If you thought the days of the Christian missionary were long numbered, you'd be wrong. God's word has now reached the blogosphere with 475 missionaries working all over the world in countries such as Nigeria, Bolivia and, eh, Spain, (apparently “increasingly secularised” western Europe needs a reminder of the Christian message) posting online.
Media Focus (see page 21) casts some doubt over Ireland's reputation as the figurative “land of a thousand welcomes”, but 2,249 welcomes are posted on the website couchsurfing.com. Members of the website agree to offer their couch to one another should they be visiting another member's country.
Irish media coverage of the period between 2 April, when Bertie Ahern announced his intention to resign, and 10 May, when his successor, Brian Cowen, returned to his home town of Clara to greet his supporters, had more than a little of the North Korea about it.
It is easy to imagine that Brian Cowen launched his Government team with a deliberate kick in RTE's arse....
Shortly after 10pm on the evening of Thursday, 22 May, Tom McGurk, asked his interviewee, the aged journalist, Mary Kenny, right at the beginning of the one hour programme, the following question: “Do you remember your first memory?”
Eamon Dunphy's expressed preference for Tony O'Reilly over Denis O'Brien as a media mogul was an act of cynical opportunism. But the control of the media by a self-interested rich elite undermines democracy
By Vincent Browne
We should be mindful, I suppose, that Ireland is now populated by countless people who, by virtue of their national origins or age, would have responded to April's major media talking point with a quizzical “Nuala Who?” – or indeed “Marian Who?”
On 10 March, 300 monks demonstrated in Lhasa, Tibet, demanding the release of imprisoned monks. This protest sparked a period of rioting by Tibetans, riots which were violently suppressed by the Chinese state. The riots and their suppression gained widespread publicity in the global media and helped inspire international protests aimed at undermining the Beijing 2008 Olympics along the route of the international Olympic Torch Relay.
If you really want to see just how much the Irish Government has adapted to the 21stcentury, log on to www.contrast.ie. The blog is IT guy, Eoghan McCabe's, extended rant on the web industry in Ireland, and in one particularly funny post, he takes a look at how bad some of the governmental web sites are, providing links for your amusement while providing a forum where you can add your own comment or simply just laugh at the ones already left there.
The CIA web site like the organisation itself gives little information away to the general public. There are however some interesting facts and figures available here.