Google marks Universal Children’s Day with a doodle

20 Nov 2012

Google has marked International Children’s Day, 20 November, with a colourful doodle in the shape of a Punch and Judy Show.

While the doodle is not interactive or animated like recent doodles, including the celebration of Google’s 14th birthday with an animated chocolate cake or the interactive Star Trek doodle, it is nevertheless artful and communicates the international day for children of all nations.

A United Nations recommendation selected 20 November as International Children’s Day.

It is often celebrated on other days, too. For example, International Day for Protection of Children is observed in many countries on 1 June since 1950 and is understood to have been established by the Women’s International Democratic Federation in Paris in 1949.

In Ireland, we celebrate Children’s Day on 25 March, according to Wikipedia.

Children’s Referendum Vote challenged in High Court

The rights of children are high on everybody’s mind in Ireland at the moment.

There has been the re-emergence of the divisive issue of abortion in the wake of the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar in a Galway hospital in recent weeks, which sparked outrage on social media with calls for new legislation.

In addition, two have brought a High Court challenge aimed at overturning the result of the Children’s Referendum, which was passed by a majority of 58pc to 41pc based on a low 33.4pc voter turnout.

The first challenge is led by Dun Laoghaire woman Joanna Jordan, who campaigned for No vote, and the second is led by a retired woman from Limerick who voted Yes by post before it emerged that the Supreme Court ruled that information distributed by the Government was not impartial and it was too late for her to change her mind.

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com