John Keyes

Fifteen firms banned from JobBridge work scheme

Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton revealed the figures as claims were made in the Dáil of “widespread abuse” by private companies who displace existing employees and take on unpaid interns whose social welfare and an extra payment of €50 a week are paid by the State.

Deafened by the muted screams of thousands who said “I told you so”.

• Father and Son (Cat Stevens)
• Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan)
• Summertime (Ella Fitzgerald)
• Stand By Me (Ben E. King)
• Piano Man (Billy Joel)

• Titanium (David Guetta)
• My heart will go on (Celine Dion)
• Skyfall (Adele)
• Wanna dance with somebody (Whitney Houston)

If we have spoken about the media and sport you’ll know my opinions on how I believe the they like to manipulate public opinion on certain people.

I could start listing some examples of this, but to do so I would have to name names, and that would create a link to a team, and that would trigger people to seek consonance between their moral expectations and club-affiliated reality.

Lennon’s Eyebrow wrote a thought-provoking piece titled “Throwing stones in glass houses: On villainy, outrage, and fandom” that covers a lot of ground (and names some names).

I am a harsh critic of sports media, but it’s not just the professionals who irk me. Media like Twitter and Facebook provide people with a platform to publicly air their opinions, and other like-minded people retweet, like, and agree with each other until the muddled partisan generally senseless crescendo. If you support a different team, and have a different opinion, you are deluded.

Talking about a game was something I used enjoy, but now not so much, as media influenced opinions wash over the conversation with devastating sense-cleansing effect.

• Killing Me Softly (The Fugees)
• Don’t Speak (No Doubt)
• Come Away With Me (Norah Jones)
• Chasing Cars (Snow Patrol)