Edit: The comment section has cheered me right up in fairness, it's not all bad lads 😂

Just arrived home to Ireland from another EU country for work, only for a couple of weeks.

It’s grey, cold and raining. The bus service I would normally get from the airport to down the country has been permanently cancelled, so I now have a couple of hours to wait for a different service.

While waiting, I grabbed what ended up genuinely being one of the worst sandwiches I’ve had since the last time I was home. €9, naturally.

I’m now sitting here eating my €9 depressing airport sandwich, rain out the window, listening to a child absolutely butcher a piano in the background, while reading that public transport is going up another 15%.

There’s actually something almost impressively bleak about coming back to Ireland and having the entire experience immediately condensed into one scene! I know every country has its problems, but sometimes coming back from elsewhere in Europe really does make you realise how depressing and, frankly, embarrassing some of this shit is.

Why remove the quick balance check feature?

United Ireland flag suggestions?

Nice typo in the Irish Times at the moment. Brilliant if true.

My grandparents would have called me "a big baluba" if I was doing something like eating with my hands or picking my nose. I never knew where it came from until a recent Wikipedia dive on the Irish defence forces.

During the Congo crises of the 1960's, Irish UN peacekeepers were mistaken by a local tribe as European mercenaries of the State of Katanga, the very faction with which the UN was trying to protect the tribes from.

The text below is copied from Wikipedia detailing the ambush brought on by a case of mistaken identity.

"On 8 November 1960, an eleven-man section from the Irish Army's 33rd Battalion arrived at the bridge over the Luweyeye River.

They were forced to leave their vehicles when they encountered a blockade on the road. While clearing it, they encountered about 100 Luba militiamen armed with bows, poison-tipped arrows, spears and clubs, as well as some guns.

While the Irish troops had arrived to protect the Baluba, the militia undoubtedly took them for Katangese mercenaries. Lieutenant Kevin Gleeson, advancing unarmed with his platoon sergeant, Hugh Gaynor, attempted to greet them peacefully, but was hit with a barrage) of poison-tipped arrows.^\1])

The section leader, Lt. Kevin Gleeson, and Sergeant Gaynor were overtaken and beaten and hacked to death. The surprised Irish soldiers, who had not been deployed in a defensive formation after dismounting from their vehicles, retreated behind trees on either side of the road and opened fire on the tribesmen with their Carl Gustaf submachine guns, Lee–Enfield rifles and Bren light machine guns.

The Baluba however advanced on them, and the Irish were cut off from their vehicles. Despite taking heavy losses, the Baluba overran the Irish soldiers with 'sheer weight of numbers' after which most of the Irish casualties were inflicted.^\1])

Three Irish soldiers managed to escape the initial fighting. One of them, Anthony Browne, reached a nearby village and gave all the money he had to the village women, hoping they would get him help, but was instead mobbed and beaten to death by the village men. His body was recovered two years later. The two surviving soldiers managed to hide and were found by other UN troops the following day.

A total of nine Irish soldiers were killed: Lieutenant Kevin Gleeson of Carlow, Sergeant. Hugh Gaynor of Blanchardstown,^\5]) Corporal Peter Kelly of Templeogue, Corporal Liam Dougan of Cabra, Private Matthew Farrell of Jamestown, Dublin, Trooper Thomas Fennell of Donnycarney, Trooper Anthony Browne of Rialto, Private Michael McGuinn of Carlow, and Private Gerard Killeen of Rathmines. Some 25 Baluba were also killed."

I know this sub skews pretty anti-2 Johnnies, but given that they're the most listened-to podcast in Ireland, I wanted to ask about this here.

Just to preface this: I'm not a hater, but I am not a fan either. I actually enjoyed the GAA Catfish saga, and I think some of their episodes around fertility struggles, having a sick child, mental health, gambling addiction etc. are genuinely very good. I actually think they can be a good example of healthy masculinity in some respects.

However...

I feel like I'm going mad with the whole "Revenge Bride" story.

For anyone who hasn't heard it: basically, a woman supposedly discovered her fiancé was cheating on her and, on the day of their wedding, surprised him at the reception with a slideshow exposing the affair, including a dick pic, in front of around 150 guests and both families.

The 2 Johnnies have dedicated several episodes to it. One featured the bride telling her side of the story with her voice disguised, and they've apparently had emails from the wedding planner and the groom as well.

Now, I completely understand that they're not journalists and aren't under any obligation to investigate a story to journalistic standards. But surely this is just theatre/panto?

What is really confusing me is that they're not presenting it as a fictional bit. Other clickbaity media outlets have subsequently reported on it as though it's a real event, and I've heard people talking about it like it actually happened. But... did it?

There have been genuine cases in the US of brides exposing cheating husbands/fiancés at weddings using PowerPoint presentations, and there is video evidence of some of them. It seems very plausible to me that they've taken one of those stories and essentially given it an Irish makeover.

Because if this actually happened in Ireland, with 150 guests, a wedding planner, the groom, both families etc., how has there been absolutely no evidence of it outside the 2 Johnnies ecosystem? No video, no photos, no wedding guests posting about it, no identifiable venue, nothing?

In Ireland of all places, there's no way it would be contained.

And look, I know we're talking about the 2 Johnnies here and not RTÉ Investigates! I'm not expecting a forensic investigation or a chain of custody for the dick pic. It's a podcast, I'm just curious whether this is understood to be a bit/entertainment that everyone is playing along with, or whether they genuinely expect listeners to believe this happened exactly as described.