The Wrede family regularly visit Islay, the southernmost of Scotland’s Inner Hebrides. During a stroll near Dunyvaig Castle last week, Emil (12) and Hannah (17) spotted something unusual in the mud along Lagavulin Bay.
“You find strange things around the island, but that one was a first,” says Hannah. “Only the head was sticking out.”
The siblings, from near Hanover, Germany, uncovered a plastic duck that had travelled some 300km (186.4 miles) by sea having started its journey in Dublin almost 20 years ago.
Number 6382 was among 150,000 ducks spilt into the river Liffey in June 2006 as part of a “duck race” world record fundraiser for Our Lady’s children’s hospital, Crumlin. The bath toy still bears the branding “World Record Duck Race Ireland 2006” and “childrenslifeline.ie” – a website it seems to have outlived.
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“My dad was like: ‘It is either good promotion for the company that printed the label or on the other side it is really bad for the environment’,” says Hannah, who is of a generation to which the concept of dumping thousands of plastic objects into a major water course seems alien.
“Strange to do it,” she adds. “It was for a good cause, but still.”
The event raised around €100,000 for its good cause, but failed to set a world record. RTÉ reported that “things did not go to plan, with many of the ducks heading in the wrong direction”.
Number 6382 was not the only escape artist, with other ducks since found on the Isle of Man and in Orkney. For now, he has a new role, joining the Wredes in their holiday home’s hot tub.
Wicklow GAA April Fool goes down terribly
As sure as night follows day, the annual trickle of would-be April Fools’ efforts from companies and campaigners rolled into journalists’ email accounts this week. Ikea had paired up with Chupa Chups to create a meatball lollipop, and Friends of the Irish Environment was pleased about dawn raids on commercial bogs as part of the “Make Bogs Great Again” initiative.
Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore was out later to express her disgust about a “tone-deaf” April Fools’ effort by Wicklow GAA. The organisation posted on Facebook about a €160 million redevelopment of Echelon Park in Aughrim that would see the Ladies’ Gaelic Football Association and Camogie Association teams sharing the stadium as “equal partners”.
Whitmore said this was “a complete slap in the face to the county ladies’ teams, who have anything but equal access to Wicklow GAA facilities as it stands”.
The effort “absolutely appalled” Leane Lifely, chairperson of Wicklow Camogie, who said framing equality in sport as part of an April Fools’ joke is “deeply disrespectful to every woman and girl who gives their time, energy, and passion to our games”.
Lifely said matters were made “even worse” by the fact it came while negotiations have been ongoing regarding integration and the use of GAA facilities that Wicklow Camogie does not have equal access to.
“To see ‘equal partnership’ used in this way, only to be brushed off as a joke, completely undermines that ongoing progress,” she said.
“We are not a gimmick. We are not an afterthought. And we are certainly not a punchline.”
Wicklow GAA was contacted for comment.
‘Economically advantageous’ tender issued for children’s hospital job
The acronym MEAT – Most Economically Advantageous Tender – does a lot of heavy lifting in public procurement processes.
There has been little that is economically advantageous when it comes to the national children’s hospital which, when a planning application was lodged in August 2015, was forecast to cost €650 million and be completed in 2020.
An Oireachtas committee last week heard “substantial completion” will not happen before the end of this month, which National Paediatric Hospital Development Board chief officer David Gunning said meant an 18th deadline was being missed. The project is now forecast to cost more than €2.24 billion.
Gunning said it would be “naive” to expect the next deadline to be met, but added that “we are inches away from getting this ball across the line”.
Despite the delays and costs, the hospital should be a first-rate facility providing children with a far better environment to convalesce in than the existing options. To that end, Children’s Health Ireland has issued a tender seeking the “supply and installation of large format” wall, cupboard and ceiling tile graphics throughout the hospital.
A total of 416 pieces, covering 558.7sq m, nearly the same area as the recently demolished house at Bohermeen, Co Meath, are involved.
The documents set out that there will be graphics of seagulls, crabs and dolphins in MRI rooms; turtles and starfish in dental rooms; chickens, frogs and hares in anaesthetic rooms; and sheep, wolfhounds and foxes in assessment rooms.
The estimated value of the MEAT is put at €1, which in respect of a project that has become engulfed by pessimism, may be a tad optimistic. But it is good to see cards being kept close to their chest.
“Contract to cover a 24-month period, with a programme of delivery and installation to be agreed in advance,” the tender documents note.
Marmite man Musk pairs up with Ryanair’s rival in ‘cunning move’
Elon Musk has firmly established himself as a modern Marmite man. – a genius to some and an “idiot” to others. The self-styled “Techno-king of Tesla” has taken an interest in Irish matters lately, with jailed teacher Enoch Burke and our airlines appearing on his social media feed.
Musk recently became embroiled in a dispute with Michael O’Leary, who he called an “utter idiot” for ruling out installing his Starlink internet on Ryanair’s aircraft. O’Leary argued the drag caused by Starlink equipment would drive Ryanair’s fuel costs up by €100 million annually.
[ Elon Musk calls Michael O’Leary an ‘utter idiot’ in clash over Starlink wifiOpens in new window ]
Musk claimed Ryanair did not know how to measure the fuel impact. Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, O’Leary thanked Musk for the publicity boost and proceeded to announce Ryanair’s “big idiot” seat sale.
O’Leary has long had plenty to say about Aer Lingus, which this week announced it is offering Starlink wifi on its long-haul flights. Musk shared the news in a post on his X platform.
“Some might call this a cunning move,” he wrote, completing the post with a “wink” emoji.
In response, an X user asked the much-maligned Grok AI system to explain Musk’s post. “The joke is a cheeky pun from Elon: ‘Aer Lingus’ (the Irish airline) sounds a lot like ‘cunnilingus,’ so Starlink getting ‘onboard’ is a ‘cunning move’. Classic dad-level wordplay with the wink,” it explained. Eww.
Kerry man and CNN correspondent Donie O’Sullivan noted Musk’s post, saying: “Can’t wait to see what @Ryanair does with this.”
Nothing as of yet ...
