The Week on TwitterTopical

The Week on Twitter | #IAmAReason, Hillsborough, & First Dates

By Jade Hayden

This week, the 96 victims of the Hillsborough tragedy finally got the justice they deserve, First Dates Ireland was on the telly, and it was 30 years since the Chernobyl disaster. We also used the hashtag #IAmAReason to tweet about the country’s mental health budget cuts.

Liverpool finally sees Justice for the 96 #JFT96 #Hillsborough 

27 years ago, a human crush in Hillsborough football stadium caused the deaths of 96 people. The tragedy, which had been caused by a severe lack of police control, planning, and a poor stadium structure, left countless families in mourning and hundreds more injured in April of 1989.

Since the disaster, disputes among the government and various press agencies regarding the role of the supporters at the match have arisen, with some suggesting that it was somehow the fans’ fault that so many innocent lives were lost.

This week, those accusations were rejected entirely by a jury who determined – after two long years of hearing evidence – that the actions of those attending the match had absolutely nothing to do with the horror that befell them six minutes after kickoff. Instead, it was confirmed that the blame of the Hillsborough tragedy must lay with Sheffield police force, and the layout of the stadium itself.

Upon reports of the jury’s final verdict, there were emotional scenes outside the courts and all over Liverpool, as friends, families, and supporters celebrated the ruling they had waited so long to hear.

https://twitter.com/jon_flan93/status/725400142011047940

https://twitter.com/AlanDow74/status/725783540680503296

https://twitter.com/SwiftySmith/status/725442913807794177

#IAmAReason tag proves the indisputable need for adequate mental health services in Ireland

Last week, Health Minister Leo Varadkar announced that he was diverting €12m of the allocated mental health budget for 2016 to other areas. According to Varadkar, the money will return to mental health service funding in 2017 – after hundreds more people commit suicide, thousands are left without adequate counselling services, and more and more people are left wondering whether their government cares about their well-being at all.

There was outrage across various social media platforms this week when it appeared that only a handful (around 10) TDs had shown up to the Dáil to discuss the mental health budget. Although this has since been debunked, the fact that the vast majority of TDs did not stay in the chamber for the entirety of the debate speaks volumes about our government’s attitude to mental health.

This week, Twitter used the #IAmAReason hashtag to share their experiences with Ireland’s mental health services, to express their disgust with the government’s decision to divert funding, and to prove just how essential mental health funding is – not just for the well-being of the population, but for the lives of so many.

https://twitter.com/LeanneWoodfull/status/725030163818360832

https://twitter.com/notcourtneylove/status/724726928398270466

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Demonstrations were also organised in Cork and Dublin by the USI on Thursday, where hundreds showed up to protest the Dáil’s decision.

10 people die by suicide every week in Ireland. With the diversion of such drastically needed funds, this number is only expected to rise by the end of this year.

https://twitter.com/dm_waugh/status/725675389616545792

Twitter remembers #Chernobyl 30 years on

This week marked 30 years since the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. The catastrophe occurred on April 26th 1986 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the city of Pripyat in the then Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. An explosion in the plant led to the spreading of toxic radioactive particles across much of the USSR and some of Europe. It has since been called the worst nuclear disaster in history.

In the immediate aftermath of the accident 31 people were reporting dead – most of them members of cleanup teams and rescue workers. In the years that followed, thousands upon thousands were affected by the radiation which led to cancer, heart problems, and various mental heath issues.

30 years on, Pripyat and its surrounding area remains an exclusion zone, declared only safe for human life again after 20,000 years despite there being almost 200 residents still living there today.

Everyone watches #FirstDatesIRL

Last week, First Dates Ireland was on the telly for the first time and lots of people tweeted about it. This week, First Dates Ireland was on the telly for the second time, and lots of people tweeted about it too. When I first heard First Dates Ireland was going to be a thing I thought it was going to be tragic, like most other telly things that Ireland tries to recreate. As it turns out, I was entirely wrong, because First Dates Ireland is great, and should be watched by all who enjoy being embarrassed for other people, while also feeling vaguely heartwarmed at times.

This week, First Dates Ireland brought us a couple of redheads who were perfect for one another, some fella who wanted to help girls over puddles, a very drunk lady with silver hair, a man who tried to assert his masculinity via forcefully paying for dinner, and a guy called Kias who definitely matches with girls on Tinder just to ask for their snapchats to send out of focus pics of his torso with the caption ‘hey x.’

https://twitter.com/deshocks/status/725798455365525504

https://twitter.com/LuBruton/status/725798815350018048

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Jade Hayden 144 posts 0 comments

Jade Hayden has an MA in journalism, a degree in English, and a house rabbit who sleeps in her bed sometimes. You'll often find her wearing glasses, fixing her fringe, and complaining about the amount of time she spends on public transport. Jade is also the editor of HeadStuff's topical section, and she'd love if you sent your submissions over to [email protected].

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