a home to live in. [11:55] And the Irish people are saying no in increasing numbers. And thank God, because it has taken a long time for them to overcome their fear of being demonised, of being called names by these people. But now they realise that the price of silence is too great. It is the complete destruction of their metaphysical home and the loss of the birth right of their children. [12:18] How is this, I mean, Ireland is a country that you know what Irish means and probably a country with one of the strongest identities around the world has been, but that kind of identity, that heart and soul seems to be ripped out of the country. How is that, how has that happened? Or how has that been allowed to happen? I mean, we see it in the UK, self-hatred of the country, but you kind of thought being [12:54] Irish is something different, is something to really be proud about and the fabric of the society and culture. How has it changed completely? Well, you see, Ireland's been under assault for 800 years, you know, I mean, first of all by Britain, but more recently for the past 100 years by its own people, you know, who have basically stepped into the role of colonizers within, native settlers, as it were. And that has now, you see this whole thing of demonization. The demonization, you talked about this kind of conservative liberal axis. I mean, I don't necessarily think the words are hugely useful anymore, any more than left and right are useful, but they do describe something in a sense. And certainly they divide the field and we can see more clearly. So it's useful enough to use them, they're not necessarily words that have a precise meaning. And you know we've now had, as you say, these culture wars for particularly in the last decade where we had a series of referendums which attacked the fundamental rights section of the Irish constitution on the basis of marriage, on the basis of abortion, on the basis of so-called rights of children, which are now, by the way. I oppose all these at referendum. [14:07] And interestingly the one in 2012 about so-called children's rights was the most baffling for people, as to why I would do that. They say are you opposed to children having rights? And I say absolutely not, but their rights must be vested in their parents, has always been the case. Now after this, and it was narrowly passed, what happened was that the state took on the role of, super-parent and now you see the fruits of it where a government minister stands up on her hind legs and tells people that she is going to allow children of 16 years of age to transition, to change genders without their parents' knowledge or consent. Now that's the culmination of what happened in 2012. So to answer your question, this is the conditions you see. You see, I believe, Peter, that actually Ireland was, I forget the word, but there is a word in Spanish for what they call a self coup. I think we had one such of those in Ireland in 2011, which precedes this period, just a little more over a decade ago. And what it was, was really that the American government [15:14] under Obama seemed to take Ireland under its wing and send all kinds of secretive forces into our midst, nor to manipulate and so on, and teach us the expertise of scumry. And we learned well. Our leaders learned well. They are complete scumbags now. And so one of the things they did, and particularly so in the 2015 referendum on marriage, was they launched these LGBT goons. [15:43] As almost like Rottweilers, you know, packs of Rottweilers into the culture, telling people what they could and could not say, therefore what they could and could not think. And they terrified the lives out of people because people at the time, this was new and they'd never seen anything. People, Irish people are gentle and you don't want to offend people and so on mostly. [16:03] They need to get over that by the way. What you actually ended up with was what I call a culture of mutism or lock job where people became afraid to open their mouth for fear of saying the wrong thing in the wrong company and that they would be pulled up and reprimanded and chastised by somebody And that's therefore what you actually found in the last decade. And I found this in places like up in the west of Ireland, where people never stop talking and saying the most outrageous things to each other, all my life. And not being afraid of that, or not even being offended by it, but enjoying the possibility that you could have these entangled, but now, when you would mention some slightly risqué subject, there was look around...... [16:55] And then they would say, but you can't open your mouth.   Exactly the same here. When people will say to you, well said, completely agree with you. I also share that concerns, but I really can't speak up because it's X, Y, Z. And people, seem to have lost the courage. They still have that inside belief, but they've lost the courage to speak. Yeah. There was a great novel published there about five years ago by Anna Burns called Milkman, which was about that culture in operation in Northern Ireland. And that really resonated with me when I read it more recently in the last couple of years. It's a powerful book in that sense because it really gets at the undertones of what happens in a consciousness, collective and individual, when that kind of pressure for Omerta, is actually bearing down upon that culture. And that, I think, has been the singular most effective instrument. And that's why people ask, why is it that the LGBT movement are always drifting around the immigration issue. Well, that's why. They're paid to silence people. That's their skill. [18:10] LGB Rottweilers, that image sticks with me. It's a perfect description. What about in the UK, our politicians have talked about immigration, our immigration, which is out of control, has happened under a so-called conservative government for the last 13 years. They keep telling us, don't worry, we're going to fix it. We're going to put the brakes on it, we're going to deal with it, but they never do. So there is talk. In Ireland, are they even talking about trying to do something or is there just ignoring the situation? No, no. You see, what happens is, yes, exactly that, exactly what you've described there, Peter, that there is talk. Occasionally, intermittently, there is talk. But that talk is purely to to damp down the resistance and people to go back to their work, their everyday activities and forget about marching and chanting and so on. And you get that now they've been muttering about the government now, mutter about, oh, they're now revealing, for example, that 60% of the migrants coming into Ireland have no papers. [19:20] Now that's a shocking, none of us in our wildest nightmares would have dared make such an assertion that even say half or even a quarter of these people have no, we would have regarded a quarter of people of those people having no documents when they arrive here as an absolutely shocking statistic. They're saying 60%. The government is saying 60%. They're admitting culpability and they're implying by that that they're going to do something to stop it. But of course they're not. They're saying that to give the impression that everything is fine now. The government suddenly has realized that maybe they've gone too far or it's gone too far or there's too many people coming here. We didn't intend this to happen. They put out advertising all over the world, telling people that if they came to Ireland, they will get their front door key within four months. [20:05] Wow. Wow. That 60%. That is basically a green light because you're publicizing that there's no stopping. You and I going traveling, you don't have your passport, you're not going anywhere. [20:23] And yet that 60%, I saw that figure. That's just a big green light saying, you can come here, don't worry about any legality issues. That's right. That's right. And you see the point is, here's the important point. The people doing this, whether they be politicians or civil servants or NGOs or whatever, they are people who can claim to be virtuous on the basis of forcing other people to accept all of these newcomers. While never actually, because they live in basically sheltered areas that are not affected. [20:58] And they parade in the streets and accuse other people of being racist, smug in the knowledge that they live in an area where the houses are too expensive for these people to go or for these people to be placed. The government can't afford that or wouldn't seek to do it. It has targeted working class community. It strikes me a little bit, [21:18] they look for families that are lacking in some problem, maybe marital difficulties or, alcoholism or something like that. So there's a weakness. And this is the condescension of these people that they imagine their working class communities, have a weak solidarity or that they don't really care about each other or whatever. They couldn't be further from the truth. It just shows how little they know about the people that actually they expect to vote for them. And what you're finding therefore is that people are actually, the very people, they would have been better off targeting. In fact, they should start to target now the people that were marching in Dublin yesterday, or on Saturday. I would suggest to them that [21:54] they would take their video, get the video from the guards who were obviously filming the march, as they always do, and just find out where all these people live and then move the migrants in there. And that they will deal with the problem like that, no problem. Let's see how that goes for them. We know it won't go because as soon as this begins to encroach on these people's own doorsteps, their compassion dissolves and evaporates. It's only when it's being imposed upon others, that they're feeding the capacity to be, as they put it, tolerant. Well, exactly the same thing happened in the UK. They're putting these people, not in the affluent areas, that would affect those in charge, but in other areas, and there have been big demos up in Liverpool, I guess mirroring what has happened over there. But tell us about those demonstrations because you kind of stand up and you think, okay, the people are beginning to push back. The worry is that people just accept, but there seems to be pushback. So tell us about those kind of demonstrations. [23:04] Well, particularly, I think since the turn of the year in the working class era before actually in East Wall in Dublin, there was a community there being encroached upon and they rose up and very successfully and very momentously and a lot of people around the world started to pay attention to this. And then there have been other places in Mullingar for more, different towns around the countryside. And what you see there is not, you see the slimy lying media tried to present this as a far right and radicalized by these shadowy figures from abroad and so on. So the utter nonsense drivel, lies. [23:42] And what it's actually the communities themselves, it's women with prams marching. And of course, then what happens is that Antifa and these people that LGBT thugs, who want to just wade in with their hammers, etc. can't do that. And they're rather annoyed by this. and they accused the marchers of putting their children at risk. Well, there would be no risk if these scumbags didn't come near them. [24:09] You know, so, you know, like we need to get, I think, really, you might think my language is a little strong, but that's what I think is most important about this, that the Irish people learn to ramp up their outrage, and trust their repugnance of these people and speak the words that describe them. [24:30] Because when you are dealing with something profane, you have to use profane language. [24:36] Or you do not communicate its true nature. And that's why I use those words. And I think that's beginning to happen now. The two things are happening. One is that people are realizing that the cost of saying nothing, of being quiet, quiescent and mute is too great. We need the same back when Ireland was founded, their uprising and then fighting to gain their independence and that's exactly what you need, fighting for the right to reclaim your culture, what it is to be Irish and to not let politicians decide for you. So it is exciting to see that. [25:17] Yes it is and it's interesting that it's come from the working class and there's a very interesting parallel here to be drawn with the COVID episode, because again in that episode we saw, the quiescence of the so-called intellectual classes, the educated classes, the artist classes, you know, the the journalists classes, you know, so on. And it, but when you actually went into a working class community, people were common sense to get above what was happening, and saw right through it. And so now, you know, this is the extraordinary thing that, you know, that a culture, and this is very important, that considering that the impact this has made in a short time, without any recourse to reasonable coverage in the national media, all antagonistic, all lying, all mendacious and so on. [26:08] Without artists, poets, singers, so-called, you know, singing songs at their rallies and so on. These are just ordinary people saying, no, no, enough, enough now. This is our country. We were born here. Our children have been born here. We want to preserve this country for them and for their children. And you will not destroy it. Because remember, there's another factor here, which is somewhat obviously opaque because the police force refused to police migrants by and large. But there have been countless stories of rapes, of all kinds of intimidation, of thefts. [26:48] And so on, which the authorities refuse to even speak about. And indeed in which they will be gladly twist the facts in order to make it look like it is the indigenous population that are responsible. And we've had several incidents of that in the past year. Going back this time last year, a woman called Ashley Murphy was murdered by a migrant. And immediately, again, under the influence of the American experience of street theatre and so on, the street, suddenly, almost like as soon as it happened, the street was flooded with people with placards protesting against Irish misogyny. You had the similar thing in Sligo then in April last, where two men, two gay men were, basically executed by a Muslim. They were decapitated and castrated. And the president and other people and the LGBT scumbags went out and attacked the Irish for being homophobic. [27:50] You couldn't make it up, really couldn't.   This is what you're dealing with. I mean, you're dealing with a country that is so corrupt that, you know, the word is completely inadequate. We need new words. You know, the word, the nearest word that I can come up with or that I've discovered, that kind of gives a resonance of where we are, Peter, in Ireland now is the word that describes the nature of our government. And that word is Kakistocracy. Kakistocracy. Government by the worst. Yeah. That's what we have in Ireland. [28:23] Kakistocracy.   Tell us about, because in the UK we are having people, obviously the boats coming over, the little boats coming over the English Channel from France into Dover, into Kent, that's what's visible. And that's I think 50,000 last year, talking about 80,000 plus this year. But you've also got, that's only part of the issue. I think we've had a million people come into the country last year, that's legal and illegal. But it is often the visible route or those little boats coming over, that's the immediacy. But there are many other ways. What is the situation with Ireland? Is it the boats coming in with goods and services and people on? Where is, where are the routes coming into Ireland? These people are being bussed in, they're being brought in by the government now. Essentially they're being flown in, they're flying in on planes like by an ARC. There was a period when there were boats arriving and so on, but we've kind of moved on from that. There's no necessity for them to go surreptitiously. They can get a flight to Ireland, the government will pay for it. They're told by the NGOs not to display their papers. Whether they hold onto them or not, we don't know. On some instances they don't. They throw them in the bin on the way off the plane, whatever. And so on. And to put a kind of a quantifier on what's happening, I mean [29:51] It's very hard because you cannot trust a single word that the authorities tell you about anything. [29:57] But I do know certain things about this because, I mean, first of all, there is the anecdotal [30:05] facility that we have. And I know that many times, if I've been in the middle of Dublin, I don't want to go in there now because it's a terrible place. But you would walk maybe from a place like the Four Courts to the pier station, which is about a mile and a half. And I would, as an exercise to myself, listen to accents and say, well, what proportion of these are Irish? And generally the Irish proportion would come out as somewhere between 20 and 30 percent of those. [30:33] So that's kind of a snapshot. But the statistics, of course, don't bear any resemblance to that. Now, I don't say necessarily that that percentage in the middle of Dublin is accurate as to the entirety of the country, but it is an indicator of something. Now another indicator is if we look at some statistics that I've seen for the decade from up to 2019, which is just before the period I've been talking about, the Covid period, when it is clear that on average in that period 120,000, immigrants came into Ireland each year in that period. But interestingly as well, 105,000 Irish people left. Now you just think about that. So we still have emigration, which is a historical problem we've had in Ireland, going into the mid-19th century, they're called the famines, to great famines, as it were. [31:32] That amounts to like, you know, very interesting when you go into that, because when you take away, you see the government strategy is to cancel one out against the other, more or less. That isn't, this is actually a replacement of one by the other. And more than replacement. So that means that you have well over a million from that decade alone, you know, and that's their official figures. [31:54] Now, I don't believe these people are telling us anything like half the truth. So, you know, You have to say there are words now that we have 25% of our population is non-national. And that would have happened within, that would have gone from pretty much a very low base, in 20 years, and particularly acceleratingly as I say, so in the last two years. [32:16] Now, when you factor in then another element, which is the fertility rates, respective fertility rates of the indigenous population, the Irish population, which has been now in recent years subject by these politicians to an abortion referendum which legalized it and in fact is, funded by the public purse, right? We, even though we object to the murder of children, have to pay for it when our taxes, you know, it's obscene beyond description. But, you know, if you just compare it to the fertility rate, as people will know, you know, replacement rate for the population, the current population of a country is it needs 2.1 children per adult female. Now, the figure for Ireland given is 1.8 but when you zoom in on that you realize that actually that figure includes the incoming population. So it's not representative because in many instances the fertility rate among those populations like for example in Somalia is something like five. [33:15] And so on. So therefore what you're looking at a situation where Ireland has I would say an an estimate of 1.3, which is about as low as it has gone so far in Europe. [33:25] And that's way below the replacement rate. In fact, it's way beyond the level that at which the population falls off a cliff, which is said to be 1.6 in a generation you've gone. You've lost your population. You've lost your you were a mere lump within the society. And that's where we're headed. [33:45] And they seem intent and then when you say that to you, you know, this is where it gets completely laughable to actually, you know, even though the UN uses the term replacement in relation to, to, you know, elderly demographics and so on. If I or anybody on our side of the argument uses the word replacement, that's regarded as a racist concept. And they just will say that I'm just repeating it. And because they control the entirety of the media, that's what other people, the ordinary people who are affected by this, pick up and then throw it out without thinking. [34:17] Unless it until it comes to knock on their doors. That is what that they would if you say, if I start saying, oh, yeah, that's for replacement theory. That's a racist concept. You know, this sort of stuff. And another concept that is supposed to be racist is a cultural Marxism, which is the opinion ideology of all of this, which is the ideology of the use of a victim, as a battering ram to destroy Western civilization. And that's what's going on. Tell us, because Ireland is a small country, 4 million, the UK is well, we're told as me... We're five now Peter, sorry. Oh you're five, sorry. But for a small country, And that's massively affected. With the UK, you go up to the Midlands, you go up to Bradford and areas like that, and there used to be a church in every street corner. It's literally now a mosque in every street corner. I've walked around seeing it. But the change really in the country, with a large country, the change has been a little bit more gradual. With Ireland, the change has been very rapid. I mean, because that is an utterly destructive effect on a country which is so small. Oh yeah, well you can see that already. You can see it on the roads in the traffic, you know, and you can see it on the M50 which circles Dublin. It's just a gridlock in the evening time. You can see it in the hospitals which are overrun. [35:42] There's lots of ways you can measure it. And then they tell us that there's loads of capacity, Ireland's a big country, and a lot of landmass. And I find this particularly interesting because I've been around a long time, and I remember being involved in arguments trying to suggest that we need a better, more evenly distributed [36:05] distribution of resources throughout the country in order to make sure that the West and the the South grew in a proper way. And of course I was told there's nothing down there only bog, but now it seems they've forgotten about the bog and it seems we can now take tens of millions of foreigners in our country. So this is the thing, you see, okay, well look, Peter you have to really then stop because it's quite clear, and we go back to that word, kakistocracy. It's quite clear that the people doing this have no conscious or thoughts whatsoever for the effects it's going to have in so far as that they [36:46] don't care if they damage Ireland, they don't care if they destroy Ireland, they don't care what happens to the people of Ireland. That's quite clear. There's no doubt about it now. They're more or less saying that the Irish people are not entitled to get houses before migrants. That's policy now in effect. Even no matter how long they've been on the list, they're not entitled to to continue, they're taken off the list or they're pushed back and the migrants are ushered ahead. Now, you know, I, and this is all being used with a kind of a blackmail tactic of, you know, are you a Christian or are you not a Christian? All this nonsense. People who haven't a Christian hair on their heads. You know, like, so you then have to look at these people and ask, well, what is going on? Why are they doing this? Are these the same people who asked for our votes? [37:36] Not that long ago? Are these the people who promised that they would look after our country. [37:41] And that they would take care of it better than the others? Well, now one of the things we notice is that they're all saying the same thing. So that this isn't just that it's one party or the government, it's the government and the opposition and the fringe leftists or whatever they are parties down to maybe you'll get two or three independents who are dissenting in a certain kind of sort of a kind of way. And you have to say then that essentially what it means is that Ireland is completely captured and is captured by an ideology that is intent upon destroying it, and that the leadership and the political class know about this. And that they're working it through on behalf of the interest, whether they're being paid, whether they've been blackmailed, whether they've been threatened with hurt or damage, I don't know. [38:32] But they're doing it willingly. And they're doing it in such a barefaced way that no sensible person, could do other than gasp at what they're saying and what they're responsible for doing. So [38:45] the question then is how much longer it will take for the people fully to awaken. And see not just this issue but all the others as well. And then the next question is well, what could we possibly do about it? Well, you know, I've said it before, Peter, I think the only hope for Ireland really now is complete collapse. The complete collapse of the Irish economy for many years, maybe a decade, might actually have the consequence of readiness of all of these problems, readiness of the political establishment has been responsible. We thought we done that before, by the way, in 2010, 11. But they came back, the same people, which is a long story, but an interesting one. We might talk about it some other day. And, you know, so I think that, you know, if the Irish economy could collapse, and I think it might in the coming year or two. [39:40] I think, and Europe, of course, with it. I think that we would have a hope of basically our country going back [39:49] 30, 40 years and building again from the ground up.   Well, you're right, because Ireland has grown really and had spectacular growth. [40:01] We're told the tiger economy with a lot of foreign investment because of the tax, low taxes, having an educated population, English speaking population right on the edge of Europe. And it's grown on the back of that and made Ireland a desirable despite all the different crashes. But if Ireland is no longer desirable, then people obviously move from Mogadishu to Dublin, because there's an attraction. But if the society collapses, that attraction goes. So that does make sense then that reverses that immigration. Well, first of all, I want to clarify a little bit about the economic story because that is a mythology which is broadcast by political interests. The reality is that Irish economy [40:53] is dying, has been dying for decades. What you're talking about there, what they talk about, what they promote and trumpet around the world is a cuckoo in the nest economy which comprises entirely multinational corporations who benefit Ireland almost only to the extent that there's a little trickle which falls at their feet and that we lick up off the ground. The economy of Ireland, if they came into Ireland those people promising to create jobs and the assumption was that there would be jobs for Irish people. Google, take one example, would you like to guess how many of the the Irish population, what proportion of it is Irish, of the staff of Google? You'd expect like maybe 50%? [41:37] 5%. And that draws the picture for you. This is a complete con. The Celtic Tiger was a con, of course it was. It was just simply a bicycle pumping up a bubble and then burst. And we ended up with a debt of something like 50 odd billion, which includes the debts of half of Europe as well well as our own. And now we are in this situation where we have all these, like for example, we have data processing plants in all over Ireland, hundreds of them, which are using up more electricity than the entire population put together. They're also using water to cool down these things, which means that this summer we're going to have a dramatic drought, in Ireland. Already the signs that the reservoirs are very low and we're still in February, the months that historically we were told fills the dikes, not only nowhere, the dikes are now empty or very near to us. And this is all part of the same pattern, you know. So the Irish economy has been struggling and of course it was delivered a series of absolutely lethal hammer blows during the COVID episode where many people were put out of business, small businesses, you know, all over the country. And that is still to work its way through. [43:00] So this is all happening at this time. Now you'd have to conclude Peter that this is clearly no plan, for the development of Ireland in any way what's happening. It is the plan for mysteriously and opaquely and so on and so on and so on. Who can possibly see into this? Who could predict it? Who could have predicted it? It is a plan for the destruction of Ireland, the permanent obliteration of the Irish people from their own country and their attestation by people who presumably by, by virtue of having no attachment to the sand bank, as it will be, as Thomas Davis warned us against, that they will be people that will simply just do whatever work they have to do, spend their money and not cause any trouble, that there will be no talking about patriotism or any of that nonsense in the future, and that the authorities and the secret unknowns who run the world will have no headaches emanating from the island of Ireland. [43:59] Well, just finally, looking at what's happened in the UK, actually a commentator I heard yesterday, on the radio was talking about the cohesion of a culture collapsing and people pushing back. And I think that's just as we're seeing in Liverpool and in touched before. And I think that's what I see that hope that it's no longer shrugging your shoulders and accepting it, but it is a pushback, from the people.   I think it's, you see, it's so desperate now. We're now at the point where desperate measures are necessary. And you can't predict what will happen in that situation because you [44:39] can't judge people by their responses in peacetime. And you might have got the impression that the Irish people in the last three years were very docile and compliant and so on and so on. And some of them are undoubtedly, but I don't think they all are by any means. There's a spirit there. That burns, that has guttered a little bit in the last three years, but is now beginning to sort of liven up a little bit. And I think I wouldn't like to be a politician in the coming couple of years. [45:04] Exactly. Well, John, I appreciate you coming on and sharing what exactly has been happening over in Ireland. So thank you for being with us today. Thank you, Peter. Great pleasure.

Ireland's far-right is mobilising. Heated protests outside buildings used to house asylum seekers in Ballymun, East Wall and around the country show how anti-immigration sentiment is being stirred up by groups who are organised, heavily reliant on social media and increasingly adept at exploiting fears, often with baseless stories.Irish Times crime correspondent Conor Gallagher has been tracking the rise of the far right in Ireland in recent years and has reported on how misinformation is fuelling these increasingly heated gatherings of locals and far-right groups.He outlines how these protests are organised, who is behind them, the misinformation spread on social media and the fears being stoked up in communities where asylum seekers are being housed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Traffic was blocked on parts of the M50 yesterday evening as a group blocked parts of the roadway, protesting against accommodation for refugees and international protection applicants. This was one of a number of protests which also took place in Clondalkin, Tallaght, East Wall, and Fermoy. With reaction to these protests we heard from Gary Gannon is a Social Democrats TD for Dublin Central.

Traffic was blocked on parts of the M50 yesterday evening as a group blocked parts of the roadway, protesting against accommodation for refugees and international protection applicants. This was one of a number of protests which also took place in Clondalkin, Tallaght, East Wall, and Fermoy. With reaction to these protests we heard from Gary Gannon is a Social Democrats TD for Dublin Central.

Please join us in 2023 at patreon.com/tortoiseshack This podcast will hopefully help you in chatting with family and friends over Christmas about Housing for All and challenge the blaming of refugees and the 'house our own first' narrative. In this Reboot Republic podcast, Rory talks to Emily Duffy, Director of Parable Grassroots communications, about how to talk about messages and ideas, such as we can provide homes for all, and thus undercut and challenge the 'house our own first' and other far-right narratives blaming immigrants and asylum seekers for the housing crisis. We discuss the need for communications, thinking about metaphors and deep seated values and messages that can connect with people, an alternative vision, connecting with values, and community, and for anger and action aimed at the actual causes of the housing crisis (Government policy of austerity and abandoning communities and social housing, private hoarding and profiteering), and the need to start with shared values and providing hope and solutions. And of course this requires taking action - join in solidarity with East Wall for All, and on housing with Raise the Roof, CATU, and other groups taking action on housing.

In Episode Nine, John and David look at how twitter's practice of "de amplifying" some news is replicated wholesale in the Irish media - from Brussels corruption scandals, to Leo Varadkar, to the East Wall protests.

In Episode Nine, John and David look at how twitter's practice of "de amplifying" some news is replicated wholesale in the Irish media - from Brussels corruption scandals, to Leo Varadkar, to the East Wall protests.

Molly Hennessy is a resident of East Wall and one of the people behind the 'East Wall 4 All' group.

The coverage of the East Wall protests; the rise of the far right is now a literary genre of its own; and the simplification of COVID.   https://gript.ie/podcasts/trsi-68-what-exactly-are-antifa/ https://gript.ie/over-100000-in-public-money-to-be-given-to-anonymous-far-left-group/ https://www.irishtimes.com/health/2022/12/03/covid-policy-opponents-wilfully-misconstrued-science-glynn-says/ https://www.thejournal.ie/is-the-esb-building-in-east-wall-housing-economic-migrants-or-asylum-seekers-5936149-Dec2022/

We're into double digits! Episode 10 drops tomorrow. This week it's just ourselves as we discuss Balanciaga and how they can fuck right off! We also discuss what's going on down in East Wall and we make it a bit lighthearted by answering some age old questions that you'd only know if you lived in Ireland. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On Tuesday night, demonstrators continued to block traffic as they marched from the ESB building being occupied by asylum seekers to the nearby Port Tunnel. Andrea Gilligan went down to speak with residents and protesters. More listeners joined Andrea live on the show today to discuss the protests...

Following confirmation that East Wall residents are continue their protests every Monday, Wednesday & Friday - blocking Dublin Port tunnel and nearby roads - we asked will this turn the public against their cause? They're demanding the immediate closure of the asylum seeker provision centre at East Wall Rd.

The ‘East Wall Residents' group blocked Dublin's Port Tunnel last night, as part of a protest over the housing of asylum seekers at an old ESB building in the area.   Social Democrats TD for Dublin Central, Gary Gannon joined us on Newstalk Breakfast.

The protests in East Wall over the rehousing of asylum seekers resumed last night as protesters blocked the Port Tunnell. Andrea was joined by local East Wall residents Anya, Keith and others to discuss...

The ‘East Wall Residents' group blocked Dublin's Port Tunnel last night, as part of a protest over the housing of asylum seekers at an old ESB building in the area.   Social Democrats TD for Dublin Central, Gary Gannon joined us on Newstalk Breakfast.

Listeners will have seen the recent "anti-asylum seeker" protests in East Wall. But you might not have gotten the full picture on what is really happening both there and within our creaking immigration system. Joining us to discuss this and his viral thread on these events is Activist and National Organiser with United Against Racism, Memet Uludag. We talk about the vetting question, the economic migrant classification and why we have a housing crisis, not a refugee one. Memet talks about his own experience and those of the people he has helped navigate through the immigration system. Above all else he outlines the facts beyond the rhetoric and if we change the political trajectory there is nothing we cannot overcome in this wealthy and welcoming country. Join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack Thread here:https://twitter.com/Memzers/status/1594477958864969728?s=20&t=UzCv2YwhCSCj4b9v0-eyzQ

On the podcast today:How much of the East Wall refugee protest story is really an outworking of the housing shortage? With Russia's targeting of energy infrastructure in Ukraine likely to accelerate the flow of migrants, the shortage of space for refugees this winter looks increasingly like a major crisis.Evidence heard at the trial of Gerard Hutch for the murder of David Byrne has been embarrassing for Sinn Féin and party leader Mary Lou McDonald.As the Green Party hold their conference this week Harry assesses their place and performance in the government coalition so far. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Aoife Moore of the Sunday Times Ireland and I work through the bleakness that is the news this week. We get into the horrific shooting in Colorado Springs, the protests in East Wall and the latest Daft report on rental housing.My guest is the utterly charming and incredibly talented Felispeaks, who you may know from television appearances, their role in Thisispopbaby's Wake, or via their incredible poetry. We chat about how they keep their standards so incredibly high, and how they feels about their continued success.LGBT activist and podcaster James O'Hagan breaks down this week's biggest stories from the world of entertainment. We chat about Taylor Swift taking on Ticketmaster, the conclusion of the Joe Lycett vs. David Beckham situation and the news that Eurovision is taking its voting worldwide.In BIG NEWS, the podcast now has a Whatsapp and I would love if you fancied sending in a voicenote. You may have an opinion on something we've discussed, or a suggestion for something we should discuss, or just something you'd like to share. I get to meet you guys all the time, but I'd love you to hear from each other, so get involved! The number is 0892096423. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What's broken in Irish politics? In the aftermath of the East Wall dispute, former PD advisor CORMAC LUCEY joins John and David to discuss immigration, economics, and the growing gap between establishment and people

What's broken in Irish politics? In the aftermath of the East Wall dispute, former PD advisor CORMAC LUCEY joins John and David to discuss immigration, economics, and the growing gap between establishment and people

Newstalk's Chief Reporter, Barry Whyte joined Kieran on The Hard Shoulder to discuss the protests about asylum seekers being accommodated in an old ESB office block in the East Wall area...

Paul McAuliffe, Fianna Fáil TD for Dublin North-West; Louise O'Reilly, Sinn Féin TD for Dublin Fingal; Cian O'Callaghan, Social Democrats TD for Dublin Bay North; Alison O'Connor, The Irish Examiner

Political correspondents Harry McGee and Jennifer Bray join Pat Leahy to discuss how the Government is grappling with some disquiet over immigration, as evidenced by protests against the arrival of refugees in the East Wall area of Dublin this week. Plus: Housing is never far from the agenda and this week a Private Members bill was introduced calling for the housing situation to be declared an emergency. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Neil discusses the future of the Marina Market, Victor Shine on the fire at the R&H Hall site, and more on the East Wall protests. Tune into the Neil Prendeville Show weekdays from 9am on Cork's RedFM.

In this Reboot Republic Rory talks to award winning Irish actor Liam Cunningham, Game of Thrones star, and actor in films such as the Wind that Shakes the Barley and Hunger. Cunningham has been nominated for the London Film Critics' Circle Award, the British Independent Film Award, has won two Irish Film & Television Awards, and shared a BAFTA with Michael Fassbender, for their crime-drama short film Pitch Black Heist. We talk about Liam's life growing up in East Wall and Coolock in Dublin, his experiences as an electrician, what took him to acting, his anger at the Irish housing crisis and what has been done to this country. A fascinating story. Join us at patreon.com/tortoiseshack

Today on the show - Aontu leader Peadar Toibin outlines why his party is calling for a minimum custodial sentence for assaulting a Garda or emergency service worker, we speak with Joanna Byrne about Govt's approval of legislation to provide maternity leave for Cllrs and Gary Gannon TD gives us his thoughts on the continuing protests in East Wall over the provision of accommodation for refugees - these stories and more covered this morning Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Claire Brock speaks to Dr.Gabriel Scally, Senator Barry Ward, Senator Marie Sherlock, John Lee, Priscilla Lynch, Lucky Khambule, Cllr. Janet Horner & Stephen Teap Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Neil chats with Malachy on the East Wall protests, siblings who found each other after being adopted separately, and Angela's grandson who was attacked in Glanmire. Tune into the Neil Prendeville Show weekdays from 9am on Cork's RedFM.

Gary Gannon, Dublin Central TD for the Social Democrats and Brian Killoran, CEO of the Immigrant Council

A second protest was held in the East Wall area in Dublin over the housing of refugees in an empty ESB building. Kieran was joined by Gary Gannon, Social Democrats TD for the area to discuss…

The Government has agreed to place a cap on all market revenues of non-gas electricity generators. The cap will operate from next month until June 2023, with excess revenue being used to support consumers. Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe joined Kieran on the show to discuss…

Eleanor Burnhill outlines the latest developments following protests at East Wall in Dublin over the weekend linked to the housing of 100 asylum seekers.

On this episode we heard about protests in East Wall, Dublin over the housing of large groups of male only asylum seekers in a former ESB building. Many calls accused the far right of fuelling racism during the protests.

To support independent ski journalism, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Upgrading to a paid subscription is the only way to guarantee access to 100% of The Storm’s content.WhoAlan Henceroth, Chief Operating Officer of Arapahoe Basin, ColoradoRecorded onApril 12, 2022About Arapahoe BasinClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: Dundee Resort DevelopmentBase elevation: 10,520 feetSummit elevation: 13,050 feetVertical drop: 2,530 feetSkiable Acres: 1,428Average annual snowfall: 350 inchesTrail count: 147 (24% double-black, 49% black, 20% intermediate, 7% beginner)Lift count: 9 (2 high-speed quads, 2 fixed-grip quads, 1 triple [to be replaced with a high-speed six-pack this summer], 1 double, 2 carpets, 1 J-tow - view Lift Blog’s inventory of Arapahoe Basin’s lift fleet)Uphill capacity: 11,300 skiers per hourWhy I interviewed himThe Legend. Ski area taglines are typically rocket fuel for The Storm’s wiseass machine, but this one fits. Hard against the Continental Divide, Arapahoe Basin is the third-highest ski area in America, trailing only Monarch (10,790 feet) and Loveland (10,800) at its base, and Telluride (13,150) and Silverton (13,487), at its peak. Its legacy is 10th Mountain Division resourcefulness, an improbable place rising up and over the treeline, hacked out of the remote 1940s American wilderness. The ski area opens in October. It closes in June. Sometimes later (sometimes much later). In Conglomerate County USA, it is the rowdy independent, owned by Some Company Up In Canada, its extremes laced with ferocious double-blacks. There is no lodging. No phony village. No special rich-guy lanes. Just skiing.Damn good skiing, fed by 350 inches of average annual snowfall. This is a ski area, not a ski resort. And in approachable Summit County, with its green-blue acres appropriately tilted for destination-wired Texans and New Yorkers, its groves of high-speed super-lifts, its sprawling mountains perfectly divided by ability, we might assume that such a rowdy outfit, five miles past faux-village Keystone, half the size and with six fewer high-speed chairlifts, might wilt from the pressure. But A-Basin has a pull. Sort North America’s ski areas by size, and the bias is clear: just about any western resort under 2,000 acres was left off the Epic, Ikon, and Mountain Collective passes. But when Arapahoe Basin broke up with Vail in 2019, after a 22-year-partnership, Ikon and Mountain Collective were waiting in the driveway with a dozen roses and a ride to prom. Meanwhile, Loveland, just three miles away, 300 acres bigger, and infinitely easier to get to (its address is literally Interstate 70, Dillon, Colorado), continues to be shut out (or they’re just not interested).Anyone who’s skied there (and everyone has skied there), knows that Summit County is a special place. There’s a reason why it’s ground zero for America’s industrial snowsports machine. Copper, Breck, and Keystone have 79 lifts between them, including 10 six-packs, 16 high-speed quads, and four gondolas or chondolas. Eight and a half thousand acres of Epkonic terrain lurching within easy access of the interstate. And yet, there’s room for something different too. Something special. Something Legendary.What we talked aboutWhat the A-Basin crew does when Interstate 70 is closed and it’s dumping outside; the mountain’s 10th Mountain Division legacy; the audacity of 1946 A-Basin; what the ski area looked like when Henceroth showed up in 1988; the characters animating the mountain; ski-bumming and working in Summit County in the ‘80s; Arizona Snowbowl; yes a dog-food company used to own the ski area; The Legend’s terrain; recollections of rescues as Ski Patrol Director; the art of avalanche control; A-Basin’s unique position at the top of Summit County and at ground zero of every major issue in U.S. skiing; the hidden drama behind Vail’s purchase of Keystone, Breck, and A-Basin, and why the company had to pick one to sell; why and how A-Basin ended up on the Epic Pass; the historical inflection point that launched the large-scale ski season pass wars; the Epic Pass breaking point; breaking up with Vail – “it was a surprise to everyone”; the upsides of the Epic Pass; Vail’s stingy spring skiing legacy; how and why A-Basin joined the Ikon and Mountain Collective passes; what it meant for A-Basin to take its own pass back; how the skier experience has changed since the ski area left the Epic Pass; the parking problem; increasing uphill capacity while decreasing overall capacity by limiting ticket and pass sales; why A-Basin ditched its reservation system right after a two-week pilot in 2020; no more holiday blackouts on the Ikon Base Pass; why A-Basin finally installed a high-speed lift in 2010; why the ski area didn’t replace Pali with a higher-capacity lift; why A-Basin went with a fixed-grip quad at The Beavers even though it has twice the vertical rise of the high-speed Black Mountain lift; where you go once you have the newest lift fleet in the country; what the Montezuma Bowl expansion meant for the ski area; going deep on The Beavers expansion and why the lift is where it is; whether future terrain expansions are coming; the commitment to the long season; The Beach; and Al’s Blog.              Why I thought that now was a good time for this interviewSummit County is, unfortunately, too convenient for its own good. It is the first stop on the Ski Express heading west out of metropolitan Denver, where the population has nearly doubled in 30 years. It was, along with Winter Park, where the multi-mountain season pass wars erupted in the late ‘90s. Starting around 1998, a couple hundred bucks and a junker could get you an eight-month ski season in the high alpine. At the same time, air travel continued to get cheaper and Denver’s airport continued to expand. Anyone from anywhere could get to Colorado pretty easily, and over time the expressway into the mountains became a parking lot with a view.A-Basin rode this tsunami for a long time. An inaugural member of the Epic Pass in 2008, the ski area was also part of the bargain-basement Summit County version of the product, which delivered unlimited access to Arapahoe Basin and Keystone (along with non-holidays at Breck), for around $500 (past prices are tough to nail down, but the pass was $419 in 2012 and appeared to rise to $549 by 2018; versions without Breck access were even cheaper). It was a hell of a deal, but it nearly broke the ski area. By 2019, when the mountain shocked Vail, skiers, and the whole industry by saying “yeah we’re done,” parking – the foundation of the whole U.S. American lift-served ski experience – was well beyond maxed-out for half of A-Basin’s eight-month season.Exhausted and nearly defeated, the ski area needed a breather. The mountain that A-Basin had become was not the mountain it wanted or imagined itself to be. So Henceroth and his team rethought everything. They started limiting day ticket and season pass sales. For next season, they will actually decrease the number of passes by 10 percent of 2021-22 totals. They joined the Ikon and Mountain Collective passes, but as limited-day partners. This season, they will yank the 21-year-old Lenawee triple and drop a high-speed six-pack in its place (the triple is headed down I-70 to Sunrise). All of this came on top of the 468-acre Beavers and Steep Gullies expansion in 2018, which considerably boosted the ski area’s size and came with a new quad.The headline here: Arapahoe Basin is decreasing overall capacity while increasing uphill capacity. It’s not a completely novel strategy: Deer Valley was built on limited tickets and fast, insanely numerous lifts. But A-Basin is doing this without the luxury sheen or high-dollar pricetag (their season pass is $559 for 2022-23, while Deer Valley’s clocks in at $2,675). And, more interestingly, it’s working: Henceroth tells me on the podcast that the ski area has never been in better fiscal shape, even as it’s shed 200,000 annual skier visits in the past four years. It’s a remarkable narrative, and one that many other ski areas, I suspect, will copy. Many other big-dogs – Alta, Jackson Hole, Aspen – are also aggressively adjusting pass products or tweaking parking or ramping up lift fleets. A-Basin, however, has been arguably the most aggressive and outspoken, a story told one blog post at a time, a real-time experiment in how big-time skiing in a big-time ski market can approach rationality in the megapass era and amid an exploding population. It was a story I had to hear.Questions I wish I’d askedI had a few questions prepared around the mountain’s long-term snowmaking plans, as well as a bit about why the ski area has no lodging (I think it’s the difficulty guests have sleeping at that altitude).What I got wrongWhen I referenced the elimination of Ikon Base holiday blackouts at A-Basin for next season, I said that there were no restrictions over “Christmas, New Year’s, and MLK.” That should have been the standard blackout periods of Christmas-to-New Year’s, MLK, and Presidents’ Day weekend, as outlined on the Ikon Pass website.Why you should ski Arapahoe BasinThere’s something special about the top of America, where the trees meet the snowfields and peaks rise stark and lonesome beyond. To have skiing up there – to have anything up there – is disorienting and marvelous, a triumph of spirit and will. This is not Europe, where you’ll ride packed tram cars to a mountain-top abutment more impossible-seeming to anchor into than the surface of the moon. But it’s dramatic nonetheless, a sense of yeah-so-this-is-Colorado that will linger forever once absorbed.A-Basin has a few greens, a small collection of blues, a pair of carpets wheeling along at the base. But this is an expert’s mountain. See the East Wall terrain on the map above, or anything off Pali, or the elevator shafts dropping from the Zuma Cornice. This is not Keystone, with its 10-mile cruisers and good stuff hidden three humps from the front-side. A-Basin’s gnar hangs there, looming and unmissable, a reach goal or psychological torture device for the groomer-bound or the uninitiated. It’s still Summit County: busy, pass-aligned, easy to get to, but it soars in a way that Copper, Keystone, and Breck – all incredible mountains – just don’t. It’s a little more Tahoe, a little more Jackson, a little more Cottonwoods than its Colorado neighbors, with a bit more edge and a bit more muscle, something both among and apart from them.More Arapahoe BasinAl’s Blog is one of the best ski-area blogs in the country. Posts exploring some of the items we discussed on the podcast:Why A-Basin replaced its “1978 YAN fixed grip double chairlift with a capacity of 1,200 people per hour for a 2020 Leitner Poma fixed grip double chairlift with a capacity of 1,200 people per hour.”Why the ski area exited the Epic PassNumbers-based breakdowns of A-Basin’s post-Epic life from 2020, and again from earlier this year.  A good breakdown (playing off the 2020 post above), by The Colorado Sun’s Jason Blevins: Arapahoe Basin’s effort to avoid overcrowding by leaving the Epic Pass may be working too wellHenceroth and I discussed Winter Park’s first buddy pass discount, which ignited the Colorado pass wars in 1998. This 2004 retrospective from The Summit Daily provides some good history, along with some funny-to-hear-now predictions from concerned ski industry veterans.On the podcast, Henceroth mentions a ski magazine cover that credited “Vail Resorts” with a 243-day season after A-Basin (which was then part of the Epic Pass), extended their season deep into summer. I mentioned that I would try and track this magazine (or an image of it online), down, but I was unable to. If anyone has this cover, please send me a photo and I’ll include it in a future newsletter.This trailmap of A-Basin, from 1967, is the oldest I could find:The Storm publishes year-round, and guarantees 100 articles per year. This is article 40/100 in 2022. Want to send feedback? Reply to this email and I will answer. You can also email skiing@substack.com. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

jQuery(document).ready(function(){ cab.clickify(); }); Original Podcast with clickable words https://tinyurl.com/y4v3ga7j The three who abducted Lunney received a long prison sentence. Príosún fada faighte ag an triúr a d'fhuadaigh Lunney. Three men convicted of kidnapping and spying on businessman Kevin Lunney have been sentenced to long prison terms. Gearradh téarmaí fada príosúnachta ar thriúr fear a ciontaíodh as fuadach agus as spídiúlacht a thabhairt don fhear gnó Kevin Lunney. YZ, the man who led this group, is said to have been 30 years old, and that person cannot be named. 30 bliain a chuaigh ar YZ, an té a deirtear a bhí i gceannas ar an ghrúpa seo, agus ní féidir an té sin a ainmniú. He is said to have been the most injured Mr Lunney, being taken to the scene of the atrocity on September 17, 2019. Deirtear gurbh eisean ba mhó a ghortaigh an tUasal Lunney, agus é tugtha go láthair an uafáis ar an 17 Meán Fómhair 2019. Alan O'Brien (40) and Darren Redmond (27), both from the East Wall in Dublin, were also sentenced by the Special Criminal Court. Ghearr an Chúirt Choiriúil Speisialta tréimhsí freisin ar Alan O'Brien (40) agus Darren Redmond (27), ar ón mBalla Thoir i mBaile Átha Cliath iad beirt. O'Brien was 25 years old, and it was rumored that he had a close connection with YZ and also abused Kevin Lunney. 25 bliain a fuair O'Brien, agus é ráite faoisean go raibh ceangal dlúth aige le YZ agus gur thug sé drochíde freisin do Kevin Lunney. Redmond, who was told he could be under the influence of the other two, was sentenced to 15 years. 15 bliain a gearradh ar Redmond, a ndúradh faoi go bhféadfadh sé a bheith faoi dhroch-thionchar na beirte eile. Kevin Lunney was abducted on his way home from work in County Fermanagh at the time of his abduction. Ba ag filleadh abhaile óna chuid oibre i gContaeFhear Manach a bhí Kevin Lunney nuair a fuadaíodh é. He was taken across the border to County Cavan, and abused in a horse trailer. Tugadh trasna na teorann é go Contaean Chabháin, agus tugadh an drochíde dó i leantóir capall. His work as a senior executive with Quinn Industrial Holdings is said to have been linked to his experiences. Deirtear go raibh baint ag a chuid oibre mar fheidhmeannach sinsearach leis an gcomhlacht Quinn Industrial Holdings le gach ar tharla dó.

jQuery(document).ready(function(){ cab.clickify(); }); Original Podcast with clickable words https://tinyurl.com/y3dcyjrf 'I will have the imprint of this attack forever'-Kevin Lunney. 'Beidh rian an ionsaithe seo orm go brách'-Kevin Lunney. Businessman Kevin Lunney, who was abducted and badly battered in County Cavan 2 years ago, has said that the traces of that attack will remain with him both physically and emotionally. Tá sé ráite ag an bhfear gnó,Kevin Lunney, a fuadaíodh agus a batráileadh go dona i gContaean Chábháin 2 bhliain ó shin, go bhfanfaidh rian an ionsaithe sin leis go fisiciúil agus ó thaobh a chuid mothúchán de. In a victim impact statement, which a guard read out on his behalf in court, Kevin Lunney said this attack was the icing on an intimidation campaign against the Quinn Industrial Holdings company. I ráiteas tionchair íospartaigh, a léigh garda amach thar a cheann sa chúirt, dúirt Kevin Lunney gurbh é an t-ionsaí seo an sméar mullaigh ar fheachtas imeaglaithe in aghaidh an chomhlachta cén Quinn Industrial Holdings. However, he said that he did not understand why the three men had attacked him; 'I did not know them and they did not know me' he said. Dúirt sé áfach nár thuig sé cén fáth a ndearna an triúr fear ionsaí dá léithid; 'ní raibh aon aithne agam orthu agus ní raibh aon aithne acu orm' a dúirt sé. Following the attack, Kevin Lunney was left on the side of the road. I ndiaidh an ionsaithe,fágadh Kevin Lunney ar thaobh an bhóthair. The three convicts are to be sentenced in the Special Criminal Court: Alan O'Brien (40), Darren Redmond (27), both from the East Wall in Dublin, and another man who cannot be named for unlawful imprisonment and the ill-treatment they inflicted on Mr Lunney on 17 September 2019. Tá píonós le gearradh sa Chúirt Choiriúil Speisialta ar an triúr atá ciontaithe: Alan O'Brien (40), Darren Redmond (27), ar ón Bhalla Thoir i mBaile Átha Cliath iad beirt, agus fear eile nach féidir a ainmniú as príosúnú mídhleathach agus an droch-bhail a chur siad ar an Uasal Lunney ar an 17Meán Fómhair 2019. This will now take place on 20 December 2021. Is ar an 20Nollaig 2021 a dhéanfar sin anois. Submissions on behalf of the trio were made to the court today. Cuireadh aighneachtaí ar son an triúir faoi bhráid na cúirte inniu.

jQuery(document).ready(function(){ cab.clickify(); }); Original Podcast with clickable words https://tinyurl.com/ygzedjce Three men have been found guilty of assaulting Kevin Lunney. Triúr fear faighte ciontach maidir leis an ionsaí ar Kevin Lunney. Three men have been found guilty of unlawfully imprisoning businessman Kevin Lunney. Tá triúr fear faighte ciontach i bpríosunú mídhleathach a dhéanamh ar an bhfear gnó,Kevin Lunney. They were also found guilty in the Special Criminal Court of intentionally causing grievous bodily harm to Kevin Lunney. Fuarthas ciontach freisin iad sa Chúirt Choiriúil Speisialta i mórdhíobháil coirp a dhéanamh d'aon turas do Kevin Lunney. The 4th innocent man was Luke O'Reilly (68) from Kilcock in Cavan. Fuarthas an 4ú fear neamhchiontach, sin é Luke O'Reilly (68) as Cill Chóige sa Chabhán. But Alan O'Brien (40) and Darren Redmond (27) of the East Wall in Dublin were convicted of this serious crime. Ach ciontaíodh Alan O'Brien (40) agus Darren Redmond (27) ón mBalla Thoir i mBaile Átha Cliath sa choir thromchúiseach seo. Another man was also found guilty of this grievous bodily harm. Fuarthas ciontach freisin fear eile sa mhórdhíobháil coirp seo. For legal reasons, your name in this case can only be given to YZ. Ar chúiseanna dlí, ní féidir d'ainm a thabhairt ar an té sin sa chás seo ach YZ. All the men were pleading not guilty to the kidnapping, illegal imprisonment and battering that Kevin Lunney received in September 2019. Bhí na fir ar fad ag pléadáil neamhchiontach maidir leis an bhfuadach, an príosúnú míhdleathach agus an batráil a fuair Kevin Lunney i Meán Fómhair 2019. Mr. Lunney was a director of Quinn Industrial Holdings at the time. Bhí an tUasal Lunney ina stiúrthóir ar Quinn Industrial Holdings ag an am. Judge Tony Hunt said he was pleased that the black Audi that hung Kevin Lunney out of his residence on September 17, 2019 was driven by YZ. Dúirt an Breitheamh Tony Hunt go raibh sé sásta gurb é YZ a thiomáin an Audi dubh a chroch leis Kevin Lunney amach as a theach cónaithe ar an 17Meán Fómhair 2019. It was also assumed that YZ was the next to give most of the splendor to Kevin Lunney and the businessman was held hostage in a horse truck. Glacadh leis freisin a dúradh gurbh é YZ ba mhó a thug an spídiúlacht do Kevin Lunney ina dhiaidh sin agus an fear gnó coinnithe mar ghiall i dtrucail do chapaill. Kevin Lunney then suffered a concussion, broke his legs and was then left by the side of the road in County Cavan. Fuair Kevin Lunney droch-bhualadh ansin, briseadh a chosa agus fágadh ansin é le taobh an bhóthair i gContae An Chabháin. Kevin Lunney Got A Bad Beat In September 2019

The Alison Spittle Show – Episode 76 – Roxana Ni Liam In Episode 76 – Alison talks to actor Roxana Nic Liam about acting vs standup, soap stardom on Fair City, when murder presents an opportunity, favourite soap deaths, being in The General and Agnes Brown, getting a cornetto from Tom Jones, Shinoxy sketch group, the negative or working on comedy and double standards within the industry, kicking drug pushers out of the East Wall, being the tree in Pochahontas and returning to comedy. Follow Roxana on Twitter for information on upcoming writing projects.  Alison Spittle does stand-up comedy all the time because there's no money in it. See alisonspittle.com or her Twitter for the latest tour dates. Thanks to HeadStuff.org for hosting our podcast. They have a Patreon page. Please support them. If you enjoyed the podcast, do us a favour and leave a rating. It's a big help. Catch you next time. Flamingo artwork designed by William Conway, email revolantis@hotmail.com. Theme tune by No Monster Club. 

Mr. Wayne Newton! Plus, Mike's visit to "The Home"... Pope talk... a weird movie... and fantasy football madness!