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

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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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RTE presenters' mistakes. No news really.

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

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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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Wicklow County council tells estate residents to pay developer's fees

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The Sunday Business Post recently reported how Wicklow County Council was chasing occupants of an Avoca housing estate for development levies which were unpaid by developer KJK Kilbride, now dissolved.

Even by Irish standards, this is a new low.

Bankers, developers and speculators - both private individuals and companies - have been bailed out, with many failed developers still living the high life even as their loans have been bought at multiples of what they borrowed for is really worth by Nama (read taxpayer).

Likewise, there are many buy-to-let investors sitting on properties and not paying back mortgages, even when they could, as their "investments" have dropped in value.  
Now we have a county council, pleading poverty and a lack of funds, pursuing aspiring owner-occupier mortgage payers for money a developer should have paid before anyone moved into the estate.
For those who did not get involved in pumping up the property bubble back in the day, it seems it is only a lose-lose situation in our crazy little country.  A country where the sensible and prudent are punished while  the reckless and profligate are rewarded.
No wonder they never seem to learn from their mistakes.

The following excellent summary was taken from a poster going by the name of Damus, on Politics.ie


damus
Wicklow County Council Now Targeting Homeowners for Unpaid Development Levies! 

This really takes the biscuit....there's an article in todays SBP by Michelle Devane about how Wicklow County Council is pursuing homeowners for the payment of unpaid development levies that is owed to them by the developer. This move by WCC may have wider implications for other homeowners in similar estates around the country who may find themselves in a similar predicament if WCC are allowed to get away with this.

And this is the reason why I am highlighting this - someone has to say enough is enough - and hopefully the information that I am putting out in the public domain will help these homeowners!

Twenty-four homeowners have received letters of demand from WCC telling them that they will have to pay the unpaid development levies of between €2,300 to €4,803 for Brook Meadow estate in Avoca. The letter demanding payment within 10 weeks also "threatens" them with a fine of up to €13k or up to two years imprisonment for the criminal offence of non-payment .

The firm behind the Brook Meadow Scheme, KJK Kilbride was dissolved last year after the directors of the company sought a voluntary strike-off from the CRO....now I'll come back to this particular point later. While there are 54 houses in the estate, only 24 homeowners have received letters demanding a total payment of €65,260.

WCC told the SBP that the development levies were a charge on the property and not on the developer. Seemingly, WCC seems to think that homeowners have a contractual obligation to pay levies that are unpaid by a developer, which is odd considering the levies are attached to the planning permission which is sought by the developer not the homeowners. The warning letter seeking payment referred to how under "Condition 3" attached to planning permission that WCC was pursuing the developer for the unpaid levies, but that it was also obliged to pursue the property owner for the unpaid levies. Yet condition 3 actually states that "the developer shall pay" the sum of €1,200 per house - nothing about the homeowner actually being liable for the levy!

So the first question is why are the letters demanding payment only being sent to 24 homeowners? Are the remaining properties in the development unsold, with the council expecting the 24 homeowners to pick up the tab for the 30 unsold properties? Perhaps the more interesting point is that WCC maintains that "it is normal practice when purchasing a house to hire professionals to check if there are any obligations pertaining to the property concerned. During such a process, these debts would be flagged at the time of the purchase". Well I am sure that WCC is also aware that it is also normal procedure as part of a voluntary strike off for the directors to seek a Revenue statement clarifying there are no obligations relating to the company seeking a strike-off. It is also normal procedure for a notice to be put in the newspapers notifying all interested parties that the company is seeking a strike-off.

DID REVENUE GIVE THE STATEMENT STATING THAT KJK KILBRIDE WAS CLEAR OF ALL OBLIGATIONS, AND WHY DIDN'T THE MUPPETS IN WICKLOW COUNTY COUNCIL DO THEIR JOB AND OBJECT TO THE APPLICATION FOR A VOLUNTARY STRIKE-OFF WHEN THE NOTICE APPEARED IN THE NEWSPAPERS?



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I'm an Irish aboriginal. Ireland – Land, People, History by Richard Killeen. An excellent read.

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You know the way cultural nationalists/Gaelic revivalists try to use the argument of primary possession to justify their plans to turn the clock back?

"We" spoke Gaelic before "we" spoke English, "we Gaels" where here before the Vikings/Normans/Scottish/English were here...  you know the guff.

Well I am an Irish aboriginal if I'm not a descendent of any of the above.  It's the only way I can explain why, even as a child, I never had any truck with our state's definition of official Celtic Irishness. 


I've just finished reading a fascinating work called "Ireland, Land, People, History" by Robert Killeen, which I bought recently in Chapters of Parnell Street – the country's best bookstore. 

Killeen describes how Ireland was inhabited for about 6,000 years before the arrival of the Celts, who started arriving about 500 BC,  displacing the country's original inhabitants – the people who gave us Newgrange, among other ancient marvels of our pre-Celtic heritage.   Down with the Celtic invader! Down with Celtic Imperialism!

There you have it then, the first instance of primary possession -  the Irish aboriginals.  I trace my contrariness back to them. 

There are other interesting snippets in the book too, which is nearly conversational in tone at times.  Did you know that the Orange Order was opposed to the Act of Union, for instance?  That Protestant women and children were rounded into a barn which was then set alight by so-called "republican" United Irishmen at Scullabogue, Wexford, during the 1798 rebellion?    No doubt you've only heard of Boolavogue, and Father Murphy and all the rest.   And here's the author's take on de Valera:

"De Valera was a romantic reactionary.  He believed in the moral superiority of the small family farm, of simple rural life over urban life, of an Ireland living as far as possible in seclusion from the world and steering her own course.  

The net effect of all this was the the Republic of Ireland (as it was formally declared in 1949) was the only country  in the capitalist world whose economy actually contracted in the post-war years.  

The population of the state decliend in the first forty years of independence.  By the late 1950s, the game was up for social and economic self-sufficiency.  This old ideal, which went back to Arthur Griffith's Sinn Fein, had brought the country to its knees".

Killeen cites how over 400,000 Irish people voted with their feet, and got the hell out of the place between 1951 and 1961 alone – from a population of less than 3,000,000.  So much for independence.

"Ireland - Land, People, History" is an excellent read.  I can't remember how much it cost, but it was certainly under a tenner.

Well worth getting yourself down to Chapters for. 


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Jerry Kiernan critical of grants to GAA

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In the middle of last week, the Irish Sports Council announced a €900k support scheme for GAA  Inter-County Players for the next two years. In reaction to this news, some international Irish athletes had commented that limited funds should have been spent on those representing Ireland internationally rather than on GAA players playing for counties.

Newstalk radio interviewed Irish athletics commentator Jerry Kiernan for his reaction. In it, he doesn't exactly mince his words.....

“I wouldn’t (give GAA players a grant), I think the GAA is the richest sporting association in the country, and they should be well able to look after themselves. I don’t particularly like the GAA, I don’t like football in particular, there’s not much to it….but I watched bits of the games over the weekend and what struck me was how unfit the players were.”

“My one abiding memory of the championship last year was when Donegal beat Kerry (in the All-Ireland quarter-final). In the Irish Times the following day you had (a photograph of) four Kerry players trooping off the field…and I looked at it and I said to myself ‘well these are four people who didn’t invest too much time in training.’ I don’t have a high opinion of their fitness; I don’t have a high opinion of their commitment to fitness.”

“…there’s absolutely no comparison (between athletes’ training regime and that of inter-county players). I believe that the GAA people live in a cloistered world and they don’t think beyond what they do themselves, and they tell themselves that they are training hard.”

“I often notice when they (GAA players) are commenting on things, they’re always talking about the sacrifices they make. You’ll never hear that among athletes, boxers, swimmers or people who do international running. But always with the GAA it’s always, always a sacrifice. Now maybe I’m extra sensitive to this…but they all talk about the sacrifice they’re making.”

“When you talk to them (the coaches) after, they’ll tell you how poor they (the players) are fitness-wise.”

“I would only give money to people who are competing internationally.”

The full interview can be heard below. It starts at 7:00 and runs until 22:40......



The grant scheme works out at €400 per GAA player per annum. Some will argue that the GAA should be funded as it's a sport unique to Ireland but should the inter county players be getting grants? Should sports grants be reserved for international athletes?

Athletics Ireland Juvenile Star Award...Feb 2012

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The Athletics Ireland Tipperary Crystal Juvenile Star Awards 2012 were held recently at the Tullamore Court Hotel...

L to R...John Sheehan who received the Drifter Cup on behalf of Leevale AC for Best Track & Field Club..........Robert and Marian Heffernan, special guests and Olympians...........Mary Maher, who received McAuliffe Trophy on behalf of Cork for Best Track & Field County..........and David Cussen, who received the Tipperary Crystal Star Award for Cork and the Eamonn Gilbert Award for Best Juvenile High Jumper in 2012. Pic......Dan McGrath/Editorial Images.

David Cussen was also the winner of the Cork City Sports Athletic Person of the Month for January...


From Cork City Sports...David Cussen (Old Abbey AC) is the January winner of the Cork City Sports Athletic Person of the Month. In January David won the Munster Junior high jump championship at Nenagh with a superb jump of 2.02m to once again clear the magical 2 metre barrier. Last July just before his 17th birthday David took part in the Cork City Sports at CIT clearing a height of 1.95m. A few days before the City Sports David won both the long jump and high jump at the Under 17 Irish Championships in Tullamore. David subsequently won the high jump at the Home Countries Schools International in England and was second in the Celtic International in Scotland to round off a successful 2012. To show that David’s high jumping is really on the way up he won the the Irish Junior indoor title last weekend in Athlone with a new personal best of 2.06m. The bar is set high for the for the career of this talented young athlete.