Niamh Walsh’s Manifesto
Talk is cheap when coming from the rich kids of Russia
RICH Russian kids are feeling the wrath of the rest of world as Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine threatens their outrageously opulent lifestyle.
The offspring of oligarchs and Putin’s elite have at least shown some modicum of humility and voiced their opposition to the invasion.
Sofia Abramovich, whose father Roman is offloading Chelsea Football Club to the highest bidder, told her 50,000 Instagram followers that ‘the biggest and most successful lie out of the Kremlin propaganda
is that most Russians are with Putin’.
And Elizaveta Peskova, daughter of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, posted ‘No to the war’ on Instagram.
The post vanished less than an hour later with no explanation.
Maria Yumasheva, daughter of government adviser Valentin Yumashev, has also shown her support for Ukraine. Her father was crucial in helping Putin come to power, having been one of Boris Yeltsin’s most trusted aides.
But the cynic in me surmises their posts were designed to protect their own gilded lifestyles, rather than meaningful anti-war words.
Other spoilt offspring like F1 driver Nikita Mazepin, son of oligarch Dmitry Mazepin, has shown no such compunction to rally around his bombed out neighbours and said: ‘Sport and politics shouldn’t mix.’
But F1 team Haas thought otherwise and quickly booted Nikita off their team – which coincidently was sponsored by one of his father’s companies.
Having taken a scroll through the social media pages of the rich Ruskies, their lifestyles are opulent even by well-to-do kids standards.
It is ironic given their fatherland’s deep distrust of the West that so many of them were educated in Britain or the USA and therefore have the capacity to comprehend that what is being perpetrated on Ukraine is an atrocity.
They are also blessed to have freedom of speech denied so many of their terrorised compatriots back in Russia.
Given how their lifestyles are funded, this lot should be repatriated. I would suggest packing their Louis Vuitton luggage, and booking them a firstclass, one-way ticket to Ukraine – which, after all, their president insists is Russian territory.
Kelly got going when the going got tough
‘A LEADER knows the way, shows the way and goes the way,’ so the saying goes. Unless you’re Alan Kelly, who stepped down as Labour chief this week but not before suggesting voters are too tough on politicians.
Kelly took to whinging after a perfectly civilised coup by the Bacikeviks, who democratically decreed Kelly’s days as Labour leader were up.
‘Am I hurt? Yeah, maybe,’ he said. ‘Politics is a tough game. I keep saying this, it’s rough and I think we need to do something about that as a society.
‘Politics has become really, really difficult. It can be extremely difficult and extremely stressful.
Alan ‘power is a drug’ Kelly must be off his rocker to make this statement in a week when Volodymyr Zelensky has survived three hits on his life and yet is still holding cabinet meetings and even brought his own chair to a press conference whilst being the world’s most hunted man.
Politicians are generously paid to weather the political wars.
A tough job is those collecting bins, digging roads or the carers who work day and night for no pay. That’s a tough job.
Next time Kelly fancies a whinge at his lot, rehab would be a more appropriate venting venue for those suffering withdrawals from the drug of power.
The day the parish priest went nuclear
FATHER Fergal MacDonagh certainly put the fear of God into the Russian Ambassador.
The activist and parish priest of Dolphin’s Barn in Dublin threw a can of red paint on the Russian Embassy gates while speaking to Joe Duffy on Liveline. He said he made sure the paint had an oil base so that it could not just be hosed off, suggesting this isn’t his first ride at the non-violent protest rodeo. He also told a clearly gobsmacked Joe that the public should
consider burning the Russian Embassy to the ground – though obviously when nobody was inside – remarking: ‘It needs to be an option while they are still here.’
Literally seeing red, Ambassador Yury Filatov, accused protesters at their Orwell Road digs of being ‘rough and really aggressive’. He said the situation in Ireland is ‘frankly difficult’.
He also called the gardaí who gave Fr MacDonagh his marching orders. It just goes to show how wimpy some men are – take away their access to nukes and they cower in fright at a priest armed with only a can of paint.
Fashion footwear hits Croc bottom
Crocs, the holey rubber utility shoes, are back with a Balenciaga makeover and price tag to match.
Yes, the same Crocs that are the most aggressively unattractive footwear – which I admit to having in pink and red. In 2008, Project Runway guru Tim Gunn described them as looking like ‘a plastic hoof’ and said: ‘If you want to dress to feel as though you never got out of bed, don’t get out of bed.’
But ugly as they may be, Crocs have stood the test of time, with the brand achieving record sales in 2021, surging 67% to €2.05bn.
Now they have just released a high-heeled range of Balenciaga Crocs with prices starting at a notpretty €495.
The high-heeled Crocs are, even by my designer gear-loving standards, simply a step too far.