Author: ewan.duffy

along with the pesky BusConnects proposal, both in Dublin.

Of course, what they haven’t stated is that as the Metro will be driverless and BusConnects is predicted to need 40% less drivers than present, these two projects would decimate their membership numbers and therefore, their revenue base.

Methinks it is time for a change in the law regarding trade unions, specifically, requiring a split into dedicated public sector unions* and dedicated private sector unions and never the twain shall meet. In addition, the concept of the State being required to favour all equally or not at all needs to be extended to the former – i.e. public sector unions would be required to be honest in their pronouncements to the effect that they were lobbying solely against reduced public sector number/trade union membership.

* Personally, I would favour banning all public sector trade unions, considering them to be part of the problem and not any part of a solution in a 21st century, 1st world constitutional republic. However, as a defender of the Constitution, I do understand and appreciate the right to associate (and dis-associate) freely. Whilst I am a former public servant (I was an Administrative Officer for 7 years), I did not join the relevant trade union during my employment.

or, in other words (that TPTB would prefer you didn’t say), killing the same number of people over a longer period of time and then some, due to increased domestic abuse, suicides, drug abuse and increased poverty from the economic collapse caused by the civil service decision to shut down the private sector economy whilst keeping their own salaries and pensions intact.

If this offends you, you need to go away and learn how to think.

As part of the mass hysteria around COVID19, a number of lightly used railways in Ireland (e.g. the Ballybrophy to Limerick Line) have been closed “temporarily” (one wonders how temporary these closures will be – CIE has never been one to waste a crisis to close railway lines).

As an alternative method of transport on these lines going forward, I give you this idea from Romania.

This is not quite IH, but close enough to merit a mention.

As I am recovering old electrical wires whilst gradually doing up my (1950s) house, I wondered how is the copper recovered from these wires (and those inside WEEE separated electrical equipment).

I searched on Youtube (the home of just about anything!) and, among others, found this video, where an individual recovers the copper from old wire as a one man project, making ingots out of same.

I’m not sure of the economics of it, but judging by his collection (at the end of the video), it is an interesting way to pass the time and retain some metals at the end of it.

But he is not in Ireland, before the mob forms.

The Guardian reports that a former Supreme Court judge in the UK has criticised the actions of Derbyshire police in using drones to enforce social distancing and has also gone so far as to describe placing the nation under effective house arrest as hysteria, stating:

“Yes, this is serious, and, yes, it’s understandable that people cry out to the government, but the real question is, is this serious enough to warrant putting most of our population into house imprisonment, wrecking our economy for an indefinite period, destroying businesses that honest and hardworking people have taken years to build up, saddling future generations with debt?”