Appeal court overturns airport trip ruling

Deputies join the battle for sexual quality

The precise definition of sexual “consent” was occupying an Oireachtas committee last week. There was much head-scratching over an amendment to the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill which proposed that “a person does not consent to sexual activity if he or she allows the activity because he or she is mistaken about its nature and quality”.

“Perhaps its inclusion was a mistake, but we enjoyed the subparagraph where somebody does not consent to sexual activity because he or she was mistaken as to its quality,” Clare Daly, the independent TD, said. “There are many people who would probably have cause to think that they were involved in non-consensual behaviour.”

Mick Wallace, her independent colleague, piped up: “I am looking forward to going to An Garda Síochána to complain about the quality of sex I had the night before.”

“Perhaps the deputy should go to the ombudsman,” quipped Fianna Fail’s Jim O’Callaghan.

Sensible as always, independent Ruth Coppinger reminded her colleagues this was a serious matter. “Members can joke about the wording,” she chided, “but somebody who begins a sexual act and does not realise what it entails could then withdraw his or her consent. That is the point of [the amendment]”. The Dail’s very own Dr Ruth.

However the rest of the committee should spend Christmas consulting the Oxford dictionary, in which they will learn that “quality” does not only mean “the excellence of a thing” but also “the relative nature or character of a thing”.

Adverse adverts finding

The Advertising Standards Authority has taken a stand on the increasing practice of newspapers attempting to pass off sponsored advertorial as their own journalism. The move came after a complaint about a “misleading” Irish Life feature in the Irish Independent. The complainant told the authority that the title “commercial report” was in smaller print and away from the main text. He reckoned many readers would miss the fact that this was advertorial.

Agreeing, the authority noted that the headline was smaller and “significantly less prominent” than other text in the main headline. Nor did it think “commercial report” made it clear that the material was advertising. “The use of wording such as ���advertorial’ or ‘advertising feature’ would indicate more clearly to consumers that what they were reading was a paid-for commercial communication,” said the authority. It has asked advertisers and publishers to take note of its concerns.

Arts Council is sketchy on director’s deal

There was much fanfare in 2011 when Orlaith McBride was appointed director of the Arts Council for a five-year term. Strangely, not a peep out of the organisation when that contract was renewed recently, thus dashing the hopes of several artistic wannabes who had hoped to apply.

Asked to comment, the Arts Council said: “The contractual arrangements [with] an employee are confidential in nature.” They are? But this is a taxpayer-funded position in a public body. Does it fear a Horse Racing Ireland-style contract-renewal controversy?

The Department of Arts said minister Heather Humphreys approved McBride’s reappointment, but at least added the detail that “the terms are the same as the previous contract, except it is for four years rather than five”.

Leo hits the roof

While Simon Coveney was rescuing 700,000 people from rapacious landlords last week, Fine Gael rival Leo Varadkar was outlining his vision for Dublin to a chamber of commerce meeting.

Among the social protection minister’s groovy ideas are “building much higher outside the Georgian core”, and making more use of, um, rooftops. Having a Martin Luther King moment, Varadkar enthused: “Imagine if rooftops across the city centre were turned into gardens or cafes, or performance spaces. There are endless possibilities.”

There will be rather fewer for Leo himself if Coveney takes Enda Kenny’s crown. Perhaps he’s developing a fallback strategy to be Dublin’s first elected mayor?

Something fishy about salmon’s origin

Aldi has shelved a misleading label for a “wild Irish” fish product after being caught by a Co Meath fishmonger.

Described as “exquisite rope-hung smoked Irish salmon”, it was the price of €28.56 per kilo that caught Niall Murray’s eye. “Wild Irish salmon costs around €80 per kilo,” says Murray, who works for a seafood wholesaler in Ashbourne. He challenged the origins of Aldi’s salmon, and “they eventually admitted it was a Scottish-farmed product”.

Aldi Ireland says it was an “unfortunate descriptive error”, with no intention to mislead. We’ll let them off the hook.

Stars of wonder

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Getting a little high on his own supply is John Halligan, the self-styled zany TD for Waterford, who last week sent out a press release “unveiling his much-anticipated new Christmas card”. Disappointingly for those who were anticipating it, Halligan recycled the extra-terrestrial theme of previous years. “He used his Christmas card to remind people that ‘we may not be alone in the universe’,” the press release said.

Continuing the rather self-congratulatory tone, it noted that Halligan’s cards had “received significant attention from both the media and the public . . . because of his belief in the existence of life on other planets”. Still, we’re sure his Christmas — and yours — will be out of this world.

•We do hope RTE staff did not go on a spending spree last Sunday after Atticus incorrectly awarded them all a 42.5% “pay increase”. In fact they only got a 42.5% restoration of pay cuts imposed between 2008 and 2013, which varied from 3% to 12%. We also downgraded Moya Doherty from chairwoman of the RTE board to director-general. Apologies.