The Queen, The Presidents, The ex Taoiseach, The Master of the High Court, The United Nations, The European Court of Human Rights, the Rossport people and all that.

We had a surfeit of events in the last weeks.In all these things the use of language ought be studied closely and the emphasis of language considered.

Firstly what our Taoiseach did in cogging the words of Obama was just that,cogging and cannot be dressed up otherwise.Butty Mrs.Mc Cabe ,who taught in Tullaghans town a lifetime ago would have and did slap the hands of those caught copying the work of others.Might I suggest that he study the campaign of his countymen in Rossport in  Mayo ,digest the fortitude and dignity of their unequal campaign against the combined might of a multi billion corporation and an antagonistic State and address the world in the manner of Pat “The Chief “O Donnell,who earns the title  “chief “if ever a man did.The T.G.4 documentary “Pioba” was excellent and shows a degree of moral conviction that I thought was dead.

Whatever about persuading our Economic masters to be kind to us ,a matter over which he appears to have accepted he has no control, it is eminently within his control to stop the persecution of his Countymen and he should.

Now to the Queen.Firstly let me say that her predecessors could not have governed this Country and indeed many others ,without the very active support of many Irish men and women for the best part of a millennium.Indeed I read a column produced by a paper owned by a knight of the realm ,which implied  that as the murderers of the unarmed players and spectators in Croke Park were Irish members of the R.I.C. that the Brits were not fully  responsible.This is called denial.

I would say therefor that there are a substantial number of the descendants of Empire servers who have a hankering for the Monarchy and would revert to that status had they the chance and who would pay homage given approval.Indeed given the feudal droit de signeur that must have been practised here by the English landlords for centuries ,as it was in Scotland, there may well be a d.n.a connection to the “motherland” as well as a hankering.And indeed the multiplicity of informers who gave up their neighbours for centuries still seem well represented here as evidenced by the increase of this activity in these strained times.

Anyhow the ring of steel thrown about herself  and the martial law conditions applied to her in Dublin makes it clear that our leaders know full well that she was  not universally  welcome and attempts by pet commentators to  brand those opposed to the visit as immature and those approving it as mature was pure bullshit.As was the implication that history should be ignored in her regard.

The GAA had it right .It is primarily a sporting and cultural organisation and why foreign sovereigns and other competing Irish sporting organisations feel that they must perform there as a kind of right of passage is beyond me.The Ulster delegates who stayed away were dead right.It is not that long since the Sovereign’s army did all they could to intimidate the Gaels of Crossmaglen and harass those playing the games ,out of nothing but pure badness.

I particularly enjoyed Christy Cooney’s speech when he said that the Queen honoured the GAA by coming to Croke Park..Fair dues to him ,he was the only one to mention the Bloody Sunday murders there.

There must be several Sean Kellys (former GAA president .MEP and purported candidate for the Presidency) as he seemed to have his head in every shot and photograph.Talk about self promotion.

The presentation of a hurley to her husband was apt.When she goes home she might display it to her policemen ,who recently hassled a friend of mine who was using one to practise his stroke with in London.They regarded it as an offensive weapon.

The nadir of the visit for me was when our President reverted to peasant status when her Majesty used the few Irish words she did use and our Mainin not once but twice mouthed the word “wow”.After this performance by her ,the sight of her predecessort in all her finery ,the continuing drain on the taxpayer that will arise from her pension and her husband’s Senate salary and the reported £30 million her invitation to the queen to visit cost us, I think that this ceremonial  post should be abolished .The few real powers that pertain to it could be absorbed by any of the other highly paid office holders we elect.

Having said all that the queen is some woman for her age and the endless hand shaking she does for her country makes it understandable why so many of the English love her.

Personally I am indifferent to her personally,cannot see that parading her behind a ring of steel would encourage tourism from England and think that as a symbol of her race she really ought have apologised ,by saying the words “sorry “ or “Apologise” for the actions of her countrymen here over the centuries.Words are important.

 Now to Obama.Thou shall not kill is a commandment I believe in.If it is true that he gave the command to shoot Osama in the head when unarmed then he is in violation of this commandment.There is something wrong about our elected leaders cosying up to Obama on the one hand and condemning others who also broke the same commandment.What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

You will note that past memory and the lessons of history were most important in Obama’s case and no suggestion arose that it would be mature to forget his historical connection with Ireland.

Obama ,from the aspect of his Kenyan father and his Irish Moneygall ancestor is doubly marked in that that both these nations were colonised by the English.The least he could do for us is to legitimise the illegal Irish in the States and ameliorate the harsh regime applied to them.

This man has charisma and a gift with words.If he uses it for good the world will be a better place.If he doesn’t use it for good then God help us as he has the capacity to make the barbaric seem acceptable and even proper.

If he is ever at a loose end he can have a few pucks of the sliotar with Philip ,now that both have hurleys.

I don’t know about you,but I find the targeting and  killing of a man,his wife and his children extremely distasteful.It is something that the Mafia have been condemned for and  is not something legitimate countries should be involved in if they are to retain any moral authority.The use of such words as “taking out “,”neutralising””collateral damage””removing””forcing regime change”etc does not alter the nature of the deeds.    

Then again it seems to me that once you erode respect for human life ,especially the life of preborn humans ,as many so called civilised countries have done it is but a short step to rationalise the taking of other life not approved of also.I suspect that taking such life by remote control from far away is not difficult once you have no moral scruples and that such scruples as are held are mollified by the remove from the scene.

Ireland should reconsider its support of the United Nations,The European Court of Human Rights ,The European Union and all other organisations who disrespect human life so much that they are pushing our leaders to make legal the murder of perfectly viable pre born humans.In no circumstances should we join forces with those countries whose disrespect for defenceless life is spreading apace.

The death of the ex Taoiseach.There is no convenient time to die and the death of Garrett Fitzgerald is to be mourned.History will evaluate his legacy.As with all matters liberal the pet journalists of print and electronics were as effusive in their praise of him as they were of another favourite of theirs ,the late Gerry Ryan.

Unlike Gerry he had time to plan his funeral and his undoubted and much lauded intellect clearly led him to conclude that the Catholic take on life and death is the correct one,as evidenced by his burial according to Catholic rites.This despite his campaigns to directly weaken basic catholic morals enshrined in the Constitution.

His capacity for intellectual acrobatics is way above my comprehension as I heard him state that divorce and the dissolution of marriage would strengthen the institution of marriage..This appears to me to be a non sequiter.Surely if you tear apart what god has joined together you are undermining the sacrament.

One thing is certain and that is he had medical support that most of us can only envy.The list of medics and nursing staff thanked at his funeral was comprehensive and extensive.He attended the Mater Private,the standard of whose care ought be the norm for all the people not just ex Taoisigh.

 Finally the I.F.A.who were duped by the present government pre election and whose members voted over 70 to 30 in their favour now realise that  that we do live in an open prison governed by disfunctional politicians and bureaucrats.It didn’t take as long for the penny to drop as I suspected..As predicted the only difference in the change over is the number of knots on the whip and the frequency of the lash and the little people really don’t matter

 The one person who told the unadulterated truth lately was the Master of the High Court who witnesses on a daily basis the torture gratuitously  inflicted by lazy  financial institutions and State bodies on impoverished people.This stems from the disdain these instiutions hold for ordinary people and their fear to deal with them in a humane and compassionate manner.The leaders of these institutions and the new Government are blinded like rabbits in headlights of a hunters car and are convinced that it would be outlandish to trust people to make morally proper decisions.It is easier for a debtor to push a broken person through an unforgiving legal system and then say “we put him through the system and got nothing ,we can now write off the debt”,than to look at the situation beforehand ,trust the person to tell the truth, deal with it realistically, salvage what can be salvaged and conclude the matter then.Believe it or not most people are honest and genuine and many suicides and much ill health and family breakups could be  avoided were the latter to be the norm.

Finally I read a report of a Judge who complained that his salary had been reduced by £2000.00 per month.Does this man not realise that many families are living on less than his reduction and would consider his reduced salary the equivalent of winning the lotto for life.I know very little of the man but can only hope that he reduces fines he imposes to levels commensurate with the income of the offenders on whom he adjudicates.

And that concludes the vote of the Dunderry jury.