Paul Hopkins

The Fact OfThe Matter

PAUL HOPKINS Women may well put Trump back in his box

President Biden has mocked Donald Trump’s claims that all classified material brought by him to his Florida home had been declassified beforehand.” I want you to know I’ve declassified everything in the world. I’m President, I can do — c’mon,” Biden has said, yhe quip reflected his most extensive remarks about an issue he has taken pains to keep at a distance. “I’ll let the Justice Department [deal with] that,” Biden said. He also repeatedly called MAGA Republicans “semi fascists”.

The many top-secret documents found at Mara-Lago on August 8 and referred to in the heavily redacted affidavit released by Attorney General Merrick Garland — so determined on getting to the truth — ‘belong’ to the people of America and the National Archives. Trump has, arguably, no power to declassify them. More than a dozen senior officials from the Trump administration believe the former president’s claim to be “patently false”.

There is little to learn from the 75 per cent blacked out 38 pages of the affidavit but there are a couple of things we can say with certainty. The FBI told Judge Bruce Reinhart the August 8 search would likely find “evidence of obstruction” and that there was “probable cause to believe” that classified national security papers were “improperly taken to unauthorised” locations at Trump’s resort. The FBI found 184 classified documents from 15 boxes returned by Trump’s team in January, 18 months after the return was requested.

The August 8 documents were effectively ‘scattered’ all over Mar-a-Lago, many with Trump’s hand-written remarks on them.

The affidavit used a handful of acronyms when describing the sensitivity of the documents, with US national security experts saying it “reveals the horrifying scope of this security breach”. The investigation is ongoing.

The most damning thing learned from the redacted affidavit was the suggestion that if some of the classified documents had fallen into the wrong hands, they could have revealed sensitive details about US spies abroad. We don’t know they haven’t.

Likewise, we don’t know what Trump’s handwritten remarks entail, why he held on to some documents after last January and what he intended to do with the classified information and to what end? The US Department of Justice (DoJ) seems to know, and knows a lot more by some accounts.

Leading Harvard lawyer Laurence Tribe believes the there’s a case for criminal charges against Donald Trump. So does former Richard Nixon counsel John Dean, though other legal experts do not concur.

I suggest that were Trump to soon declare himself as running in 2024, it would prove embarrassingly awkward for charges to be pursued. However, he’d have to announce his campaign in the next two weeks, if he wanted to prevent being indicted under the Espionage Act after what the FBI has seemingly unearthed.

As I write Trump is huddled down with his lawyers — what’s left of them as all the top ones have deserted him; huddled down and considering his options as he also faces potential legal charges in Georgia, Florida, New York and Washington DC.

My money is on Trump being found wanting, not enough to necessarily go to prison but enough to prevent him ever running again for public office.

Here’s another thing. Were he to walk away from DoJ charges and the January 6 inquiry and run, the Democrats and President Biden, despite his popularity among Democrats being just 40 per cent, are beginning to rally, even if Biden’s student loan writeoff Bill is proving divisive. However, it won’t primarily be student loans, nor law and order, nor walls closing off Mexico, nor, indeed, inflation that will dominate voters’ minds in the coming November midterms. It will be a woman’s right to choose.

What is different about 2022 is that the Republicans, who are shut out of both the White House and Congress, nonetheless saw their side make a dramatic and unpopular change to the status quo, as Republican appointees to the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

This has given the Democrats the rallying call they need for the midterms. Also, with Generation Z now old enough to run for Congress, voters’ desire for ‘fresher’ candidates seems to be less focused on being to the Right or the Left, but more focused on current issues.

Women who have never voted before or are old enough to vote for the first time will come out in droves to put Donald Trump and the alt-Right back in their box.

Time will tell…

A musical Autumn with

The air is filled with anticipation in preparation for the new academic year at Music Generation Kilkenny HQ! Instruments are arriving daily ahead of the launch of our programmes mid-September in our schools and music hubs - violins, ukuleles, guitars, drums, banjos, accordions, bodhráns, music technology and more. Young musicians who take part in our programmes can rent an instrument for a small fee, giving every young person in Kilkenny the opportunity to participate in meaningful music-making

Building on the strength of 2021, which saw 7,804 children and young people participate in our music programmes across a diverse range of programmes in schools and in the community including workshops, camps and the weekly delivery of instrumental and vocal performance music education in schools and after-school music hubs, music generation Kilkenny has been enjoying another positive music-filled year to date, in Kilkenny City and County.

Speaking about 2022 so far Music Development Officer Sinéad Blanchfield said, “Music Generation Kilkenny achieved incredible growth in 2021 despite the restrictions of the pandemic. Enormous progress was made achieving growth in participation of 660% from December 2020 to December 2021. This year, we continue to build on those foundations with a focus on sustainability across our programmes in schools and the community. It has been an exciting year so far! I am delighted to see so many children and young people sign up to our music programmes for the next academic year in what promises to be another creative, fun, music-filled year”.

Throughout the month of June primary school children across Kilkenny took part in our ‘schools out’ drumming workshops ‘Summer Drummers’. 2,122 children participated in this programme delivered by drumming luminaries and Music Generation Kilkenny Musician Educators Jeremy Hickey, Mark Colbert and Tom Duffy. Our programmes throughout the year also include camps and workshops such as Rhythm Workshops, Drumming Workshops, Music Technology, Song writing, Toddler workshops as well as our annual TradCamp held in July, in partnership with Music Generation Tipperary. Up to date information on our programmes can be found by liking our Facebook page where we post weekly news and updates. Looking ahead to the Autumn and what’s in store for young musicians in Kilkenny. As children return to school having access to opportunities for creativity is vital for their wellbeing. Other current opportunities for musicians in the county include participation in our weekly after school music hubs. Parents pay termly for lessons from September to June with each session working out at only €8 and rental of instruments available for a small fee. The Creative Music Space starts on the 22nd of September. This is our after-school music hub run in partnership with Foróige at the DRUM, MacDonagh Shopping Centre. We run small group lessons in ukulele, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, drums and singing on Thursdays from September to June. There are limited spaces available. Our Trad hub in Castlecomer will run every Monday after school from the 19th of September and runs from September to June. This is an opportunity for young traditional players of primary school age to get involved in fun weekly lessons and performance opportunities. Plans for Castlecomer include the creation of a Trad ensemble for all young trad musicians in the area. Our Uilleann Pipe Hub will run weekly this Autumn and continue until June 2023 with sessions in-person and online. Run in partnership with the ‘Kilkenny Pipers Club’ and ‘Na Píobairí Uilleann’ and suitable for age 10-18.

Check out the Music Generation Kilkenny YouTube channel to hear young pipers from our programme in a captivating performance called ‘Uilleann Pipe Dreams’. We are taking expressions of interest for our beginner, improver, intermediate and advanced Uilleann Pipe weekly sessions with master pipers. Please get in touch for more information.

Anyone interested or who wants to know more about our programmes can get in touch by email: musicgenerationkilkenny@ kcetb.ie, by Facebook message: musicgenerationkilkenny, or by phone: 087 1765493.

There are limited spaces available.

Music Generation Kilkenny is part of Ireland’s national music education programme, initiated by Music Network and co-funded by U2, The Ireland Funds, the Department of Education and Skills and Local Music Education Partnerships. The programme seeks to transform the lives of children and young people ages 0-18 by creating access to high quality, affordable music tuition in their localities. Locally, the programme is led by Kilkenny and Carlow Education and Training Board in partnership with Kilkenny County Council.

That €325 a week for 2,000 artists is on the way

e much heralded Basic Income for Artists (BIA) programme has been delayed until October. e pilot programme will see some 2,000 applicants chosen at random and paid €325 a week to allow them to devote themselves entirely to their art.

At present, many artists say their bank account tells a story of either feast or famine; the BIA aims to correct that and give artists the long-term nancial stability that people in other careers abd professions enjoy.

It is a policy that the National Campaign for the Arts has been advocating for years for and the group’s chair, Angela Dorgan, describes it as “the ultimate game changer”.

“It’s something that the National Campaign for the Arts have been asking in our preBudget submissions for about ve years,” she told e Pat Kenny Show.

“It means that artists who have to juggle three, four, ve jobs to pay for their living… it means that they will be free to do just their artwork.

“So it is the ultimate game changer; the eyes of the world are on Ireland for this. ere are a lot of countries, especially European countries, looking to emulate this. So the pilot is an incredibly important rst step to this.” e Government has not yet informed applicants whether they’ve been chosen or not but Ms Dorgan hopes that “all artists" can get ithe stipend.

Fair Deal hitch closing more nursing homes

More smaller nursing homes across Ireland are facing closure, according to the lates report from BDO consulting. Commissioned by Nursing Homes Ireland the report also shows a gap in Fair Deal subsidies for residents in di erent counties which is "making it impossible for many homes in lower-rate locations to survive”. e report comes as concerns rise about closures in recent months.

Of the private and voluntary nursing homes surveyed, 96% said they did not believe the State's Fair Deal rate covered the operational costs. e county with the lowest Fair Deal payment is Donegal, where the average weekly rate of €955 is €280 less per week than for residents in Dublin, where it is €1,235 — this is the highest average weekly rate in the country. is equates to €14,560 a resident annually, amounting to a disparity of €859,040 for each average size private and voluntary home.

Author Brian McEnery, of BDO Ireland, said overall nursing home bed numbers decreased since the previous survey from 31,909 to 31,743 despite the estimated requirement for 45,000 beds by 2031. ere was an increase in private and voluntary bed numbers from 26,221 to 26,561, though this was less than expected due to the slowdown of construction activity arising from Covid.

However, the overall reduction was mostly due to a drop in the number of public beds, from 5,688 to 5,182.

On their bikes for Kilkenny

Rás na mBan has returned to Kilkenny – new for 2022, with cyclists of all ages and abilities cycling the Criterium route!

Rás na mBan, Ireland's international bike race for women, is taking place over six stages until Sunday, September 11. Riders from all over the world are doing battle over 400km of racing on six separate stages on some of the most beautiful roads in and around Co Kilkenny. e nal day of the race brings the riders back to Kilkenny City for two stages centring on the imposing edi ce of Kilkenny Castle. In the morning, with a 9am start, the riders will face individual 2.5km time trials, starting out on e Parade and completing a technical route with sharp cornering along by Canal Walk and around the walls of the Castle against the watch. e nal stage of the week is the hugely popular circuit race in Kilkenny City Centre, the fastest stage of the week, approximately an hour and fteen minutes of high-octane city centre racing after which the champion of Rás na mBan 2022 will be crowned.

Mental Health support for teenagers

Turn2Me, a national mental health charity has launched two support groups, on Wednesdays and ursdays at 6pm, for teenagers starting or going to secondary school, and for young people going to college for the rst time. e charity reported a spike in young people using its website experiencing anxiety about school or college. e charity said higher levels of anxiety are natural and should be expected starting or returning to school, and that students feeling nervous should use its free mental health services including its

‘ ought Catcher’ online mood diary, which runs everyday from 2pm until 8pm, and its free support groups run by mental health professionals.

Suzanne Ennis, Clinical Manager at Turn2Me, said,:“We will help you nd ways to manage that sick feeling and learn the tools you need to get through it. Here, you can be honest and be yourself without any fear of being judged. Groups are 100% anonymous and con dential, you’ll be able to speak to similar people in the chat function who understand you and what you’re going through."

Turn2Me’s ‘Preparing For College’ support group for college students will run on ursdays at 6pm.

Suzanne Ennis said: “Starting college means a new timetable, new campus, new classmates, new cities, and new homes for some — a lot of unknowns. Being apprehensive, anxious, worried, or stressed is normal. is support group will be attended by like-minded students, experiencing the same challenges and obstacles, let’s navigate them together!

*Register now on Turn2Me. ie