Laura receives online Number of new cars registered abuse for new podcast down by 20 pc
PRESENTER Laura Whitmore received online abuse for an Instagram post in which she promoted a new podcast series launched by the British army called ‘ The Locker’.
Bray native Laura said in her post that she was pleased to share the first episode in which she speaks to a female soldier about life in a male-dominated industry.
‘Hear me talk about all things confidence, body positivity, being female in a male dominated industry & overcoming insecurities with the inspiring Ella, a soldier in the @britisharmy,’ she wrote. ‘Ella’s body changed when she trained and she didn’t fit into the stereotypical “feminine” shape but she is proud of her body and knows to accept and appreciate herself and her strength. Her life is very different to mine but I learned a lot talking to her. We also chat pressures to look a certain way and fit in no matter what you do and where you come from.’
A mountain of abuse followed on social media, with one person telling Whitmore to ‘go kill yourself ’.
She was criticised for appearing to support the British army.
Hours later, Whitmore posted a tribute to the late John Hume, the man who led so much of the peace process between Britain and the Republic, on her Twitter page. She later defended her Instagram post, arguing that she was interested in discussing gender and body issues and wasn’t trying to recruit people to the British army.
‘I was asked to be a guest on a podcast talking about body issues and being a female in a male-dominated industry. As I have done a lot in the past. The other guest was a young female soldier. If this looked like me trying to recruit people to the army that is not the case at all,’ she wrote on Twitter. ‘I know to those who actually listen to the podcast they’ll understand but in case there’s any confusion I wanted to clear it up.
‘ This is not about ignoring the history book. This about progress and equality - something Hume promoted,’ she wrote on Twitter.
NEW car registrations in Wicklow for the first seven months of 2020 are down almost 20 per cent on the same period in 2019, according to latest vehicle statistics.
The data, released by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI), showed 1,737 new cars were registered in Wicklow between January and July, which was a fall of 18 per cent on the figure of 2,123 for the same period in 2019.
However, the number of new vehicle registrations for the month of July were roughly 13 per cent higher than the same month in 2019 with 533 registrations compared with 466. The data also shows car registrations in the Garden County appear to be recovering after falling to a low of two registrations in April. New registrations for July rose to 533, up from 24 in June which tends to be slower month for car registrations, based on industry figures.
Toyota, Volkswagen and Hyundai are the three most popular car brands in the county so far this year. Nationwide, registrations of new cars for the year to date are down 29.8 per cent on the same period last year.
In terms of light commercial vehicles, 256 new registrations have been recorded in Wicklow for the year so far, down 16 per cent on 2019’s figures. Light commercial vehicle registrations were also at their lowest point of three in April, increasing to 73 for the month of July. Nationally, new registrations of light commerical vehicles are down 5.5 per cent in the first seven months of 2020 when compared to the same period in 2019.
SIMI director-general Brian Cooke said that while the July registration period did bring ‘much-needed activity’ back to showrooms, new car sales ‘continue to disappoint’, with another monthly fall.
‘ This is despite the fact that many quarter two sales had been pushed back into the 202 registration plate. Covid-19, on the back of Brexit and an already falling new car market since 2016, now sees new car sales back to recession levels, down 30 per cent year to date,’ he said.
Looking further into the numbers, Mr Cooke said new car sales will fall for the fourth consecutive year.
‘ This slowdown is materially undermining the renewal of the national car fleet, which is not only bad for profitability and regional employment, but is also hampering Ireland’s efforts to reduce transport emissions,’ he said.