Social Affairs Correspondent for the Irish Independent. Tips: amolloy
@independent
.ie, DMs also open. Interested in investigations and human interest stories
Remember the good old days when you could get a taxi, didn’t have to queue five hours for a flight, Passport Express was still a thing, a tank of diesel cost less than €70 and three scones and a cup of tea cost less than €45
Vile. My agent received the below email... Niamh Walsh I’m sure you have better and more pressing things to write about than guessing a child’s name and pressuring someone to talk about it either way! I’ll talk about my child on my terms when I choose.
Stephen Donnelly in the Seanad yesterday: “I saw one piece where somebody said, this hasn’t worked because I found a pharmacy where they were €8. Well, don’t buy them for €8, you know, go buy them somewhere where they’re not €8.”
*goes to place where they’re not €8*
Imagine falling in love with a man and then finding out he’s the type of person who jumps up waving his hands in the air at a rugby match to try get on the telly
#IREvSCO
My favourite thing about trying to reach milestones these days is how my dad keeps comparing things to when he was my age.
Got a quote of €34,000 for a wedding reception venue. Dad: “we paid £500 for ours in 1987”
Not helping, dad
I think someone should interview all the people who missed the call for the Cash Machine on Today FM for a feature. What were they doing at the time? How did they recover after realising they missed a call to win thousands of euro?
Minimum pricing on alcohol, you can’t use supermarket vouchers for drink any more, alcohol sections closed off in shops like they’re shameful and now, despite the fact many of our most vulnerable are vaccinated, you still have a limit of 105 mins in pubs. RIP the craic
Hearing more and more people who are fully vaccinated say they will not get a booster shot. Mixed messaging is increasing vaccine hesitancy. If you promise a return to normality when the majority of people are vaccinated, then reintroduce restrictions, confusion ensues 🤷♀️
I’m working on an article about the struggle to get taxis in Dublin and looking to speak to people who’ve been left stranded/had issues getting home.
An hour trying to find a taxi on Sat night. When we eventually did,he drove off because the 10-minute journey was ‘too short’ 😑
@thewhitmore
You shared a copy of her email and name to nearly half a million people calling it vile. Naturally she’ll now get plenty of abuse. You could have just replied to her privately. Showbiz journalism isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but as a journo graduate you know how it works?
Woman’s €760,000 injury claim dismissed after she admits she won Christmas tree-throwing competition
A photo of her at the event was published in the Indo on January 8, 2018. Two days later, she told a doctor she couldn’t carry groceries.
Can’t imagine there’s many camogie players who don’t have some form of scar from playing over the years.
Taped hurls can also cause injuries. This sets a dangerous precedent for clubs.
Can’t wait to tell the grandkids about that time in Irish history when we got five push notifications a week announcing new energy hikes while the companies raked in huge profits
People often get in contact asking for stories to be removed from behind a paywall as they think “it’s important as many people read it as possible”.
If people don’t support and pay for journalism, it won’t be possible for journalists to continue doing stories that are important
Me yesterday before getting a puppy: people who set up social media accounts for pets are pathetic
Me today: come on Nala, let’s get your profile picture
Think it’s a bit sneaky when radio shows contact journalists to get a number for an interviewee and then fail to credit the paper for the original article. We all help each other out, and I know sometimes presenters forget, but certain shows do it all the time.
“Women are having to choose between a family and a career. I feel like 11 years of studying and working my way up the ladder are now down the drain” - Ireland’s childcare crisis forcing some parents to give up their jobs
BREAKING: The owners of a pitbull which left nine-year-old Alejandro Mizsan with catastrophic injuries have been jailed for two years.
Judge James McCourt said “there has to be a deterrent for people going around with unlicensed pitbulls”
More to follow
@KevDoyle_Indo
Why don’t we get transition year students building houses as part of their mini company projects so they have somewhere to affordable to live after the LC while we’re at it
DCC CEO Owen Keegan’s innovative solution to the housing crisis is…. Students’ Unions becoming property developers.
This is in response to
@ucdsu
opposition to purpose-built student accommodation being converted into short-term tourist accommodation.🙃🙃🙃
Hurling is loved because of its toughness, ferocious space and skill. So many harmless yellow cards have been given this year and it feels as though refs are trying to take away the contact element. The time after the throw-in is always frantic and this was a free, nothing else.
One year since we lost our grandad to Covid. Thinking of those who are without loved ones this Christmas and those who can’t be with family after testing positive. Hopefully this time next year things will be better
Lidl, Mr Price, Dunnes and SuperValu are all selling antigen tests for between €2 and €3, but many pharmacies and shops still selling them for between €5 and €8.
Three supermarkets (Aldi, Dunnes & SuperValu) in Enniscorthy were also sold out yesterday
The men that did this to my family were on bail at the time for other offences. No charges were ever brought.
A lot of good work has been done to tackle rural crime, but it’s worrying to see a spike in burglaries again. A lot more still needs to be done.
There are two types of shopkeepers on a day like today when it comes to getting a ‘small’ 99 ice-cream.
The ones who think you actually want a small ice-cream and give it to you, and the ones who ignore the small request and still give you an ice-cream the length of your arm ♥️
In case you're wondering why the Gardaí facilitated the saturation media coverage of the Hutch return and hearing yesterday, it was a distraction from this much bigger story and the media fell for it, hook, line and sinker.
I’m looking to speak to a tenant who is spending 40pc or more of their monthly income on rent for an article in the Irish Independent. Any shares appreciated 🗞
Considering our unhealthy obsession with the weather, I fear the combination of sunshine and the Northern Lights on the same weekend may cause Irish people to implode with excitement☀️
Myself and
@denise_denise
took a look at the plight of Irish pubs over the last year. Dee Costello of The Royal Oak also spoke candidly about her experience living above an empty bar. Three women on a podcast talking about pubs, as it should be 🍺
Put in a request for comment to a company this week and a director replied by asking could I send on a copy of the “proposed article” before publication so their “legal team can review it”.
That’s a first, I have to say…
Can still remember lines from Leaving Cert poems but yet struggle to remember the six number authentication code the bank sends you to verify you’re not a fraud
Wexford GAA has accused South East Radio of “persistent negative coverage” in a complaint to the BAI.
We’re entering dangerous territory if a local station can’t ask hard questions after four years of some very disappointing results and performances
That moment when the supporters starting chanting Wexford to drown out the Kilkenny fans singing ‘Joe McDonagh’ after the Antrim result and we pushed on to get a score 💜💛 what a game 💜💛
Straining a muscle carrying a Christmas tree across the Woodie’s car park all because you didn’t want to inconvenience the staff member who offered to help is very Irish, isn’t it 🎄
Tickets to Augusta: €4,200
Accommodation and golf: €3,500
Flights: circa €1,600
Getting a debt write-down of 80pc on €7.5m: (almost) priceless
Inside DJ Carey’s €10,000 US Masters trip: ‘He didn’t seem like a man under financial stress’
Told my Dad we’re doing a walkathon in work for May, and instead of offering words of encouragement, his advice was: “Don’t do well in it or they’ll think you’re doing no work and walking all day”
Can’t beat that Irish cynicism
This is my grandparents drinking champagne in the back of a limo on the way to Kilkenny for a night out just three years ago. Hope I’m still living life like that when I get to their age, and that wherever they are now, they’re enjoying a glass together ❤️
It’s strange how the public has been accused of “dropping its guard” when the vast majority have done what was asked
“First we were told normality would return once 70pc of the adult population was vaccinated, then it was 80pc, and after that 90pc.”
Some of the social media commentary around eviction stories is horrible and heartless. People who were settled in properties and started families being trolled for “having kids before having a house you own”. There are couples working full-time who still can’t afford to buy.
Very frustrating watching players receiving a short puck-out and then proceeding to solo straight into a crowd of players. Wexford conceded at least four scores from it 🤦🏼♀️
I agree with mandatory hotel quarantine being necessary, but also believe exceptions should be made. Barbara Mandato’s situation is heartbreaking after suffering two big losses in the last four months