Paschal Mooney's "non-national" taxi driver remark not isolated example of official ignorance

Here's a little game for you.  Count how many days  elapse before some gobshite gombeen politician  – councillor, senator or TD – says something really stupid (drink driving permits for tractor-driving rural types, for instance) or something incredibly Sixties-Deep-South bigoted (below).

The character pictured left goes by the name of Paschal Mooney –  I confess I'd never heard of him until last week.  

 Apparently he is a Fianna Fail senator for Leitrim and "a popular radio broadcaster and journalist" according to the following account from Sligo Today (24th Jan).  

Last week this fine public representative declared he would not get into a taxi driven by "an obvious non-national".   

When people objected to the nature of his remarks, he then "withdrew" any comments that might be "inferred as being discriminatory in any way".  He called it an apology.

Where else would you get a gobshite like this sitting in public office?   Comments that might be "Inferred as being discriminatory"?  

Here's the Oxford English Dictionary definition of the word "infer":

verb (infers, inferring, inferred)

[with object] deduce or conclude (something) from evidence and reasoning rather than from explicit statements.

In the light such a definition, Mooney's statement was as explicit as explicit can be – no room for inference.    

Amazing that a public representative and "popular broadcaster" can - one - make such a remark,  and – two – think such an "apology" is acceptable. 

Maybe it is?  At least by the standards we have set in Ireland?

Mooney apologises for non-national taxi driver remark

Leitrim-based Fianna Fáil Senator Paschal Mooney issued an apology to the Seanad yesterday for earlier stating he would not get into a taxi driven by an 'obvious non-national'.

The popular radio broadcaster and journalist said, “I made a personal statement to the house in which I withdrew any comments I made that were to be inferred as being discriminatory in any way and apologised. As far as I am concerned that is the end of the matter,” he said last night.

The Irish Times reported that earlier he indicated he would always seek out a local taxi driver rather than a non-national driver because of his concerns they didn’t know their way around.

“I wasn’t the only one who made reference to drivers particularly in Dublin... who didn’t know their way around,” he said last night.

His comments in the Seanad came when the house was discussing the Taxi Regulation Bill, which passed second stage.

Minister of State for Public Transport Alan Kelly took issue with a claim by Seán Barrett (Ind) that proposed new powers to prevent certain taxi drivers from obtaining or retaining public service vehicle licences amounted to double jeopardy.

Taxi Service Standards

Mr Barrett had criticised a provision in the Taxi Regulation Bill to withhold licences from operators convicted of serious criminal offences.

Mr Barrett contended that the wish of parliament to improve taxi service standards should not be used as a back-door method of reintroducing a limit to licence numbers “which gave us an appalling industry in the past”.

The Minister had stated there were about 6,000 taxi drivers who had some form of criminal conviction.

Mr Kelly said an economic analysis had indicated that there was an oversupply of between 13 and 22 per cent in the current taxi fleet.

The Bill represented the most comprehensive review of taxi regulation carried out in the State and he was confident that its new enforcement provisions would be broadly welcomed by the industry and consumers.

National radio stations ae reporting that Senator Mooney is 'unavailable' for comment this morning.


The following, from the same source, is worth a read too:

Show Racism the Red Card statement on Sen Pascal Mooney’s comments:
A year ago, Darren Scully had to resign as Mayor of Naas Town Council, after his position became untenable when he declared that he would not represent constituents from black African backgrounds.

Pascal Mooney took it a step further in his comments in the Senate where he declared that he would not be discriminatory but that he would not be using taxis driven by what he calls ‘non national’ drivers.

He said: ‘ I’ve been in taxis and I have to say, and I am not being discriminatory here, but it’s nearly always non-nationals.  And it’s got to the point where, quite frankly, and I make no apologies for it, that I will now go to a local driver in preference to somebody who’s a non-national – an obvious non-national, and that has nothing to do with the colour of their skin or anything of that nature’.

In a later statement he said: ‘It’s come to my attention that remarks I made about non- nationals during my contribution on the Taxis Regulation Bill 2013 earlier today have been misinterpreted’. He added: ‘I wish to unreservedly withdraw the remarks and apologise for any offence caused.  I fully acknowledge the contribution of non- nationals to the life of Ireland and I clearly stated at the time that my remarks should not have been misinterpreted as discriminatory to anyone’.

No misinterpretation of remarks
Co-ordinator for Show Racism the Red Card Garrett Mullan said this evening: ‘It seems as though Senator Pascal Mooney will need to make yet another statement of clarification.  While on the one hand he says he is not being discriminatory, on the other he says he will choose a ‘local’ driver over an obviously non- national.

At this point, I would state that the number of people who can be described as non- national is extremely small to the point of insignificance.  We can assume he is talking about drivers who are non- Irish born.

If he is to stand over his statement that he would choose a ‘local’ over a non Irish national, that would be racism and discriminatory action on his part.

If we were to infer that Senator Pascal Mooney would not have an issue with a non-Irish taxi driver, that would be somewhat welcome, if only normal.  However his second statement does not clarify this matter.

His second statement states he withdraws his remarks but states: ‘It has come to my attention, that remarks have been misinterpreted’.

There can be no misinterpretation of comments that are now on the Senate record’.

Mr Mullan added: ‘It is unfortunate that the issue of racism as it affects the taxi trade was not addressed in this legislation.  We have many reports of customers skipping by cars, as Pascal Mooney suggested he would do, to avoid obviously non-Irish drivers.  De-regulation of the taxi trade led to an explosion in the number of drivers.  

This measure happened when Senator’s party was in government.  One affect of this was to make earning living in the taxi trade a lot more difficult, to the point where drivers are working excessively long hours just to earn a living.  As to the issue of the issue of driver standards and knowledge of geography, if this is regarded as essential to the trade, which is reasonable, then it should apply to all drivers’.

Mr Mullan concludes: ‘Non Irish nationals represent over 10% of Ireland’s population.  They work in different areas including the taxi trade and they have the right to work without being subject to discrimination.  There have been repeated reports about how racism affects the taxi trade produced by the Immigrant Council of Ireland, NUI Galway and other media reports.  It would be more helpful to the taxi trade if politicians sought to address this issue, rather than exacerbating it with their own anecdotal notions’.

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The hole at Oranhill Estate, Oranmore, Galway

You have to feel sorry for the people who took on massive mortgages to buy homes - as opposed to "investments" -  during Ireland's world-beating, government-sponsored property bubble.  

Priory Hall, where people are paying mortgages for death-trap properties they cannot even stay in, constructed by ex-IRA property developer Tom McFeely.  I wonder what Connolly would have made of it?

Barnwell, Hansfield, Ongar, where many occupants bought properties on Manor Park and Menolly Homes' promise of a train to Dublin city every 15 minutes.   The road to access Hansfield railway station has never been built, and the few trains that do run on the M3 Parkway-Dublin line go through it without stopping.

Glenn Riada, Longford, where people are in danger of carbon monoxide poisoning and cannot light fires in their fireplaces for fear of explosion.

There are hundreds, if not thousands of other such examples - varying in degrees of severity - in our mad little country, run by gombeens and gobshites for gombeens and gobshites.

Here's another one from Oranhill Estate, Oranmore, Galway.  Posted on You Tube by three young residents.

Big thanks to Conor for bringing this to our attention.

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Kerry publican councillors vote for drink-driving permits

In a country where one gombeen can often only be distinguished from another by the pattern on his flat cap, the following piece from the Irish Examiner should not come as too big a surprise to us..  

In short, the gombeen publican councillors of Kerry voting for special drink 'n' drive permits for their rural constituents/customers.

And no, it's not a joke.



Councillors back rural drink-drive ‘permits’
Donal Hickey,  Irish Examiner, Tuesday, January 22, 2013

A local authority has backed a call for "gardaí permits" to be issued to allow rural dwellers have a drink or two above the legal limits.

Kerry County Council approved a motion to allow "less severe drink driving regulations" for people in rural areas. 

The drink-drive limit is 50mg for all drivers and 20mg for learner or newly qualified drivers. 

However, the council supported a call for rural gardaí to issue permits to allow people in rural areas drive on little-used roads from their local pub after having "two or three drinks" and travelling at very low speeds. 

The motion, put forward by Independent councillor Danny Healy-Rae, was narrowly passed by elected members, although quite a number of councillors abstained. 

The councillor asked for "a special derogation" for rural drivers, including drivers of small tractors, to allow them to have two or three drinks. 

Mr Healy-Rae called for legislation which would allow rural gardaí to issue such permits. 

The councillor, who is a Kilgarvan publican, was supported by other publicans/councillors at the meeting, who insisted they were not acting as vested interests but out of genuine concern for elderly rural dwellers. 

The meeting heard strict drink-driving laws were leading to isolation which, in some cases, was a factor in suicide, said Mr Healy-Rae. 

It was unfair, he said, to impose the same restrictions on fellows with small tractors and jeeps as on commercial lorry drivers. 

"These vehicles wouldn’t be exceeding 30km/h on third-class tertiary roads and cul-de-sacs," Mr Healy-Rae said. 

"There’s no reason a fellow could not drive his small tractor to collect his messages, have a few drinks and go away home." 

Gardaí — if any were to be left in rural areas — would manage the permits, he suggested. 

Fine Gael’s Bobby O’Connell, a Castleisland publican, strongly supported the motion. 

"Rural isolation is a big problem. People are afraid to go out," he said. 

Fianna Fáil councillor and Milltown publican Michael O’Shea agreed, as did Michael Cahill, a Rossbeigh licensee and councillor. 

But Labour’s Gillian Wharton Slattery strongly objected to the linking of suicide with not being able to drink. 

Alcohol and drugs were huge factors in depression which, in turn, contributed to suicide, she stated. 

Most of the councillors abstained in the vote. 

Council officials are now to write to the Department of Justice seeking the introduction of rural permits.


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Marie Fleming and the right to die with dignity

Pic: PA

For you and me, sitting here in the best of health - or near enough - it is impossible to imagine the thoughts and emotions of Marie Fleming, the 59-year-old woman who is slowly dying from Multiple Sclerosis.

Marie recently lost her High Court case to secure her right to die an assisted, dignified death; having explained to the court how her life "had become totally undignified and too painful to bear". 


Her hope was that if someone assisted her put an end to her suffering, as she was not able to do so herself, they would not be prosecuted.

Given the inherently conservative nature of Irish society, still informed as it is by residual religious dogma (Reuters reports refer to "mainly Roman Catholic Ireland"), the court said no. It cited the default slippery slope/opening the floodgates argument of those opposed to other forms of rationality and social progress.

So, if Marie dies naturally she will, most likely, in her own words:

"choke to death, where my swallow would stop and then the saliva would dribble out of my mouth or choke me to death."

How must it feel for Marie, waiting for this to happen? Living, as she does, in a country that is not progressive or humane enough to allow her avoid it?

How better it would be for her to live in Belgium,  where euthanasia is an option for the terminally ill.   All out in the open, no nod-and-a-wink, as it is in Ireland.  Hoping your doctor has the moral courage, and has the compassion, to give  you an extra shot of morphine to end it for you - in defiance of the official position that you should simply suffer. 

Maybe in time Ireland will catch up, and allow euthanasia for its terminally ill citizens.  Marie Fleming's brave attempt to win this right will have been the first step, as Sarah Wootton of Dignity in Dying said:

"Dignity in Dying campaigns for a change in the law on assisted dying in Britain. Nevertheless, compassion, dignity and choice in dying are universal issues and we monitor progress towards more compassionate laws in other countries with interest. 

"This result is disappointing, but sadly not unexpected. I commend Marie's courage in working to change the law in Ireland and am pleased that they intend to appeal this ruling.  When the law does change in Ireland it will be in no small part due to the courage and determination of Marie and others like her who do not accept the status quo which forces some people to suffer against their wishes at the end of life.

"In 2013 we will see Assisted Dying Bills in Westminster, Holyrood and across the channel in the French Parliament.  With these parliamentary attempts to change the law, cases like Marie Fleming's in Ireland and Gloria Taylor's legacy in Canada, we hope this year will be one of progress in end of life choice for people across the globe."  

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RTE presenters' mistakes. No news really.

Who says that RTE doesn't do comedy well?  

It's just that the taxpayer-funded (and advertiser-funded) organisation  does its best comedy when you least expect it.  The News, for instance. 

Witness two classic clips below, both of which might have stretched the imaginations of Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan, the writers of Father Ted. 

 Aengus Mac Grianna, the presenter in question laughed off his bloopers, saying it was good that the Irish national broadcaster had picked up so many hits on You Tube when these videos went viral.   

Thing is, Aengus, they are more likely laughing at you, not with you.










Then you have the petulance of overpaid, prima-donna mediocrities such as Pat Kenny, who threw a hissy fit when a competition entrant had the temerity to offer part of her prize  - a seat at RTE's execrable Toy Show - up for raffle, rather than attend in person.   





Ah yes.   Isn't your RTE Licence Fee well worth you forking out €160 a year for, to keep such top talent in extravagantly-paid employment? 

Not that you have any choice.


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Garda on RSA board had penalty points removed

Here's an extract from an article in last weekend's Sunday Independent, by Philip Ryan, describing how Garda Eddie Rock, former head of the Traffic Corps and now sitting on the board of the Road Safety Authority, had three sets of penalty points quashed.  

The fixed notices were issued for breaking a red light, speeding, and parking in a clearway.

"A FORMER garda assistant commissioner who sits on the board of the Road Safety Authority (RSA) was forced to explain to its chairman Gay Byrne why he had had three penalty points terminated.

Eddie Rock, who was head of the Garda Traffic Corps before becoming an RSA board member in 2011, was named in a whistleblower's dossier which alleges that thousands of penalty points were written off illegally.

The report, compiled by a serving member of the force, questions the legitimacy of more than 50,000 penalty-point terminations over a three-year period.

The document alleges that points were cancelled for two judges and for one of their wives. Points were also, it is claimed, cancelled for an international rugby star and two journalists – a newspaper reporter and a television broadcaster.

It also alleges that gardai struck off points for their own families and that in one instance a member of the force terminated more than 1,000 penalty points in several counties across the country.

Current Garda Assistant Commissioner John O'Mahoney has been asked to investigate the allegations and will report to Justice Minister Alan Shatter.

In October, the report was sent to the RSA chief executive, Noel Brett, who brought it to the attention of the authority's board and its chairman, Mr Byrne.

The dossier alleged that Mr Rock, who is also a member of the Justice Department's Parole Board, had received two fixed-notice charges but later had them cancelled by gardai.

When the board approached Mr Rock, he revealed that in fact he had had three sets of penalty points overturned – but he said that he had followed the correct procedures for contesting the points in each case..."


"Correct procedures"?  What might they be, then?  Knowing the "correct procedures" might be useful should I pick up a few points myself, possibly thanks to gardai sitting in "safety vans" on stretches of road with improbably low speed limits (see pic above, used in an earlier blog).  

  Let's see now...

"...Mr Rock told his RSA colleagues, including former Late Late Show host Mr Byrne, that he appealed the charges as a private citizen by writing to the inspector who had issued the fixed-notice charges.

A source said that the board was satisfied with Mr Rock's explanations for the cancellation of the points but was awaiting the outcome of Mr O'Mahoney's report.

The source said, "The system seems to have been used properly and the time between the points seems to be significant."

So there you go then.  You just have to write to the Garda inspector who issued the charges, saying you would like to have the points removed from - or simply not applied to - your licence.

It might help your case if you are a garda (the higher-ranking the better, or on the board of the RSA even better still).  It might help your case  if one of your cronies is a copper, or you are the family of one.  It might also help your case if you are a judge, in which circumstance you can avoid the very sanctions you dish out to others as you righteously sit in your courtroom. 

It's easy to have faith in the system when you know how fair it is.


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New year's resolutions and ignorant gobshites in the Phoenix Park

Yes, it's a strange title for a blog post alright.  

Truth be told, it's a strange blog post too when there are so many pressing issues out there, but it's taking some of us a bit longer than usual to get into this new year.   

That might only happen when  Blue Monday comes along on January 21st.  Maybe then we'll get back to serious blogging?

Blue Monday is officially the most depressing day of the year.  

It is, according to white-coated boffins who spend their time researching such things, the day when we wake up on a miserable, cold January Monday;  realise we have no money because we spent it all on pointless Christmas presents;  that we put on 20 stone from stuffing our faces with food and booze over the festive season; and that the prospect of a holiday away from this godforsaken kip is months distant.  Assuming we still have jobs by then.

It is  also a time when many of us realise we have failed in all of our new year's resolutions, and there is probably no prospect of us ever mending our ways for the better.  Useless, no-good, pathetic failures, and that's the way it is always going to be.  Happy new year.

To be honest, I can't wait for the 21st.  

For the past week the Phoenix Park has been packed with new year's resolutioners, rigged-out in gaudy tracksuits and headbands, all newly resolved to put one foot in front of the other in 2013 on my usual strolling route.   It is like Henry Street at lunch hour, congealed with people jogging or barely jogging, and walking or barely walking.  

To make matters worse many of them drive to the park, and then park their MPVs on the footpaths of the narrower roads, meaning people have to either walk on the roads or squelch through thick muck to get past them.  I'm kicking myself that I didn't take a photo, but I was far too engrossed in accidentally brushing against their wing mirrors, quite forcefully, to do so. 

It's not surprising, I suppose, that people who don't normally walk fail to grasp that footpaths are for pedestrians.  They are not places to leave a car, after it has deposited its lazy front-seat occupants and their retinue of vile, screaming, devilspawn brats into a place normally reserved for peaceful recreation.

And really, if they had to make a resolution to drive somewhere in order to walk, shouldn't they  just get themselves three dozen super-sized packets of crisps, switch on one of the many dreadful cooking programmes now clogging the TV schedules, and plonk their arses on the living room sofa for the whole weekend, like they usually do?   That's what's going to happen anyway.

Roll on the 21st, and a back-to-normal Phoenix Park.

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"Swimming in Ireland's biggest pothole" and the related issue of exorbitant road tax

We Irish pay the highest motor-based taxes in Europe, but it must be said we get a great return for our money.  Even the Germans, with ribbons of smooth, untolled Autobahns criss-crossing their country, cannot boast on-road jacuzzis for the tired motorist.

We can.  Liam Keane, of Cork, had a dip in one after he noticed a giant, water-filled hole sitting on a local road for one week, untroubled by the local authorities.  

His girlfriend, Stephanie, recorded Liam splashing about in the crater before posting the resulting video on You Tube.  Maybe co-incidentally, the council then dispatched a crew in a yellow truck to fill it in.

And back to the subject of road tax, have a look at the two tables below:

Irish motor tax rates

Band + Emission Rate		Motor Tax 2013
A0 Zero		€120
A1 1-80g		€170
A2 More than 80g/km up to and incl 100		€180
A3 More than 100g/km up to 110g/km		€190
A4 More than 110g/km up to 120g/km		€200
B1 More than 120g/km up to 130g/km		€270
B2 More than 130g/km up to 140g/km		€280
C More than 140g/km up to 155g/km		€390
D More than 155g/km up to 170g/km		€570
E More than 170g/km up to 190g/km		€750
F More than 190g/km up to 225g/km		€1200
G More than 225g/km		€2350

UK motor tax rates

Band	CO2 emission (g/km)	12 months rate
A	Up to 100	£0.00
B	101-110	£20.00
C	111-120	£30.00
D	121-130	£100.00
E	131-140	£120.00
F	141-150	£135.00
G	151-165	£170.00
H	166-175	£195.00
I	176-185	£215.00
J	186-200	£250.00
K*	201-225	£270.00
L	226-255	£460.00
M	Over 255	£475.00

Quite a difference, even when you go to the trouble of currency conversion.

Being Irish (or living here) is an expensive business.

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Happy 2013?

"An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves."

Bill Vaughan (American columnist and author).

You could probably substitute the word "pessimist" with "realist" in the above quote.

But if you're one of the hopeless optimists (or fantasists?) who think 2013 is going be the year of Irish economic recovery, you might consider Johnson's words concerning hope's triumph over experience. 

But you have to say "happy New Year", all the same. 

It's expected, isn't it?


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"U2 tax dodgers" (graffiti spotted in Dublin)

Some time ago I read - and I'm damned if I have been able to find the article since - that Van Morrison, unlike U2, had not availed of Ireland's artists' tax exemption - a wheeze introduced by one of the country's most corrupt (and therefore most respected) politicians ever, Charlie Haughey.

If it is true, it is interesting, for the dour Belfast man is generally known for being a tetchy, grumpy so-and-so;  while the members of U2 - Bono in particular - are known for their vocal, and very public, devotion to helping eradicate poverty in the Third World...

Now U2 will point out that they are not tax dodgers, as the no-doubt libelous statement (left) proclaims. 

Indeed it looks like Bono or The Edge might even have been out with the paintbrush overnight in an attempt to erase the graffiti, spotted on Dublin's Benburb Street.

But we must tread carefully here.  Here is a group of leather-trousered philantropists who chased an ex-employee through the courts for a hat.

U2's decision to move part of their operation to Holland, when a cap (not a hat) was put on the amount of money rich artistes could avoid tax on in Ireland, was morally wrong. 

At least it should have been morally wrong by the standards of people who preach to governments' on how more of their tax take should be spent on eradicating Third World poverty, while denying their own exchequers of their contribution.

Give me tetchy and grumpy any day - much easier to stomach than posturing, holier-than-thou, pop star hypocrites.


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I wish it could be Christmas every day

"I wish it could be Christmas every day", the song goes.  

And, you know, as sentiments go, it's not a bad one.   Christmas day is a time of great meaning and significance.   

It is a day when you don't have to go to work (at least I don't) and you can slob around the house stuffing your face with food and booze and not feel too guilty about it.   

You can compliment this inactivity with sitting on your lardy arse all day looking at videos and You Tube - TV programming is deliberately worse than usual on Christmas day for this reason - and nobody bats an eyelid.

Great.


Maybe you're a bit more "spiritual" than me?   If so, that's your affair, and I hope you enjoy the day in your own way. 

For me, one of the best summaries of the significance of Christmas can be found in a book I received from my sister-in-law, when she visited us from Brussels a couple of years back.  It featured in 2010's Christmas Day blog.

I'll  repost it today, as I think it's very good.  

Happy Christmas.


Given the day that's in it, I've just been flicking through "There's Probably No God - The Atheist's Guide to Christmas", edited by Ariane Sherine.  A very good read I got from the sister-in-law. 

 There's a short story in it by Jenny Colgan, who expands on her idea of what Christmas is all about for the discerning atheist:

"In the northern parts of the world, the winters are long, and cold and dark, and people would get sad and miserable. So they have always in the very depths of winter, form the beginning of recorded time, celebrated light, and life, and the promise of renewal and new birth, just when they most needed cheering up.  

And they would store food, and eat, and drink and be merry.  And, in time, [I love all the "ands" - very biblical - GM] different cultures and creeds passed over the world, and changed and added to the stories about why we were celebrating, and said that perhaps we were celebrating because of a green man, or Mithras, or Sol, or that the Baby Jesus was being born, or because Santa Claus is flying over the world.  And now, like all the millions of people who lived before us, we too use midwinter to see our family and exchange gifts, and feast and be merry and carry on traditions from our ancestors."

Sounds good enough for me. 

Whatever your interpretation - merry Christmas.



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Operation Freeflow, Blue Flu, speed vans and driving at night without lights

Remember Operation Freeflow?

When the coppers would do a bit of worthwhile work  by helping to keep traffic moving coming up to Christmas?
You know, the sort of stuff they do 52 weeks of the year in most other countries?

They stopped Operation Freeflow last year, in protest at the Garda recruitment ban. That and the infamous 1998 Blue Flu duvet day says much about where their priorities lie. We'd be better off with the Keystone Cops. At least they made an effort.

On a vaguely related note, one of the lads at work described how he was zapped by a Garda "safety van" on the Arklow Bypass as he did 10 klicks over the speed limit on one of the best stretches of dual carriageway you will find anywhere in the country.  

 "Saaaving liiiives" my pert little arse - boosting their "gotcha" statistics more like.  

Fish, barrels and all the rest.  But it will look great come the next Garda/RSA report when people can read how many dangerous, speed-addled, reckless drivers the fuzz interecepted.  

What, though, about gobshites who drive around at night withouth their head/tail lights switched on?  

Imagine my surprise when, driving along Parkgate Street at about 9.30pm on Wednesday, the 19th of December, I was overtaken by an unmarked, speeding Ford Mondeo made visable only by flashing blue illumination.

Are Garda drivers deliberately leaving headlights off in protest at cutbacks? Are they trying to save precious financial and planetary resources?  Is it some kind of Bondesque, super-sleuth thing, blending in with the darkness?

Or are some of them just very bad, very inattentive - and potentially very dangerous - drivers who don't even notice they are driving at night with no headlights on?   See pic above.

I'll have my guess.  Call me a cynic.


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Irish national anthem copyright scandal from the archives

Whilst flicking through one of the local freebie papers, I spotted the following reproduction from its "archives" feature:  namely an Irish Press article of 1932. 

It concerned a certain Peader Kearney -  who wrote The Soldier's Song, our little republic's national anthem -  and the issue of copyright when said ditty was given an airing in Dublin cinemas of the day..  

The Soldier's Song was later translated into Gaelic by our cultural nationalist leaders, who felt it wasn't Irish enough in its vernacular form, rendered as it was in a way that most of us could understand. 

And maybe they were right, for once? 

Most national anthems are jingoistic gibberish.  

Even the catchy Italian one  -  which sounds a bit like Rossini's Thieving Magpie crescendo from start to finish  -  is accompanied by bloodthirsty lyrics that might even have made Padraig Pearse blush. 

 It is probably for the best that people don't understand what is being said.

But copyright?   Have a read of the extract below.

And who said "republicans"  were fundamentally opposed to royalties?


See also:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjUx75M7yX4



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Residents to "share cost" of repairing roads

Remember a few years back when B-B-B-Bertie was giving lectures around the world on how to run (no, not ruin) economies, and Mary Harney was blabbing on about how Ireland was closer to Boston than Berlin?

When Paddy and Mary O'Gobshite, in general,  thought they had suddenly stolen a march over the best financial and entrepreneurial brains on the planet by discovering a way to make capital assets appreciate in value into perpetuity?  

All shite, of course.  

B-B-B-Bertie Ahern was just a dishonest, bribe-taking shyster ("I wun itt onna horse"),  Mary Harney was talking out of her far-from-insubstantial arse, and Paddy and Mary O'Gobshite's mad borrowing - replicated by thousands and thousands of Paddy and Mary O'Gobshites all over the country - made our crazy little country bankrupt.

Boston or Berlin.  That is: the US free-enterprise, low tax, scant-welfare model  –  or Berlin, the sluggish, state-dependent,  high-tax, abundant-welfare model.   The Irish political class, however, want it both ways:  high taxation while offering little in return.

Ireland - even during the bubble - was never a low tax economy, unless you were Bono, a US multinational, or one of the thousands of property speculators – amateur and "professional" – who destroyed the country with government assistance via tax shelters and incentives.  

Now we have Leo Varadkar, very much in the Harney mould, telling people who pay income tax, PRSI, property tax, the Universal Social Charge, credit card tax, insurance levies, RTE licence fees,  Deposit Interest Retention Tax,  cheque book tax,  road tolls, road tax, Vehicle Registration Tax and Value Added Tax will be given the opportunity to partake in a scheme which will

"allow people to help share the cost of repairing local roads – or do it themselves – from next year."

I'm not making this up.  See below, from last weekend's Irish Independent:

Residents may have to share cost of repairing roads – or grab a shovel

By Paul Melia
Saturday December 08 2012

THE public may be asked to get out their shovels and wallets if they want their local road repaired.

Transport Minister Leo Varadkar says a new scheme will allow people to help share the cost of repairing local roads – or do it themselves – from next year.

Between €5m and €10m will be made available from the Government, with further funding to be sourced from the public.

He added it would allow minor works such as potholes to be repaired which might otherwise not be addressed.

"There are proposals to introduce a new community involvement scheme for regional and local roads on a pilot basis in 2013 involving an exchequer contribution of between €5m and €10m," he said.

"This revised scheme should allow communities and the State to share the cost, or the workload, involved in repairing minor roads which wouldn't otherwise be improved."
Similar schemes are already in place in local authorities.

Laois County Council has a Community Involvement in Roadworks Scheme, which applies to all public roads in the county.

This scheme allows residents who want to have road improvements carried out to part-fund the cost of the works jointly with the council.

In Roscommon, at least 25pc of the cost must be met by local residents who want the work carried out.

The Department of Transport said details, which were still being worked out, were due to be announced in a few weeks.

A spokesman said the community element of the scheme was not yet clear, but money would be available to local authorities to employ local contractors.

"There used to be a local improvement scheme, and it's a similar idea where there's community involvement but it's being developed," a spokesman said.
"It's being looked at, and funding is being provided. It's very early days."

The scheme is expected to apply to local roads, including country lanes and boreens.
Meanwhile, a €22m new road improvement scheme from Carrick Bridge to Clonfad Road (Dalystown) in Co Westmeath was opened yesterday.

The N52 improvements cover 5.6kms of single carriageway, and will reduce travel times between both areas by about one-third.

Mr Varadkar said it would "significantly" improve road safety, adding that the work was completed three months ahead of schedule.

He added that four road schemes would be completed next year: the Belturbet bypass, Cork Southern Ring Road interchanges upgrade, Tralee bypass and a section of the N4 in Co Westmeath.



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Belfast City Hall controversy might flag problems for future

The current disturbances in Northern Ireland – provoked by Belfast City Council narrowly voting to fly the UK flag 15 days a year  - are a reminder of unpleasant days gone by, albeit on a smaller scale.    

It could also be a foretaste of what might lie further down the line should the united Irelanders ever get their way, and so bring about a sizeable unionist minority marooned in a country informed and inspired by narrow – and bogus – notions of Catholic, Gaelic Irishness.

It is not difficult to imagine a resurgent campaign of terrorism in such a scenario – the protagonists this time, however, being exclusively loyalist and their theatre of operations encompassing the whole island.

Despite the peace process the tribal divisions are as marked as ever in Northern Ireland.   The following piece from The Irish Times by former Alliance leader, John Cushnahan, contains some information that should – but no doubt won't – prove instructive to those entrusted with political responsibility north of the border, and those who beat the cultural nationalist drum here south of it.

Peace is a fragile plant that needs careful nurturing

JOHN CUSHNAHAN
Mon, Dec 10, 2012, Irish Times.

OPINION: We cannot afford to be complacent about the situation in Northern Ireland
In this part of Ireland – the South – many people, including some politicians, look at images beamed from Northern Ireland and conclude that the “ghosts of the past have been finally laid to rest”.

It is not difficult to understand their optimism when they see television footage of DUP leader and First Minister Peter Robinson sharing a joke with Sinn Féin Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness at a GAA match.

This “feel-good” factor is further strengthened when Peter Robinson says at his party’s annual conference that the party will now seek Catholic support and when Martin McGuinness strongly condemns the murder of policemen and prison officers by dissident republicans.

Unfortunately the events of the weekend and last week prove otherwise. As she witnessed the developments which occurred during her visit to Ireland, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton correctly warned that Northern Ireland’s peace process was still very much “a work in progress”.

The attacks on police and on the homes and constituency offices of Alliance Party elected representatives following the debate in Belfast City Council over the flying of the Union flag were followed by a death threat issued against its east Belfast MP, Naomi Long.

It is no coincidence that this was preceded by the circulation of 40,000 leaflets by DUP and Ulster Unionist activists in east Belfast in advance of the vote, which inflamed tensions. It is also no coincidence that east Belfast just happens to be the former constituency of Peter Robinson before he was toppled by Naomi Long.

Meanwhile, nationalist members of Newry and Mourne District Council voted to name a children’s playground in Newry after dead hunger striker and IRA terrorist Raymond McCreesh.
And to further remind the parties in Stormont of the threats that existed outside their cosy Stormont forum, dissident republicans were busy preparing a bomb attack in Derry. Thankfully, they were prevented from causing bloodshed by excellent police work.

All politicians throughout these islands should pause and reflect on the true state of the peace process, and ask themselves where it is in danger of heading. Peace in Northern Ireland is a very fragile plant. It needs careful nurturing and ever-vigilant protection.

Considerable threats remain and, as events of last week so patently illustrate, a chain of events still has the potential to derail the entire process.

The images of a smiling Robinson and McGuinness perceived to be working harmoniously together induces a dangerous complacency.

It is true that remarkable progress has been made in Northern Ireland – as illustrated by what is happening in the corridors of power. Unfortunately the situation is totally different on the ground.
Attitudinal surveys carried out since the establishment of the Good Friday agreement have consistently revealed that the gulf between Northern Ireland’s divided communities is as wide as it ever was. Some have found that the polarisation is worse now than it was even at the height of the Troubles, and is increasing.

Furthermore, we should not forget that five times as many so called “peace walls” – physically segregating Northern Ireland’s historically divided communities – have actually been built (rather than come down) since the signing of the agreement.

The carving up of power between the former political extremes will not, of itself, bring about the changes in attitude that are necessary to guarantee a permanent peace.

The sharing of political power at the top level must be paralleled by sustained political initiatives at community level designed to reduce fear, create trust, build respect for difference and bring about true reconciliation.

The war may be over but the battle for reconciliation has not even begun. Until it happens, incidents such as those that happened outside Belfast City Hall or that occur at sectarian flashpoints have the potential to spill over into something more serious, as has occurred in the past.

Those who share power at the top level have a duty of leadership. They cannot indulge in cynical politics which heightens sectarian tensions, either by raising false fears about flags or insensitively naming children’s playgrounds after dead terrorists.

Their responsibilities, because they hold the top offices in government, extend beyond their own immediate political base.

They have a duty to work actively to unite the community and stop pandering to their tribal power base. Otherwise the peace that has been won at such a terrible cost of life and limb will be in danger of dissolving once again into violent sectarian conflict.

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