August.The month for Real Men.

With the weasel worders gone on holidays there is no distraction from the football and hurling championships ,where all that is best of our native games allow real men to show what it is that makes the Irish,well Irish.
On the football front what a weekend.The real men from the west showed how it is done .Mayo deserved every point of their victory and caused the shock of the year so far.Cork were worthy champions but were short a few vital men.Despite all the systems,blanket defences and tactical ploys employed in the modern game,when all is said and done,great players are irreplaceable and the old truth that there is no substitute for a man still rings true.
After a brutal first half Donegal and Kildare served up a classic second half and period of extra time.The unbridled look of delight on the the face of the young supporter from Donegal when Cassidy kicked the winning point is the distillation of what the G.A.A.is about and the marketing gurus should  capture this image and use it to promote the games.In this instance one picture is worth a thousand words.
Kildare can feel hard done by as a perfectly good goal was disallowed.IT is time to do away with this square ball idea for once and all,such is the inconsistency in its application and it is cruel to be beaten on a bad call.One wonders whether playing Johnny Doyle midfield was such a goor idea after all.I know that even from there he was their top scorer but suspect that as a free scoring forward ,which is what he is,he would have scored even more.The old principle that you always play a man in his best position still applies ,in my opinion.As a forward he was surely worth one point and might not have been in the way of so many robust challenges.
Donegal are a good team and will take some beating.Michael Murphy is easily the best full forward to grace the position this long time.He has it all.He can catch,kick and pass to perfection.He won't be bullied to easily and is totally unselfish.His skill in footlfting the ball and delivering it accurately led to the winning point.
Kerry beat Limerick without too much trouble.Limerick appeared to be a bit overawed by the occasion.Unlike Limerick Commercials who beat Pearse O Mahony's in the 18880s when the first Dunderry man to play in an All Ireland fielded with O Mahonys.He was a Mc Cabe from the Curragh Boreen and his people still flourish in the Parish.Kerry will fancy their chances big time now that Cork is gone but there is many the slip from the cup to the lip.
Tyrone beat Roscommon handily in the end but the Rossies put it up to them for half the match and missed a number of scorable chances.No bad team Roscommon and no bad team Tyrone.But at this level you must take your chances and the Rossies did not.
Tyrone also will be hard bet and Mickey Harte is some man.Given what he and his family have been through you would have to marvel at how he keeps going and where he draws his enthusiasm from.Roll on Tyrone and Dublin.
And hats of to the real men on all teams who give us such honest endeavour and entertain us so well.Long may it last.
Of course the nanny state is doing all it can to deny us the simple pleasures of  simply enjoying our own games.I am sick to the teeth of these finger wagging and depressing advertisments by the road safety people which deny us just a few hours simple pleasure in front of the T.V.set.
Not only have our political leaders and their quangos utterly failed us and sold us  into economic slavery but they insist on denying us the few hours hapiness we are surely entitled to.Butt out lads.
Finally I thought I was in hospital land rather than a football field last week when I  heard a forga reminding patrons that it was forbiden for anyone to smoke either in the terraces or in the stands.
The persecution of smokers continues apace.
One wonders whether smokers should boycott all intercounty and club matches and withdraw entirely from Club involvement.The tobacco police will surely fill the void.won,t they?Or will they be too busy spying on you in your homes to see if you are fit parents?
With the untouchable arrogant condecension displayed by these people it is only a matter of time.
Truly we do live in an open prison

Anti Catholic Rhetoric deeply insulting

I think I am a practising Catholic but I am confused.I think I belong to the Roman Catholic Church but I am confused.I am certain I am a sinner and I am absolutely certain that I am no holy Joe.I do believe in the God that all Catholics believe in,am certain that there is an afterlife and believe that the Pope is God’s representative on earth.

It is said that there are no atheists on the battlefields when death is raining down.I know that when death waved the bent finger to call me to the sidelines from the field of  life , I said a perfect act of contrition to Jesus Christ and I prayed to Him.Not to any politician,judge ,administrator nor wise ass bar room philosopher..When I temporarily escaped the ultimate certainty that I still must face I was glad to have a priest anoint me.I have been to confessions many times.I believe in the Sacraments.I believe that I was spared death for a reason.I would say that the reason was not to take cheap shots at the followers of Jesus Christ.

Now the politicians who left  Navan Hospital and many like it bereft of decent 24/7 X ray services and clot busting medication until 2010 and who I would say are responsible for any number of unnecessary deaths and disabilities  and who enslaved a once proud nation for at least the next thirty years  are lecturing to God’s representative on earth on how to run His Church,and belittling Sacraments that are an integral part and core value of Catholic belief.

All the political parties are joining in the witch hunt,cheered on by an antagonistic media and hysterical anti Catholic commentators  who are rejoicing in getting another chance to stick the boot in.And unless my ears are deceiving me the head man in the priest’s union is himself aligning his union to these attacks.Not only this but the Archbishop of Dublin is being quoted by Government Ministers as being on the same side as the belittlers.

Who am I to advise a Bishop.Yes apologise for wrongdoings perpetrated by some Catholics,.But have the balls to stand up for  the faith and the faithful.Bishop,those who have only contempt for Catholicism quote you approvingly in their objective of persecuting your flock.You are the media darling.So were  Bishop Comiskey and Father Cleary and Bishop Casey in their day.Look media commentators , journalists and editors will do anything to sell papers and gutless politicians say anything to further their own objectives.

It is left to David Quinn to stand up for ordinary Catholics.For his troubles I heard him belittled  thrice on a on a t.v. show ,with an all female cast ,with no attempt at gonad balance never mind at objective balance,and one of whose contributors rejoiced at the presence of Jews and atheists in the Dail ,the obvious  implication being that they were better than Catholics.
Is there no Catholic Priest out there  fit to stand up and say that it is absurd for these mob leaders to tar all Catholics with the one brush and to insist that this anti Catholic rhetoric be stopped immediately.

I never thought I’d see the day when Paisley.,Kenny, ,Martin,Sinn Fein ,Labour  et all would be singing from the same hymn sheet and when a member of the Church of Ireland feels free to pronounce that new generation Catholics are only interested in religion  for births ,deaths and marriages.The last time they were so united was when they belittled us by having a second vote on the Lisbon treaty to prove what gobshites we were to reject the first one and to suck up to our good friends in Europe .Fat lot of good that did us.We will be in hock to them for generations and will be farmed like cattle for their benefit,with our political classes more political kapos  than defenders of their electorate.

As an aside I never saw a man as uncomfortable in the Dail when caught beside the Taoiseach in full flow as Shane Mc Entee was during the speech.He couldn’t get off camera quick enough.Fair dues to him.Either that or he was in a bad way to go to the jacks.

I have a solution by the way.Ireland can contact the Chineses (there are probably enough old contacts in Government circles still open and they have huge experience in suppressing religion in Nepal) ) who have an official Catholic church there under State control, for advice on how to start up an official Church of Ireland .”Practising Catholics” who resent the Popes leadership can join up.They  can make it mandatory for whatever aspects of Confession they want to be reported to the Police.And Sinead O Connor can resume her Bishopric.She has suitable form,having trashed a picture of the Pope on American t.v. Now this has been done before and assets sequestered .But the new Church of Ireland can be differentiated by the insertion of the word Catholic along with the rest of the title.

In the meantime those of us who are not a la carte Catholics will continue to honour the  laws of God as best our human frailty allows.We will continue to support the many church gate collections we contribute to and pray for guidance,for the survivsal of our family and friends through the financial turbulence wrought on us by nanny state Caesars ,who increase their own powers exponentially , and a happy death when the time comes .

I am sorely tempted to do as a man I knew did, that is to say the Rosary at the belittlers ,not for them, but will pray to resist this temptation.

Feis Cup.Summerhill 1 -15.Dunderry 1-10

Played tonight in Trim in ideal conditions for football,I was delighted but not surprised when one of the Trim officials ,seeing that I was under pressure physically ,offered and got me a chair to sit down and watch the match.You are a gentleman Mr Gaynor ,I think.Thanks again.Genuine Trim people are like that.
Dunderry team started was:-
                                                   Jennings
Mc Cormack D.                       Callaghan D.                       Newman G.
Kelleher                                    Stephens E.                         Garry A.
                       Callaghan D.                        Fay.
Garry M                                   Garry T.J.                            Coogan A.
Clarke D.                                  Newman A,                        Callaghan K.

Swiss was carted off at an early stage to hospital.We think he broke his wrist  but hope otherwise.In these dastardly times to be out of work,if one has work,is depressing.
It is the first time that I can remember since the Elder Callaghan brothers played, that three brothers played together on the team,the three Garrys,sons of Michael the "bear".
We couldn't get going at all in the first half and went in down 1-7 to 0-4.
during the second half the nearest we got to them was five points ,which seperated the teams at the end on the scoreline cited above.
Brought on were Ted Dowd,Peadar Callaghan,Trevor Conaty,Simon Carty and Kevin Slattery.And we still had subs left over on the line aside altogether from four injured players at least and Stephen Coogan,unavailable because of County considerations.
We have played better.
I must confess that my ambition exceeded my ability on the bicycle front as I attempted to shake off the webs and resume cycling again.The averdepois you know.By the time I got to Carrolstown on the way to Trim , I was well bet and had to take five.The will to live was seeping from my sweating excuse for a body and my breath coming in gulps.I swear that when I was smoking years ago I had a lot more breath.
Anyhow Grainne Dowd,Ted's wife pulled up in the car and offered me a lift.Problem was the tricycle wouldn't fit in her car.So she cycled it back to a gateway and hid it in a field.And off we went to the game with Jack ,Tadgh and Molly all under six, to the game.
AS they say "an ounce of breeeding is worth a ton of feeding" and Ted certainly hit the jackpot there.
There sure are good people around and long may they live. 

Dunderry V Kilmessan in Kiltale.02/07/2011 I.H.C.

Dunderry.

                           Conor Farrell (Bomber)

Davy Stephens (Sprog)   Davy Mc Cormack (Spongy)  Joey Martin (Joey)

Conor O Shea(Conor )Ivan Mc Cormack(Ivo) Dylan keenan.(Dylan)

      Kevin Dowd (Ted)             Bob Doherty (Doc)

Killian Minogue           Davy Geraghty   Chris Harrington (Harrow)

Ownie Mac Cormack    Evan Stephens (Finn ) David Gilkinson (Gilki)

Out with injuries.Darren Callaghan.Paddy Gorey,Eddie Maguire,Kevin Bruton,Damian Bruton,

And Brendan Wright.Stephen Coogan not available because of upcoming minor football intercounty match.

Gilki registers first point from play after good combination play.After some end to end stuff Geraghty handpasses to Bob who splits the posts.Finn is fouled on seventy yard line .Ivo splits posts from free.Both sides exchange wides.KIlmessan awarded a free and convert from distance.

After broken play Finn scores a point from play.Dunderry defend well and Ted is fouled  halfway line .Ivo converts.Inaccurate shooting and good defending from both sides force a number of wides.After more end to end stuff KIlmessan convert a free from 80 yards.A period of honest endeavour from both sides follows but scorable chances are missed ,Half time arrives .We are ahead by 0-5 to 0-2.

This does not reflect our superiority over the half. All sectors are giving it diddy but it is not reflected on the scoreboard.

KIlmessan score a point from throw in.We are not looking good.Then Bob wins a hard ball and lets in to Gilky who scores a fine point.WE work ball from full back line to Finn who splits the post.We have lifted our game and are fighting hard for ball all over the field.All doing better.Ownie scores a point from play.Geraghty scores a minor from play.We are on a roll.Ownie scores a minor from play.Harry gets ion on the act with a point from distance.Sprog.Spongie ,Joey and O Shea defending well at this juncture.Gilky lands an impossible point.O Shea feeds Harrow who converts from 70 yards.Harro on a roll.O Shea opening shoulders as is Minogue.Bob pops sideline ball to Geraghty who scores another point.On a roll too.Teams exchange points.Ownie scoring from Finns breakdown.O Shea passes to Geraghty who splits posts again.0-18 to 0-3.Sprog makes some brilliant interceptions and forces a wide. Ref gives sympathy free to Kilmessan .They rattle the net.Another sympathy free to Kilmessan.Another goal.Final score.o-18 to 2-3.

There is no such thing as a bad Kilmesan team and our victory was hard earned.Backs,midfield and forwards were solid when they settled.Given the number of injuries we had I was apprehensive.The blend is good and all played well .Gilky,Harrow and Davy Geraghty are starting to come out of their shells and this is a good thing.

Good day at office.

Ref. played himself and knows what it is about. A job well done.

Sitting targets in our own Country.

A good friend of the blog related to me his frustration at the antics of some Romanian guests in our multicultural post colonial society.He did so reluctantly as the usual suspects would be biting at the bit to scream "racism"at the very notion that people without any moral compass could do any wrong.
My friend was leaving his flat in Dublin last Saturday evening to come to Navan for the game against Kildare ,pulled the front door after him and was on his mobile in his car pulling out of the driveway when he copped that he was under observation by a car load of East Europeans parked a short distance away.He stopped the car ,got out and left his mobile on the roof as he returned to double check the locks on the house door .Big mistake.The East Europeans swarmed his car ,lifted what they could out of it and stole his mobile phone.He was outnumbered and aside from shouting at them could do little.They made off in a car far superior to his.He didn't get the number,His evening ruined he immediately contacted his mobile company reporting the theft and cancelling the number.This took 20 minutes and it took another 20 minutes to cancel the number..In that time the thieves had run up a bill of E40.00 in calls to Romania.
This is not to tar everybody with the same brush,but these specific guests of our country are giving other people from the region a bad name.
If your phone goes missing report it immediately.

Fine Gael to decommission confession?

An article is brewing.
In the meantime I wonder will Fine Gael activists continue to actively participate in Mass over the weekend or are they in place awaiting the day when the Party Will bid for a complete takeover of Catholicism.I will search for guidance at Mass and pray for guidance over the next week.
I will be contemplating whether the Church should consider such sanctions as refusal to administer the Sacraments to those who attack its Sacraments and whether excommunication of such persons and parties is warranted. It comes as no surprise that secularist Europhiles should raise such issues .

Dunderry's contribution to Meath Kildare Classic.

Just finished watching the Match on the television.It was a powerful game and only the kick of a ball seperated the teams.Plenty of" only ifs".
It was noticable that there were huge swathes of empty terraces at the game.Whether this was due to over officious health and safety precautions or underselling of the allocated tickets remains to be seen.
What I wish to concentrate on is the Dunderry connection to the occassion.
Firstly Mandy Dowd sang the National Anthem before the game.She is a daughter of the famous Dunderry man Tommy who did so much as a player and selector for both Club and County and is a repeat of her magnificient performance of the same Anthem which she sang at the official opening of the Dunderry Dressing rooms  in 2008 when Meath played Mayo.
Secondly Stephen Bray is the son of a Dunderry man who gave great service to the Club.Our loss is Navan's gain.
The Dunderry under 12 football team provided the half time entertainment.
No doubt Tommy Nally was stewarding as he has done for yonks.
And finally Barry Callaghan another former Dunderry and Meath player,selector and current club intermediate football manager, walked from the selector's job when Graham Geraghty was recalled to the panel recently.
Not bad for a rural backwater?

Christian Prayer is a rigmarole and means nothing said David Norris.

According to today's Irish Independent ,the aspiring Presidential Canditate,made the following remarks two years ago ,in connection with the daily prayer recited at the beginning of Seanad and Dail sittings.
Deploring the fact that such sittings began with a prayer he said"It's a rigmarole,it means nothing and we should be alert to the fact that there are atheists,agnostics,Jews and Muslims and I just think it makes a mockery of the whole thing,to involke Jesus Christ as the source of our doings here".
This man wants to represent all the people of Ireland ,including Christians ,I presume.You can see now the respect he holds for Christian beliefs and Religions.
The Labour Party has long been recognised as containing its fair share of professed atheists and agnostics.It is no surprise therefor to read that Aodhan O Riordan  a Labour T.D. of Dublin Central also calling for the axing of the prayer.
If this concerns you ,you should seek clarification from you local Labour representatives to ascertain if this is official Labour policy and whether their Presidential canditate also shares these views.
Remember,Nationalist Christian Irish =bad.Post colonial multiculturalism =good.
See earlier blog on "Old Nick".  

Alan Shatters all hope of transparency.

Any notion anyone had that the present coalition would be more transparent than their predecessors have been firmly buried by the decidion of the present MInister for Justice to delete from the Courts Service website the response of the judiciary to the Government's proposals to reduce the pay of said judiciary.
This decision,despite the consent of the Government's own law officer,the Attorney General ,for its publication ,smacks of censorship of the worst kind,fear of open debate and is itself proof of the undesirability of placing the judges even more in hock to the Government.After all if the judges are so beholden to the Minister at the moment that they agree to this unreasonable request for deletion without a fight ,they will surely be pussy cats entirely when the Government fully controls the purse strings at its whim.
God help anyone then who challenges the might of the State or our European masters.What judge in his/her right mind would rule against them in the knowledge that they could be impoverished for so doing.Don't mind politician's promises nor assurances that this would not happen.Think only of the alacrity with which concrete promises relating to hospital services are being abandoned and the furious backpedalling on the issue.
Not to labour the point further another fine gael mess we are landed in.
If the judges are percieved to be in the pockets of the Government it will eventually dawn on people that recourse to the courts is a waste of time and that matters ought be handled outside the law,a recipe for anarchy and an indicator of a facist State.
It goes without saying that if the judiciary are faced down and not let raise the issues as publicly as the Government does,the rest of us have no chance whatsoever and the mushroom treatment practised in this country for far too long will be cemented for further generations who cannot escape these shores.

Cemetery Sunday in Dunderry.

There was standing room only in Dunderry Church today at 11a,m. as Mass was celebrated before the blessing of the graves in the local cemetery.A massive turnout thanks be to God.
The weather held good,and the faithful made their way to the graveyard after Mass where the graves were blessed and a decade of the Holy Rosary and accompanying prayers recited by the well humoured and respectful congretation.
It was great to see so many relations of the deceased from all over Ireland and indeed further afield participating in the Catholic ritual of honouring and praying for the repose of the dead.
Father Hornick conducted the ceremonies with his usual efficiency and was his usual thoughtful and accomodating self.
The graves and graveyard were in pristine order and clearly huge efforts were made by all concerned to rise to the occassion.
Car parking was kindly provided by Joe Clarke.
On a personal level it was gratifying to be accompanied on the trip to the graveyard by my grandson Padraic who cycled his bike there with my good self.He is three.
The other graveyards will be blessed as follows:-
Churchtown.  Tuesday 12th.7.30 p.m.
Retaine.          Wednesday 13th.7.30.p.m.
Clady.             Thursday   14th 7.30.p.m.
Kilcooley        Thursday 17th 8.00 p.m.
KIlbride.          Sunday 17th .Mass 7.00 p..m.
Moymet.          Tuesday 19th 7.30.p.m.
Tullaghanogue.Wednesday 20th.7.30.p.m.
Black Church.   Thursday 21st.7.30. p.m.

Denis Naughten does not make Fear Breaga list.

I have been asked to define the term"Fear Breaga"again.It is the Irish language word for" scarecrow".Translated literally back from Irish to English it would read "false man",which is what a scarecrow is.Yes Irish is a fierce descriptive language ,which makes it a shame that we all don't use it as a working language.
Anyhow my late uncle used it to describe people who were false either in their deeds or utterances.
It gives me the greatest pleasure to say that Denis Naughten,who was elected as a Fine Gael T.D. by the people of Roscommon ,who pre election gave his Party's undertaking that there would be no scale back in the services of Roscommon Hospital under a Fine Gael led Government ,has not made it on to the Fir Breaga list .
This is because he matched his deeds and words and did the manly and proper thing by voting in the Dail consistent with his pre election undertaking .He was expelled from his Party for this reason.
Not for him the weasel words nor any attempt to hide behind the skirts of HIQUA where  many others are cowering,just as the last crowd used cower behind the skirt of the H.S.E.
Watch now as our own T.D.s try to wrangle out of their undertakings when Navan's turn comes.    

Letter from Old Nick a year on.

On 28^th.March 2010 I composed this letter for another publication.
“The following missive materialised on my desk last week.Aside from being hot to the touch it smelt strongly of fire and brimstone,with a return address of Sodom”.

“Dear Ranter,

I can see that your views are clearly misguided and have no place in this post colonial multicultural society in which we live .I mean how, in the name of logic and reason,could   such concepts as fair play and religion have any currency in  modern Ireland.

You see,logic and reason are the only yardsticks by which human behaviour can be regulated.This message I have been  whispering seductively since the start of time(which I can say without fear of contradiction was an accidental event, had no divine connection whatsoever and which phrase will be abolished as offensive to pagans due to quasi religious concepts  held by Catholic bigots but not by Muslims, Jews and others ,who are entitled to their beliefs in a way that Catholics are not).

Amongst my most fervent devotees are Stalin and Mao ,former staunch atheists ,who murdered countless millions  who opposed them.They are my pride and joy (and got some surprise when your man above sent them to me)  and head the serried ranks of the many devotees prostrating themselves at my right hoof.I nearly said God bless them ,but resiled, now that I have religion on the run and intend to abolish it.Starting in the schools and  with the Angelus ,which is so offensive to secularists and liberals and their finely tuned sensibilities.I mean logic and reason clearly indicate that there is no such thing as God and why should they even be asked to listen to those ridiculous bells tolling for two minutes every day.

You should know that I had you Paddies where I wanted you for the best part of a Millennium,when the world’s greatest empire ruled your pathetic country.There was one law ,the law of the State,which I ensured was used as an instrument of oppression and control to destroy you.I made sure your judges kept in line by regulating their remuneration.They  made sure that you lost your lands ,your heritage and your lives.Through starvation, slavery ,forced emigration ,torture and murder I made you ashamed of your language and appearance .And the sweetest bit.My buddy Mammon helped me to recruit your own people in my mission. 

Those were the days.God (there I go again),how much it pleased me to have your clergy hunted down like dogs(where were the Greens for the dogs) , tortured and killed (hung drawn and quartered).I did all I could to seize all your  Catholic property for Henry the divorcee so he could keep marrying until he clicked(he didn’t) and created his own religion.

To this day I curse that fella Pearse and his buddies.When all logic and reason indicated that your nation were beaten and broken and had no chance, they rose up.I still cannot understand how they started a movement that won the day .

Literally I have had my tail between my legs since and by stealth ,cunning and clever strategy am well on the way to reclaiming former glory.

Aside from infiltrating your clergy with deviants who violated your children I have also done my best to use your posher clergy to educate your ruling classes in their fee paying schools,where native games are verboten,the games of your former colonists inculcated and every effort made to eradicate anything that smacks of an Irish accent.It is no accident that the majority of your movers, shakers  and opinion formers have long since abandoned that ridiculous Irish brogue.

I have also turned mainstream media against your church and ensured that State law  again has currency as in the days of yore.

Today is my happiest day in a long time.In your city of limerick the trendy rugby heads ,so beloved of the mainstream media,,are sporting shirts bragging that rugby is officially bigger than Catholicism there and that Mass is now available in Thomond Park.I rejoice and admire all those who have helped me achieve this triumph.Avarice is now officially mainstream and pursuit of profit the be all and end all.. Another stab in the body of your man above on the anniversary of his crucification.

I will have my way and make every town in Ieland like Limerick.AND Ranter I will get you too.

Forever Yours,

Nick.”

Since then I wrote on the government proposal to seize religious property a la Cromwell ,Henry VIII and the statsi of East Germany  (see my blog on Navan Male Choir,noting in particular Rory Quinn’s claim that ownership is power). I  see that in his efforts to decommission the Catholic ethos  from the catholic schools he says now that it is about patronage and pluralism not ownership.This about turn arose when it was pointed out to him that the trustees of the schools could not by state law give the schools up for nothing and that the trusts  would have to be compensated by consideration of equal value.
Look this is nothing more than a land grab by the State orchestrated in the main by those who despise Catholicism.The facts are that the people gave money to Catholic parishes and communities  and people made bequests and inter vivos gifts to Catholic organisations in  order to provide education for poor people in the main,when the State stood idly by. If agnostic,aethist and anti catholic individuals want to start schools that teach the way they want, let them fund raise in the same way our ancestors did and people still do.

Remember  nationalist  catholic  Irish ---bad

Pluralist and multiculturalist europhile –good.

Judgement Day

After 100 days the blog's judgement on our Master's political promises  falls for review
(1)End to Repossessions and Evictions from residences in genuine cases
STILL GOING AHEAD.NO CHANGE.
(2)End to committal orders for people who genuinely cannot pay their debts.
STILL GOING AHEAD.NO CHANGE.
(3)End to economic emigration.
STILL GOING AHEAD.NO CHANGE.
(4)Reduce unemployment rate.
NO REDUCTION.IF ANYTHING NUMBER OF LONG TERM UNEMPLOYED IS GREATER.

One way of getting rid of rats was to place a number of them in a barrell,place a lid with air holes on it and go away for a suitable period.On the expiry of that period only one rat would be left.He would have killed the other rats and devoured them,in the process getting a taste for rat flesh.Releasing him or her in the infested area would soon clear it as he would turn predator on his own.
This recession is like that.Those without either financial clout or physical courage are being persecuted by private and state enforcers and grippers who threaten them at every hand's turn,rachet up the debt by court and other actions .spy constantly on their victims and drive their quarry to despair or worse.The more vicious are getting a taste for it.
There is no Robin Hood for the unfortunate victims and many are heading away just to get a night's sleep in any country bar Ireland.
The recent urging by the Finance Minister to spend ,spend ,spend leaves a sour taste in the mouths of the despairing.Are these guys becoming detached from reality so soon?
My view is that no genuine person should be evicted from his residence,nor jailed because he cannot genuinely pay a monetary fine nor debt,nor be left short of the necessities of life.
Not much to ask for but seemingly beyond the competence of our home grown masters,who continue to farm us for the benefit of the Europhiles.

Sold a Shitty Pup

I have earlier alluded to the fact that Fine Gael  in particular courted the farming community  for their votes in the run up to the last election.Reports suggest that they got about 70% of the vote.They were particularly anxious in this constituency to portray themselves as the very best friends of rural residents in such matters as :-
(1)Reversing the ban on stag hunting.
(2)Preserving the rural way of life
(3)Setting up a fund to defray the cost of challenging Eirgrid in their plan to run the pylons over the ground.(I personally heard this commitment given by their representative at an anti -pylon meeting prior to the election).
Unless I have been asleep there is no sign of 1 or 3 above being attended to and they are meeting the I.F.A to ease in the Shite tax.
Presumably those well known rural pursuit individuals who organised support for  Fine Gel will now have the decency to pursue  reversal of  this tax and will be as vocal in this now as they were in other matters beforehand.
Lads ye were sold a pup .Have the decency to say it loud and often.
As for the votes garnered and promises made in relation to Navan Hospital,promises that did not materialise ,nor were never likely to be delivered ,I hope that those T.D.s that opportunistically led the protests now have the honesty to admit that they sold a pup to the electorate.
I am flattered to see that some of my proposals for reform of the health services (see earlier blog on Health Policy) have now been taken on board by some commentators.Look lads,take them all on board and the problems will be solved overnight.
Another suggestion.Put mothers of seven or more ,who have raised their children on modest income, in charge of each ward in all hospitals.I'd say they wouldn't be long getting them shipshape.
And finally gonad politics is making its debut.How in the name of all that's holy ought the the shape of a person's gonads be a factor in determining suitability for political office,or indded any job.Will we see sex change operations by aspiring male politicans to make selection for office easier.And just who will check the shape of the individual's gonads to see that they meet the criteria.
Another pup being touted for sale.

Dunderry V Walterstown Feis Cup Dunderry tuesday 21/6/2011

On this the longest day of the year,there was a fierce shower of rain for an hour before the match.The pitch was covered in water for a while but was rock hard underneath and the lads were busy with forks and prods trying to drain away the water.It worked and the match went ahead.
Team.
                                                   Jennings
Lar Callaghan                             Red Callaghan                     Mc Cormack

Harte                                           Stephens                              Garry
                                  Fay                                Peadar Callaghan

Andy Coogan                              Ivan Mc Cormack                Bob Doherty

Keith Callaghan                           Stephen Coogan                   Swiss Clarke.

This was a fair game of football given the conditions,with the ball changing from end to end.Good standard I thought played in a very sporting manner.We led for most of the first half and Walterstown were lucky to garner 2 points in the first 20 minutes ,due to 2 very soft frees given by the referee against us.They actually went in 2 points up as they got a goal and point in the last five minutes of the half. Score at half time .Walterstown 1--03 to 0--5.
Lar went off with an injury after 10 minutes to be replaced by Slatts.
In a ding dong second half we outplayed them on the score board to win by two.Kelleher,Conaty ,Ke   nneally and Owen Dempsey replaced Keith ,Ivan, Andy and Alan Garry.
The full back line was solid with Davy Mac excelling,,the half back line excellent particularly Stephens and Harte ,the former delivering several long range foot passes to the inside forwards,the mid field on top mostly and Swiss ran himself into thr ground in his roving role contributing a number of fine points.
It was a tough day for fowards,the backs having the advantage in the weather conditions, but they eked out enough hard earned scores to pull ahead in the last five minutes.We won by 1-09 to 1-07.
It may seem a low score but in the conditions it was fine,most of the match being played in drizzle.It is telling that our lads were applauded from the field ,something you don't see every day.
Good day in office.
Report on hurling match v Rathmolyn cooking.     

Dunderry V Carnaross I.F.C.

Venue .Parc.Tailteann, Navan 11/06/2011.

Pitch in great condition. No wind. Overcast.

Was there at 6.00,half hour before kick off as didn’t want to be in queue because of dodgy leg and inability to walk far.Went in players entrance because cannot pass through styles.Whatever thought I might have entertained that free admission might apply disappeared, with money man nearly snatching hand off along with tenner.

Went to practise pitch to see lads warming up.The Barr,T.Garry ,Legend,Con and Pip all there.Phil Fay ,Seamin and Jack Devine and Billy casting benevolent eye.Jack remarking to me”Hoping HE didn’t come.”HE being  “hard luck”,a private joke from time I was on line as Sec. And he as P.R.O.You know the way it is.If some lads make a hames of it it is “hard Luck”,if other guys do the same it is “what a fucking gobshite.”Funny enough when things are going well hard luck stays at home.

There is a small crowd on the stand and about four on the terrace opposite the stand.No one at the back of each goal.

The Team.

                                                    David Jennings

                                                    (son of Pat)

Kevin Slattery                    Darren (Red) Callaghan        Davy Mc Cormack

(son of Bill)                          (Oliver)                                     (Noel)

Colm Harte                         Evan Stephens(Finn)              Alan Garry

(Jim)                                      (Daithi)                                     (Michael the bear)

                   David Callaghan(Lar)          Darren Fay

                             (Michael)                     (Allstar)

Andy Coogan                     Kevin Dowd (Ted)                   Damian Clarke (Swiss)

(Tony Calfer)                      (Tommy)                                    (Vincent)

Stephen Coogan(Fairhill)                Paddy Kenneally                      Keith Callaghan

(Christy)                                               (Stan)                                         (Gerry)

I set out the names of the fathers as some of the blog viewers may not know the present generation.

The big men for Carnaross would be Ollie Murphy,John L Mc Gee,the Nugent brothers and Comaskey who must be the best midfielder in Meath(how he is not on the Meath team is beyond me ).To add spice to the occasion my brother Alan is manager of Carnaross.Winner take all.

Murphy has number 14 on his back.Mc Gee number 11.As anticipated they switch positions before the throw in.Idea would be to hit ball in high to Mc Gee who is taller than Red.

The ball is in the game is on.

We earn free from throw in.Fairhill collects and to Fay who lets in long ball to Keith.Ball breaks but we fail to capitalise and a free out awarded against us.Missed opportunity.Carnaross work ball down wing,cut out by Garry to Swiss to Ted and Carnaross retrieve it ,send in long towards Mc Gee but it is cut out by Finn who passes to Jennings to Slatts to Mc Cormack to Andy who lets long ball in.  Kenneally wins ball and earns free about 30 yards out, half way between sideline and centre.Fairhill converts free from ground.Good score from his  wrong side.Lar wins break from kickout to Fairhill to Garry to Keith who scores a minor.Broken play ends with Fay hitting wide from 50 yards.Carnaross win free from kickout .No dirty play but their man goes down.From free Carnaross play keep ball and take a point from play 40 yards out.We earn ball and Slatts to Finn to Harte to Kenneally who takes fine point forty yards out.Another player from the border down.Are they carrying a lot of injuries?We disposses Carnaross fron kickout but they retrieve the ball around the middle.Finn runs back in front of Mc Gee but ball worked to Murphy and interplay ends with Mc Gee in possession.He kicks wide under pressure.They win free from kickout and let it in quick to Mc Gee who fluffs shot.Ball gathered by Davy Mac .Keepball played and Fairhill misdirects ball to opposition.Long ball to Mc Gee who again misses from close in.Another border man on ground.Must be a plague of injuries.Carnaross 10 wins ball to 8 who converts.Carnaross win kickout and send to McGee who is fouled.They convert free.Three points each.Carnaross  win kickout but lose possession to Harte ,to Fay,whose long ball is mopped up by their full back line.They play keepball and eventually send long ball to Mc Gee who lays ball off for point.Ball collected by Stephens who hits long to Keith 40 yards out and he shoots short to goalie.They build from the goals and long ball to Mc Gee wide.Stephens is trying to cover back in front of Mc Gee to stem flow to him.This is leaving Murphy space.Different plan needed.Short kickout to Finn,to Davy Mac,to Garry.Gets tough shoulder and ball breaks to Carnaross.They lose ball to Red,to Swiss to Lar,to Kenneally.Fouled.Quick fre beaks to them and into our full back line.Slatts gathers,to Fay,to Coogan,to Lar,to Fay,long ball in to Kenneally,who is fouled near corner flag.Fairhill to Andy to Swiss,whose shot breaks to Ted to Harte .Wide of posts and free to us from edge of D straight in front of goal.Fairhill converts.We win ball from kickout and work to Fairhill who hits post with shot.Carnaross break and send long to McGee who shoots wide.We win throw in from disputed free and work ball to Kenneally who makes brave burst but is dispossessed and ball worked to Mc Gee,who is surrounded by our lads and can’t get shot in.He passes out and ball shot wide.Stephens and Garry switch. Swiss wins kick out and is fouled.Another border man down.From broken play Kenneally passes to Fairhill.who score from play.Good point.They win kivkout and work ball to Murphy who offloads it. Kicked wide.Carnaross win free from kickout and long ball to corner,where they lift from ground and concede free.From broken play Mc Gee scores a minor from a free.They win kickout but Ted retrieves to Fay to Harte to Kenneally to Fairhill.Point.Ball breaks to Garry,to Swiss to Harte to Kenneally ,dispossessed.Ping pong football up and down the field ends when Keith gathers ball,sidesteps marker and takes a minor. 0-7 to 0-5 in our favopur.Half time whistle blows.

Very average football that half.But great to be ahead.

Dunderry later on field than Carnaross.Must be a bollicking going on.No changes in personnel apparent.From throw in ball worked to Ted,who hits post and wide.They win kickout and pass  to Murphy who passKto 9 is cleverly diverted by Fay to kenneally.who shoots wide.Fay breaks ball to Coogan.to Kenneally who atones for last miss with a minor from 45 yards..WE win break from kickout.Coogan to Dowd to Garry whose pass is intercepted.Work ball to Mc Gee.Red forces shot .Wide.Dunderry backs surround Carnaross forwards and stifle them.Ball got by Finn,to Slatts,to Kenneally.Beaten by bounce.Ball back in to our half .Stephens wins it and to Jennings.We counterattack and they do.Ends with a carnaross wide.More end to end play terminates with another McGee wide.Fay wins kickout and sends long ball to Ted ,to Kenneally whose shot is deflected for a 50.Fairhill converts. (His ma is seen texting Conor Counihan). 0-9 to 0-5 in our favour.

Stephens to lar who lets in long.Carnaross intercept and work to Mc Gee who is quickly closed down and shot diverted for a 50,which they send wide.Murphy picked up by Davy Mac as he hovers around the full forward line..Garry on 15.Red fiollows Mc Gee further out.They work ball in but good defending forces a wide.Carnaross win break and register a good point from play.Ivan Mc Cormack and Bob Doherty on for Ted and Keith.Mc Gee gathers kickout and to Murphy who lays it off.Shot wide.Slatts off ,Peadar Callaghan(son of Henry) on.Lar gone full back.Attack and counter attack end when a quick free to Fairhill is converted.Mc Gee wins ball from kickout and keepball by both sides end with Fairhill wide from play.Period of keepball end with move involving Stephens,Fay and Fairhill,who scores magnificient point.(Counihan’s helicopter has landed).That was a great move capped by a magnificient point.Another Carnaross man is down.No reason.must be shipping big injury list.Mc Gee back in full.Red in close attendance.Murphy back out with Lar in close attendance.Ball worked to Ivan who sends to Coogan.Wide.Lar moves back on Mc Gee.Paddy Kenneally off.J.P. his brother replaces him.Murphy wins kickout and ball worked to Mc Gee who goals.0-11 to 1-06 to the Fort of the Oaks.We work ball to Fay who scores debut point ,I think,for Dunderry.KIckout won by Finn to Swiss to Bob,who mishits and Carnaross intercept.Broken play and clever interpassing by Dunderry earn another Fairhill point from play.Fay moves back on Mc Gee and Trevor Conaty on for Andy Coogan.Every ball is desperately contested and Murphy hits wide.4 minutes left 4 points in it.Dunderry play keepball and through a succession of players work ball to Ivan who scores a minor.Carnaross fight back and earn close  free.We line goals and they take point.Murphy has argument with himself.They play on and secure a minor.Final whistle blows.

Ref.Watch.

Did well I thought.Was seemingly instructed on his job during course of game.(not by us I hasten to add)

Post Mortem.

I have nothing but praise for both teams.On mature reflection afterwards it struck me that there would be only one of the starting fifteen who could say for definite that  he had work to go to on Monday morning.I understand that Carnaross have  been badly hit by emigration also.I heard after that another local team will be missing 6 of their starting 15 for their next outing and yet another has been ravaged similarly..

How these young men stick it I cannot understand.And I must say that our politicians have no consciences to let this state of affairs continue.They are utterly shameless .Only the clubs are keeping a lid on the energies of the prime of our youth there would be social revolution.The way things are shaping the country will be devoid of Irishmen soon and a whole generation gone.The clubs will have to take a lead here and start pressurising the political classes to get their fingers out.

I therefor take my hat off to both sides for the contest and bow to the fortitude of all the players and mentors.The first half was not great but the second half was entertaining.We are a work in progress and will improve,as indeed we must.From now on it is knock out for us.We must win all the matches to stay in.For Carnaross it is an end to this year’s dream.

Post post mortem.

A confluence of circumstances lifted poverty from misery’s back last Saturday.The post match conference lined up with a 40^th birthday in Horans.Nance was bustling behind the bar,the people got merry on little as drink is so rarely imbibed now and a great night was had.Of such are memories made.

Rumour has it that the Pylon people are active locally and despite opposition are using all legal means to push their case.They are not welcome in Dunderry,Any of ye abroad affected should note.

Incidentally all the politicians promises made before the last elections in this regard are like last winter snow-evaporated.Par for the course i’d say.

Helllo to Brian in New York and all the emigrants who tune in wherever ye are.

Brian Lenihan R.I.P.

I never met this man.I did however meet his late father.When we were all at home in Blanchardstown years ago and most of the eleven people living in 4 Tolka View were eligible to vote,Brian Senior often lingered to extract the vote.Which he would usually get,it must be said.He was very influential in securing the Morgan Schools grounds for St.Brigids G.A.A.Club in the early seventies as he used his influence to overcome the reverse bias then evident in the G.A.A. Club's attempts to secure the playing fields of a Protestant boarding school.
My late mother Peggy did however meet him and had reason to have recourse to him.Were she alive I would have sought her permission to relate this and I would have said nothing about his demise ,but both are now dead and I feel it only fair to give credit where it is due.
For a period after my late father's death and during a period when Fianna Fail was in Government with the now defunct P.D.s Blanchardstown was a village of elderly widows.Around this time the new motorway behind my mother's house in Tolka View had opened and this gave ready access to certain persons of low breeding to my mother's house ,which was burgled a number of times .She was one frightened lady,as were her neighbours.
Anyhow the building at the top of the lane,which formerly housed Jemmy Godley's clothes shop and A.I.B. was vacant and plans were afoot to make it into a probation service depot and a drug addddict  drop in unit.You can see that this would have inspired huge anxierty in a road of elderly widows.
Never one to lie down,my mother wrote to the relevant minister outlining her anxieties .
She told me that she got the most insulting and belittling response she ever suffered. She was so upset thar she burned it so I cannot say whether the Minister or one of his minnions wrote it  but its effect was that not only would the plans not be changed ,but that such a combination of services would enhance the lives of the residents.This is called negotiation by putting your boot on the throat of the other party.
No doubt the writer selflessly passed up the opportunity to have such a service beside his own home.Incidentally since I reverted to civil society I have found that there are pockets of the Public Service which treat ordinary people as gobshites if they think they can get away with it ,so such a reply comes as no surprise to me now.   
This is where the late Brian Lenehan came in.She contacted him,explained the position to him and the matter was resolved in a manner befitting the situation.
Ar dheis De go raibh a anam dilis.

Dunderry V Carnaross I .F.C.

We won by three and deserved it.The Fairhill boy ,grandson of Jimmy and Molly ,son of Christy and a half O Roirdan was outstanding.Full report must my return to sobriety.

The flying shite.

I know a fellow who married in the early  nineteen seventies.He had little money and built a snug prefab in his parent’s garden.It was made from wood and rested on concrete pillars an average of three feet from the ground.It was fairly well insulated and cool in summer and warm enough in winter.Heated by electric storage heaters it was the grandest.It was plumbed for water and sewage.Because it was raised from the ground the service pipes had to insulated or they would freeze in winter.While he lived there he maintained the insulation on the pipes and heated the building in winter and the pipes never froze.

It served them well and they moved on.As he had many siblings and as space was constrained in the family home next door two of his younger brothers were glad to move in.They were either at school or college and had very little money.None of us had.In fact the two chairs they owned were rescued from a nearby river when it was flooded.The storage heaters were disconnected because they couldn’t pay for the electricity and the lagging around the service pipes fell off.

In the summers this made no difference but in winter the water within the building used freeze including the water in the toilet bowl.You get the picture.

The clothes line was immediately opposite the bathroom window and about ten feet distant.

One freezing winter’s day the water in the jacks was frozen,as was a brown trout embedded in the water.One of the lads was in a bad way to make a deposit.He hacked through the ice including the trout,placed it in a plastic bag and in his haste flung it out the window.His mother was advancing towards the clothes line and ducked as the parcel nearly took the head off her.”What in the name of God is that” she asked.”Well that mother is what’s known as a flying shite”.was the accurate reply.

Now Hogan the minister for whatever he is minister for has recently announced a plethora of future charges,about which more anon,including a tax on septic tanks.So as we can be clear on this a septic tank is built by a householder on his own property to process human waste generated by the household at no cost to the State.All the maintainance is paid by the householder.

We as a nation send monies to third world countries to improve hygiene and human waste disposal for reasons of good health practise.People here dig septic tanks for the same reason.Before their advent in rural Ireland people relieved themselves in the open air in all weather.Even the elderly.

Now Philo of the ranchers and  Eamo of the workers  (assuming they say the same in public and privyate) intend taxing us for this priveledge.It  was for this they were voted in.No doubt Angela and Nicholas and our good friends in Europe will pat them on the back(side)  for such innovative thinking and our spineless politicos and senior public servants will report this innovative move to the American diplomats and Euro masters as further evidence of our passivity.I can hear them say”we have them scared shitless”to the guffaws.

For myself I intend to go alfresco from the introduction of the charge and show the politicos who vote it in what I think of them by sending to them in their clinics or wherever they hide,once a week in rotation one only flying shite  as my contribution and I urge ye all to do the same.

Henceforth every time Philo comes to my attention I will think Philo an Caice. It might stick. 

Death of Margaret Mc Namara

The above ,a native of Scariff,Co.Clare,died peacefully in the tender care of her nephew Mick Minogue,his wife Miriam,their children Killian and Aoife and a close knit circle of  relatives and friends on Friday June 3rd 2011 in the Minogue household at Athboy Road,Dunderry.
Margaret was eighty years young,had spent about twelve years in America and lived most of her life in her native Scariff.
She came to visit the Minogue household last Christmas twelve months and would not be the first visitor to be smitten with the charms of Dunderry,as she liked it so much ,much to the delight of the Minogues ,she decided to prolong her visit.
She fitted right in with life here and took great pleasure in watching the young Minogues ply their wares on the hurling and camogie fields,usually accompanied by that lady from the hurling bastion of Dublin,Miriam who would have filled in the gaps in her hurling knowledge.
I had the great pleasure of meeting her many times and until recently she could give as good as she got in the verbal stakes.She never handed in her gun and fought the good fight uncomplainingly right up to the end of her sojourn in this life.
I have no doubt that she is quietly and with a twinkle in her eye having a chinwag with those who went before her, under the protection of the lord.
She was a lady.
She is survived most immediately by her sister Beatrice ,aged 83 years and Des Ferguson,her husband  ,who with their son Peter made the massive journey from the United States at short notice to attend the funeral,a large number of nephews and nieces and inlaws and other relatives.
Her remains are reposing in Minogue's house and will leave for Scariff at eleven a.m Sunday for Longs funeral home for five o clock ,where she will lie in repose until she is received in Scariff Church at seven thirty.The funeral Mass will be at 11.30 a.m. on Monday.

Ar deis De go mbeidh a anam dilis.