We received an email from our local school informing us they had to get the Garda involved as multiple schools in the an area received threatening voicemails while the staff were on strike. They had to have the schools inspected to make sure it was safe for the children to return today.

This is absolutely insane.

Just wondering for myself…. I’m a student and want to know if college made or breaks anyone.

Sat down to put on a movie tonight, searched on Prime and Disney (unsubscribed to Netflix) and every good Halloween themed movie you'd have to pay for on prime or wasn't on Disney.

If I was to rent a movie on Prime (example, Donnie Darko renting is €3.99 to buy but not own is €9.99) and to use prime is €6.99 a month or €69.90 annually.

I can buy Donnie Darko Directors Cut for €11.21

We don't own anything when we subscribe to the service, and everything can be removed before you get to watch it.

Im tired of getting blinded everytime i drive especially on rural roads. Im aware of leds and how strong they are but there are still ignorant people who wouldnt dim there lights to save there lives.

In the last week, two of the last three cartons of milk I’ve bought have been off when first opened.

I bought a carton in Lidl Friday evening with plenty of date on it, and opened it Saturday morning and it was separated, honestly disgusting looking.

I got a delivery from Tesco Sunday morning, two cartons, both dated 20th Oct first one was fine, opened the second one this evening and it was gone off, with bits floating in it.

It’s not my fridge, everything else in it is grand, including the first carton I got on the same day.

Anyone else getting more bad milk lately?

I work in a small city and have started to see an influx of Brits and Americans (but not tourists) started to integrate into the city, I don’t know how to feel about it all as they are overall really friendly but just a weird sort of shock as 5-10 years ago there was hardly any.

I was speaking to someone today and they were surprised that somebody else they had met in a restaurant ate out regularly.

It got me thinking about me and how often I would eat out which would be seldom enough. Maybe eat out once every 8 weeks and a take away once or maybe twice a month.

Curious to know what other people’s habits are on this?

I ask as part of a linguistic study covering this topic!

Examples could include things like Tipptown, Tallafornia or Fundalk (never mind how common they are)...

I’m going to start this off by saying that I know this is a naive question. But it genuinely has stumped me over the last few days and wanted to see what people say or think.

But why is it that not literally everyone who is working is protesting?

I would say that most, if not all, who work in private sector are underpaid. My company for example has 500+ salary employees.. These salaries are at 28k, so basically minimal wage. Very hard/impossible to get any raises without moving up. I’ve heard many horror stories from other companies like Stryker, Uber etc.

Like what would actually happen if we all just walked out?

My qualm with all this is that these companies come to Ireland as a “tax haven” so you’d expect them to funnel some of their money back into its employees.. but instead we’re hit with redundancies year after year so that the companies profit margin and bottom line can look better on their balance sheets..

Surely they can’t retaliate and fire everyone who does strike?

Edit: Thank you for everyone who replied! So many responses in 2 hours. This was a genuine question I had and some have answered it and told me exactly what I was missing in my understanding of this subject.

To the people who are insulting me for asking a question: stfu.

How would you feel about the introduction of nuclear power plant(s) in this country? If there was a motion for this, would you be with or against it? And why?

So I'm going to preface this by saying, I do pay for news...thats not the problem.
In addition, this post is not about discussing the political views of the site.

I have no problem supporting news sources. I pay for The Guardian and Irish Times and two other Irish news sources but I still browse BBC, RTE, The Journal and other sites that don't require subscriptions.

That is up until recently, The Journal has obviously introduced a subscription and while I'm not against a) paying and supporting journalism and b) supporting an Irish website I just don't feel thejournal subscription can be justified.

Firstly, the comments section has gotten utterly toxic over the years, especially from 2018 onwards. Its clearly infested with bots and trolls and I feel the journal have done little or nothing to deal with this problem. This puts me off a lot and I'd actually prefer they remove comments from all articles at this point.

Secondly, while some of the investigation still has been very good there's lots of junk opinion peices and silly polls. It sort of feels like the site cannot decide what it wants to be.

I've been reading the site since 2010 and I've even contributed to stories in the past, I was also very active in the comments but less so in more recent years as it got more and more toxic.

Am I alone in my view?

I moved from three to lidl early last week for the 8.99 a month for life plan. I phoned 3 before I moved and was told there was nothing they can do so l switched. Today I had a call from three loyalty team offering 12.99 a month for life. No Increase. I asked the lady on the phone if it would state that on the paperwork and she said yes but she could not send me the contract until the order was made. I decided to switch back over as I had been with 3 for as long as I can remember. When I received the contract it had no mention at all about life or no increase. I called back and asked for it in writing and they said they can't do that. So I have cancelled that order as unfortunately I cannot just accept their word for it that they will not increase it.

In personality Im quite a different person to my Dad but we had a fair bit in common ..

Today I shaved off a beard that I had for a long time and just looked at the reflection in the mirror and Im the image of my Dad!

I may have gone full Dad.

what about you?

Just wondering what would be a good gift/amount of money to give for my godsons christening. Was thinking maybe about bonds and then physical then or even invest some money into the S&P 500 etc but I’m guessing that would require too much red tape would it ? And of course also would have to get the parents to sign and give consent etc ?

Btw it’s my brothers son and it’s the 1st baby in the family

Thanks

I've been off for a few days due to reasons. Have a couple of bits to do. Which I thought great I can get them sorted. But the last few weeks my phone habit has gotten really bad. I didn't notice the consequences since at work I never use it. But now that I'm off I've just been milling about moving from room to room, making scup of tea and constantly picking up my phone or laptop, checking bullshit stuff on emails, YouTube, reddit etc.

My mind feels like a dung heap. I can't get shit done, I grew up without the phone and past me wouldn't recognize my current state of mind.

I don't know what works, I put limits, grayscale, uninstall and delete my saved passwords for sites. But I just use the workaround and continue my use as before. I go for a break, talk a walk, run read a book, but as soon as I'm done I pick up the phone against and continue the bad habit.

Hi, I have been trying to get involved in volunteering for quite a while now. Usually I do it when I’m back in India. But I want to get involved here as well. Soup kitchen is just one of the categories, but I’d like to start somewhere, next month is my dad’s memorial coming up and besides donating I would like to do something as well, any suggestions please.

I absolutely ha*e dealing with laundry. The clothes keep piling up, we have too many of them, and there's limited space in our wardrobes. I struggle to hang everything up or fold it away, so it just accumulates, everywhere. The task itself, combined with the mess it creates, causes me so much anxiety. With ADHD, I end up feeling completely overwhelmed and unable to function.

I'm also quite particular about our bathroom and would really appreciate someone who could give it a thorough clean once a week, alongside helping me with laundry and organisation.

It's a combination of ADHD and potentially OCD-related tendencies?, and the two together can leave me in a state of anxiety and paralysis where I simply can't get anything done.

I know I'm struggling, and I've been actively trying to access mental health support since 2022, but unfortunately, I haven't been able to get the help I need.. At this point, I'm looking for practical, hands on support to make everyday life more manageable and less stressful.

Has anyone hired a cleaner or organiser who could help with folding and putting away clothes, organising wardrobes, and thoroughly cleaning the bathroom on a weekly basis? If so, I'd really appreciate any recommendations, advice, or personal experiences.

Thank you!!

So my partner's parents are Cantonese. In their new house, they have one of these. It's called a Buddha chanting machine. It constantly plays very nice, low level background music and Buddhist chanting/singing. It's genuinely quite soothing.

So here's my question. My ADHD ass usually turns on the TV or YouTube as soon as I get home, just to have some sort of background noise or stimulation. I love the idea of getting something like this for our home, but it would be hilarious to do an Irish version. Like if there was a version that just played ambient pub noise or low level trad tunes. Does such a thing even exist? Or should I just have Father Ted playing on repeat at all times on an old phone or something?

mobile plan was supposed to end 3 days ago. calls and texts stopped working. but data kept going. checked it today to see I've 800 years left on my data plan. nice I guess...

Happily married for the past 10 years and this is by no means a marriage breakdown issue!

Over the last couple of years I've noticed my better half is more and more engrossed in her phone. Instagram. Doom scrolling. Filling her Temu shopping cart. Etc etc. all the usual stuff. I have no fear about infidelity or anything of that nature.

When the kids go to bed and we sit down of an evening it has become increasingly hard to have a conversation without her dipping off into the phone and I kinda feel a bit secondary to the phone.

(Full disclosure, long term anxiety issues on my side which I'm quite open about. Meds, psychologist, working through it bla bla bla)

I know I need to bring this up, but I don't want it to feel like an attack on her.

Has anyone advice on how to approach it respectfully and without it feeling like I'm trying to control what she does.

Or, hey, maybe it's the norm and I'm being too precious?

Update: thanks for the support and advice. Sure isn't a strong relationship built on open communication. We'll talk this evening and I'll approach it as a "we" subject, not a "you" subject.

I have had a number of negative experiences with Irish doctors being dismissive and not listening. (For the record, I know it's not all doctors – I've also had some great experiences).

Part of the problem is that when I'm faced with a dismissive doctor, I totally freeze. I go in with all these notions about how assertive I'll be, all these points I want to make and questions I want to ask, but they all dissolve into nothing once I'm in that chair and a doctor has raised an eyebrow at me or suggested it's not as bad as I think. I always leave kicking myself.

At the moment I'm on a waiting list (over a year) to see a gynaecologist. It's for a chronic issue which has been a major disruptor in my life and causing a lot of heartbreak. I can't afford to go private.

I really need to make this appointment count when it eventually comes around. The last time I was on a waiting list this long, the consultant assessed me for about 20 seconds, prescribed a months long course of antibiotics and disappeared before I could say a thing. I told the assisting nurse I wouldn't take them and she sort of insinuated that I'd wasted the appointment, which I felt horrible about.

This time I want to be prepared, advocate for myself, and make sure waiting this long has been worth it.

Any advice appreciated.

This is the first time that I’ve been involved in any sort of car accident so I’d appreciate any advice.

I was in a very small accident with a taxi driver. Just a scratch really, no major damage to either vehicle.

In short, the accident occurred on a very narrow city street. It’s a two lane road but the lane I was in was blocked by parked cars. I was pulled in and stopped to allow the taxi to pass as the taxi had right of way.

There were also some parked cars on the taxi’s side, and in the process of passing the taxi hit my car with a glancing blow.

We both got out of our cars. At first the taxi driver said there was no damage to either car and suggested that there was no need to exchange details. I disagreed as there was some damage to my car. The taxi driver agreed to pay for the damage and we exchanged numbers.

Not long after I got a call from the Gardas. The taxi driver drove straight to the nearest Garda station and reported that I had in fact crashed into him. He’s also gone through his insurance to claim for the damage to his car.

I had passengers in my car and he had passengers in his. No other witnesses. Not sure how to proceed as obviously I wasn’t at fault yet it’s essentially my word against his.