EVERY WEEK, WE take a look at the best comments left by you, our lovely readers, on TheJournal.ie.

As always, the comments have attracted  a lot of debate and discussion. This week, you’ve been talking a lot about the shooting of a 16-year-old in Tallaght, the anniversary of the X case, speed limits,  the Finance Bill, prostitution, Ian Paisley and er, billboards of love.

So without further ado and in no particular order, here’s our picks for our favourite comments of the week.

Monday saw a protest outside Facebook’s Dublin headquarters over the social network’s policy of removing photographs of breastfeeding mothers. Sarah Cullington explained her take on it and why she thinks perceptions need to change:

I suppose the point was that in furthering the effort to “normalise” breastfeeding in society, which judging by some of the comments still has quite a long way to go, removing photos from fb, which is now such a large part of our society, seems like a backwards step and to some, reinforces the idea that it is still a taboo in public. For the record I personally never had a problem breastfeeding in public, nor has anyone I know. I do think however that the perception that it is frowned upon puts especially young mothers off  trying in the first place and that is something that needs to be tackled.

The idea of designating Clondalkin as Dublin’s first Gaeltacht area sparked a huge debate in the comments section and on the Facebook page. Here, Claire Brophy explains her experiences with the Irish language:

I’m a past pupil of Coláiste Chilliain, I can’t say I’m surprised at the comments being left above. The reality is, the people who have such an issue with the Irish language are generally people who have no grasp of it. I have never, ever met someone who could speak Irish and wished they couldn’t. Wherever possible shouldn’t we say yes, learn new things, educate ourselves as much as possible?

I’ve met Irish speakers in lifts in Paris, at temple ruins in Angkor Wat in Cambodia (by Cambodian children no less), there are words of Irish in ‘Down and Out in Paris and London’ that George Orwell notices for their strangeness- because he couldn’t identify it as Latin or French. Have a look here for how Irish is doing elsewhere:http://www.daltai.com/classes/

It’s fine if you think Irish is ‘useless’, but Clondalkin being designated a Gaeltacht area is only a good thing. Even it it doesn’t happen, the Irish community is thriving here and will continue to do so. It takes nothing from people, and it promotes Irish culture, so ask yourself how and why is it being considered a negative?

David Jackson was sceptical about the news that Kodak is planning to phase out digital cameras:

Is that not like Nokia phasing out mobile phones?

A lot of readers watched the RTE Prime Time programme early in the week about how prostitution is organised in Ireland. Michael Manson gave his take on how to address it:

This problem is nothing new.
On the continent prostitutes were left at the mercy of ruthless pimps.
Until some countries decided to take control of prostitution. To regulate it, to protect the prostitutes from   Inherent dangers.
And not just the prostitutes benefitted from state control. The client did too, insofar that the ladies were checked periodically for STD’s.
As the saying goes; it is the oldest trade in the world. And if the Irish government for one moment assumes that they can outlaw same then I am wasting my time here.
Ireland. Don’t attempt to reinvent the wheel.
Look at other countries and learn and give “sex workers’ legal status for their protection.

Friday’s poll about whether same-sex couples should be allowed to adopt brought up a lot of thoughtful responses. This comment by Mark Phillips summed up the thoughts of a lot of people arguing for it:

It saddens me to see Ireland stand still on this issue because of the misinformed qualms some people still have about gay people. Obviously, nobody has the “right” to adopt. It depends on whether they can provide a good home. Gay couples really should be allowed to apply to adopt and be considered on their merits.

A load of research (produced by independent sources) has shown kids brought up by gay adopters have no issues. They do not “turn gay” and don’t get bullied any more than other kids. They achieve as much academically and basically are the same. Our laws right now are preventing some kids from having a loving home.

We liked this one because it was sparky. On a thread about 500 jobs announced by tech companies in Ireland, Aoife Brosnan didn’t have time for people who were complaining:

What a forest of whinge! If the whole country falls into famine or war or plague you can all say Aha! Told you! Look what the politicians did with their sneaky creation of 500 jobs! But until then get a grip and appreciate that the lives of500 families could be turned around by this news.

The thread about Clondalkin becoming a Gaeltacht had a lot of strong comments. Ger Byrne described how he used to play against a team from a Gaeltacht area:

you should try and mark a player from round towers!! i was full back and the whole full forward line used to run us ragged and they talked constantly as gaelige, at one stage after a bit of a row i was insulted as gaelige, and having a pint with the man after the match i told him i couldnt help but be imprressed!! :)
………to this day he wont tell me what he called me….. i can hazard a guess tho!!

Speaking of sports, over on TheScore.ie Liam Mycroft posted this analysis after the Ireland-Wales rugby match:

As to the comments about Wales being the better team, I would agree to a point that Wales were excellent, and the whole game was superb. I don’t think we were totally outplayed at all, we defended really well, a vital part of a good performance, and at the end of the day (cliche intended), it was a decision, which I still believe to have been an error by Wayne Barnes, that changed the result. Ferris is a hard hitting tackler, and there was no infringement in his tackle, therefore no penalty. Equally, the Spear/Tip tackle by Davies should have resulted in a Red Card, another cop out by Pearson and Barnes…..   having said all that, if all games had no controversy what would we have to talk about!   Let’s take it out on the French this weekend with another great performance..

And finally, two good comments which both happen to be about fish. Strange.

The slideshow earlier in the week about a shark tea party held in the London Aquarium this week (see pic above) led to a punning fest from readers. It was hard to choose a favourite but this from John O’Neill was r-eel-y good (sorry):

I’d have loved a plaice at that table.

And the story about how the whales in SeaWorld are taking a case – or at least, PETA are taking a case on their behalf – arguing that they’ve been kept as slaves provoked this tweet from @Tarka42:

No doubt their lawyers will be laughing to tuna millions.

Thanks to the readers who sent us in suggestions for this week’s list. If you spot a comment you think we should include email christine@thejournal.ie.