Best Of

This attack, which was followed by the Dublin riots, has now reached trial.
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Girl injured in Parnell Square stabbing now non-verbal and in a wheelchair, mother tells court

https://www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/courts/2026/06/10/woman-whose-daughter-suffered-severe-brain-damage-in-parnell-square-stabbing-wept-while-giving-evidence/
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The poor child has suffered so badly as a result - her brain was without oxygen for 40 minutes.

I thought that the below was an interesting point to consider in the context of Eleanor Donaldson being declared unfit to stand trial.

"Bouchaker [the alleged attacker] previously suffered from a benign brain tumour, and required brain surgery in 2021. During the intervention by members the public at Parnell Square, he suffered a further head injury and required hospitalisation for about a month, after which he was arrested, counsel said.

As a result of his existing injury, and the one suffered at Parnell Square, he has an acquired brain injury affecting his ability to sustain attention and concentration, counsel said.

Bouchaker has been found by the judge fit to stand trial"

I guess the Republic applies a different threshold to this test than Northern Ireland.

I believe the UK threshold involves the size of the lawyer you can afford

No, it depends on the size of the toilet you claim to have been hiding in.

ICYMI the Speaker has gone ballistic this afternoon:-

There are strong rumours that the Government are going to produce their defence investment plan on Friday. That would be an utter disgrace and an utter kick in the face to Members of this House. I say to Downing Street that, under the ministerial code, it is the Government’s responsibility to ensure that major announcements are made here. This may be speculation, and I am sure it will be corrected, but I will be appalled if it is done on a Friday, given that Members have been waiting so long.

This affects all parties who have a great interest in the defence investment plan, including Members on the Government Benches. We all have jobs, and we all have people who serve in the armed forces. We must end the speculation and treat this House with the respect that elected Members deserve. Once again, it seems to me that we are becoming second-class citizens under this Government. I do not want that to be the case, and I hope that I am going to be proved wrong.
https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2026-06-10/debates/DA392024-5FAF-486E-9EC1-508DB9AF8B57/DefenceInvestmentPlan

This would seem to imply that the plan is not expected to be well-received.

ICYMI the Speaker has gone ballistic this afternoon:-

There are strong rumours that the Government are going to produce their defence investment plan on Friday. That would be an utter disgrace and an utter kick in the face to Members of this House. I say to Downing Street that, under the ministerial code, it is the Government’s responsibility to ensure that major announcements are made here. This may be speculation, and I am sure it will be corrected, but I will be appalled if it is done on a Friday, given that Members have been waiting so long.

This affects all parties who have a great interest in the defence investment plan, including Members on the Government Benches. We all have jobs, and we all have people who serve in the armed forces. We must end the speculation and treat this House with the respect that elected Members deserve. Once again, it seems to me that we are becoming second-class citizens under this Government. I do not want that to be the case, and I hope that I am going to be proved wrong.
https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2026-06-10/debates/DA392024-5FAF-486E-9EC1-508DB9AF8B57/DefenceInvestmentPlan

My Google isn't working properly, can somebody post me some links to the riots this murder in Northern Ireland sparked?

This was from court last week.

A YouTuber who murdered his pregnant girlfriend and falsely claimed he was live-streaming a video game as an alibi has been jailed for life with a minimum of 31 years.

Stephen McCullagh, 36, was convicted by a jury at Belfast Crown Court in March of killing Natalie McNally, 32, who was 15 weeks pregnant with their child.

During the attack, at her home in Lurgan on 18 December 2022, she suffered stab wounds, strangulation and blows to the hand.

McCullagh concocted an alibi that he had been live-streaming himself playing computer games on his channel when Ms McNally was murdered.

https://news.sky.com/story/youtuber-jailed-for-murdering-pregnant-girlfriend-13544222

People are more exercised about random public attacks than attacks involving people who know each other. Not surprising.

My Google isn't working properly, can somebody post me some links to the riots this murder in Northern Ireland sparked?

This was from court last week.

A YouTuber who murdered his pregnant girlfriend and falsely claimed he was live-streaming a video game as an alibi has been jailed for life with a minimum of 31 years.

Stephen McCullagh, 36, was convicted by a jury at Belfast Crown Court in March of killing Natalie McNally, 32, who was 15 weeks pregnant with their child.

During the attack, at her home in Lurgan on 18 December 2022, she suffered stab wounds, strangulation and blows to the hand.

McCullagh concocted an alibi that he had been live-streaming himself playing computer games on his channel when Ms McNally was murdered.

https://news.sky.com/story/youtuber-jailed-for-murdering-pregnant-girlfriend-13544222

People are more exercised about random public attacks than attacks involving people who know each other. Not surprising.

Also not justified.

The former are a much lower risk than the latter.

I think this is a bit like the contrast between foreign and native criminals.

Unless you live a life of monastic solitude at some level you have to choose someone to trust to let inside your life, and there's always a risk of that person betraying that trust. Whereas the threat from a someone you have not let inside your life feels like one that it should be possible to stop.

In the same way that there will always be people within the native population who do evil things, but it feels like it ought to be possible to deport foreigners at the first sign of trouble.

.

The view from Goodwin Towers.

"Matt Goodwin
@GoodwinMJ

It’s not social media that’s “inflaming tensions”.

It’s not Elon Musk.
It’s not Nigel Farage.
It’s not the ‘far-right’.

It is the very deliberate policy of mass uncontrolled immigration & open borders.

This policy has to end or it will destroy Western nations.
6:40 AM · Jun 10, 2026
·
12.1M Views"

https://x.com/GoodwinMJ/status/2064583575530287577

Who seriously thinks there is a "deliberate policy of mass uncontrolled immigration & open borders"?

Anyone on here? Do you @Andy_JS, whom I have always taken to be a serious and considered contributor?

You may think, as I do, that the policy is underfunded and poorly implemented with leaky borders. You may further think the policy is too lax, etc.

But a deliberate policy of mass uncontrolled immigration & open borders? Really?

Well, effectively it is, because that’s what we have. It might be policy to wish it were otherwise, because government can’t think of a nice way of stopping it.
If we were in a tank with water levels rising, and our approach were simply to wish that it were not, I think it would be reasonable to say that there is a deliberate policy of uncontrolled flooding.

The boat crossings arent in any sense mass immigration. They are 35-40k per year, about 0.05% of our population.

The rest of immigration is not uncontrolled.

I think there is a further point here.

The boat crossings reinforce the perception of a lack of control, while historically high levels of legal migration reinforce that perception rather than challenge it.

There is also a scale issue. 40,000 people may be a tiny percentage of a country of nearly 70 million, but people don’t experience immigration at the level of the UK as a whole. They experience it locally.

A few dozen arrivals in a small town, a local hotel being used for accommodation, pressure on GP appointments, school places or housing can be highly visible even when the national numbers look insignificant.

That doesn’t mean every concern is justified, nor that every perceived impact is caused by immigration. But it does help explain why arguments based solely on national percentages often fail to persuade people whose experience is much more immediate and local.

Although if the people voting for right-wing populists were purely those impacted personally by small boat arrivals the polls would be very different. So I do think much of the anger is driven by a false perception (straight out lies as often as not) spread by those populists.

The view from Goodwin Towers.

"Matt Goodwin
@GoodwinMJ

It’s not social media that’s “inflaming tensions”.

It’s not Elon Musk.
It’s not Nigel Farage.
It’s not the ‘far-right’.

It is the very deliberate policy of mass uncontrolled immigration & open borders.

This policy has to end or it will destroy Western nations.
6:40 AM · Jun 10, 2026
·
12.1M Views"

https://x.com/GoodwinMJ/status/2064583575530287577

Who seriously thinks there is a "deliberate policy of mass uncontrolled immigration & open borders"?

Anyone on here? Do you @Andy_JS, whom I have always taken to be a serious and considered contributor?

You may think, as I do, that the policy is underfunded and poorly implemented with leaky borders. You may further think the policy is too lax, etc.

But a deliberate policy of mass uncontrolled immigration & open borders? Really?

Well, effectively it is, because that’s what we have. It might be policy to wish it were otherwise, because government can’t think of a nice way of stopping it.
If we were in a tank with water levels rising, and our approach were simply to wish that it were not, I think it would be reasonable to say that there is a deliberate policy of uncontrolled flooding.

The boat crossings arent in any sense mass immigration. They are 35-40k per year, about 0.05% of our population.

The rest of immigration is not uncontrolled.

I think there is a further point here.

The boat crossings reinforce the perception of a lack of control, while historically high levels of legal migration reinforce that perception rather than challenge it.

There is also a scale issue. 40,000 people may be a tiny percentage of a country of nearly 70 million, but people don’t experience immigration at the level of the UK as a whole. They experience it locally.

A few dozen arrivals in a small town, a local hotel being used for accommodation, pressure on GP appointments, school places or housing can be highly visible even when the national numbers look insignificant.

That doesn’t mean every concern is justified, nor that every perceived impact is caused by immigration. But it does help explain why arguments based solely on national percentages often fail to persuade people whose experience is much more immediate and local.

Although if the people voting for right-wing populists were purely those impacted personally by small boat arrivals the polls would be very different. So I do think much of the anger is driven by a false perception (straight out lies as often as not) spread by those populists.

Not a problem for residents of millionaires row

I'm sorry, Taz, but what can I do. It's where I've fetched up.

Show empathy for others lacking your privilege ?

After we have showed empathy to this man, who doesn't seem privileged, not that's slightly relevant, there isn't a lot of empathy left for the thugs that did this to him



https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cevl9j9y8dmo

Check the area out with GSV and you'll get an idea of the community there. Lots of flags in evidence. And a rather ironic mural about peace and understanding on one wall.