Over the last three years so-called punishment shootings in the Derry area in particular have become increasingly common.
30 Kasım 2012 Cuma
Breaking news, boy shot, real ira, dissident republicans, RAAD criminals, derry city criminals
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Breaking news, boy shot, real ira, dissident republicans, RAAD criminals, derry city criminals
Over the last three years so-called punishment shootings in the Derry area in particular have become increasingly common.
Over the last three years so-called punishment shootings in the Derry area in particular have become increasingly common.
Clew Bay Pipe Band - their part in Ireland's downfall.
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Ouch!
1-6... it could nearly be a GAH score, except in this case you had to get the ball past a goalkeeper into a 17.86 metres space.
Awful.
I wonder what part the Clew Bay Pipe Band played in this debacle?
Pipes, whether the windblown or armpit perpetuated type, are intrinsically annoying instruments. They were the only things that stopped the Romans from invading Jockland. Fact.
Just before the Ireland v Germany match started, you could see the Germans bristling as their national anthem was debased by the squawlings of the pipers.
Pipes, you see, don't seem to consider octaves. Either they are within one register, or at the point just north of where human ears mercifully give up, and dogs take over.
I have never heard such a debased version of the German national anthem, nor the Irish one - but we are used to that kind of parody.
The Germans aren't. They were out for revenge, and justifiably got it.
Whatever about all that, if we are to progress as a (world) footballing nation, we need to get rid of Trapattoni. He was well past his sell-by date, even when appointed.
It will cost John Delaney, head of the FAI.
He might have to ask some questions of the the Clew Bay Pipe Band, or even more painfully, take a cut in his overblown salary to pay Trap off.
Ouch!
Back to Gombeen Nation main page
Ouch!1-6... it could nearly be a GAH score, except in this case you had to get the ball past a goalkeeper into a 17.86 metres space.
Awful.
I wonder what part the Clew Bay Pipe Band played in this debacle?
Pipes, whether the windblown or armpit perpetuated type, are intrinsically annoying instruments. They were the only things that stopped the Romans from invading Jockland. Fact.
Just before the Ireland v Germany match started, you could see the Germans bristling as their national anthem was debased by the squawlings of the pipers.
Pipes, you see, don't seem to consider octaves. Either they are within one register, or at the point just north of where human ears mercifully give up, and dogs take over.
I have never heard such a debased version of the German national anthem, nor the Irish one - but we are used to that kind of parody.
The Germans aren't. They were out for revenge, and justifiably got it.
Whatever about all that, if we are to progress as a (world) footballing nation, we need to get rid of Trapattoni. He was well past his sell-by date, even when appointed.
It will cost John Delaney, head of the FAI.
He might have to ask some questions of the the Clew Bay Pipe Band, or even more painfully, take a cut in his overblown salary to pay Trap off.
Ouch!
Back to Gombeen Nation main page
Mike Aynsley defends bankers' high pay
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But might things have worked out better for our banana republic had a troupe of monkeys been in charge of our financial institutions and government in the not-too-distant past?
Might they have done somewhat better than lower primates such as Seanie Fitzpatrick, Michael Fingleton, Charlie Mc Creevy, Bertie Ahern and all the rest?
Bailed-out-bank boss MIke Aynsley would appear to consider anything below 400 or 500 thousand euro to be peanuts. So monkeys still won't get a look-in, it seems.
Not enough money to attract "talent" to our bankrupt banks, you see. You know that old argument that served us so badly in the past, as even now our own prime minister is paid more than Barack Obama, and our senior civil servants enjoy extravagant pay and pensions.
Have a read of the article below. It's enough to make you go ape.
Back to Gombeen Nation main page
"If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys".
Old saying.But might things have worked out better for our banana republic had a troupe of monkeys been in charge of our financial institutions and government in the not-too-distant past?
Might they have done somewhat better than lower primates such as Seanie Fitzpatrick, Michael Fingleton, Charlie Mc Creevy, Bertie Ahern and all the rest?
Bailed-out-bank boss MIke Aynsley would appear to consider anything below 400 or 500 thousand euro to be peanuts. So monkeys still won't get a look-in, it seems.
Not enough money to attract "talent" to our bankrupt banks, you see. You know that old argument that served us so badly in the past, as even now our own prime minister is paid more than Barack Obama, and our senior civil servants enjoy extravagant pay and pensions.
Have a read of the article below. It's enough to make you go ape.
Thanks to a reader for sending in the article.
Anglo boss Mike Aynsley defends executives' €500,000 pay
But our bankers heavily criticised in influential global financial newspaperIrish Independent, Friday November 09 2012THE boss of the former Anglo Irish Bank – now IBRC – has robustly defended the €500,000 salaries paid to his top officials.In an exclusive interview with the Irish Independent, Mike Aynsley said the public should not be "bloody-minded", nor should they believe that "all bankers don't deserve to be paid these high levels".Mr Aynsley said IBRC was an "easy target" for people who wanted to bash at bankers because it was seen as the bank that took the country down.Speaking at his headquarters in Dublin, the Australian, who was brought in to sort out the mess of Anglo Irish Bank, said there was a high turnover of staff at the bank and that he needed high salaries in order to keep good staff."There are certain types of individuals that are critical for us in the tapestry of this workforce that we cannot get for less than this sort of money." Mr Aynsley continued: "You can't lose qualified people who manage complex accounts and just transfer an IT specialist or a human-resource specialist to that position."The IBRC chief 's comments put him on a collision course with the Government, which is under growing pressure to address the thorny issues of bankers' pay and pensions.The issue of high pensions for Irish bankers is also tackled in a hard-hitting editorial in today's 'Financial Times'.The editorial – which is headed "Dublin's shame" – says that Ireland's bankers have not covered themselves in glory in recent years.Finance Minister Michael Noonan and Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore have insisted that they will push for lower salaries at IBRC, which is 100pc-owned by the taxpayer.When asked if he would bow to political pressure to cut salaries, Mr Aynsley said he had a work force to protect and that he would continue to run the bank on a commercial basis."We have a team that has done a tremendous job chasing the problem areas in this institution. The biggest has been Sean Quinn," he said."I think we are an easy target for people who want to bash away at banks. Because we are the bank that is seen to have taken the country down. On the other hand AIB and BoI have been designated pillar banks and I think rightly, they need to be positioned for recovery."He warned that the loss of good staff would cost the taxpayer in the long run."There is a direct link between the quality of people we have and the recovery of assets."As a country, if we don't recognise this, we are going to find that we won't have enough good people and we will just be exploited by people who want to come in here and buy at the bottom of the market."IBRC's top six executives earn more than €500,000 each.Mr Aynsley is paid €663,000 -- a €500,000 salary, allowances of €38,000 and a pension sum of €125,000.The head of IBRC's UK operations, Jim Brydie, is on a salary of £400,000, or €501,000.Chief financial officer Jim Bradley; head of asset recoveries Tom Hunersen; head of Irish recoveries Mark Layther; and head of specialised asset management Richard Woodhouse, are each paid a salary of about €400,000. They also receive the equivalent of 25pc of their salaries in annual pension payments -- on top of €30,000 each a year in allowances.Mr Aynsley's outspoken defence came as Michael Noonan, who controls IBRC, said he would continue to push the issue. The Finance Minister has admitted that he asked IBRC's chairman Alan Dukes for wage cuts at the bank, but said his request was turned down."I wrote to Alan Dukes and I asked him to talk to the board of IBRC to impose a pay cut right across the pay levels because it was done for the public service and I can't see why it wouldn't be done elsewhere," Mr Noonan said. The request was made on April 5.A review of pay at state-controlled banks is expected to be completed by the end of the year by consultants Mercer.Pay rates will be assessed under the review but the Irish Independent understands that it will not offer the Government any new tools to force pay cuts or change terms and conditions of bankers.Senior political figures last night vowed to tackle the issue.Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore said there was the "political will" to tackle the pay packets. These exceed a government-imposed cap on the pay of anyone taking up a new job in a bank.Pensions"It is not acceptable to the Government or people of this country that these levels of either pensions or salaries should continue to be paid," he said.The Tanaiste said Mr Noonan was looking at the various options "that may be open to Government" and had declared that there was the "political will" to deal with the issue.However, Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin has confirmed that bankers cannot be singled out for higher taxes."You can't simply say, 'you and you will pay extra'," he said, adding: "This is careful and delicate work and we need to bring fairness to it."- Maeve Dineen, Colm Kelpie and Donal O'DonovanBack to Gombeen Nation main page
A Yankee in de Valera's Ireland, by David Gray. Worth a read?
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Had intended to highlight this extract from The Journal before now. A reader emailed it a week or two ago, but between one thing and another, I'm only getting to it now.
It's the memoir of a US ambassador, David Gray, who had a stint in de Valera's Ireland during The Emergency. Or the Second World War as the world outside Ireland knew it.
Well worth a read, if the extract below is any guide.
Eamon De Valera on the steps of No. 10 Downing Street, London.Image: (PA Archive/Press Association Images)David Gray became US Minister (Ambassador) to Ireland in 1940. His memoir, written at the age of 89, is published for the first time by the Royal Irish Academy and is a patchwork of top-secret documents, letters to Roosevelt and extracts from his diary.
Gray was born in New York in 1870 and was a journalist and playwright before joining the military and entering politics. He was not well disposed to Irish republicanism. He came to hold Irish society in contempt and despised de Valera, believing that certain Irish officials were collaborating with the Nazis to achieve a British defeat and a 32-county republic. This extract is from 1940. He writes:
The Taoiseach’s office (pronounced popularly ‘tee shack’) and surroundings were all as they had been so often described by interviewers. He himself was the tall, gaunt figure with the suggestion of Lincoln, and ironically in the corner stood the O’Connor bronze statue of Lincoln which John McCormack, the singer, had given to the Irish government. The office was bare, the flat-topped desk was bare and Mr de Valera was dressed in his invariable black clerical-looking suit with black string tie.He was always neat and his linen was always fresh. His grave eye trouble excited sympathy. It was said that he suffered from glaucoma. From time to time he removed his spectacles and put his hands over his eyes, and from time to time he showed the appealing smile that I had heard about and the suggestion of his peculiar charm.
Why Mr de Valera replied to my English speech in Irish was a question not difficult to answer. Both languages are sanctioned by the new Constitution, but Mr de Valera and his Separatist group were anxious to impress on the outside world that English is only an unfortunate and temporary makeshift and that Irish is the true and natural tongue of the nation, though today only one person in six speaks it. Very few Irish politicians speak Irish except as American High School students learn to ‘speak’ French, but they usually begin their speeches with a paragraph in Irish, which they have memorised, and then continue in English. It is the badge of being ‘Irish’ Irish, like the Gaelicisation of proper names.
1916 leaders turned out in tails and white tiesThe official dinner in the state apartments of the Castle that evening was as elaborate and well done as the ceremony in the morning. Food, wines, service, cigars, all were unexceptionable. The de Valera revolution had been to a large extent a ‘social movement’. It appealed to the ‘common man’ and repudiated the symbols of privilege. Mr de Valera banned the ‘topper’ and wore the black ‘cowboy’ hat. He and his Cabinet constituted the surviving nucleus of ‘The Sixteen’ and the left-wing IRA faction that had staged the Civil War. Almost every man present had been condemned to death or jail either by the British government or by the Free State government, yet only eight years after coming to power this new aristocracy had all turned out in tails and white ties in the best London tradition, I had never sat down to dine with so many people who had been ‘martyred’ and thrown into prison, nor with so many politicians, who after having been down and out had ‘come back in’ and stayed ‘in’. It had its embarrassing side. It was like dining in a house in which there has been a highly publicised domestic difficulty.Just as I would have wanted to ask my host whether he really beat his wife as alleged, I wanted to ask the questions to which every historian of the period was trying to find the answers. I wanted to ask why Mr de Valera had not abided by the majority action of his own parliament; why he appealed to the gun and started a Civil War. How he escaped being shot for rebellion, first by the British and then by the first Irish government ever to be recognised by the comity of nations. I wanted to ask him whether Michael Collins had been the chance victim of an ambush or the designed victim of an assassination; and if he knew who murdered Kevin O’Higgins. Of course I asked none of these questions.
The German Ambassador Herr Hempel – the German minister to Ireland – had a charming house and garden at Blackrock, a suburb on Dublin harbour. His chancery was an ugly, modern red brick house in Northumberland Road. It was here that I called upon him. Herr Dr Hempel received us with great courtesy. He was somewhat over-civil and did not ring true. He spoke fluent English with little accent. I was conscious of being ill at ease. Hempel might be doing his duty as he saw it but he was serving a Führer whose hands were red with the blood of Jews, Poles and Norwegians, on whose conscience was the annihilation of Austria and Czechoslovakia. I was naive enough at seventy to be shocked by these things.We exchanged pleasant commonplaces. I was not to re-enter the German legation at 58 Northumberland Road till I took possession of it in the name of the United Nations at the end of the war and found the wires of a radio sending set and other interesting items. The Irish government had seen to it that we did not gain admittance until the files had been destroyed.
Collaboration with the GermansMr de Valera’s conviction that Hitler would win the war was stupid in view of the opportunities he enjoyed for obtaining authoritative information as to what was going on in the United States. It was doubtless due to the fact that he knew few if any Americans, only ‘Irish in America’. As a matter of fact he himself never told me that Hitler would win, though he scoffed at the suggestion that the United States would become involved. But his deputy Joe Walshe told me. Further, Mr Walshe was confident that at the worst, Hitler would not lose. Cardinal MacRory told me that Hitler would win. Count Plunkett, the patriarch of the IRA, expressed the same opinion. We know from the German papers that one of Mr de Valera’s generals was collaborating with Hempel. Belief in German victory was in the Dublin air. At the end of the war a former Lord Mayor of Dublin, ‘Paddy’ Doyle, a very ‘decent’ man, said to me ‘You know, at the beginning we were all sure Germany was going to win’.
A Yankee in De Valera’s Ireland: The Memoir of David Gray is edited by Paul Bew. Paul Bew is a member of the RIA and Professor of Irish Politics at Queen’s University Belfast. A historical advisor to the Bloody Sunday inquiry, he was appointed an independent cross-bench peer in 2007 and is a member of the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly.
Had intended to highlight this extract from The Journal before now. A reader emailed it a week or two ago, but between one thing and another, I'm only getting to it now.
It's the memoir of a US ambassador, David Gray, who had a stint in de Valera's Ireland during The Emergency. Or the Second World War as the world outside Ireland knew it.
Well worth a read, if the extract below is any guide.
‘Mr de Valera’s conviction that Hitler would win the war was stupid’
David Gray, the US Amabassador to Ireland in 1940, reveals just what he thought of Dev, the 1916 leaders and why he thought Ireland was in collusion with the Nazis.
Eamon De Valera on the steps of No. 10 Downing Street, London.Image: (PA Archive/Press Association Images)David Gray became US Minister (Ambassador) to Ireland in 1940. His memoir, written at the age of 89, is published for the first time by the Royal Irish Academy and is a patchwork of top-secret documents, letters to Roosevelt and extracts from his diary.
Gray was born in New York in 1870 and was a journalist and playwright before joining the military and entering politics. He was not well disposed to Irish republicanism. He came to hold Irish society in contempt and despised de Valera, believing that certain Irish officials were collaborating with the Nazis to achieve a British defeat and a 32-county republic. This extract is from 1940. He writes:
The Taoiseach’s office (pronounced popularly ‘tee shack’) and surroundings were all as they had been so often described by interviewers. He himself was the tall, gaunt figure with the suggestion of Lincoln, and ironically in the corner stood the O’Connor bronze statue of Lincoln which John McCormack, the singer, had given to the Irish government. The office was bare, the flat-topped desk was bare and Mr de Valera was dressed in his invariable black clerical-looking suit with black string tie.He was always neat and his linen was always fresh. His grave eye trouble excited sympathy. It was said that he suffered from glaucoma. From time to time he removed his spectacles and put his hands over his eyes, and from time to time he showed the appealing smile that I had heard about and the suggestion of his peculiar charm.
Why Mr de Valera replied to my English speech in Irish was a question not difficult to answer. Both languages are sanctioned by the new Constitution, but Mr de Valera and his Separatist group were anxious to impress on the outside world that English is only an unfortunate and temporary makeshift and that Irish is the true and natural tongue of the nation, though today only one person in six speaks it. Very few Irish politicians speak Irish except as American High School students learn to ‘speak’ French, but they usually begin their speeches with a paragraph in Irish, which they have memorised, and then continue in English. It is the badge of being ‘Irish’ Irish, like the Gaelicisation of proper names.
1916 leaders turned out in tails and white tiesThe official dinner in the state apartments of the Castle that evening was as elaborate and well done as the ceremony in the morning. Food, wines, service, cigars, all were unexceptionable. The de Valera revolution had been to a large extent a ‘social movement’. It appealed to the ‘common man’ and repudiated the symbols of privilege. Mr de Valera banned the ‘topper’ and wore the black ‘cowboy’ hat. He and his Cabinet constituted the surviving nucleus of ‘The Sixteen’ and the left-wing IRA faction that had staged the Civil War. Almost every man present had been condemned to death or jail either by the British government or by the Free State government, yet only eight years after coming to power this new aristocracy had all turned out in tails and white ties in the best London tradition, I had never sat down to dine with so many people who had been ‘martyred’ and thrown into prison, nor with so many politicians, who after having been down and out had ‘come back in’ and stayed ‘in’. It had its embarrassing side. It was like dining in a house in which there has been a highly publicised domestic difficulty.Just as I would have wanted to ask my host whether he really beat his wife as alleged, I wanted to ask the questions to which every historian of the period was trying to find the answers. I wanted to ask why Mr de Valera had not abided by the majority action of his own parliament; why he appealed to the gun and started a Civil War. How he escaped being shot for rebellion, first by the British and then by the first Irish government ever to be recognised by the comity of nations. I wanted to ask him whether Michael Collins had been the chance victim of an ambush or the designed victim of an assassination; and if he knew who murdered Kevin O’Higgins. Of course I asked none of these questions.
The German Ambassador Herr Hempel – the German minister to Ireland – had a charming house and garden at Blackrock, a suburb on Dublin harbour. His chancery was an ugly, modern red brick house in Northumberland Road. It was here that I called upon him. Herr Dr Hempel received us with great courtesy. He was somewhat over-civil and did not ring true. He spoke fluent English with little accent. I was conscious of being ill at ease. Hempel might be doing his duty as he saw it but he was serving a Führer whose hands were red with the blood of Jews, Poles and Norwegians, on whose conscience was the annihilation of Austria and Czechoslovakia. I was naive enough at seventy to be shocked by these things.We exchanged pleasant commonplaces. I was not to re-enter the German legation at 58 Northumberland Road till I took possession of it in the name of the United Nations at the end of the war and found the wires of a radio sending set and other interesting items. The Irish government had seen to it that we did not gain admittance until the files had been destroyed.
Collaboration with the GermansMr de Valera’s conviction that Hitler would win the war was stupid in view of the opportunities he enjoyed for obtaining authoritative information as to what was going on in the United States. It was doubtless due to the fact that he knew few if any Americans, only ‘Irish in America’. As a matter of fact he himself never told me that Hitler would win, though he scoffed at the suggestion that the United States would become involved. But his deputy Joe Walshe told me. Further, Mr Walshe was confident that at the worst, Hitler would not lose. Cardinal MacRory told me that Hitler would win. Count Plunkett, the patriarch of the IRA, expressed the same opinion. We know from the German papers that one of Mr de Valera’s generals was collaborating with Hempel. Belief in German victory was in the Dublin air. At the end of the war a former Lord Mayor of Dublin, ‘Paddy’ Doyle, a very ‘decent’ man, said to me ‘You know, at the beginning we were all sure Germany was going to win’.
A Yankee in De Valera’s Ireland: The Memoir of David Gray is edited by Paul Bew. Paul Bew is a member of the RIA and Professor of Irish Politics at Queen’s University Belfast. A historical advisor to the Bloody Sunday inquiry, he was appointed an independent cross-bench peer in 2007 and is a member of the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly.
Back to Gombeen Nation main page
Navan Road Parkway railway station. The mystery of the high-vis jacket and the hand-written sign.
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I'm not sure if Irish Rail, as a semi-state body, is subject to the Croke Park Agreement or not.
The CPA was negotiated by Fianna Fail and the Greens just before they were turfed out of the last government.
It is now similarly championed by Fine Gael and Labour, as a means of "extracting extra efficiencies from the public sector" without its members feeling the pain felt by those in the private sector.
Benchmarking wasn't designed to work work both ways, it seems.
Coincidentally, this is the very public sector that provides the wages and pensions of politicians, judges and civil servants, including highly-paid senior ones who advise the government of today and those of the past, no matter what the logos.
So whether, or not, the semi-states are part of this happy band, it is quite likely - as bodies subsidised by the public purse – they are not subject to the wrecked economy's chill winds to the same extent as those outside the club.
Nice, so, to see this high-visability jacket putting in 24 four-hour shifts at Navan Road Parkway – a supposedly manned railway station. A human, however, has not been spotted behind the counter by this daily commuter for weeks or months.
Stakhanov's high-vi, had he had one, might have been proud.
The sign on the window says "Tickets available only at the machine". The authorities are expected to launch an investigation because it was not rendered bi-lingually.
Back to Gombeen Nation main page
I'm not sure if Irish Rail, as a semi-state body, is subject to the Croke Park Agreement or not. The CPA was negotiated by Fianna Fail and the Greens just before they were turfed out of the last government.
It is now similarly championed by Fine Gael and Labour, as a means of "extracting extra efficiencies from the public sector" without its members feeling the pain felt by those in the private sector.
Benchmarking wasn't designed to work work both ways, it seems.
Coincidentally, this is the very public sector that provides the wages and pensions of politicians, judges and civil servants, including highly-paid senior ones who advise the government of today and those of the past, no matter what the logos.
So whether, or not, the semi-states are part of this happy band, it is quite likely - as bodies subsidised by the public purse – they are not subject to the wrecked economy's chill winds to the same extent as those outside the club.
Nice, so, to see this high-visability jacket putting in 24 four-hour shifts at Navan Road Parkway – a supposedly manned railway station. A human, however, has not been spotted behind the counter by this daily commuter for weeks or months.
Stakhanov's high-vi, had he had one, might have been proud.
The sign on the window says "Tickets available only at the machine". The authorities are expected to launch an investigation because it was not rendered bi-lingually.
Back to Gombeen Nation main page
29 Kasım 2012 Perşembe
Cork womens team finish 2nd in Inter-Counties X-Country...Sun 25th Nov 2012
To contact us Click HERE
The Athletics Ireland Inter-County Cross Country Championships were in Ratoath county Meath on Sunday, the 25th of Nov 2012. Conditions for the races were dry but the ground was still very soft after plenty of rain in the preceding few days.
In the senior womens race, the winner was Ava Hutchinson who was part of the Irish team in the Olympic Marathon last August. Lizzie Lee of Leevale AC finished just four seconds behind in second place having been level for most of the race. The Cork team finished in second place.
Senior Women
Pl. Name Club/City/Country Cat. Subcat. # Result
1 Ava Hutchinson A 281 31:06
2 Lizzie Lee Leevale A 258 31:10
3 Sarah McCormack A 283 31:27
Senior Women...County Teams...1 Dublin 25, 2 Cork 68, 3 Kerry 103
The winner of the mens race was Joe Sweeney from Dublin.
Senior Men
Pl. Name Club/City/Country Cat. Subcat. # Result
1 Joseph Sweeney A 98 33:27
2 Michael Mulhare Portlaois 143 34:06
3 Sean Hehir A 38 34:16
Senior Men...County Team...1 Antrim 93, 2 Dublin 93, 3 Clare 130
The full individual results can be found HERE while the inter-county results can be found HERE
Photos...(Updated 27th Nov)
1) Gearoid O'Laoi has a gallery HERE
The Athletics Ireland Inter-County Cross Country Championships were in Ratoath county Meath on Sunday, the 25th of Nov 2012. Conditions for the races were dry but the ground was still very soft after plenty of rain in the preceding few days.In the senior womens race, the winner was Ava Hutchinson who was part of the Irish team in the Olympic Marathon last August. Lizzie Lee of Leevale AC finished just four seconds behind in second place having been level for most of the race. The Cork team finished in second place.
Senior Women
Pl. Name Club/City/Country Cat. Subcat. # Result
1 Ava Hutchinson A 281 31:06
2 Lizzie Lee Leevale A 258 31:10
3 Sarah McCormack A 283 31:27
Senior Women...County Teams...1 Dublin 25, 2 Cork 68, 3 Kerry 103
The winner of the mens race was Joe Sweeney from Dublin.
Senior Men
Pl. Name Club/City/Country Cat. Subcat. # Result
1 Joseph Sweeney A 98 33:27
2 Michael Mulhare Portlaois 143 34:06
3 Sean Hehir A 38 34:16
Senior Men...County Team...1 Antrim 93, 2 Dublin 93, 3 Clare 130
The full individual results can be found HERE while the inter-county results can be found HERE
Photos...(Updated 27th Nov)
1) Gearoid O'Laoi has a gallery HERE
Cork runner Lizzie Lee makes Irish Cross Country team...
To contact us Click HERE
As the second place finisher in yesterday's Athletics Ireland Inter-County Cross Country Championships, Lizzie Lee of Leevale AC gets a spot on the Irish team going to the European Cross Country Championships in Hungary next month.
Full Irish Teams...
Senior Women...Fionnuala Britton(Kilcoole AC), Lizzie Lee (Leevale AC), Ava Hutchinson (Dundrum South Dublin), Linda Byrne( Dundrum South Dublin), Sara Treacy (Moynalvy AC), Sarah McCormack (Clonliffe Harriers AC)
Senior Men...Joe Sweeney (Dundrum South Dublin), Michael Mulhare (Portlaoise AC), Sean Hehir (Rathfarnham AC), Brian Maher (KCH AC), David Rooney (Raheny Shamrock AC), Brendan O’Neill (Dundrum South Dublin AC)
Photo courtesy of Kieran Carlin
As the second place finisher in yesterday's Athletics Ireland Inter-County Cross Country Championships, Lizzie Lee of Leevale AC gets a spot on the Irish team going to the European Cross Country Championships in Hungary next month.Full Irish Teams...
Senior Women...Fionnuala Britton(Kilcoole AC), Lizzie Lee (Leevale AC), Ava Hutchinson (Dundrum South Dublin), Linda Byrne( Dundrum South Dublin), Sara Treacy (Moynalvy AC), Sarah McCormack (Clonliffe Harriers AC)
Senior Men...Joe Sweeney (Dundrum South Dublin), Michael Mulhare (Portlaoise AC), Sean Hehir (Rathfarnham AC), Brian Maher (KCH AC), David Rooney (Raheny Shamrock AC), Brendan O’Neill (Dundrum South Dublin AC)
Photo courtesy of Kieran Carlin
UCC Mardyke Track re-opens...
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It has just been announced that the UCC Mardyke Athletics Track in Cork City has re-opened today. This is part of the €10 million redevelopment of the complex which suffered serious flooding in late 2009.
The new synthetic eight lane athletics track in the Mardyke is fully floodlit and is to an international standard.
An additional 40,000 square feet has already been added to the original Arena and now includes an indoor 60 metre running track, a performance analysis suite, two additional gym areas with over 140 additional pieces of the latest gym equipment and three additional fitness studios.
Update....this might be of interest as well
It has just been announced that the UCC Mardyke Athletics Track in Cork City has re-opened today. This is part of the €10 million redevelopment of the complex which suffered serious flooding in late 2009.The new synthetic eight lane athletics track in the Mardyke is fully floodlit and is to an international standard.
An additional 40,000 square feet has already been added to the original Arena and now includes an indoor 60 metre running track, a performance analysis suite, two additional gym areas with over 140 additional pieces of the latest gym equipment and three additional fitness studios.
Update....this might be of interest as well
Race notice...Dungarvan 10 mile road race - Sun 27th Jan 2013
To contact us Click HERE
This race may seem as if it's a while off yet but the entries are rapidly filling up! The John Treacy Dungarvan 10 mile road race is one of the most popular races in Munster and for good reason. Only ten years ago, this race attracted a field of 223 runners. The organisers of the race West Waterford AC have built it up steadily year after year as they have gained experience at holding a large event such as this.
It is for me now one of the best races in Munster and I'd put it on a par with the Ballycotton '10'. Considering that it is just a one hour drive from Cork City and with plenty of parking, this is a viable alternative for anyone that can't get into the Ballycotton '10' race.
The race is limited to 1,750 entries. The entry fee is €20 and that includes a dri-fit top. The price increases after the 14th of January but you don't have to worry about that as it will be full long before then.
If you are interested in doing this race then enter now! Don't wait until the new year as it will be too late. They have over 1,000 entries already and it's filling up fast.
You can enter online HERE
It is for me now one of the best races in Munster and I'd put it on a par with the Ballycotton '10'. Considering that it is just a one hour drive from Cork City and with plenty of parking, this is a viable alternative for anyone that can't get into the Ballycotton '10' race.
 |
| Pictured at the recent launch of the John Treacy Dungarvan 10 to be held on January 27th 2013 were front l-r Dermot Dwyer GlaxoSmithKline, Gerry O'Connor Dungarvan Shopping centre, Lisa Curran Glanbia, John Treacy, Cllr Nicky Sheehan deputy mayor of Dungarvan, James Veale chairman West Waterford Athletic Club, Jim Fleming, Ann Dunford, Paschal Proctor West Waterford athletic club. Back l-r Don Tuohy Senior Executive Officer Waterford county council, John Brunnock Go Dungarvan,Tom Rodgers Go Dungarvan, Trevor Mason, Tom Leahy and Liam Crowe West Waterford AC |
If you are interested in doing this race then enter now! Don't wait until the new year as it will be too late. They have over 1,000 entries already and it's filling up fast.
You can enter online HERE
Special Early Bird Entry for the Cork City Marathon closes this weekend...
To contact us Click HERE
If you are planning to do the Cork City Half-Marathon or full Marathon next June, there is a special early bird option that offers the cheapest possible price. It does however close this weekend!
The special early bird entry form can be downloaded HERE
The entry fee is €60 for the full Marathon and €42 for the Half-Marathon. There is a special 50% discount for those who are unwaged or on benefits. This special offer closes at the end of November.
In December, the prices for hard copy entries increase. The full Marathon will cost €70, the Half-Marathon €45 and the relay will cost €100. The concession prices will be €35, €22.50 and €50 respectively.
It's important to emphasise the 'hard copy' because some people seemed to have got the idea the price goes up by €10 regardless. This is not the case as you always enter online and the prices there are €65 for the Marathon, €42 for the Half and €97 for the Relay. These prices remain static until the 31st of March 2013.
It's safe to say that the Cork City Marathon will be the largest running event in Munster next year.
More details on the event website....http://www.corkcitymarathon.ie
If you are planning to do the Cork City Half-Marathon or full Marathon next June, there is a special early bird option that offers the cheapest possible price. It does however close this weekend!The special early bird entry form can be downloaded HERE
The entry fee is €60 for the full Marathon and €42 for the Half-Marathon. There is a special 50% discount for those who are unwaged or on benefits. This special offer closes at the end of November.
In December, the prices for hard copy entries increase. The full Marathon will cost €70, the Half-Marathon €45 and the relay will cost €100. The concession prices will be €35, €22.50 and €50 respectively.
It's important to emphasise the 'hard copy' because some people seemed to have got the idea the price goes up by €10 regardless. This is not the case as you always enter online and the prices there are €65 for the Marathon, €42 for the Half and €97 for the Relay. These prices remain static until the 31st of March 2013.
It's safe to say that the Cork City Marathon will be the largest running event in Munster next year.
More details on the event website....http://www.corkcitymarathon.ie
28 Kasım 2012 Çarşamba
Obesity costs Ireland €1.64 Billion per annun...
To contact us Click HERE
A new study at University College Cork has found that the annual cost of people being overweight and obese on the island of Ireland is about €1.64 billion. More than a third of the costs are directly related to healthcare including hospital in-patient and out-patient care, GP visits and drugs. The other two-thirds were indirect and were accounted for by things like reduced or lost productivity and absenteeism. The main reason for work absenteeism and productivity loss is lower back pain.
The CEO of Safefood Martin Higgins said..."We now have reliable, contemporary and locally relevant figures for the annual, economic cost of weight-related ill health in Ireland. While it is acknowledged that these are conservative figures and don’t reflect the human and social costs, they show a compelling case for obesity prevention, based on changes in our food environment and physical activity levels.”
Dr Cliodhna Foley-Nolan of Safefood added...“Excess body weight is associated with a significant burden of chronic disease, with negative effects on overall life expectancy, disability free life expectancy, quality of life, healthcare costs and productivity. The findings from this research are critical for establishing priorities in health policy development and to guide and inform our response to the issue of excess weight in our society which is fundamentally preventable.”
18 weight-related diseases were studied and the main drivers of direct healthcare costs were: Cardiac arrest (44%), Type 2 diabetes (9%), Colorectal cancer (12%), Stroke (6%), Cancers of the breast (2%), Kidney (3%), Oesophagus (2%), Gallbladder (3%).
Professor Ivan Perry of UCC said...“The current findings on the cost of overweight and obesity highlight the extend of societal involvement in diet and health and the limitations of approaches which emphasise the role of personal choice, responsibility and market forces in relation to diet and health. The current obesity epidemic in children and adults represents a clear example of market failure with external/third party costs defaulting to the taxpayers. The food sector is currently regulated to ensure food safety. Policy makers need to consider whether there is a need to extend this regulatory framework to address the effects of diet on health and wellbeing.”
According to the IUNA National Adult Nutrition Survey 2011, among 18-64 year olds, showed that
37% were overweight (44% men/31% women) and 24% were obese (26% men/21 % women)
The prevalence of obesity in 18-64 year old adults has increased significantly since 1990 from 8% to 26% in men, and from 13% to 21% in women. In the past twenty years men have gained an average of 8kg (nearly 18lbs) and women have gained an average of 5kg (over 11 lbs). The Survey of Lifestyle, Attitudes and Nutrition (SLÃ�N 2007) of adults aged 18+ in ROI found that 60% of respondents had an average waist circumference in the “at risk” zone for obesity (>37 inches for men and > 32 inches for women). In Northern Ireland, 61% of adults aged 16+ were overweight or obese (Health Survey Northern Ireland, 2012))
Source...Safe Food Ireland
A new study at University College Cork has found that the annual cost of people being overweight and obese on the island of Ireland is about €1.64 billion. More than a third of the costs are directly related to healthcare including hospital in-patient and out-patient care, GP visits and drugs. The other two-thirds were indirect and were accounted for by things like reduced or lost productivity and absenteeism. The main reason for work absenteeism and productivity loss is lower back pain.The CEO of Safefood Martin Higgins said..."We now have reliable, contemporary and locally relevant figures for the annual, economic cost of weight-related ill health in Ireland. While it is acknowledged that these are conservative figures and don’t reflect the human and social costs, they show a compelling case for obesity prevention, based on changes in our food environment and physical activity levels.”
Dr Cliodhna Foley-Nolan of Safefood added...“Excess body weight is associated with a significant burden of chronic disease, with negative effects on overall life expectancy, disability free life expectancy, quality of life, healthcare costs and productivity. The findings from this research are critical for establishing priorities in health policy development and to guide and inform our response to the issue of excess weight in our society which is fundamentally preventable.”
18 weight-related diseases were studied and the main drivers of direct healthcare costs were: Cardiac arrest (44%), Type 2 diabetes (9%), Colorectal cancer (12%), Stroke (6%), Cancers of the breast (2%), Kidney (3%), Oesophagus (2%), Gallbladder (3%).
Professor Ivan Perry of UCC said...“The current findings on the cost of overweight and obesity highlight the extend of societal involvement in diet and health and the limitations of approaches which emphasise the role of personal choice, responsibility and market forces in relation to diet and health. The current obesity epidemic in children and adults represents a clear example of market failure with external/third party costs defaulting to the taxpayers. The food sector is currently regulated to ensure food safety. Policy makers need to consider whether there is a need to extend this regulatory framework to address the effects of diet on health and wellbeing.”
According to the IUNA National Adult Nutrition Survey 2011, among 18-64 year olds, showed that
37% were overweight (44% men/31% women) and 24% were obese (26% men/21 % women)
The prevalence of obesity in 18-64 year old adults has increased significantly since 1990 from 8% to 26% in men, and from 13% to 21% in women. In the past twenty years men have gained an average of 8kg (nearly 18lbs) and women have gained an average of 5kg (over 11 lbs). The Survey of Lifestyle, Attitudes and Nutrition (SLÃ�N 2007) of adults aged 18+ in ROI found that 60% of respondents had an average waist circumference in the “at risk” zone for obesity (>37 inches for men and > 32 inches for women). In Northern Ireland, 61% of adults aged 16+ were overweight or obese (Health Survey Northern Ireland, 2012))
Source...Safe Food Ireland
Clew Bay Pipe Band - their part in Ireland's downfall.
To contact us Click HERE
Ouch!
1-6... it could nearly be a GAH score, except in this case you had to get the ball past a goalkeeper into a 17.86 metres space.
Awful.
I wonder what part the Clew Bay Pipe Band played in this debacle?
Pipes, whether the windblown or armpit perpetuated type, are intrinsically annoying instruments. They were the only things that stopped the Romans from invading Jockland. Fact.
Just before the Ireland v Germany match started, you could see the Germans bristling as their national anthem was debased by the squawlings of the pipers.
Pipes, you see, don't seem to consider octaves. Either they are within one register, or at the point just north of where human ears mercifully give up, and dogs take over.
I have never heard such a debased version of the German national anthem, nor the Irish one - but we are used to that kind of parody.
The Germans aren't. They were out for revenge, and justifiably got it.
Whatever about all that, if we are to progress as a (world) footballing nation, we need to get rid of Trapattoni. He was well past his sell-by date, even when appointed.
It will cost John Delaney, head of the FAI.
He might have to ask some questions of the the Clew Bay Pipe Band, or even more painfully, take a cut in his overblown salary to pay Trap off.
Ouch!
Back to Gombeen Nation main page
Ouch!1-6... it could nearly be a GAH score, except in this case you had to get the ball past a goalkeeper into a 17.86 metres space.
Awful.
I wonder what part the Clew Bay Pipe Band played in this debacle?
Pipes, whether the windblown or armpit perpetuated type, are intrinsically annoying instruments. They were the only things that stopped the Romans from invading Jockland. Fact.
Just before the Ireland v Germany match started, you could see the Germans bristling as their national anthem was debased by the squawlings of the pipers.
Pipes, you see, don't seem to consider octaves. Either they are within one register, or at the point just north of where human ears mercifully give up, and dogs take over.
I have never heard such a debased version of the German national anthem, nor the Irish one - but we are used to that kind of parody.
The Germans aren't. They were out for revenge, and justifiably got it.
Whatever about all that, if we are to progress as a (world) footballing nation, we need to get rid of Trapattoni. He was well past his sell-by date, even when appointed.
It will cost John Delaney, head of the FAI.
He might have to ask some questions of the the Clew Bay Pipe Band, or even more painfully, take a cut in his overblown salary to pay Trap off.
Ouch!
Back to Gombeen Nation main page
Mike Aynsley defends bankers' high pay
To contact us Click HERE
But might things have worked out better for our banana republic had a troupe of monkeys been in charge of our financial institutions and government in the not-too-distant past?
Might they have done somewhat better than lower primates such as Seanie Fitzpatrick, Michael Fingleton, Charlie Mc Creevy, Bertie Ahern and all the rest?
Bailed-out-bank boss MIke Aynsley would appear to consider anything below 400 or 500 thousand euro to be peanuts. So monkeys still won't get a look-in, it seems.
Not enough money to attract "talent" to our bankrupt banks, you see. You know that old argument that served us so badly in the past, as even now our own prime minister is paid more than Barack Obama, and our senior civil servants enjoy extravagant pay and pensions.
Have a read of the article below. It's enough to make you go ape.
Back to Gombeen Nation main page
"If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys".
Old saying.But might things have worked out better for our banana republic had a troupe of monkeys been in charge of our financial institutions and government in the not-too-distant past?
Might they have done somewhat better than lower primates such as Seanie Fitzpatrick, Michael Fingleton, Charlie Mc Creevy, Bertie Ahern and all the rest?
Bailed-out-bank boss MIke Aynsley would appear to consider anything below 400 or 500 thousand euro to be peanuts. So monkeys still won't get a look-in, it seems.
Not enough money to attract "talent" to our bankrupt banks, you see. You know that old argument that served us so badly in the past, as even now our own prime minister is paid more than Barack Obama, and our senior civil servants enjoy extravagant pay and pensions.
Have a read of the article below. It's enough to make you go ape.
Thanks to a reader for sending in the article.
Anglo boss Mike Aynsley defends executives' €500,000 pay
But our bankers heavily criticised in influential global financial newspaperIrish Independent, Friday November 09 2012THE boss of the former Anglo Irish Bank – now IBRC – has robustly defended the €500,000 salaries paid to his top officials.In an exclusive interview with the Irish Independent, Mike Aynsley said the public should not be "bloody-minded", nor should they believe that "all bankers don't deserve to be paid these high levels".Mr Aynsley said IBRC was an "easy target" for people who wanted to bash at bankers because it was seen as the bank that took the country down.Speaking at his headquarters in Dublin, the Australian, who was brought in to sort out the mess of Anglo Irish Bank, said there was a high turnover of staff at the bank and that he needed high salaries in order to keep good staff."There are certain types of individuals that are critical for us in the tapestry of this workforce that we cannot get for less than this sort of money." Mr Aynsley continued: "You can't lose qualified people who manage complex accounts and just transfer an IT specialist or a human-resource specialist to that position."The IBRC chief 's comments put him on a collision course with the Government, which is under growing pressure to address the thorny issues of bankers' pay and pensions.The issue of high pensions for Irish bankers is also tackled in a hard-hitting editorial in today's 'Financial Times'.The editorial – which is headed "Dublin's shame" – says that Ireland's bankers have not covered themselves in glory in recent years.Finance Minister Michael Noonan and Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore have insisted that they will push for lower salaries at IBRC, which is 100pc-owned by the taxpayer.When asked if he would bow to political pressure to cut salaries, Mr Aynsley said he had a work force to protect and that he would continue to run the bank on a commercial basis."We have a team that has done a tremendous job chasing the problem areas in this institution. The biggest has been Sean Quinn," he said."I think we are an easy target for people who want to bash away at banks. Because we are the bank that is seen to have taken the country down. On the other hand AIB and BoI have been designated pillar banks and I think rightly, they need to be positioned for recovery."He warned that the loss of good staff would cost the taxpayer in the long run."There is a direct link between the quality of people we have and the recovery of assets."As a country, if we don't recognise this, we are going to find that we won't have enough good people and we will just be exploited by people who want to come in here and buy at the bottom of the market."IBRC's top six executives earn more than €500,000 each.Mr Aynsley is paid €663,000 -- a €500,000 salary, allowances of €38,000 and a pension sum of €125,000.The head of IBRC's UK operations, Jim Brydie, is on a salary of £400,000, or €501,000.Chief financial officer Jim Bradley; head of asset recoveries Tom Hunersen; head of Irish recoveries Mark Layther; and head of specialised asset management Richard Woodhouse, are each paid a salary of about €400,000. They also receive the equivalent of 25pc of their salaries in annual pension payments -- on top of €30,000 each a year in allowances.Mr Aynsley's outspoken defence came as Michael Noonan, who controls IBRC, said he would continue to push the issue. The Finance Minister has admitted that he asked IBRC's chairman Alan Dukes for wage cuts at the bank, but said his request was turned down."I wrote to Alan Dukes and I asked him to talk to the board of IBRC to impose a pay cut right across the pay levels because it was done for the public service and I can't see why it wouldn't be done elsewhere," Mr Noonan said. The request was made on April 5.A review of pay at state-controlled banks is expected to be completed by the end of the year by consultants Mercer.Pay rates will be assessed under the review but the Irish Independent understands that it will not offer the Government any new tools to force pay cuts or change terms and conditions of bankers.Senior political figures last night vowed to tackle the issue.Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore said there was the "political will" to tackle the pay packets. These exceed a government-imposed cap on the pay of anyone taking up a new job in a bank.Pensions"It is not acceptable to the Government or people of this country that these levels of either pensions or salaries should continue to be paid," he said.The Tanaiste said Mr Noonan was looking at the various options "that may be open to Government" and had declared that there was the "political will" to deal with the issue.However, Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin has confirmed that bankers cannot be singled out for higher taxes."You can't simply say, 'you and you will pay extra'," he said, adding: "This is careful and delicate work and we need to bring fairness to it."- Maeve Dineen, Colm Kelpie and Donal O'DonovanBack to Gombeen Nation main page
A Yankee in de Valera's Ireland, by David Gray. Worth a read?
To contact us Click HERE
Had intended to highlight this extract from The Journal before now. A reader emailed it a week or two ago, but between one thing and another, I'm only getting to it now.
It's the memoir of a US ambassador, David Gray, who had a stint in de Valera's Ireland during The Emergency. Or the Second World War as the world outside Ireland knew it.
Well worth a read, if the extract below is any guide.
Eamon De Valera on the steps of No. 10 Downing Street, London.Image: (PA Archive/Press Association Images)David Gray became US Minister (Ambassador) to Ireland in 1940. His memoir, written at the age of 89, is published for the first time by the Royal Irish Academy and is a patchwork of top-secret documents, letters to Roosevelt and extracts from his diary.
Gray was born in New York in 1870 and was a journalist and playwright before joining the military and entering politics. He was not well disposed to Irish republicanism. He came to hold Irish society in contempt and despised de Valera, believing that certain Irish officials were collaborating with the Nazis to achieve a British defeat and a 32-county republic. This extract is from 1940. He writes:
The Taoiseach’s office (pronounced popularly ‘tee shack’) and surroundings were all as they had been so often described by interviewers. He himself was the tall, gaunt figure with the suggestion of Lincoln, and ironically in the corner stood the O’Connor bronze statue of Lincoln which John McCormack, the singer, had given to the Irish government. The office was bare, the flat-topped desk was bare and Mr de Valera was dressed in his invariable black clerical-looking suit with black string tie.He was always neat and his linen was always fresh. His grave eye trouble excited sympathy. It was said that he suffered from glaucoma. From time to time he removed his spectacles and put his hands over his eyes, and from time to time he showed the appealing smile that I had heard about and the suggestion of his peculiar charm.
Why Mr de Valera replied to my English speech in Irish was a question not difficult to answer. Both languages are sanctioned by the new Constitution, but Mr de Valera and his Separatist group were anxious to impress on the outside world that English is only an unfortunate and temporary makeshift and that Irish is the true and natural tongue of the nation, though today only one person in six speaks it. Very few Irish politicians speak Irish except as American High School students learn to ‘speak’ French, but they usually begin their speeches with a paragraph in Irish, which they have memorised, and then continue in English. It is the badge of being ‘Irish’ Irish, like the Gaelicisation of proper names.
1916 leaders turned out in tails and white tiesThe official dinner in the state apartments of the Castle that evening was as elaborate and well done as the ceremony in the morning. Food, wines, service, cigars, all were unexceptionable. The de Valera revolution had been to a large extent a ‘social movement’. It appealed to the ‘common man’ and repudiated the symbols of privilege. Mr de Valera banned the ‘topper’ and wore the black ‘cowboy’ hat. He and his Cabinet constituted the surviving nucleus of ‘The Sixteen’ and the left-wing IRA faction that had staged the Civil War. Almost every man present had been condemned to death or jail either by the British government or by the Free State government, yet only eight years after coming to power this new aristocracy had all turned out in tails and white ties in the best London tradition, I had never sat down to dine with so many people who had been ‘martyred’ and thrown into prison, nor with so many politicians, who after having been down and out had ‘come back in’ and stayed ‘in’. It had its embarrassing side. It was like dining in a house in which there has been a highly publicised domestic difficulty.Just as I would have wanted to ask my host whether he really beat his wife as alleged, I wanted to ask the questions to which every historian of the period was trying to find the answers. I wanted to ask why Mr de Valera had not abided by the majority action of his own parliament; why he appealed to the gun and started a Civil War. How he escaped being shot for rebellion, first by the British and then by the first Irish government ever to be recognised by the comity of nations. I wanted to ask him whether Michael Collins had been the chance victim of an ambush or the designed victim of an assassination; and if he knew who murdered Kevin O’Higgins. Of course I asked none of these questions.
The German Ambassador Herr Hempel – the German minister to Ireland – had a charming house and garden at Blackrock, a suburb on Dublin harbour. His chancery was an ugly, modern red brick house in Northumberland Road. It was here that I called upon him. Herr Dr Hempel received us with great courtesy. He was somewhat over-civil and did not ring true. He spoke fluent English with little accent. I was conscious of being ill at ease. Hempel might be doing his duty as he saw it but he was serving a Führer whose hands were red with the blood of Jews, Poles and Norwegians, on whose conscience was the annihilation of Austria and Czechoslovakia. I was naive enough at seventy to be shocked by these things.We exchanged pleasant commonplaces. I was not to re-enter the German legation at 58 Northumberland Road till I took possession of it in the name of the United Nations at the end of the war and found the wires of a radio sending set and other interesting items. The Irish government had seen to it that we did not gain admittance until the files had been destroyed.
Collaboration with the GermansMr de Valera’s conviction that Hitler would win the war was stupid in view of the opportunities he enjoyed for obtaining authoritative information as to what was going on in the United States. It was doubtless due to the fact that he knew few if any Americans, only ‘Irish in America’. As a matter of fact he himself never told me that Hitler would win, though he scoffed at the suggestion that the United States would become involved. But his deputy Joe Walshe told me. Further, Mr Walshe was confident that at the worst, Hitler would not lose. Cardinal MacRory told me that Hitler would win. Count Plunkett, the patriarch of the IRA, expressed the same opinion. We know from the German papers that one of Mr de Valera’s generals was collaborating with Hempel. Belief in German victory was in the Dublin air. At the end of the war a former Lord Mayor of Dublin, ‘Paddy’ Doyle, a very ‘decent’ man, said to me ‘You know, at the beginning we were all sure Germany was going to win’.
A Yankee in De Valera’s Ireland: The Memoir of David Gray is edited by Paul Bew. Paul Bew is a member of the RIA and Professor of Irish Politics at Queen’s University Belfast. A historical advisor to the Bloody Sunday inquiry, he was appointed an independent cross-bench peer in 2007 and is a member of the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly.
Had intended to highlight this extract from The Journal before now. A reader emailed it a week or two ago, but between one thing and another, I'm only getting to it now.
It's the memoir of a US ambassador, David Gray, who had a stint in de Valera's Ireland during The Emergency. Or the Second World War as the world outside Ireland knew it.
Well worth a read, if the extract below is any guide.
‘Mr de Valera’s conviction that Hitler would win the war was stupid’
David Gray, the US Amabassador to Ireland in 1940, reveals just what he thought of Dev, the 1916 leaders and why he thought Ireland was in collusion with the Nazis.
Eamon De Valera on the steps of No. 10 Downing Street, London.Image: (PA Archive/Press Association Images)David Gray became US Minister (Ambassador) to Ireland in 1940. His memoir, written at the age of 89, is published for the first time by the Royal Irish Academy and is a patchwork of top-secret documents, letters to Roosevelt and extracts from his diary.
Gray was born in New York in 1870 and was a journalist and playwright before joining the military and entering politics. He was not well disposed to Irish republicanism. He came to hold Irish society in contempt and despised de Valera, believing that certain Irish officials were collaborating with the Nazis to achieve a British defeat and a 32-county republic. This extract is from 1940. He writes:
The Taoiseach’s office (pronounced popularly ‘tee shack’) and surroundings were all as they had been so often described by interviewers. He himself was the tall, gaunt figure with the suggestion of Lincoln, and ironically in the corner stood the O’Connor bronze statue of Lincoln which John McCormack, the singer, had given to the Irish government. The office was bare, the flat-topped desk was bare and Mr de Valera was dressed in his invariable black clerical-looking suit with black string tie.He was always neat and his linen was always fresh. His grave eye trouble excited sympathy. It was said that he suffered from glaucoma. From time to time he removed his spectacles and put his hands over his eyes, and from time to time he showed the appealing smile that I had heard about and the suggestion of his peculiar charm.
Why Mr de Valera replied to my English speech in Irish was a question not difficult to answer. Both languages are sanctioned by the new Constitution, but Mr de Valera and his Separatist group were anxious to impress on the outside world that English is only an unfortunate and temporary makeshift and that Irish is the true and natural tongue of the nation, though today only one person in six speaks it. Very few Irish politicians speak Irish except as American High School students learn to ‘speak’ French, but they usually begin their speeches with a paragraph in Irish, which they have memorised, and then continue in English. It is the badge of being ‘Irish’ Irish, like the Gaelicisation of proper names.
1916 leaders turned out in tails and white tiesThe official dinner in the state apartments of the Castle that evening was as elaborate and well done as the ceremony in the morning. Food, wines, service, cigars, all were unexceptionable. The de Valera revolution had been to a large extent a ‘social movement’. It appealed to the ‘common man’ and repudiated the symbols of privilege. Mr de Valera banned the ‘topper’ and wore the black ‘cowboy’ hat. He and his Cabinet constituted the surviving nucleus of ‘The Sixteen’ and the left-wing IRA faction that had staged the Civil War. Almost every man present had been condemned to death or jail either by the British government or by the Free State government, yet only eight years after coming to power this new aristocracy had all turned out in tails and white ties in the best London tradition, I had never sat down to dine with so many people who had been ‘martyred’ and thrown into prison, nor with so many politicians, who after having been down and out had ‘come back in’ and stayed ‘in’. It had its embarrassing side. It was like dining in a house in which there has been a highly publicised domestic difficulty.Just as I would have wanted to ask my host whether he really beat his wife as alleged, I wanted to ask the questions to which every historian of the period was trying to find the answers. I wanted to ask why Mr de Valera had not abided by the majority action of his own parliament; why he appealed to the gun and started a Civil War. How he escaped being shot for rebellion, first by the British and then by the first Irish government ever to be recognised by the comity of nations. I wanted to ask him whether Michael Collins had been the chance victim of an ambush or the designed victim of an assassination; and if he knew who murdered Kevin O’Higgins. Of course I asked none of these questions.
The German Ambassador Herr Hempel – the German minister to Ireland – had a charming house and garden at Blackrock, a suburb on Dublin harbour. His chancery was an ugly, modern red brick house in Northumberland Road. It was here that I called upon him. Herr Dr Hempel received us with great courtesy. He was somewhat over-civil and did not ring true. He spoke fluent English with little accent. I was conscious of being ill at ease. Hempel might be doing his duty as he saw it but he was serving a Führer whose hands were red with the blood of Jews, Poles and Norwegians, on whose conscience was the annihilation of Austria and Czechoslovakia. I was naive enough at seventy to be shocked by these things.We exchanged pleasant commonplaces. I was not to re-enter the German legation at 58 Northumberland Road till I took possession of it in the name of the United Nations at the end of the war and found the wires of a radio sending set and other interesting items. The Irish government had seen to it that we did not gain admittance until the files had been destroyed.
Collaboration with the GermansMr de Valera’s conviction that Hitler would win the war was stupid in view of the opportunities he enjoyed for obtaining authoritative information as to what was going on in the United States. It was doubtless due to the fact that he knew few if any Americans, only ‘Irish in America’. As a matter of fact he himself never told me that Hitler would win, though he scoffed at the suggestion that the United States would become involved. But his deputy Joe Walshe told me. Further, Mr Walshe was confident that at the worst, Hitler would not lose. Cardinal MacRory told me that Hitler would win. Count Plunkett, the patriarch of the IRA, expressed the same opinion. We know from the German papers that one of Mr de Valera’s generals was collaborating with Hempel. Belief in German victory was in the Dublin air. At the end of the war a former Lord Mayor of Dublin, ‘Paddy’ Doyle, a very ‘decent’ man, said to me ‘You know, at the beginning we were all sure Germany was going to win’.
A Yankee in De Valera’s Ireland: The Memoir of David Gray is edited by Paul Bew. Paul Bew is a member of the RIA and Professor of Irish Politics at Queen’s University Belfast. A historical advisor to the Bloody Sunday inquiry, he was appointed an independent cross-bench peer in 2007 and is a member of the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly.
Back to Gombeen Nation main page
breaking news, david tweed guilty? sex assault, jury verdict, rugby international, belfast court
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breaking news, david tweed guilty? sex assault, jury verdict, rugby international, belfast court
The jury in the trial of a former Irish rugby international accused of child sex abuse has retired to consider its verdict, within hours we will know if David Tweed is guilty of sex crimes against children.
David Alexander Tweed, 53, of Clonavon Terrace in Ballymena, Co Antrim, has been standing trial at Antrim Crown Court.
The railway supervisor, who is also a Ballymena councillor, is charged with abusing two young girls over an eight-year period from 1988.
Judge Alistair Devlin told the jury of 10 women and two men not to feel under time pressure to reach unanimous verdicts on all 14 counts.
“You are under no pressure of time whatsoever,” he said. “This has been a lengthy trial at a little over three weeks and I would not be at all surprised if you take a considerable time to consider the various counts.”
Tweed has denied that anything improper happened with the girls, who are now adults.
He was capped five times for Ireland and played in the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa. He was also a prominent Ulster Rugby star with more than 30 appearances for the team during the 1980s and 1990s.
His defence barrister, Laurence McCrudden QC, claimed Tweed had been the victim of a spiteful conspiracy. He said the girls’ memories had become distorted with the passage of time.
Meanwhile, Laura Ievers QC, for the prosecution, said Tweed had used his sporting achievements and position in society to live a lie. Ms Ievers also said the claimants had no reason to make up the allegations.
Yesterday, Judge Devlin told the jurors they must decide the outcome of the case on the basis of evidence they have heard in court.
He said they should set aside any prejudice they may have towards those accused of sex abuse as well as any sympathy for people who claim to be victims.
He added: “You must approach the issue of a true verdict with an open mind.”
The jury in the trial of a former Irish rugby international accused of child sex abuse has retired to consider its verdict, within hours we will know if David Tweed is guilty of sex crimes against children.
David Alexander Tweed, 53, of Clonavon Terrace in Ballymena, Co Antrim, has been standing trial at Antrim Crown Court.
The railway supervisor, who is also a Ballymena councillor, is charged with abusing two young girls over an eight-year period from 1988.
Judge Alistair Devlin told the jury of 10 women and two men not to feel under time pressure to reach unanimous verdicts on all 14 counts.
“You are under no pressure of time whatsoever,” he said. “This has been a lengthy trial at a little over three weeks and I would not be at all surprised if you take a considerable time to consider the various counts.”
Tweed has denied that anything improper happened with the girls, who are now adults.
He was capped five times for Ireland and played in the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa. He was also a prominent Ulster Rugby star with more than 30 appearances for the team during the 1980s and 1990s.
His defence barrister, Laurence McCrudden QC, claimed Tweed had been the victim of a spiteful conspiracy. He said the girls’ memories had become distorted with the passage of time.
Meanwhile, Laura Ievers QC, for the prosecution, said Tweed had used his sporting achievements and position in society to live a lie. Ms Ievers also said the claimants had no reason to make up the allegations.
Yesterday, Judge Devlin told the jurors they must decide the outcome of the case on the basis of evidence they have heard in court.
He said they should set aside any prejudice they may have towards those accused of sex abuse as well as any sympathy for people who claim to be victims.
He added: “You must approach the issue of a true verdict with an open mind.”
27 Kasım 2012 Salı
Mike Aynsley defends bankers' high pay
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But might things have worked out better for our banana republic had a troupe of monkeys been in charge of our financial institutions and government in the not-too-distant past?
Might they have done somewhat better than lower primates such as Seanie Fitzpatrick, Michael Fingleton, Charlie Mc Creevy, Bertie Ahern and all the rest?
Bailed-out-bank boss MIke Aynsley would appear to consider anything below 400 or 500 thousand euro to be peanuts. So monkeys still won't get a look-in, it seems.
Not enough money to attract "talent" to our bankrupt banks, you see. You know that old argument that served us so badly in the past, as even now our own prime minister is paid more than Barack Obama, and our senior civil servants enjoy extravagant pay and pensions.
Have a read of the article below. It's enough to make you go ape.
Back to Gombeen Nation main page
"If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys".
Old saying.But might things have worked out better for our banana republic had a troupe of monkeys been in charge of our financial institutions and government in the not-too-distant past?
Might they have done somewhat better than lower primates such as Seanie Fitzpatrick, Michael Fingleton, Charlie Mc Creevy, Bertie Ahern and all the rest?
Bailed-out-bank boss MIke Aynsley would appear to consider anything below 400 or 500 thousand euro to be peanuts. So monkeys still won't get a look-in, it seems.
Not enough money to attract "talent" to our bankrupt banks, you see. You know that old argument that served us so badly in the past, as even now our own prime minister is paid more than Barack Obama, and our senior civil servants enjoy extravagant pay and pensions.
Have a read of the article below. It's enough to make you go ape.
Thanks to a reader for sending in the article.
Anglo boss Mike Aynsley defends executives' €500,000 pay
But our bankers heavily criticised in influential global financial newspaperIrish Independent, Friday November 09 2012THE boss of the former Anglo Irish Bank – now IBRC – has robustly defended the €500,000 salaries paid to his top officials.In an exclusive interview with the Irish Independent, Mike Aynsley said the public should not be "bloody-minded", nor should they believe that "all bankers don't deserve to be paid these high levels".Mr Aynsley said IBRC was an "easy target" for people who wanted to bash at bankers because it was seen as the bank that took the country down.Speaking at his headquarters in Dublin, the Australian, who was brought in to sort out the mess of Anglo Irish Bank, said there was a high turnover of staff at the bank and that he needed high salaries in order to keep good staff."There are certain types of individuals that are critical for us in the tapestry of this workforce that we cannot get for less than this sort of money." Mr Aynsley continued: "You can't lose qualified people who manage complex accounts and just transfer an IT specialist or a human-resource specialist to that position."The IBRC chief 's comments put him on a collision course with the Government, which is under growing pressure to address the thorny issues of bankers' pay and pensions.The issue of high pensions for Irish bankers is also tackled in a hard-hitting editorial in today's 'Financial Times'.The editorial – which is headed "Dublin's shame" – says that Ireland's bankers have not covered themselves in glory in recent years.Finance Minister Michael Noonan and Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore have insisted that they will push for lower salaries at IBRC, which is 100pc-owned by the taxpayer.When asked if he would bow to political pressure to cut salaries, Mr Aynsley said he had a work force to protect and that he would continue to run the bank on a commercial basis."We have a team that has done a tremendous job chasing the problem areas in this institution. The biggest has been Sean Quinn," he said."I think we are an easy target for people who want to bash away at banks. Because we are the bank that is seen to have taken the country down. On the other hand AIB and BoI have been designated pillar banks and I think rightly, they need to be positioned for recovery."He warned that the loss of good staff would cost the taxpayer in the long run."There is a direct link between the quality of people we have and the recovery of assets."As a country, if we don't recognise this, we are going to find that we won't have enough good people and we will just be exploited by people who want to come in here and buy at the bottom of the market."IBRC's top six executives earn more than €500,000 each.Mr Aynsley is paid €663,000 -- a €500,000 salary, allowances of €38,000 and a pension sum of €125,000.The head of IBRC's UK operations, Jim Brydie, is on a salary of £400,000, or €501,000.Chief financial officer Jim Bradley; head of asset recoveries Tom Hunersen; head of Irish recoveries Mark Layther; and head of specialised asset management Richard Woodhouse, are each paid a salary of about €400,000. They also receive the equivalent of 25pc of their salaries in annual pension payments -- on top of €30,000 each a year in allowances.Mr Aynsley's outspoken defence came as Michael Noonan, who controls IBRC, said he would continue to push the issue. The Finance Minister has admitted that he asked IBRC's chairman Alan Dukes for wage cuts at the bank, but said his request was turned down."I wrote to Alan Dukes and I asked him to talk to the board of IBRC to impose a pay cut right across the pay levels because it was done for the public service and I can't see why it wouldn't be done elsewhere," Mr Noonan said. The request was made on April 5.A review of pay at state-controlled banks is expected to be completed by the end of the year by consultants Mercer.Pay rates will be assessed under the review but the Irish Independent understands that it will not offer the Government any new tools to force pay cuts or change terms and conditions of bankers.Senior political figures last night vowed to tackle the issue.Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore said there was the "political will" to tackle the pay packets. These exceed a government-imposed cap on the pay of anyone taking up a new job in a bank.Pensions"It is not acceptable to the Government or people of this country that these levels of either pensions or salaries should continue to be paid," he said.The Tanaiste said Mr Noonan was looking at the various options "that may be open to Government" and had declared that there was the "political will" to deal with the issue.However, Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin has confirmed that bankers cannot be singled out for higher taxes."You can't simply say, 'you and you will pay extra'," he said, adding: "This is careful and delicate work and we need to bring fairness to it."- Maeve Dineen, Colm Kelpie and Donal O'DonovanBack to Gombeen Nation main page
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