ROSANNA Davison tweeted last week that she never actually said a gluten-free diet could combat her husband’s rheumatoid arthritis.
But her alma mater, the College of Naturopathic Medicine (where there is an unhealthy interest in colonic irrigation), was rapped on the knuckles by the Advertising Standards Authority in the UK in 2013 for claiming naturopathy could treat medical conditions and that naturopaths were qualified to diagnose and treat disease.
The college’s founder, Hermann Keppler, recommends “staying away” from vaccines, believes antibiotics are more dangerous than LSD and likes to go days without eating.
Then again, who are we to quibble? Didn’t Chris de Burgh once heal Liverpool’s Markus Babbel’s mystery paralysis with his bare hands.
Advertisement
Silver chicken fails to fly as hacks flock to gardai
The sale of Denis O’Brien’s Gulfstream jet has hit a little turbulence.
The Silver Chicken, as O’Brien reportedly calls his 15-seater, was placed on the market for $67.95m (€59.74m) earlier this year with Atlanta’s O’GaraJets. Last week the price was cut to $64.99m, suggesting O’Brien is keen to offload the jet, despite buying it in 2013.
Presumably, he’ll have a new runaround by the time the Global Irish Economic Forum comes around in November. The Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed last week that he’s invited.
Advertisement
As part of their new media-friendly image, the gardai invited crime hacks to a get-together on Friday to discuss their sometimes uneasy/cosy relationship. Unfortunately it descended into a bout of verbal abuse between the assembled journalistic egos. No arrests were made.
If you spotted your Fine Gael election candidate in their best bib and tucker last week despite the Dail being in recess, then they were probably on their way to have their official election photograph taken. Wonder if they thought to tell Labour?
There must have been some nervous people opening their local papers last week. Several titles splashed on how many locals were signed up to Ashley Madison, the infidelity website.
Advertisement
There were 470 in Wexford, The Wexford People reported. Longford is even more keen on affairs, with nearly 600 users, according to the Longford Leader, although it pointed out that Cavan is much worse, with over 1,000 love cheats.
The Leitrim Observer, however, was perplexed by the absence of locals on the site for sinners. “Leitrim people either don’t do their cheating online, or are much better at covering it up than other counties,” it concluded.
Ian Mallon, head of content (whatever that means) at Independent News & Media, is to become the FAI’s communications officer. Hopefully he’ll provide journalists with better briefings than one he got in October 2012, when he told the Irish Independent’s readers that Giovanni Trapattoni, who was then manager, was a goner unless his team won 10-0 against the Faroe Islands. Ireland only won 4-1 but Trap clung on for another year before leaving “by mutual consent”.
Advertisement
When the Wild Atlantic Way was launched in 2012, road signs featuring the Irish translation Slí Fhiáin an Atlantaigh were erected by Failte Ireland in counties Kerry and Mayo. Then an observant gaeilgeoir with Kerry county council pointed out the phrase didn’t make sense as it suggested the way was wild, not the ocean. So a new version was settled upon: Slí an Atlantaigh Fhiáin. The cost of replacing 14 road signs with the incorrect Irish: €3,000. A good English-Irish dictionary would have been much cheaper.