Covid-19 is still raging across the globe with America recording record number of cases daily. America recorded more than 77,600 new infections in 24 hours, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
Four million residents of Barcelona have been urged to stay at home as virus cases rise. Spain’s death toll of 28,400 is one of Europe’s worst and the country has identified more than 150 new virus clusters across the country.
India hit one million cases the day after virus cases in Brazil topped two million.
And here in Ireland as cases slowly increase means, the country will now not move to Phase 4 on 20 July as planned, and instead, this phase is being extended until 10 August, which doesn’t reflect well on the new government.
Speaking on not reflecting well on the government and that it appears that the convention centre can be cosey, almost too cosey for some TD’s. Photographs emerged showing Tipperary TD Mattie McGrath apparently sleeping. “I most definitely was not asleep, nobody had to wake me up,” insisted Deputy McGrath
Green Party leader Eamon Ryan on the other hand accepts his Dáil doze. Mr Ryan said that this could hurt his Green Party leadership bid ‘I regret it deeply’, Mr Ryan said there is “no excuse” for falling asleep in the Dáil.
Ryan failed to answer when his name was called during a Social Democrats motion on workers’ rights last Thursday.; the Oireachtas TV camera appeared to show him sleeping in his Convention Centre seat.
While some are quick to highlight that he is human and is allowed to be tired, it was the optics of it all. Ryan had to be woken up to vote down a motion to give workers a living wage.
Ryan is currently in the midst of a leadership battle within his own party, where current Deputy Leader Catherine Martin challenges him. Ballot papers for the contest are being sent to party members and must be returned by 22 July. The result of the contest will be announced on the evening of 23 July.
In other political news:
Ireland Thinks polls in the Irish Mail on Sunday which will be a good indicator of public opinion of the current government shows that FG’s support is up to four percentage points since the general election to 38% while FF’s support is down to 12%, the GP is down 3% to 5%. Sinn Féin is down 1% to 26%.
Recently sacked minister for agriculture Barry Cowen is apparently planning a Charles Haughey tour of Ireland to build up support within the FF party. It was reported that some FF TDs and councillors are not happy with the decision to sack Barry Cowen dividing those in FF.
The former agriculture minister told supporters that Fianna Fáil is bigger than him and “definitely bigger” than Micheál Martin as the Taoiseach faced a backlash from party councillors in Offaly last night.
It was reported that several Fianna Fáil TDs also privately hit out at the Taoiseach’s handling of the matter.
Interesting reads
How Remote Work Could Destroy Silicon Valley
There may be no richer Silicon Valley lore: It was 2004, Mark Zuckerberg’s summer of craziness. At 20, he and five buddies had rented a Palo Alto home, where they partied and wrote code for Facebook. Read on through the link.
A Lot of Athletes Seem to Have the Coronavirus. Here Are Some Reasons
While some might have hoped that the return of sports leagues in the United States would triumphantly signal some steps toward normalcy, the lurching process has instead felt like a delicate and jittery high-wire act. Read on through the link.
How Trump Is Helping Tycoons Exploit the Pandemic
The secretive titan behind one of America’s largest poultry companies, who is also one of the President’s top donors, is ruthlessly leveraging the coronavirus crisis—and his vast fortune—to strip workers of protections. Read on through the link.
Bild, Merkel and the culture wars: the inside story of Germany’s biggest tabloid
The newspaper Bild has long poured vitriol on the country’s left-wingers and ‘do gooders’. But now it has a new target: the chancellor. Read on through the link.
Will and Jada’s “Red Table Talk” Was A Savvy PR Move
In an interview that has been viewed over 31 million times since last Friday afternoon, Jada Pinkett Smith, 48, and her husband, Will Smith, 51, talked about the scandal that has ruptured their public-facing personae and their implacably cool coupledom. They admitted what their representatives had initially vehemently denied a couple of weeks ago: that during a period of separation with Will four and a half years ago, Jada had a relationship — what she called “an entanglement” — with R&B singer August Alsina, 27. Read on through the link.
Categories: Journalism, Politics
Robert Geoghegan. 
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