Wow, just watched the Boyzone No Matter What show, a definite eye opener about what went on behind the scenes with Louis. Despicable little man.

So few months back, more like 4-5 months ago, 3L milk jug was €2.95, then they’ve upped it to €3.25 and now…it’s €3.55!!!

Before the war in Ukraine and shortly before the first increase it was €2 for 3L jug. I’m fuming 🤬🤬🤬

And before anyone brings it up to switch to soy/almond derivatives, I’m not paying €2 per litre for that shite.

We had to put our dog down on Friday, so I just need to vent for a minute.

We got a greyhound in December 2023 from RIGHT (great organisation if anyone is considering). Great fella, loved his walks and his naps, very affectionate. 2024 was grand, he was getting out, he kept us busy, only 1 vet visit and that was more our fault than something he did. He seemed grand all the time. Halloween was bad where we live, his anxiety went mental, so there was a lot of calming him down and comforting. A few weeks after that he started refusing to go for walks, wouldn't go past the door. Would still get excited if we said walkies but wouldn't actually go out. So we went to the vet, they gave him a once over and gave us some meds. No change over the next few weeks but they mentioned that he needed his teeth cleaned and they had a special on in November so we booked him in for that. 2 weeks later, no change in his anxiety or walks, but we managed to get him to the vet for his dental work, and we got on with our day. Around 2pm we got a call that there was an emergency and they couldn't do the procedure and would we mind collecting him. When we got him, he was shivering, and not fed. Mind you, this was after him needing to be fasted for the dental work so he was nearly 24 hours without food. We managed to reschedule for 2 weeks later, dropped him off and again got on with our day. We got a call at 3 that he had a little reaction to the anesthetic and they wanted to keep him a little while longer. Collected him, they said he was grand but wanted us to bring back a urine sample. Since the fireworks at Halloween we noticed him getting skinnier, but the vets said, no he's grand, he looks thin but his weight is fine so what were we to know, this was our first greyhound. From there he started eating less and less so we brought him back for more bloods etc, and again we were told he's grand, just really bad anxiety and keep giving him the meds, and maybe get a dog behaviourist.

So, we rang the adoption agency to ask for a recommendation and they suggested maybe get a second opinion. I won't name the vets we originally went to as I don't want to name and shame but suffice to say they're a chain, with practices in Castelknock, Cabra, clonsilla etc. However, the recommended vet I can't praise enough, Katy Murphy in Kilcock. We got an appointment without issue the day we rang up and explained the situation. The minute Katy saw our fella, she said "that's a very sick dog". She looked up his medical records from the other vet and told us he nearly died from the anesthetic, which we were never told. Right there and then she gave him an ECG and an Ultrasound and explained to us that he had a serious heart issue, that he had lost a lot of weight but the numbers didn't actually go down because his lungs and chest were filling with fluid. Although there was some things we could do, we probably wouldn't get long with him and the kindest thing to do would be to let him go. She gave us almost 2 hours of her time to check the dog over, go through everything, and help us say goodbye.

Sorry for the very long post, like I said I just needed to vent a bit. This wasn't intended to big up the Kilcock vet, even tho she was great, and although we're very angry with the incredibly poor support or attention that we got from the chain vets, even not spotting or questioning obvious things that we kept pointing out, I'm not outright going to name them, you may already know who they are. We're just a little tender from having to say goodbye and I wanted to write something out.

EDIT: Thanks everyone for the kind words. I don't know what we're going to do ATM. We're not going to kindly let them know of their mistake, but I don't think, despite how we're feeling, we're going to run in there and call them out on their shit, we acknowledge there is a certain level of "greyhounds are peculiar animals" so I don't know. Will take a few days to let the emotions calm a bit either way.

I've got some very simple questions about getting healthcare in Ireland if anyone can help me:

• I know which type of specialist I'll need to see. Do I need a referral from a GP or can I go straight to the specialist?

• How does a referral work? Is it sent to a specialist the GP chooses or can I choose?

• I have health insurance. Do I pay the doctor directly then claim it back through the insurance with receipts? Does this happen at reception or do I get a bill afterwards? Is this the same for the specialist.

• How does getting an appointment work? Do I just phone up and say "hi I need an appointment”?

• If I need to go to the GP for a referral how in depth is that appointment? I'm keeping a diary of symptoms so can I just show them that and say "look here I'm pretty sure this isn't meant to be happening"?

• Before the appointment, do I have to tell the receptionist I'm there or is that just annoying them?

• Anything else I should know?

Sorry I know these are simple questions but I have anxiety and I like to have everything planned in advance so I know what will happen.

I'm really torn on these new speed limits. With the standard of some driving and aggression on our roads, I wonder will the new speed limits make our roads more dangerous. Thoughts?

This may be a no brainer question for most, but I moved from Ireland to North Finland a long time ago and recently discovered spice bags through the Garron dude on IG.

After a trip back home to Wicklow, the missus and I went on the hunt for a real spice bag and we fell in love with it. We now have a large stack of spice bag mix in our home in Lapland so we can have a taste of home whenever the need arises. We also share it with the Finns, but the insane amount of salt seems to put them off.

So, is it Irish? It was not a thing when I lived there.

Now that Canada and Mexico is done, I guess it's only a matter of days before he announces new tariffs agaist EU. Or would his tech bros stop him because of.. their tax operations in Ireland?

If he goes ahead and slaps 25% on EU as well... Just.how fucked are we?

Hey folks, just looking for the group opinion on what's "normal" for cleaning an apartment before moving out.

One of my friends is moving out of a rented apartment in the near future and the landlord has said that they have to wash the walls before leaving. As far as I know the walls are not dirty beyond normal lived in levels. Is this a normal request or Is this landlord taking the piss a bit?

I've never been asked to do it whenever I have moved out of somewhere so I just thought it a bit odd.

Ireland is with you Paul Hughes!

I’m meeting my auntie for lunch on Wednesday in Athlone. Any nice places to go? It’s a small birthday treat. We meet halfway between Dublin and Galway occasionally and last couple of times we met, it wasn’t great food.

I promise I’ve googled this already but couldn’t find an answer. I live in a ground floor apartment. I have an ashtray on said balcony. Numerous times I’ve come out to find the ashtray gone or sometimes even just the contents of it. I bought a ring camera and it has caught the person climbing over the balcony and emptying the ashtray into their pockets.

To be clear, I do not care that the cigarette butts are being stolen. But it makes me feel really uneasy and unsafe knowing while I’m asleep there is someone on my balcony.

All that said, is this trespassing? Could I take this further, given I now have evidence?