RYAN TUBRIDY LEADS features in two segments of my weekly review of the Sunday papers, once for his take on Twitter and another time for his interview of Senator David Norris. Although Tubridy would have readers believe that Twitter "is a work thing," a quick scan of his public tweets suggests he's socialising with the medium. There's no harm in that, just as there's no harm in elected politicians tweeting from the Dail Chamber. Stephen O'Brien gives front page coverage to a draft proposal from the committee on procedure and privileges in which Irish politicians will be able to send and to receive texts, emails and tweets, as long as their activity does not interfere with a speaking TD or senator. I'm interested in how the sound system handles more than 100 mobile phone signals when they're all switched on. My 11-minute Qik clip takes a cue from the Taoiseach because I'm not trying to find news about the Irish comeback (not a full-blown recovery yet, in my opinion), innovation, the meltdown of the Irish economy, an event worth doing, privacy, and technology. More below the break.
Direct link to http://www.insideview.ie/files/100523.mp3 and to video file.
#comeback
Brian Cowen wants more positive media coverage of Ireland emerging from its meltdown. Part of the Irish comeback will be helped by 76% of Irish workers who are willing to work for a smaller pay packet in order to ensure job security. Enterprise Ireland's Frank Ryan points out that Irish exports are still above the €13bn mark and that's good news for prognosticators. And in a front page story with the Sunday Business Post, Gavin Daly believes "Google (is) one of the jobs projects in the pipeline". Feeding the jobs pipeline requires qualified applicants and as a third level educator in Tipperary Institute, I'm hoping that part of the Labour Market Activation programme involves a minor award that will feature in the BlueBrick website.
#event
The event I'd recommend is Bloom in the Park.
#innovation
Just one cow produces enough waste every day to power the televisions in three typical households, according to HP research reported by Iain Dey in the Sunday Times. HP knows 10,000 dairy cows could power one of its data centres. Adrian Weckler writes a four-star interview with Colm Lyon from Realex Payments, one of the shining stars of Irish internet space.
#meltdown
Damien Kiberd's "Irish Outlook" in the Sunday Business Post gives a withering view of the "beneficial crisis" currently facing the Irish Exchequer. If the Germans get their way, borrowing by an EU member state could be capped at 0.35% of GDP by 2016. In an interesting revisionist gesture, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions takes no blame for pushing up wage demands during the Celtic Tiger boom and now wants to jack up taxes as a way to improve Ireland for businesses. Klaus Regling, the former German finance ministry heavyweight who is investigating Ireland's meltdown, will submit his preliminary findings to the Irish government, in time for the politicians to scramble away on holiday.
#privacy
Jennifer O'Connell raises an important point about the sex lives of politicians as she writes about an interview by Ryan Tubridy with Senator David Norris. A dispute of fruit bats exposed the darker side of academia in Ireland, according to Colin Coyle. The incident also pointed to the herd mentality of Twitter as dozens of talkative tweeple jumped to the aid of an academic without really knowing what they were defending. The must-read piece on privacy appears in YourTech inside the Sunday Business Post where several facets of Facebook privacy receive attention.
#technology
In the Sunday Times, Bojan Pancevski writes about the €4.95m European Bureau project earmarking the money for an IT mobility project. This could mean iPads for every MEP. The Sunday Times InGear section lusts for an iPad but its two-page spread is less informative than a 10-minute session with Simon Lewis at last week's ICT in Education Conference. Adrian Weckler ruminates about the 4G spectrum in Ireland, something receiving less attention from the Minister for Communications than giving away rugby coverage as free-to-air broadcasts.
#trend
Patrick Freyne shows reveals how Ryan Tubridy is tweeting and how he feels about getting the best job in Irish television. Stephen Collins writes how it will be legal to sit in the Dail and tweet.