Barrtalk: International Women’s Day vs international men’s day

When we told our youngest son [aged ten] last Sunday afternoon, that it was International Women’s Day, he immediately quipped: “What about International Men’s Day? Why don’t we get our own day too?”

It was a typical male reaction, and of course, women would say that we men have the other 364 days of the year to ourselves anyway, which is only partly true.

But, upon closer examination, it turns out that there actually IS an International Men’s Day, which is celebrated on November 19 annually.

Although ‘celebrated’ might be stretching the point here about a day that most of us have likely never heard of, never mind celebrated.

You might say that International Men’s Day lurks towards the end of November, when it’s very much a case of blink, and you’ll miss it. I was certainly never aware of its official existence.

In all fairness, International Women’s Day has more than a century of history tied to labour movements, suffrage campaigns, and long struggles [still ongoing] for equal rights.

Complaining about the lack of fanfare for International Men’s Day might be a bit like grumbling about the lack of appreciation for the sun.

There were celebrations all over Inishowen and beyond to mark Women’s Day on Sunday, March 8 – though I did notice a distinct lack of fanfare for the big day at Donegal County Council, where there are only 3 [out of 37] elected County Councillors.

Until such imbalances are properly addressed, women will continue to campaign for equality – and good luck to them.

I know one thing: the despicable warmongers and ‘Ministers of War’ plunging us all into peril at present sure aint women.

For those wondering, we’re just 249 days away from International Men’s Day; I’m counting down the days, obviously.

And one hundred points if you can name Donegal’s three sitting female County Councillors. Hint: one of them is from our very own Inishowen, and it’s not Rena Donaghey, who retired from office in 2024.

Dog cloning and barking madness

I realise that the Brits love their dogs, but forking out £80,000 to have your beloved cocker spaniel cloned by a South Korean lab all seems a bit mad. Barking mad, perhaps?

But that’s exactly what Englishman Tom Rubython did in 2014, in an effort to ‘resurrect’ his ‘best friend’ from the great beyond.

Tom’s new pups, Mable and Myrtle, were born at Sooam Biotech in Seoul, the world's biggest dog-cloning business at the time.

Despite the expense, he says he’d do it all over again in a heartbeat – and apparently, a similar cloning service is now available in the UK.

However, there was one slight problem: despite being genetically identical to his old dog, the new ones had entirely different personalities from their maternal forebear.

I guess it’s impossible to clone animals exactly down to the last ‘de-tail’! Sorry, couldn’t resist that one.

Anyway, as someone who doesn’t even own an ordinary, uncloned dog, I doubt I’ll be investing in the cloned variety anytime soon – but there are likely tens of thousands of enthusiastic owners, I’m sure, who would love a perfect ‘re-paw-duction’ of their favourite pet.

Okay, I’ll stop now!

Quiz question: What’s the first book of the Bible?

And finally this week, I note that sales of quiz books and Bibles were recorded at their highest level since the 1990s last year, according to data from analyst firm NielsenIQ BookData.

The company, which manages the ISBN and SAN Agencies for the UK and Ireland, said spending on quiz books increased by 24 per cent last year, while spending on Bibles jumped by 19 per cent in 2025, taking both to their highest figures since records began in 1998.

I don’t really know what the results say about us humans in this part of the world at the end of the first quarter century of the new millennium.

Maybe that we like to have our faith tested? Or perhaps desperate quiz teams are seeking some divine intervention?

As a former quizmaster and quiz player in Moville during the early 00s, I must say I’m delighted to see the humble pub quiz making a comeback against the proliferation of 3G, 4G, 5G, 6G and 7G smartphones, which killed the craic from about 2010 onwards.

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Incidentally, Richard Osman topped NielsenIQ’s 2025 bestseller list with ‘The Impossible Fortune’, the latest book in the Thursday Murder Club series, released last September.

I haven’t gotten around to reading any Osman yet. He’s on the potential list, but there are so many others way ahead of him, that I might be as old as Moses before I get there.

The big money is clearly in children’s books. The Gruffalo writer Julia Donaldson ended 2025 as the UK’s bestselling author, with sales totalling 3.3 million copies, ahead of Freida McFadden (2.6 million) and Dav Pilkey (1.5 million).

As to the question in the title of this article? The first book of the Bible is, of course, Genesis [where it all began; not the English rock group].