Politics
Now, this bell tolling for another, says to me, thou must die
Perfect justice does not exist. When a person is injured, by the fault of another, only a money payment is available in law to compensate him or her. This inadequacy is unavoidable. Recently, in Ireland, a generation of politicians, civil servants and some lawyers, decided to trade even this inadequacy to further their prospects and careers. They promoted the interests of the defence in personal injury claims, over the interests of the injured plaintiff and some still do so. They […]
British is Better
With very little bother or trouble, the Oireachtas could and should remedy a real and persistent injustice for many injured persons. In Hu -v- Duleek Formwork Ltd & Anor [2013 IEHC 50, the High Court declined to make a declaration that the Plaintiff was entitled to the benefit of an insurance contract taken out by the insolvent Defendant company. The insurance company, Aviva, took issue with the Defendant’s failure to pay the excess of €1,000 which, as between the Defendant and […]
Slip and Fall Accidents
Supermarkets are common locations of slips and falls. The customer numbers are high and the material to cause the slips is readily to hand. Under the Occupiers Liability Act 1995 an occupier is obliged to take; “… such care as is reasonable in all the circumstances…….to ensure that a visitor to the premises does not suffer injury or damage by reason of any danger existing thereon” There is a danger in supermarkets that stuff will fall to the floor and […]
Foot in Mouth
Much of everyday speech is inaccurate, so inaccuracy is not a big deal in everyday life. However, Government ministers do not inhabit our banal everyday world. In the case of the Minister for Agriculture and Food this means at least two things; he should not say “appraise” when he means “apprise,” and he should not undermine criminal investigations by diminishing the facts being investigated which he does when he says he is investigating “mislabeling”. To say that selling horsemeat as […]
The Connacht Gold wall accident
The Health and Safety Authority is a good institution but an odd one. It was established under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005. It has as its central purpose, as recited in Section 34 of that Act, “to promote, encourage and foster the prevention of accidents, dangerous occurrences and personal injury at work in accordance with the relevant statutory provisions” So, oddly enough, when some customers were killed and injured in the Connacht Gold shop in Longford, […]
The Food Police?
The finding by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland of horse meat in frozen beef burgers invokes the following legal provisions: A) Articles 14 (1) and 16 of Regulation (EC) N° 178/2002 on General Food Law; B) Regulations 5 (1) and 6 of the European Communities (General Food Law) Regulations 2007. Under Article 14 (1) of Regulation No. 178/2002, “Food shall not be placed on the market if it is unsafe”. “Unsafe” includes food unfit for human consumption. The Regulation […]
Not Reassured
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland has analysed selected consumer products sold in Ireland. These products are probably also sold in the UK. By and large they were “manufactured” in Ireland. The products are, allegedly, burgers made of beef meat. (1) It is true, they contained some beef meat. However, they also contained some pig and horsemeat. The proportions varied from sample to sample. There is one conclusion to be drawn from this; it is not wise to trust the […]
Some Reaction to Irish Newspapers demanding money for links
On Sunday night, we published our post 2012: The year Irish newspapers tried to destroy the web on the efforts of the Irish newspaper industry to assert property rights over links. The post has provoked a good deal of comment. For convenience, we have collected up a few of the responses. Hugh Linehan, the Editor of IrishTimes.com: @jobrodie I should acknowledge that it’s all factually correct as far as I know — Hugh Linehan (@hlinehan) December 31, 2012 Prof Jay […]
2012: The year Irish newspapers tried to destroy the web
This is not a joke. I have started with that clarification, because as you read this you will find yourself asking “Is this some kind of a joke?” I thought I would be helpful and put the answer right up at the start, so you can refer back to it as often as you require. This year the Irish newspaper industry asserted, first tentatively and then without any equivocation, that links -just bare links like this one– belonged to them. […]
How (and why) to complain about an unwanted political Automatic Phone Call
There are reports today of people receiving automatic dialling machine telephone calls relating to Ireland’s abortion legislation. Any group using these sorts of ‘robo-dialling’ systems, which are common in the USA, should first make themselves aware of the restrictions in this jurisdiction on this sort of communication. Directive 97/66/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 1997 concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the telecommunications sector (or The Directive, to […]