Lynham's legacy lives on.

Malachy Lynham deceased ended his days in this Parish,having spent over 40 years of his life spreading the word of God in Peru.He was a huge friend of mine and I admired him greatly .He exuded holiness and a humility that was contagious.A native of Rosemount in Westmeath  he was a fierce dedicated GAA man and was the sort of man you would like in your corner if the odds were against you and courage was needed.
His father fought on the Republican side in the civil war and he felt that the victors kept down the vanquished out of spite for far too long.Many Republicans emigrated to South America from his area,he used say ,to get away from the hassle experienced daily.
He was his own man ,very much so ,and despised those priests and others who perpetrated such indignities on children.
His innocent upbringing can be deduced from a true story he told me about the time of his first Confession.In the run up to his first Communion he and his brother,who were separated in age by less than a year,were sure that a Confession they made in the school two weeks before the due date for Communion was the real thing and confessed all known sins up to that point in time.
However within a few days they were told that it was only a trial run and that the real job would be one week hence.Convinced that a number of new sins would be needed for the real job they got more stressed each day trying to conjure them up.Time was rapidly running out when the light shone through.
His brother said "Malachy do as I do."With that he led them to a lined well that was used as a water source for cattle.The brother leaned over the side of the well and started to roar  "Sh  t",P ss ","F ck"into the well repeatedly .Malachy followed suit .And so they clocked up their quota.
His courage under pressure can be gauged by his appearance.Anyone who remembers him in his old age would remember a black quiff of hair on his forehead surrounded by a silver mane.His hair turned from black to silver overnight such was the fear he suffered while giving shelter to persons on the run, while under watch from a murder gang who knew where their quarry was.By God's grace they did not break into the house and murder him and his guests.But his hair changed colour there and then and the black spot was a permanent reminder of that night.
In his time in Peru he grew very fond of a local tea,which he found very calming.It was later banned as being too close to the "real thing",much to his disappointment.
For years he graced us every Sunday for dinner in our house ,showing his appreciation by gifting us a huge jar of coffee every Christmas.Like myself he had a great appetite,eating until he was tired.
Anyhow i digress.
He was more or less given the free run of the sub parish of Kilbride by the PP of Dunderry,that is the Kilbride near Trim not the one near the Dublin border.He always gave a great sermon and I often wonder if they have been saved for posterity as he kept them on computer.He was well liked ,particularly in Kilbride,so much so that when he could no longer drive his car,his nearest neighbour and friend Dinny Gogarty drove him around,assisted in emergencies by Tom o Neill.
Anyhow hit on the idea of having the Vigil Mass at 6.00 p.m. every Saturday,which as far as I know is the earliest Vigil mass in Meath.
It caught on and within a short time it was standing room only every Saturday.Not only do the Kilbride parishioners attend but a liberal sprinkling of Dunderry,Robinstown ,Trim ,Athboy ,Kildalkey and people from further afield attend.
I went last Saturday after a long absence from that Church.
IT was 95% full ,unusually not 100%, due I suspect to Meath's game in Tyrone as I missed the fanatical  GAA men from the Church (think Billy Bligh and his buddies).The attendance represented both genders with a wide spread of ages.
I met that former football warrior of Moymet,Dunderry and Meath fame Dinny Gogarty,looking as good as ever,George O Neill ,whose father Tom is recovering well from surgery,Paddy Gorey ,Bernie Flanagan,Mickey and Rose Daly,Andy Halton,Liam O Farrell,Pat Conroy,Fidelma Bligh   and an tusualTomas O Chonaire o Laimbe,to name a few.
Mass was served by two alter boys and it took father Hornick and two lay Ministers of the Eucharist to attend to the Communicants.
The people who go to Mass here must wonder at the veracity of the oft quoted fall in Mass  attendance.Doesn't apply here.
Maybe Malachy is inspiring a revival from this most magical and humble of places.(Which he often said was no place for a white man,as he was always cold,his blood having been acclimatised to the heat of Peru ).
I like to think so.
Me thinks I heard the howling of a husky as I made my way to the car in the dusk.Ringo ?

Saint Patrick WAS a RURAL man.

Rumour has that St.Patrick first introduced the shamrock at the hill of Tara ,which is only an asses roar from this parish.There is a fair chance he passed through this parish on his travels,though there is no evidence of this.Certainly the parish is dotted with Christian antiquities like the Black Church and the remains of churches in Churchtown,Retaine and Moymet.More likely than not Irish was the spoken language then.It is unlikely that Latin was widely spoken and English was not even invented.
Patrick was brought here as a slave and put to work as a shepherd on a mountainside.He must have liked it as he returned unbidden to spread the Word of God.
He was therefor a Rural man in every sense of the word and spoke Irish.We know that the Kevin Mearses and the Gwen's twomens of this world despise the Irish language,.the Catholic Church and regard the real rural dwellers as little more than muck savages to be discriminated against by penalising them for their independence and regulating them into emigration ,depression ,despair or suicide.
Methinks that maybe the Saint is sowing the green shoots of hope in rural Ireland in general and this parish in particular.
The third musketeer Leo asked me to give a hand with the Conradh Na Gaeilge collection after 11 Mass on Patrick's Day .Glad to help Leo I turned up at 10.30.at which stage the Dunderry Fair people had begun to assemble for guest appearances in Athboy and Navan parades.
First to appear was Dessie Coffey,towing the horses dray complete with creels and full of turf which brother Peter would be showing in the parades to signify rural anger at being debarred from our own bogs .
Surrounded by a gaggle of his own kids and young  Smiths ,Keenan's and Coffey's ,all in period dress,with young Owen on a  high Nellie and a brace of Bonds cycling a tandem in perfect symmetry,his flowing locks took on  a life of their own. .Other exhibits were arriving but I headed into Mass,wher a violinist I don't know excelled ,drawing a round of applause at the end of Mass.
After Mass I headed to Athboy to see the parade.The place was choc a block.Loads of spectators and huge numbers of exhibitors.
Clanna Gael GAA Club,soccer clubs,karate clubs,gun clubs ,Irish dancing schools,assorted charities ,rugby clubs, the autism society,CCE,Rathcairn Irish speaking clubs ,vintage clubs for tractors ,combines ,all sorts of machinery,commecrcial floats,and thousands of children all doing their things with unbridled joy.
Then the rain started .Cold ,persistent ,unrelenting and  peppered with hailstones.It soaked to the shin.For peg leg here there was no escape .I was sopping in minutes and so were all the uncovered exhibitors.Those spectators that could dashed for cover to the pubs and shops .Its an ill wind.Shopkeepers and publicans smiled quietly.But the show went on and the exhibitors stood their ground.Soaked to the skin,thousands of kids followed the example of their elders and displayed the fortitude they will need in rural Ireland to survive.The blue jean queen was really blue and the dry cleaners were smiling.Doctors were bracing their shoulders and rubbing their hands at the anticipated surge in visits from possible pneumatic patients on the morrow.
The Dunderry floats were last.Led by the kids on vintage bikes and fronted by Catherine Foley, a lady Norman, Owen Smith the lord mayor in all his sodden finery and overseen by Mac Kenna, the Chairman of the Board. Old Drudge and young Drudge were  followed by a vintage tractor driven by a tamed (almost )Hatchet and  it stopped to invite me on board the covered float to relieve my obvious discomfort.Fair dues Mac Kenna and Co..
Safely loaded the show progressed.That honorary Dunderry man ,Willie Fay the dealer,had the mike and did a running commentary ,earning the future revenge of every husband whose pub progress he halted by accurately ratting to his missus.He is genuinely witty .
He has his finger on the pulse."Jack Newman here is coming 60.He has 3 acres coming and no woman.There is a want in him .Any takers?"And a butchette rises to the occasion.Want satisfied.?Time will tell.
And then there was Ian the Sec.shepherding the animals with a clatter of Brogans and Martin's ,and Wicklow men with goats and Camogie players and comely maidens giving out free brown bread and no tay and lollipops .And the Black Crow leading Peter's horse pulling a jog of hand cut turf  making the point that we will not be run from our bogs.Lifetime ago the Crow's  uncle Pat was thought to have lost it when he was seen between the shafts of an asses cart pulling a full load of turf with the ass hitched to the back of the cart.Not a bother on Pat though.On the icy road his hob nails gave better traction than than the ass.Perfectly logical and practical.He was better equipped than the ass.
And the ass pulling the cart with the jacks surrounded  by green docks and furze making the point that rather than be bullied on the issue of septic tanks we will give up using them altogether.
"Septic tanks with no flushes,
Just green docks and furze bushes."
And Mickey the butcher with the grandkids in the vintage Model T.Aand the mobile Cottage .And Gus and Olive and Tom  with ewes and lambs and minature horses.The show rolls on.Everybody is drowned.
Mickey Daly Senior stops to carry me back to my car.Then his son John and Mairtin's son ,the image of Seamin invite me in for gargle.Our Helen spots and drags me in for tay and heat.And our Finn  and Aoife and Padraig and Emily and Mags and Niamh meet and compare miseries and we head for the hills.
And back in Dundery the whole menagerie is at the parish hall,drying out,changing clothes ,drinking tay and bracing for the Navan parade to repeat the dose.And they do.
And to Delvin tomorrow.
Our people won't shite on the traces.Rehn and Union and Government take note.
Later rural Ireland produced two matches of passion,from the heart in our Croker..Resilient Crossmaglen.,stubborn Garrycastle,gritty Loughgeil,and  persevering Cooldoire demonstrated the real meaning of place and warmed the cockle's of the heart.Our people.
And the paid professionals on the rugby field swallowed it.
Today in Cork at half time lifelong protagonists Cork and Kerry united during the double bill to leave the Union and its handmaidens in no doubt that we wont tolerate any further humiliations of our heritage in rural schools.
Hon the culchies and Naom Padraig pray for us.You the man.
Happy Patricks Day to all the Irish everywhere.

Honohan sows despair.

The present governor of the Central Bank,that august institution that stood idly by when the banks for which it had responsibility loaned out money hand over fist to those foolish enough to take it,and which failed utterly to behave in a responsible manner ,is now sowing utter despair in the hearts of those who who acted in good faith ,worked extremely hard and put money aside for the rainy day.I would say that the very mention of his name causes a chill to run down the spine of a substantial number of decent people who did the right thing and now find themselves demonised by him.
Our Paudi is one of them.Since the age of 16 he has worked 18 hours per day.Always been self employed he was told that were he to get sick or fail to provide for himself and his family ,he would get no State support.He has given employment to many hundreds of people over the years He has paid hundreds of thousands to employees and collected and remitted huge sums to the Government in taxes.He long since decided that house property was the best security he could get to ensure a reasonable income for his old age.Over the years he invested in house property for income.Not only did his bank encourage him ,but assorted managers actually fought with each other to give him credit,when they saw that his net rental income from letting the two houses he had let was tasty.They effectively arm wrestled for his favour when they discovered that he had accumulated E100,000.00 after 25 years hard work and guaranteed him a million loan for property investment.These salesmen were on a bonus of E,25,000.00 if they could reel him in.He wasn't educated to the level of these heads,never mind the economists and financial wizards headed the lending houses who were throwing the money at him.He smelt a rat and only borrowed  half the amount and got two modest repairable houses for letting .The bank took as security a charge over his family home as well as the houses he was letting.
Then the shit hit the fan .The economists ,the financial wizards,the banks and the regulators made a hames of it and his tenants couldn't pay the rent.Now the rents didn't meet the repayments because the depression caused by regulatory failure and financial institutional greed caused over 600,000 to either emigrate or suffer the indignity of unemployment .His work also dried up and yes,the State gives him no support.The Vincent de Paul do.The banks are harassing him unmercifully and he is put to the pin of his collar to pay interest only.Half his family have emigrated,the further away the better as far as they are concerned ,because they have seen what false prophets have done to their father who worked himself to the bone .He is a broken man.His is net worth is surely minus E500.000.00.The salesman who sold him the money won't be giving his bonus back.
He is one of that unique band who must pay reparation to those who destroyed him  (i.e.Taxpayers) unto the third generation,if they stay in this country.
And Patrick Honohan wants the Banks to repossess his properties and totally destroy him.  
This is indeed a quare country .Those who caused the misery have money thrown at them.Those they destroyed are driven over the abyss.
Paidi is losing it.He swears that he dreams each night that he has died and is in the spirit world.He dreams that there is a weighing scales there that weighs common  decency and compassion in the spirits present..He says that there is a big queue of spirits there who fail to register on the scales.Trevallion is one.Honohan refuses to stand on it so far.But his day will come.

High time for specialist hurling referees

Having played ,managed,mentored and in latter years attentively watched both hurling,football and camogie matches,I have come to the conclusion that it is high time that the refereeing of hurling and camogie matches be confined to specialist referees, preferably past players of the craft.
This is because the differing games have differing skills ,tempos,physicality ,mindsets ,ethos and  etiquettes.Because in hurling each contestant has under his control a potentially lethal weapon ,the scope for bullying is less,the necessity to exercise restraint and the rewards for courage are greater and the scope for skill under danger is higher, one must have either played the game or else been reared on its finesse to understand the mindset of its proponents.
Dual players especially,including myself ,know full well that there are huge differences between the games of football and hurling and that differing skillets and attributes apply.For example a player who may easily be intimidated by a bigger and stronger opponent on the football field can often feel that positions are more equalised in hurling ,where mutual respect of the hurl and its potential for retribution is a real deal breaker.
That there is a fine line between a manly pull and a mean one is indisputable and is a fine call.A hurling man knows the difference.The sneaky holding of an opponents hurley is quickly detected by a hurling man,not so a football man.Purists understand that one is entitled to pull on a free ball and that if an opponent is foolish enough to try to simultaneously kick such a ball and suffer a belt from the hurley it should be a lesson dearly learned and not a foul.
Hurlers take their accidental belts and get on with it more readily than footballers ,who are sometimes influenced by the soccer actors who go into casualty mode for little reason.
What brought this to mind is that I watched Stephen Masterson referee Dunderry V Kilmssan last Saturday.Twas a good ,competitive hard and fair game with no prisoners taken or given .A manly encounter between two teams who wanted to win.
Masterson a hurler himself knew his job and kept it flowing.The players too recognised that he knew his job and was not to be trifled with.No mouthing.Always a good sign.I would say that this is also important when players graduate to inter county teams.If they are too mollycoddled by hybrid referees in club matches,they must get a huge shock when exposed to those teams who are subject to the more manly ministrations of the more successful counties in the code.
Time to specialise I say.

Nell Gough and Padre PIo's glove.

Nell is making a miraculous recovery,has fully regained her senses,is out of the coma and is well recovered physically.She is out of intensive treatment.At 82 years old her family cannot understand her rapid recovery ,from death's door to as near full health as one could only hope for.
A devout family ,they ascribe it to the power of prayer and   the glove of Padre Pio ,which was brought to her in the hospital.I have no difficulty in believing this as I am a believer from profound personal experience and know a local family whose child made a similar miraculous recovery.
Good woman Nell and fair dues Padre.

Two Muskateers and a Proxy

At 6.00 myself ,Liam and Leo (proxy for Carmel),showed and prayed.We now bring candles.
Unlike the panellists on T.V.3,the supposed third Irish Channel ,who this morning sneered and jeered at the Irish Language (it being seachtain na gaeilge) and whose witty reposts included such hilarious gems as "Sean O Sausage "and similar ,we said a decade of the Rosary as Gaelige.No doubt these " 3"witty linguists much prefer the culture and language of the  British soaps( the staple diet of the station ),which they rebroadcast, to their own heritage.
In deference to Leo ,who is local Chairman of Conradh na Gaeilge,we decided by unanimous vote to henceforth say a decade as Gaeilge as well as the  usual prayers.
And lest any readers think that we are Holy Joe's and Josephine's ,I have no hesitation of telling those "3" presenters to "Pog mo Thoin" and then soap out their mouths of the "Sean O Sausages"they gleefully quote with such  gay abandon.

Austerity by Numbers,

1.The family of the Bear Garry and Monica.Son T.J.took the lonely plane to Australia yesterday to join his brother Martin.

2.Michael Garry and Monica now have two sons in Australia.Next door his brother Tommy has two children abroad,Thomas and Lorna in the U.S.A.Peppi Clarke has two sons in Aus,Noel and David.
My brother Martin has one daughter in England and another on the way.Gerry Coogan and Tracy Coogan are in the USA.
Korea Mc Donagh ,a native of Rathcarn our neighbours, was held captive by the Koreans for seven years,while serving in the Armed Forces of the USA.Two of his grandsons T.J.Garry and Joe Mc Donagh left together for Australia this week.
James Higgins and Gordon Weldon of this Parish got Australia Citizenship lately.The first of many?
Paddy Conway has two children,a son and daughter in the USA.


3.Razor Fagan ,Kenny Fagan and Sinead Fagan,children of Dessie and Marion are in exile in Australia and England.To get work they must go there.
Kenny was married there recently.The marriage took place in England.Clearly the expenses were incurred in England and the economic benefit associated with this accrued to the English Exchequer.
We congratulate himself and his new wife.My brother Cecil has two sons in Aus and a daughter in England.

4.The number of Churches either torched or desecrated this last twelve months.

5.The five sons of Mickey Daley in exile.The number of middle aged men ,who happened to be self employed who tragically cut short their lives within a five mile radius of here in recent times.

6.The number of nephews and nieces of mine in exile.The sentence in years a man got for smuggling garlic into the country.Yes that most addictive of drugs,garlic.Rumour has it that there are a preponderance of vampires in the judiciary.Proof positive that even the judiciary have lost the plot.No wonder that there is a desperation to get as far away as possible from this country.

7.The number of days in the week that heart broken parents fret for their exiled children and those unemployed at home.

8 and 9.The number of businesses closed in this neighbourhood this last three years.

10.The number of Commandments God handed down.Simple encompassing rules for good living.

11.In thousands this number of broken and humiliated people who turned up for  jobs expo, fora in Dublin,and Cork,desperate for work anywhere to retain their dignity.
So many turned up that many thousand had to be turned away.

12.The number of months an Irishman ,who I know and who is the great grandson of a man who fought for Ireland's freedom ,has been left destitute by Joan Burton's Dept.Advised by a genuine staff member to go to England to improve his situation.Has been given the huge sum of E.80 for the entire year  to keep himself.Dependant totally on the goodwill of his neighbours for survival he is treated worse than an animal by our State.Not even a statistic.

 13.And rising.The number of months one of the three pubs in the Parish has been closed.Ditto the Post Office.

14.%.The unemployment rate,

50.The age at which many Irish would emigrate if they could.

270.The number of boxes to tick in the jobs initiative,

300.the approximate number of offences which motorists can be penalised for.Also the I.Q.level you would need to remember them,

2,500.The number of voluntary GAA clubs the Government,via its Revenue arm ,is risking destroying
.
70,000 and rising.The number of our children who emigrate each year.

1,300.000.Number of smokers treated as lepers by our vindictive medical fanatics who are so intent on bullying them in hospitals by denying them the chance to have a smoke in the hospital grounds  while they are indisposed..That a medic took a woman's ring as security for fees is indicative of the disdain with which some medics regard their patients.When will this blatant bullying stop.

Too many .Plummy voiced apologists decrying negativity on the part of people who have nothing.

Too much.The amount of bank debt we the citizens are paying.Not a red penny is about the correct amount.Ask Leo Varadaker.

Dunderry Exile Team.Australian Division.

                                                                Padraic Carroll

Stephen Mitchell                            James Higggins                              Gordon Weldon

Barry Conaty                                  Noel Clarke                                     Davy Clarke

                                       Gerry Murray                       T.J.Garry

Razor Fagan                                   Martin Garry                                    David Bray

Daniel Stephens                             Owen Stephens                                 Mark Stephens.


The Stephens clan and Bray qualify on the grandparentage rule.

Jesus haters in ascendancy.

The latest outrage promulgated against Christianity,the theft of the heart of Laurence O Toole from Christ Church Cathedral was entirely predictable and follows the theft of a relic of the true Cross from Holy Cross , the desecration of Saint Oliver Plunkett's remains in  Drogheda and the torching of a Church in Dublin's Liberties.
The political climate that encourages this evil stems .in my view,from the denigration of Christian prayer by anti religion Senators and T.D.s ,sneering media commentators and a secular Government ,egged on by an anti religious European  Community.

As sure as night follows day the closure of the Vatican embassy will accelerate more such desecration.
Again this does not surprise me.Any Government which so actively participates in the persecution of smokers addicted to a legitimate product like  tobacco to the extent of practically torturing sick people with this habit,while in hospitals,  is capable of any thing.,It better behoves these healthy fascists to properly look after the medical needs of the patients than persecute them.

Today Christians ,Smokers ,Rural Communities and the GAA.Who next?

Three muskateers continue Vigil

Myself,Carmel and Liam continued our pray -in for divine intervention and fair play on Friday at 6.00.Aside from the Vigil entirely ,you couldn't be in better company.News has reached me of the death of Vera Clarke's sister on Friday.Both Vera and Vincie her husband are true blue Dubs in exile in Dunderry and sometimes attend the Vigil.We hear that she was Vera's last sister and we extend our condolonces to Vera and her family.
Another neighbour and friend for three lifetimes,Nell Gough is not well and we pray for her recovery.
Tonight the month's mind of (Metal) Mick Wimsey,who so tragically expired recently,will be held in Dunderry Church.
Last night I prayed that the authorities might start taking seriously the factors that drive so many decent and life loving people to premature and tragic death.
Maybe Young Dev's long overdue statements of the bleeding obvious is a baby step in the right direction.
Back to the grindstone next Friday.

O Cuiv the Man

Eamonn O Cuiv,grandson of Eamonn De Valera ,one of the founders of Fianna Fail is the sole Parliamentry repository of the values of public service which once abounded in the membership of that organisation.He alone of that party ,has his finger on the pulse of the people who would flock in droves to any party he would lead.He is a decent ,honest and upright man of probity and all right thinking people think this .Not for him the false furrow of concern manufactured for T.V. by the chancers who are masquerading as serious politicians,nor the incessant blinking to disguise the blatant untruths being mouthed by the serial abusers of truth ,nor the dramatic arm and hand waving and posing by wannabe political actors to distract attention from the falsehoods they spout.
He will never make my Fear Breaga list.And believe me the stage is set for the greatest display of the species in living memory in the run up to the constitutional vote..
What a pity that he feels honour bound to stay in the Party founded by his grandfather,a Party that since his grandfather's demise has gone out of its way to keep the DeValeras down for fear that they would attain the prominence they so clearly deserve.
If memory serves right he threw up a valid bequest of a farm made top him by a grateful constituent.Do you think that any of the corruption tribunals would have been necessary had he or any of his family control of the Fianna Fail Party these last years.You could bet your bottom dollar that such chicanery would not be tolerated.The pygmies took over from the giants of integrity and we see the results daily.#
He is the only politician of stature who really gives a shite about the ordinary people of this country ,its traditions and our proud tradition of sovereignty .Like his grandfather he is not amenable to bullying and even though I formerly lamented his non participation in the Presidential election ,I am now glad that he didn't run ,as he would have succeeded and would be politically neutered for life,
He can provide a much more vital service for the country by bringing the bleeding obvious to the attention of the electorate and ensuring that the Empire of Angel and Nick is brought to its senses ,just as his grandfather did the the then greatest empire the world had ever seen.
I just fear that ship jumping is not in his genes ,as is so blatantly present in some who have morphed to suit their ambitions to the detriment of the ships they have abandoned ,and that hen may be  slapped down again by the pygmies who captain the Fianna Fail ship which is indistinguishable from the government parties and is heading for electoral Armageddon unless it changes tack.
Listen Dev.now is the time.Hit the sliotar on the run and land the laurels.In a very few years you will be too old.

Pissed off?

Pray- in tomorrow evening (Friday)in Dunderry Church 6.00 to 6.30 p.m.No lectures ,just pray ,contemplate or savour the moment.No pressure.

Death of Phil Carolan

One of nature's gentlemen and a long time friend of my own people ,the Mac Cormack's of Churchtown ,passed to his eternal reward on the 19th February 2012 .I met the man on the way into Dunderry Mass only recently and was surprised how well he looked for a man of his age.As far as I know he was in his 89th year and he was in great form that evening.He admitted to talking the farming side of life less seriously these past few years.His farm nearly mearned my people's land and never a cross word passed between the two families over two lifetimes.
He was a native of Rathmore and his brother Johnny often sheared sheep for my uncles in days of yore. He was as cracked about football as my uncles were and many's the conversation they had about times gone,when I think Rathmore had a football team.I know Johnny played but am unsure whether Phil and Paddy did.
They all had the reputation of being fierce hard workers and as decent as the day is long,a reputation that was well deserved.Anyone who lived on or near the bog were well used to hardship and ordinary work was a doddle by comparison.A very good friend recently recounted a true story about the sort of hard workers the Carolans were.Forty years ago a friend of mine while  putting  up a hayshed for one of their neighbours ,set the steel pillars in concrete and went off for a week to complete other works.The neighbour was admant that the pillars had to be a certain height but no higher.It was agreed that when my friend returned the matter could be resolved by cutting back any excess height with tools made for the job.He returned ahead of schedule to witness Johnny cutting through the last pillar with a hacksaw.Can you imagine the sweat and energy expended in this task.Try one pillar yourself and see how long it takes.The height was guaged by measuring how high Johnny could throw up a forkful of hay with a pitchfork as Johnny always threw up the hihger forkfulls..
I had the very great pleasure of drinking with Johnny,Paddy and Tommy Mac Cormack in Athboy a number of years ago.It was one of the most memorable and pleasant nights of my life as the breath of knowledge ,experience and pure goodness that emerged that night was awesome.Tghey were very well read and had huge experience of life's foibles.
I never drank with Phil and don't know if he did drink.Rumour has it that himself and his wife used slip up to a certain Navan establishment of a Saturday for a dance and a bottle of stout.This I cannot confirm but suspect it is true. I never saw him in a public house and strongly suspect that he imbibed very little ,if at all..He did however defy medical science in another way as he reached that great age having smoked 40 fags a day since the age of fourteen,as far as I know.
To pass the yard would give you an idea of the type of farmer he was.The round bales in the hay shed would be stored in absolute symmetry.Every thing in its place.He was a man who did not carry much weight and no grudges.I have a fair idea that a bull of mine went walkabouts a number of years ago and left his calling card with a few of his heifirs.Not a word from him about it .I hope the progeny did well for him.He was a good bull.
I would say that he hadn't an enemy in the world .
He will be sadly missed by his sons Hubert and Phil and daughters Deirdre and Mary and his very loving and distraught wife Eileen,his grandchildren ,nephews and nieces ,neighbours ,a wide circle of friends and the wider community.
His son Hubert would be well known to the Gaels of Meath as a former umpire for his neighbour Paddy Kavanagh and older Dunderry  residents would remember  his daughter Deirdre (Smtyh) well.
His grandson Alan Watters is a well respected member of Dunderry GAA club,having recently arrived from Simonstown.
The Church in Boyerstown was overflowing for his funeral and I believe that the house of his son Hubert ,where he was waked, was full to capacity at all times when he was in repose.
Ar dheis De go raibh a hanam dilis.

Solution to stop destruction of Gaa

Next week the Drumbeats are playing the Bohermeen Bruisers.In hurling.Both teams are gentlemen and wouldn't foul the opposition,despite a healthy rivalry stretching back 100 years.Believe that you will believe anything.To ensure fair play Paddy the Gom has agreed to do fair play man.|At great personal risk to himself and his family.These amateurs are involved for the love of the game.Unlike the Rugby and Soccer heads who are paid professionals.
As a gesture of gratitude each player on each side voluntarily donates E1.50 to the fair play man,This is a gift to him.He has no entitlement to it.Even if the player plays each weekend for 30 years he will not exceed the threshold that attracts tax.
Any attempt to identify a multiplicity of donors of E1.50 per week to a fair play man over his life would be futile even the world of the Stanhope Screecher (former) who has perverted the idea of "love your neighbour" to "shop your neighbour."
Any State Organ or Government who refuses to accept this proposition can only be assumed to be actively hostile to voluntarism and clearly have very little to do.
I rest my case.

Government to decommission GAA

Having decommissioned the Irish language,humiliated the Catholic Church ,stripped rural Ireland of its youth ,decimated small business,destroyed the pub trade ,starved the unemployed into emigration, driven the suicide rate into the  stratosphere ,and while selling off the family silver (State Assets),this Government is now hell bent on completing the job by destroying the GAA.
See my earlier article "Is GAA now a tout for Revenue."
Yep this would remove the last beacon of hope for rural and urban Ireland.
And you know what ,they will succeed.The GAA has been infiltrated by enough Government supporters to sign its own death warrant and roll over.

Hit the old where it hurts.

The older one gets the more one hopes that medical attention will be forthcoming if needed.Some politicians have made their reputations on the promise of improving local hospital services.
I have heard a harrowing story lately,which I have checked out to my own satisfaction and I am happy it is true,
One recent Sunday a local octogenarian urgently needed medical assistance.As the person's G.P.does not work on Sunday,Doctor on Call had to be called.Approximately four hours elapsed between first notification of the call and attendance on the patient in the family home.I am told this is not unusual as sometimes only one doctor is on call and is often overwhelmed .Another person informed me that if you attend the  Doctor on Call and he/she is called out on urgent business you just have to wait as long as it takes.In any event when the Doctor did call out he/she was first class and allayed the main fears of the patient.However an X Ray was needed.Navan seemingly don't do rays on weekends and the patient had to be brought by Ambulance to Drogheda.
The patient hit Drogheda at approx.6.P.M.Got a E.C.G. fairly promptly (to ensure no heart attack I assume) and lay on a trolley until 3.A.M.the next morning,when the family had to return to their respective homes.As far as they can gather the patient did not receive the X Ray until 5 or 6 A.M, later that morning.The parking fees for the stay was E.28.00
One family member  who accompanied the patient at all times from the initial call to the Doctor on Call informed me that the waiting arena in Drogheda was like Vietnam during the War  at its worst.It was totally understaffed and bedlam reigned .People in obvious pain were walking around with flapping limbs,Mothers with children with vomiting sickness were at their wit's end minding those children and maybe other children they had to bring with them because they had nobody else to mind them.Seemingly Drogheda had to deal concurrently with all emergencies in the Louth /Meath area. The family member who told me this is by no means squeamish  and swore that he never saw the likes of it.
I ran in last election mainly to highlight the fact that Navan Hospital had not until 2010 ever stocked the blood thinner that can dissolve the clots that cause stroke.I found this unbelievable and have often wondered since how many avoidable deaths and unnecessary disabilities were caused by such woeful neglect.Of course the thinner must be administered within a few hours of the stroke and only to patients who have a clot and not a bleed ,as naturally thinner would only worsen the bleed.To discern if a clot is present an X ray is necessary and A Radiologist must examine the X Ray .
Given that X Rays can not be taken in Navan on Sundays and maybe Saturdays (I am not sure ) is it a fact that things have now reverted to the pre 2010 position for weekends and presumably Bank Holidays and maybe after 6 in the evening.
If this is the case then God help anyone from the catchment area who falls seriously ill.
Now those politicians who made their reputations on the back of providing a reasonable level  health of service must surely know what gives and the Government T.D.s must deliver.
It is just not good enough to treat any person,particularly an elderly one in a fashion that if a farmer applied to an animal,would be prosecuted for cruelty.
There again this may be the secular way.
My use of medical jargon is deficient I know and some assumptions I make may be off.If they are I will gladly correct them.

Railway Cups for Dunderry?

Didn't see matches last week but heard the competitions being talked down by everybody bar the players,who are mad about it.And why wouldn't they be.It is some honour to represent your province.Seemingly they are attracting only small attendances.
Well we here in Dunderry are confident we can solve this.Three years ago we hosted a challenge her on the Fair Day between Meath and Mayo in the month of May.A few thousand attended at six in the evening.
Let us host the finals May twelve months and I guarantee that we will produce a spectacular day's outing between the Fair and the Games.
I am confident that all in the Parish would burst themselves to ensue a success and no stone would be left unturned to produce a historic novelty.
TOWID.

Is GAA now a tout for Government?

Those of us concerned with the continued intrusiveness of the nanny state into all aspects of our lives and the increased snooping of the organs of the State into the minutiae of our existence must be extremely alarmed at the reported requirements of the proposals on amateurism currently under consideration.And one must wonder if the soul of the organisation is being sold,.as the Country has been, for the few shekels thrown the way of the GAA by the money men,in the form of grants .
According to an article by Colm Keys in the Irish Independent today February 22nd.2012 Option 2 of Padraic Duffy's Report on Amateurism is the Option favoured by the stronger counties.This involves :-
1.The establishment of a registration and audit board in Croke Park.
2.This committee have to be supplied with the RSI Number or the Northern Ireland equivalent of every manager and selector who wants to get involved with a club or county team.
3.Prospective managers,selectors and all backroom members must submit their names ,addresses and dates of birth and RSI numbers to Croke Park for inspection by November 30th.(For County Teams seemingly).
4.Clubs have to do likewise for local committees before 30th January.
5.Heavy fines and/or suspensionwill be imposed for inaccurate information.
A number of questions of the most serious nature arise.
(a)Why in the name of God  would you give  details of your RSI Number to anyone else in a situation where you were not obliged to so do by law is beyond me.It is more important than your Bank PIN  number and should only be disclosed in either a job situation or a Social Welfare situation.
(b)Has this proposal evolved as a result or in conjunction with the recent headlines concerning Revenue's intention to crack down on under the counter payments.
(3)Will Revenue have the right of inspection of this information?(My informed opinion is that it would)
(4) To what extent do these proposals reflect the requirements of Revenue.
(5) What legally enforceable guarantee is there that this information will not be shared with anyone else and do all members of the GAA having access to the information have to swear an oath similar to the Official Secrets Act (which Civil Servants having access to such information swear) that they will not disclose the information to anyone else.
(6) In the event that it is disclosed who do you sue.
Will the GAA shop you to Revenue if irregularities come to light and is the Association inculcating an informer culture as Government Departments are so actively doing these days.
Would you be utterly brain dead to volunteer for any position in the Gaa either local or at County level if it involved supplying this most secret and personal information ,which could easily ruin you.
Remember the word "audit" is used as a threat in most Revenue documents and anyone who has been subject to one will never forget it.
It is no secret that Government and its services have destroyed the most important thing entrusted to it, ,the Country .Are you willing to allow like minded autocrats and bureaucrats  to take over the Association and ruin it also.
Is it not enough that our amateurs have submitted to the  humiliation of dope testing in order to be good boys I assume.
I am fully aware that many legislators owe their popularity to the exploits ,either on or off the field .of themselves or their relatives.Many current legislators and civil servants have dual roles in the Gaa and the State. You can only serve one master however.
Which master is being served here.
How this proceeds has the capacity to destroy the GAA at worst,or at best make it into a vassal for the Government of the day.
Finally how long until the RSI Numbers of stewards and referees will be demanded and passed on.

Good people strike again

Every so often an event happens which restores one's faith in human nature.In an earlier blog I drew attention to the good people who ensured the Christmas of many less fortunate people by donating anonymously to the giving tree before Christmas.
Since then it is heartening to know that a well wisher or well wishers have made substantial  anonymous donations to Father Hornick to assist with the installation of radiators in the Church and to the GAA Club  to add to Club funds.
Well done.Pity ye are not in Government.
"Hon the dacent." 

Dunderry V Senchaelstown.F.L,2 19/2/2012.

Played 2.30 away.Pitch perfect and weather likewise.
About 30 turned up for us.

Team.                                                Jennings
                 Callaghan D.                   Kelleher                     Mc Cormack
                 Stephens.E.                     Harte S.                      O Shea
                                  Doherty.R.                Garry T.J.
                 Carty                              Coogan A.                   Kenneally J.P.(a,k.a Pope )
                 Clarke                             Newman A.                 Coogan .S.

For the first 10 minutes they owned the ball but only led by 2 points to nil.A five minute passage of play ensued during which a number of scoring chances were spurned by both sides with intended passes from both sides going astray and scorable frees being missed.Backs from both sides were mopping up the stray passes with their (5) Byrne and 12 being very industrious and Stephens and Mc Cormack tackling with gusto.Following a free on Stephens Garry hit to Newman who scored a minor.We are well there despite being outplayed.What counts is what is on the scoreboard.Garry is substituted ,seems he has broken his nose ,and Callaghan Keith is introduced as a blood sub.The man who didn't loan the axe tells me that Swiss is deployed to midfield,Keith goes full forward and Aaron to the half forwards.Sheridan ends a period of aimless play,littered with poor passes from both sides,by pointing from a free on the fourteen near the sideline.Bad passing gifts them a minor from play.Both sets of backs are mopping up the plenitude of stray passes emanating from both teams.From a foul on Stephens the ball is worked to Newman who hits wide.Harmless play ensues from the two sides.Garry back on.Fairhill hits over a free earned by Davy Mac.Andy hits wide from play.Finn  to Swiss to Stephen.Fouled.Free falls short and the Furze counterattack results in a fisted point.Macken is growing in influence as is Sheridan and they work a point from play.Half time .down 0-6 to 0-2.A fair reflection ,but we are still game.
Disrupt start of second half  because caught crossing the pitch.Reason being that grandson Padraig drops crisps from bag and insists on picking each sliver up ,a true child of the recession.
They take a point from play on the restart.Furze 12 is causing problems as is Macken but we man the breaches well enough.Alan Garry on for O Shea and we concede a free which is converted.Simon Carty is at the end of a fluid move and scores a minor.Just about there still and still fighting.Period of trench warfare ,without either side advancing,ensues ,and Andy takes point from play.8 to 5 now.Are we good enough?Sheridan asserts authority by scoring a 40 yard free.Macken is growing in influence and is about three seconds ahead of other players in reading the game.Banty could do worse.Good passing move by us works ball to Stephen who takes nuclear option but misses target.Coogan amends by taking a point from play.Furze miss scorable free following a foul on Macken.Ruddy is opening shoulders.Pope is barely wide from play.Defiant to the end we concede a free,which is taken quickly and is dispatched in a manner the Wenger would appreciate to the onion bag by The foxy Macken.
We resist the end but they add another 2 point to end 1-11 to 0-6 winners.Keith replaced the Pope but no ball came his way.

The Furze deserved their victory.They were less rusty and more experienced than us.To our credit we never gave up and the more grizzled players on our team performed well.Maybe the younger lads were overcome by the level of competition ,but this is the level we must meet to advance.
The mentors will have learned a lot and have much to think about .They have the nous to weld this panel into a more formidable outfit than showed today.
On another day later in the year I would fancy us.  
I picked out their Byrne (5),Ruddy, 12, Macken and Sheridan.James Byrne is my nephew and his brother David was injured on the sideline.Two fine gosons.
Met Mickey Collins,who was hard and fair and against whom I exchanged pleasantries in our day and was glad to see his son Andy coming on,after serious injury.I am told he is a chip off the old block.
Gerry Mc Giveney did a master class in refereeing as clean and as competitive a game as you could wish.

Pray in hits a wobblie.

Changed venue to Robinstown tonight as Dunderry Church is closed having new radiators put in.Just myself and one other turned up.Fair dues Liam.On the good side,sure two heads are better than one ,even if they are only sheeps heads.This is not an insult to either myself or Liam.The beat goes on.Dunderry next Friday.D.V.

Dunderry GAA Update 17th Feb.2012

Was in pitch tonight.Had tay and jaffacakes .Myself,Minogue,Seamin,Johnnie,Declan ,Billy and Mc Kenna prating as the lads trained.Fresh from the AGM of the Fair Committee after repelling all would be boarders .Mc Kenna (Sean ) informed me that   ageism never took hold in Dunderry,as Danny Mc Gourty ,at 81 years has been elected head honcho over all matters of a sheep nature relating to the Fair.Great room for the P.R.O.Gus Martyn to make hay,if you get my drift.
The growing tradition of supplying the players with these modest perquisites is a scant gesture for all the effort they put in.They seem to appreciate it.Can,t praise Conleth O Neill,John Brady and Barry Sheridan,Flange Mc Guinness ,Mickey Horan ,Geerry Mc Laughlin and Billy enough  for the huge effort they are putting in.And Mickey Casey who never misses a night at training.
Over 35 training tonight ,swelled by the number of students returning from college for the weekend.For the hurling  dual players this was the third night this week and a match to come on Sunday against Senechalstown at 2.30 in their ground.These lades make some effort.Hats off.
The minor footballers got a walkover from Clanna Gael last Saturday.I hate to see this happen as they are our nearest neighbours and hope that this was a temporary blip.The minors are out again this Saturday at home to Curragha at 3.00 I think.Must cast an eye over them and maybe do a report.
Was pleasantly surprised to hear a very harmonious rendition of the "Holdem"  song wafting from one of the dressing rooms when passing".The Lady of the Handbags and Inion an Breithimh have a future in that area if all else fails.  Ask A.C. and K.L.who were spellbound.
The club is seeking E.50.00 donations to cover annual membership ,free entrance to all home games and inclusion in a free draw for those who are not yet members.This money is badly needed as the Club is stripped for cash after purchasing the three acres at the top of the field behind the top goal.
Finally the Official Club website will be opening soon.You will be spoiled for choice as this one ,which is solely my own ,will continue to do what it does.

DUNDERRYGAA NEWS FEB.2012

Was at pitch tonight.About 30 training.Hurlers and footballers training together.This makes sense as most are dual players.Billy,Johnnie,Phil,Seamin,Declan Carty there and piping hot tea and biscuits available for all.Great to see Kevin Keaveney and Ollie Carty there shooting the breeze.The panel is very young so far ,but some older lads are expected back soon.Time will tell.Quite a number of lads in their early to late twenties are out of work and hate being idle.One at least and possibly a few more are bound for the emigrant ship soon.Not from choice but out of desperation.Aside from the activity in the field the village is basically deserted.Nobody out ,not a bob in circulation.There is an eerie feel about the place.Without a shadow of a doubt there are considerably fewer cars on the road than heretofore,a fact I noticed accelerating since last July.
No wonder road deaths are down.There are far fewer cars on the road.And nobody is drinking out.The prohibitionist have won.With the pub trade decimated and cars parked up The RSA and the anti drink lobby will undoubtedly be rubbing their hands in glee.The logical conclusion is to force everybody to  emigrate and abolish motor vehicles entirely and both the drink problem and motor vehicle deaths will cease to be.
What is of major concern to me and to anyone with any iota of compassion is the huge rise in suicide ,particularly amongst men.I would say that we all know at least a half dozen men who have ended their lives in recent times.While one could never know ,in the absence of a suicide note,why this is done ,one factor I have noted amongst the people I knew of was that they were all self employed.I have absolutely no doubt that these people were driven over the edge by the relentless pressure applied by the multiplicity of State agencies ,Financial institutions and  mean offences drawn up by a petty legislature to keep the people in their place.
It seems to me,as in the reign of the Empire, that the law is again being used as an instrument of oppression and it is not good enough for Judges to wash their hands and blindly follow the law in achieving the results that a powerful State seeks to impose on genuine citizens ,who are fighting an unequal and unwinnable battle against over whelming odds.
Authorising an eviction on Monday will not in my view be exonerated by receiving the Host on the following Sunday.Of course if you don't believe in an afterlife strict adherence to secular law is probably an excuse for horrible decisions.
Anyhow,back to business.
In football we have three adult teams.Intermediate,Junior B and Junior D.
Group Teams for Intermediate Championship  are Ourselves,Michaels,Syddan,Clanna Gael and Na Fianna.Not a cakewalk .Michaels first up.
Junior B.Vincents,Walterstown,St.Colmcilles,Rathoath and Ourselves.Colmcilles first up.
In hurling we have an Intermediate and Junior Team.Inter Championship Group are  Ourselves,Kildalkey,Kilmessan,Rathmoloyn,Wolfe Tones and Dunboyne.Dunboyne first.Not a cakewalk either.
Top three qualify.
It is to the eternal credit of the mentors that not a penny will change hands.
Sunday we play Senchaelstown in the League.A tough one too.

Lay Teachers.

Is there any person my age or older ( 60)who wasn't flogged to within an inch of his life by a lay teacher during his school years.In a school not run by the religious.These sadists were usually married ,had families and  many of their descendants are teachers.Thankfully the descendants of the flailed are also now teachers and will stop a repeat.
Can all of us now sue the State for damages and why oh why has only the religious muinteoiri been singled out.
Will this secular Government pursue the estates of those responsible?
Answers on a postcard.

Fear Breaga Identifier.Eyes have it.

Just after watching a gaggle of politicians shooting the breeze on T.V.What a shower.Study these boys carefully and watch the eyes.The more they lie the more they blink.One participant spent the whole time blinking.Definitely the Fear Brega.
Judas kiss ,hand wringing and blinking eyes.Red ,black and blue Biro's in breast pocket.Apple for teacher.

The sporting week.

Adult Hurlers and Footballers continue to train.Three to four dozen a shot.And more to come.
Camogie players resume tomorrow Saturday at 12 .30.Good women.Keep it going.
I know s.f.a. about soccer but the Eyetie over the Brits was dead right.Innocent until proven guilty ,no ifs and buts.After they removed his captain without consulting him he had to walk.
Much hullabaloo about the handbagging at Portlaoise with the usual cretins talking shite.There wasn't a decent punch thrown.Every anti GAA bigot on the airwaves venting his spleen.Gob shites.
Every punch thrown in Portlaoise added together hadn't the potential for injury that the spear tackle had in the rugby match.Hardly an eyelash batted amongst the rugger heads who dominate the media .Of course the Ranelagh Rameisher,who wouldn't know a solo from a ball hop fronted a programme on the issue.Didn't even watch it as the accent alone would be enough to put me off.
The nonsensical alcohol report.which you would just know had to be fronted by a doctor,recommended what most doctors do.Rise the prices until no one can afford to go .
Is it only me that is sick of this nonsense.
Yeah,stick it into the GAA.Bar Drinks advertising for them .But leave our beloved rugger alone.Heino et all cannot be touched.Outside the jurisdiction Time for a Shirley Bassey.

Campaign continues

The Friday Pray- In continued tonight at 6.00 p.m.Three new people and three unable to be there.Six in total in attendance.No inspiration yet,but loads of peace.The beat goes on.Next week Robinstown.Same time.

Unbearable grief of Denise Coogan's clan.

When my uncle Joe was depressed my aunt Molly used say say to him"God never closes one door but he opens another."To which Joe would reply "You are wrong,there is nothing more certain than when he closes one door,he then slams another in your face."
So it must seem to Denise( nee Reardon) and her extended family who not only have lost a sister and mother this last quarter in Boston,but who lost the sister's husband Eric Uhrmann last Sunday through sudden illness.
For once I am stuck for words adequate to express the sorrow all here feel for them on their unspeakable loss ,but inadequately send condolences to all their relatives and friends ,especially the three children,Ryan,Trevor and Conor.
All in Dunderry are dumbfounded at this misfortunate turn in events and cannot understand how one family can be so stricken.
We will pray for ye and implore that he sits at the right hand of God with his wife and mother in law.

Mick Wimsey R.I.P.

The above,who lived for many years on the Black Road, died tragically at the tender age of 56 years in Trim last Sunday 30th January 2012..We fully sympathise with  his children Karen,Jenny,Sandy and Michael,all of whom played either hurling or camogie with the GAA and Camogie Clubs and their mother Anne on their most sad and heartbreaking bereavement.
In later years Mick lived with his partner Nuala and her children in Trim.
A native of Ardsallagh,Navan,he will be sadly missed by all his family already mentioned,his partner and her children,brother ,sisters,grandchildren,nephews ,nieces,in laws and a wide circle of friends.
The funeral Mass in Trim today was packed to capacity,a sign of the esteem in which he was justifiably held and the hearse wound its way through Dunderry ,where he spent much of his life ,on its way to the graveyard in St.Mary's cemetery in Navan.
A good crowd turned out in Dunderry to pay respects to a life cut short in its prime.
My memory returns to happier times when the four amigos,Frank and Neill Smith ,Joe Mc Nally and Michael soldiered together in the haulage trade.They were some crew and no one nor nothing fazed them.
I happened to be in their company for a whole day years ago when they were salvaging a truck for use on the road.Them boys could work and work they did,not once over the whole day referring to each by their Christian names.
The banter between "Showman"aka "Rodger "rabbit (Frankien),"The Nailer"(Neill),"Skin "(Joe Mac) and "Metal"(Mickey) was priceless as they addressed each other by these monikers totally unaware that an outsider would be totally lost.
But to paraphrase what  the Cavan man said when he refused to pay the lady of the night for services rendered,"That is the Dunderry way".
Happily "Nailer" is still with us and I have no doubt that the other three are repairing the haulage fleet of the Good Lord.
These boys will deliver on time,make no mistake.
Ar deis De go raibh a hAnam dilis.

100% increase in half hour contemplation meet.

Six people turned up tonight,which doubled the previous weeks attendance.Little acorns.Maybe,just maybe,Divine influence will pull people out of their stupor and sense of betrayal.
Hearing that the youth are so pissed that they are telling their parents that whatever about the parents coming to Australia to visit them,they have no intention of ever returning here gives a fair and sad picture of what has been inflicted on them.Being sent from Office to Office by Joan's dragoons in order to deny help is now standard procedure for the unemployed.
The nasty responses given by Government to the appalling treatment of Catholic communicants dependant on the State to justify its actions are beneath contempt and many would argue is further evidence of the  bigoted anti religious hue of this Government,starting with the Taoiseach's populist speech in the Dail and the severance of the Ambassador from the Holy See.
As expected an anti Catholic press ,which guzzled on the excesses of the Celtic tiger and were its foremost cheerleaders are first out of the traps to portray communicants as being driven by limousines and spending a fortune on tanning .I would guess that these so called journalists have neither faith nor chic nor kin .I know they are talking through the orifice that rarely sees the light of day.
Fianna Fail,the Greens ,the P.D.s,Labour,Fine  Gael ,have all let us down.
We are surrounded by the tragic results of their failures almost daily now.
It is not for nothing that the Government and the E.U. wants to avoid a constitutional vote at all costs.
Come over next Friday and bring your overcoat.

Christening of Senan Paul Maguire in Dunderry

The above is the newest addition to the family of my daughter Glenda and her husband Edward and one of my ten grandchildren.He is a grand goson and is the spit of his father.He was christened last Sunday in Dunderry Church by Father Hornick ,who did a wonderful job as usual.
The godparents are our Finn and Susan Maguire.
There was a full turnout of both families both in the Church and at Dunderry Lodge afterwards ,where a most enjoyable meal was had by everybody.The more adventurous of us had a few jars in Horan's Emporium afterwards.Went down well and Nance in mighty form.
Reports that a bright star was observed in the sky at the time of his birth and that camels driven by princes bearing gold frankincense and myrrh were dismissed as fanciful by most ,but not all of the attendance.
His existence has further strengthened my resolve to continue the Friday contemplation in Dunderry Church from 6.00 to 6.30 P.M  so that the fear and hopelessness afflicting most people is banished and our leaders act in our interest and resurrect some vestige of compassion for ordinary people. 
Given the meanest stroke ever pulled on poor Catholic kids by Joan Burton  today,which limits the spend of the State for those families totally reliant on the State for  First Communicants and  Confirmation to E100.00 for the occasion  I don't hold out much hope of this happening anytime soon.
What next,the slaughter of the first born?
Senan is lucky to have such great family support.We will ensure he does not grow up a slave.

Complete Dunderry GAA E xecutive 2012

Presidents.    Jack Devine,Joe Clarke,Shamus Cregan,Ned Howley,Tim Coffey,Phil Mulhair,Daithi Stephens,Phil Cahill,Pat Coffey.

Chair.           Mick Minogue.Vice .Kevin Dowd.

Sec                Gus Martyn.Vice.Thomas Doherty.

Treasurer.    Declan Carty.Asst.Sean Mc Kenna.

Lotto Chair.  Michael Callaghan.

Juvenile Sub Conmmittee. Chair.Darren Yurell.Sec.Orla Brady.Treasurer.Martina Loughran.

Registrar .     Billy Bligh.

Co.Bord.Reps.Tommy Nally.Liam o Farrell.

PRO                 Michael Newman.Eileen Bruton.

Insurance.        Mick Minogue.

Coaching.          Sean Kelly.

I.T.                    Tony Dowdall,Gary Newman.

Scor                  Tommy Nally.schools.Darren Yurell/Orla Brady.

Irish.                 Leo Geraghty.

Community.     Daithi Stephens.

Rumours of Traffic Corps attendance in Dunderry premature.

A strong rumour went out today that the Traffic Corps would be in Dunderry between 5.00p.m and 7.00.p.m this evening to regulate the traffic chaos that was likely to result from the attendance at the half hour of contemplation from 6.00 p.m. in the Church.(See article "Another spud for the pot").
The idea is to pray/contemplate for inspiration to tackle the unholy mess our past leaders got us into and our present leaders are perpetuating.
Making slaves of us is not the answer,nor is forced emigration,nor is the daily humiliation of our people .
I intend to be there each Friday from 6.00 to 6.30 p.m.
The traffic Corp was not needed.
There was a 200% increase from the previous attendance as two more people turned up.As I said last Friday ,when I was on my own,the only way is up.
Some light was thrown on the matter,literally,as the Church lights were turned on.
Come and join us if you can. 

Bring back Dev.

Eamon De Valera was once depicted as a penguin on an ice flow in a vast ocean saying"We will defend our territorial integrity at all costs".As far as I can remember this was because he had the wisdom,foresight and integrity to stay neutral during the second world war ,which as we all know was fought between the great European Colonist States.Many Irishmen did die ,mainly on the Allied side during the war.
That number pales into insignificance into what would have died had this Country gone to war.
Dev was a Statesman of the highest status,probably the only one we ever had.
We have had a long tradition of neutrality, a position which all our Political Parties  swore by whenever Constitutional change was promulgated by amendments to the European Treaties.Anyone who doubted this publicly was branded a nut case.
Now we are tied to the coat tails of  the E.U.policy of supporting sanctions against Iran.If I am not mistaken we supported the E.U. in its support of the NATO bombardment of Libya.
Let us face it ,we have been codded and are now small cog in the pockets of they most warlike nations in history .
As Mohamed Ali would say",why should I go to fight them Iranians,they did nothing to me.".Watch the price of oil go up as we suffer further deprivation,don't be one bit surprised if Iran is bombed and what's the betting that we will be asked to send soldiers to fight in the conflict.
Come back Dev.Your country needs you now more than ever. 

Sad day for the Daly clan.

Last week Rose Daly,wife of my good friend Mickey,buried her brother Christopher Corrigan ,of Rochfordbridge.To a man and a woman her children answered the call and returnd from exile for the funeral.Our sympathy to them on their sad loss.
I met them out last weekend and enjoyed their company.A huge loss to the Parish ,nearly half the family gone.
Also interred this week was Sister Carmel Mulligan of Dunderry who was a former matron of St.Joseph's Home in Trim.This most decent of women looked after many's the Parishioner in her day and many families would remember her kindness.
Sheila Clarke of Tullaghanogue and  a sister of Eileen Mahon ditto ,called Phil Clarke of Carlow,also passed to their eternal rewards.
Ar deish De go raibh a hanam dilis.

Dunderry Camogie 2012.

President.     Daithi Stephens

Chair.           Tom Byrne

Asst.             Evelyn O Shea

Sec.              Tracey Fitzsimons

Asst               Anne Clarke

Treasurer       Evelyn Griffin

Asst               Stella Keyes

Children        Anne Clarke

PRO               Deirdre Casey

Asst               Donie Mooney

Co.Board       Chair,Sec,Pro and Asst.PRO

Knocked down by Stampede (not)

The start of my campaign of defiance got off to a brutal start (see article "another spud for the pot").I was alone in the Church from six until half six this evening.
It seems that the political kapos implementing the policies of our "friends " in Europe have succeeded in breaking our spirit and we are indeed a slave race.The lost generation between twenty and thirty must all be emigrants because of lifestyle choice as dictated by the Finance minister.No sir,the vast bulk of the emigrants are construction workers who paid taxes from a young age to educate the the kids of the privileged so they can become lifestyle emigrants.
I prayed for the souls of those who brought us to this stage and who continue to tighten the ligature.As they sowed so shall they reap.Fir breaga one and all.Men with cold eyes and women with frigid hearts,with an agenda to derive power on the basis of gonad description.The ultimate of fascism.
The economic carnage continues apace,I personally know of ten small businesses that closed since the start of the year.And I cannot travel more than five miles.Nationwide there must be carnage.
I once asked an uncle of mine,long since dead,what he thought of politicians.He said that had he his way he would send them all on a world cruise and refuse to let them dock here ever after,or words to that effect,
At the time I thought him a bit severe.I don't now.
In the new Ireland there are more women concerned with survival without food than the shape of the gonads of their useless and comfortable political sisters.
Back for more courage next Friday.Only way to go is up.

My Aunt Molly (An evolving story).

My aunt never married.I would say that she never had a boyfriend.I can't be sure of this and have no way of checking,as all those nearest to her are all dead now.I would say that I am the sole remaining live person who was near to her and I write this tribute to her as,when I go,there will be no one left to record her existence.This story will be added to as time permits.
In her eighty years she once attended a doctor .That was when she was in her teens,when she developed scarlet fever.Never again did she attend either a doctor or dentist.She self medicated with bread soda for the stomach and ,before it was fashionable ,worked out the benefits of taking an aspro daily,which she did.
When I was sixteen years old ,which was 44 years ago I dug a well beside the house with a spade ,shovel and pick axe.The well was divined by Mick (The West ) Newman from Easkaroon,who had the gift.He was spot on.Water flowed after about 20 feet.My uncle Tommy was the engineer.Well liners were put down as the depth allowed and the project was a success.
Before this she used walk to the well,about a mile away,in Floods  Field (subsequently Mulligans,then Conway's and now Loughran's ) and carry home two buckets of water.This water was used solely for cooking and human drinking.All other water was sourced in either rainwater barrels or the ditch in front of the house.
In my youth there were no indoor toilet facilities.Nor outdoor ones.Hail ,rain ,frost or snow,you did your business against certain sheltered ditches.Dock leaves were the favoured toilet paper ,although grass and bad hay would do in emergencies.Some years after the well was dug,one indoor cold water tap was fitted and eventually two indoor toilets were installed.No electricity until the early 1960's when my father wired the house.
Bath was fitted in 1986 but never used.
Molly never socialised as such,but was very well read.She used read the daily paper,the Irish Press as it happens ,from cover to cover ,on weekdays and the Sunday Press on Sundays .The Meath Chronicle was similarly devoured.She listened attentively to the news and weather forecasts and was the arbiter of when meadows and turf should be cut and saved.She kept the blue cards for the cattle,although she never owned any,and could trace a calf back through several generations.
Her brothers were very social animals on the other hand and liked a jar from time to time.Themselves and her father were fierce GAA heads and travelled far and near in support of Dunderry and Meath.They shared their experiences with her and she knew as much about the goings on in the Parish as both Publicans and the Priests.She knew the birthdays of every child in the parish.This must have been memorised as I have never found any list of these dates.
She performed extraordinary feats of compassion and service to her family and the State.She attended to and ministered for her mother who was basically bed ridden for over 15 years prior to her death.This at a time when there was no indoor water facilities whatsoever.I never saw a bucket nor Po in the house.Nor was there ever any hint of a smell.My granny was always impeccably clean and dressed.Doctor Dorgan was a regular caller.Very occasionally my granny would appear at the open fire in the parlour ensconced in an armchair.How she got there was always a mystery to me.
In her younger days my granny was a very generous woman,a fact well known to the travelling community whose members were regular visitors to the house and who attended her funeral in huge numbers.This was in the nature of her own (Mallon)  family as her nephew Sean Mallon often went begging with tinkers kids who used camp beside his place in Bohermeen.
Any traveller who called to the house was brought inside and fed.These were not plentiful times and they way she operated was to produce an extra plate or plates for the visitors and to reduce the amount on her own family's plates pro rata until the contents of all plates were equal.
One story passed down is about a particular tinker woman ,who used call every summer selling trinkets ,accompanied by her daughter.They would be fed with the rest of the Mc Cormack family.Mother and daughter called as regular as clockwork until the daughter was about sixteen,when mother turned up without daughter.My granny eventually broke and enquired about the whereabouts of the daughter,"Oh she married a grand fella .She done well.She got a sweep" said the delighted mother.Not that much has changed .A chimney sweep is again a  good profession.
My granny was one of the most decent ,caring and generous people I have ever met.There was not a bad bone in her body.Her view of life and indeed that of her husband and unmarried children ,who,when the chips were down,walked the walke ,was that the elderly should be minded at home right up to time of death.She was so minded as were her husband ,my grandfather and Tommy ,who died from cancer at home and Joe ,who unfortunmately died unexpexctedly while unavoidably in Hospital.The burden of this fell overwhelmingly on Molly,who effectively cared for her father,mother and two brothers up to death during a full and devoted lifetime.I myself put my shoulder to the wheele and helped as best I could with Joe and Tommy,especially,whose cancer diagnosis was tardy in the extreme and who lived only three weeks from diagnosis to death.A braver man I have tet to meet. 
Molly  ran the house with an iron fist.The cooking was done in earlier years on the open fire,which was always lit.There was a gantry in the fireplace and a plenitude of cooking pots.Spuds were the staple  diet in my time there.The spuds were placed in their jackets in a bucket and then submerged in cold water,She used a broken pick axe handle to pound the submerged spuds and separate them from the earth clinging to them.They were then cooked in their jackets in water and inevitably turned into balls of flower.The skin would just fall from them when touched.They were delicious,whether accompanied by either Flanagans cooked ham,chicken or ,pleasure of pleasure, steak.
More often than not they were accompanied by a blob of butter and an onion,a satisfying and filling meal in itself.
Neither Molly,Joe nor Tommy ever visited a dentist.Toothbrushes were a rare commodity and toothpaste unheard of,although bread soda was occasionally used.Troublesom teeth were fiddled with until they came out or else the nerve died.
It is just as well that none of them died incognito as medical records to identify them just did not exist.
For some reason that escapes me,Tommy had a perfect set of teeth until he died but the teeth of Molly and Joe were anything but.Mostly black stumps.And they lived the same way and ate the same food.
And no Molly did not smoke.
One by product of the state of their teeth was that they loved meat but their teeth could not bite it off unless it was extremely tender.To overcome this Molly evolved a method of cooking meat until it crumbled in their mouths.Neither myself nor anybody I know have ever tasted such succulent meals and the combination of the meat,flowery spuds and the gravy,my God the gravy,were to kill for.
People actually volunteered to work for nearly nothing as they knew that they would be fed the same as themselves and they would experience her cooking.
In fact my son Evan,who had the good luck to be practically reared there,said when asked by the waitress at his confirmation dinner in the Wellie,how he would like his steak cooked,replied "the same way Mollie does it"much to the amusement of a packed dining room.
Well this is how Molly did it.She started with good material,always sirloin.She had an ancient iron pan,which she anointed with a light covering of "Cookeen",a lard bought in Flamagans.She cooked it extremely slowly ,in latter years on a gas cooker,with the flame barely higher than a strong candle.It took maybe two hours to cook and from time to time she would sprinkle water on it.And I mean sprinkle in that she would splash just a small dash from a bowl with her fingers,just enough to keep it moist I would say.
When done it would melt in your mouth and what little gravy was generated was like nectar from Heaven.I have never tasted its beat and Myles still talks with wonderment of his only visit and treat there.
J.W. has just reminded me of another speciality that Molly excelled in.It was a good walk from the house to the most distant fields,a long and narrow farm.If you  working there she would often send refreshments down to allay the hunger.A good spread of ham sandwotches would be accompanied by a bottle of sweet tay,kept warm by being encased in a good woolen sock belonging to one of the lads.No need for thermos flasks there.
Tommy was the first of the three to die,about which more later.When he died Molly and Joe lived on in the house and  was there regularly as Joe was not very robust and unable to cope with the heavy work which farming necessirtated.Because of their bad teeth the weekly meat requiurement was seven succellent chops for Molly and the balance up to £20.00 of surloin for Joe.
Mickey Callaghan delivered every weekend and Molly cooked to perfection for both.
Joe died after a while and that left Molly on her own.I stayed there four nights a week and saw her every day.To show how good the neighbours were Paddy (Scan) Conway used slip down at dusk to the ditch on his land in front of Mc Cormack's house and stay there until the house lights were put on .He knew that if she was o.k. the lights would be put on.I knew Paddy was at this,Molly didn't and Paddy didn't broadcast it.
Any how when Joe died I kept up the order.I was working in Dublin at the time.This meant that four mornings a week I waswoken by the waft of the most delicious surloin ,with the gravy already described ,which I would eat with buttered loaf and steaming hot tay.NO Arabian Prince ate better.In the event that the meat ran out,I was reduced to two boiled eggs in a cup,mixed with buttered toast witha side plate of toasted loaf and hot tay.Talk sabout having it made.
Molly and my own wife really hit it off ,despite the age difference of over thirty yeatrs.They became the best of friends and totally loyal to each other.They totally loved each other in the purest and most innocent sense of the emotion.I have never seen any thing even approching their  mutual respect and plain easiness ,nearly telepathecic they had for each other.So much so that they used gang up on me if they thought I misbehaved.
And misbehave I did one weekend.I went on thre beer in Dublin one Friday evening and having spent the weekend in a haze returned to Dunderry the following Monday.The reception I got at home was not too pleasant.I was lifted out of it sequentially,starting with my wife and working its way down by seniority to my youngest.Jesus I got some verbal abuse.Probably deserved ,but I didn't see it that way.

Dunderry Juvenile Executive 2012

Chair.              Darren Yourell
Asst.Chairs     Willie Egenton
                        Eddie Casey
Secretary         Orlaith Brady
Asst.Sec          Tony Dowdall
Treasurer         Martina Loughran
Asst                 Olive Martin

PRO               Evelyn O Shea
                       Tony Dowdall

Co.Bord         Jim Mitchell

Upcoming Events.
18/2/12 .     Minor Presentation in Dunderry Lodge
26/2/12      Registration 11.30 to 12.30 a.m.
                   Mentors meeting.
28/2/12       Trainers meeting.

16/3/12     Auction Geraghtys
                  Irish Grand National Draw.
13/5/12     Fair Day
24/9/12     Fun Walk

Another spud for the pot.

Our 10th grandchild ,Chloe Ellen was christened yesterday in Dunderry Church by Father Noel Hornick.There was a full turnout by both families and the ceremony was dignified and inspiring.David and Helen are great parents and the child is blessed to have to have them as they are to have her.Godparents are our Thomas and Helen's sister Laura.
Both families had a pleasant meal in the Wellie  and a few jocourums in Tully's bar in Trim after.We were treated well in both establishments.
Chloe's uncle Shane is emigrating to Australia next week and we wish him luck.
Her birth has rekindled my resolve to fight harder for the future of all our children in this Country.
As an initial step I will be contemplating in Dunderry Church from 6.00 to 6.30 this Friday evening.I. have this notion of mounting a campaign of defiance against those who are humiliating our citizens and will be praying for divine inspiration.
Feel free to join me if you wish.

Dunderry Adult Hurling Management 2012.

Flange Mc Guinness will be assisted by selectors Gerry Mc Loughlin,Michael Horan and Philip Cahill Junior for 2012.We wish them well.

Dunderry GAA A.G.M.

Held last night the meeting was well attended and uncontroversial.It saw the retirement of that most excellent of Treasurers,Kevin Keaveney under the long service rule and the departure of Thomas Doherty,who wants to concentrate on regaining his place on the hurling and football teams , as Secretary.
Gus Martyn is the new Secretary and the hunt is on for the new Treasurer.Mick Minogue remains in the Chair and aside from the well earned retirement of Jim Mitchell there were no other retirements.
The Club will be setting up a new website shortly .
When full particulars of the new set up are to hand I will publish them here.  

Fair play Josephine.

The Chair of the Revenue,accompanied by her assistants,did the honourable thing during the week.She apologised to those elderly persons who were caused unwarranted distress by the mishandling of the bulk issue of letters to people targeted in the exercise.As their issue straddled the New Year and as refund applications are limited to payments made or refunds due within four calender years it was refreshing to hear her concede that refund applications as far back as the 2007 tax year would be allowed and that Revenue would not hide behind the possibility that the correspondence might not be delivered until 2012.
She also conceded that where Revenue decided to go back six years for collection of tax that the the clock would start from 2012.Or so it seemed to me.
You will see an anomaly here,which is that where you are owed a refund you can only go back 4 years.But if you owe money Revenue can go back 6 years.What's sauce for the Revenue goose is not sauce for the citizen gander and it is high time this was equalised.Either four years for both or six years for both I say.
A chance for the Government to do the right thing at little expense.
There is little sympathy for the elderly amongst the usual high profile commentators ,who are so divorced from reality that the haven't a clue how real people live and have no concept of the fatal effects that unreasonable hassle can have on the elderly and infirm,never mind the healthy.
I would guess that the vast bulk of the pensioners are helping out their adult children and grandchildren  financially and emotionally and any hit delivered will have widespread ramifications.
Personally I feel that those who have Contributory pensions paid for them over a long working life and it is immoral to either tax them or allow them to be even taken into account at all in computing a person's tax liability.Similarly women who stayed at home to raise families should have their contributions equally recognised and be afforded the same concessions.
Of course all the political parties colluded in making these pensions other welfare entitlements taxable so none have any moral ground in shouting about it.Tweedledum and Tweedle Dee.
Finally the Revenue are independent only to the extent that the Government theoretically cannot intervene in individual cases .Tax policy is Government driven and to suggest otherwise is nonsense.Were it not thus it is the Revenue who would run the country as an unelected Dictatorship.
Fine Gael and Labour cannot pass the baton of blame to Revenue and to attempt to do so is dishonest and is nothing but a screen to deflect blame from the upcoming scourges that will drive even more people to the emigrant  ship,despair ,illness and premature death.
I have long railed against the nanny State that is fast approaching the status of the former East Germany,with its encouragement of informants,its absolute control of the lives of its citizens,the vesting of increasingly more power in the hands of its civil and public servants and the pursuit of its citizens even unto the grave and beyond.
Like the former East Germans,those that can are getting out and those that cannot are living in fear of what next follows.
Yes the ligature tightens in the open prison.If the latest polls are anything to go by this suits the Genghis Khans fine.
Given reports that the stormtroopers of the Stanhope Benedictine will shortly be scouring the nursing homes of the Country to shake down sick and indigent and that the volunteers of the GAA are also in the firing line ,the boy scouts and school going infants better be on guard.
Bi ullamh.

I am outraged.

Reports in this mornings papers state that the State harassment of the elderly went as far as tracking them to the nursing homes in which they are resident.and addressing them there in relation to outstanding issues.What next.Serve proceedings on them when in the operating theatre.And why not finish it off altogether by emulating the alleged behaviour employed against Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails i.e. even when dead,keep their bodies until the sentence,or in this case,enquiry is complete.
Where is Rabitte now?Glad you voted for change?
What a fucking shit hole this Country has turned into.And will the the Ranelagh regaler dare ask her political masters how they can reconcile their activities with their God.Nooooooooooo she won't.
Watch the secularists line up to justify the actions of their heroes.

Flange the man

David Mc Guinness (Flange ) has taken over the reins of adult hurling in Dunderryfrom Johnjo Mc Gourty for the present.A good Trim man ,he is married to Evonne,a daughter of Noel Mc Cormack.He did some with the Camogie team here a few years ago and got on fine.I don't yet know his selectors and will inform when to hand.We wish him well.

Shakedown of aged and infirm continues apace.

Old age and /or infirmity offers no respite from the clutches of vultures calling the shots.The blue rinse brigade of the Ranchers Party and the sisterhood and feminists of the Stanhope Sreecher and the Minister for jiggery pokery must be ecstatic at the fear they have installed into the elderly.This is only the start.Household charges,septic tank charges,increases in motor tax and public transport ,not to mention Health Insurance and VAT increases will eat further into the mean income of all.
No respect for Religion ,no respect for the elderly.Rural old  men commit suicide because of over the top anti drink antics of the puritan Taliban.Young men cast aside by the propagators of austerity.And young women reared for the emigrant plane.And those who try to beat rural isolation by walking home on roads with no lighting are dying on the same roadsides.
More draconian laws snuck through to enable the easier plucking of the turkeys who voted for Christmas.This crew will use every source of information to get ye,Social Welfare,Revenue,the ESB,the banks they now own.Yes they want to label ye with identity cards for easier administration.And they will.
Compassion officially murdered ,bar a few good people in Public service ,who risk all by being decent,    
And a smug compliant secular media dominated by the same tired overpaid knowalls row in behind the powerful.
Bit like North Korea.Brainwashed.Accusations of non tax compliance elevated to the a status similar to paedophilia.
Well cowed now they are coming to get ya.

Jack outed himself.

Was gobsmacked over the Christmas.Jack (not his real name) a long time and respected friend of mine outed himself.He has reached the stage where he cannot conceal it anymore.He wants everybody to know he is a practising Catholic.We know that he goes to Mass every Sunday and Holy day.He can no longer conceal the fact that whenever possible he goes to God,s house and prays for his people ,his family and the world's Ill's.He is prepared to put up with the jibes of those who have turned their backs on Christ.
One of many I would say.
On the subject of which does anybody see any  progression on the savaging of our faith by those in high office,the promise to decommission Catholic confession,the petty withdrawal of the Ambassador to the Vatican,the attack on Catholic education, the theft of religious artifacts from Holy Cross ,the necessity to guard the cars of Dunderry Massgoers and the torching of St.Catherine's Church in Meath Street.
Add in the absence of compassion for those under pressure,reporting anonymously on your neighbour and you can see where it is heading.
God help us and protect us.

The screw tightens

Two days into 2012.Six more people without jobs.And no prospect of new jobs.And the small businesses being driven to the wall by State owned banks and macho State organs who couldn't care less.And legal eagles putting the fear of the State into penniless people with no recourse and no hope.And people being left without anything because they don't neatly fit into Burton's rules.The real moral hazard is whether ordinary people should even mix with people who treat them like shit.Time to boycott the bullies?
When volunteers have to man the banks of the Shannon to stop people taking their own lives in the constituency of the  Finance Minister,what would you expect?
Yep,the kapos are on their game.Back pats all round from Nicky and Angel .
State employees who do nasty and horrible things to their fellow citizens on their master's instructions must ask themselves the hard questions.
Happy new year.

New Year's Eve

One thing I have picked up on from the antics of the bank that won't say its name i.e.Anglo Irish,is that when it is not making a show of the Country drawing the World's attention to its past failures ,the depths to which its current employees will plunge in gathering information in pursuit of what appears to be vengeance by the bank  is bottomless.One such employee admitted candidly that he perused GAA websites and blogs to gather information on matters of concern to his masters.
So the authors of such blogs ougth be aware that there are those of sly design perusing their publications for self serving and selfish reasons to gather harmful information on people of goodwill towards the objectives of the blogs.
I would be fairly certain that Government Departments ,State agencies and Employers are also in on the act.So from now on you will have to use your imaginations .
One thing is clear.The health and prohibition Taliban have driven enjoyment and the craic underground.House parties ,away from the prying eyes of the nosey Parker's ,whose puritanical bullying is loathsome and orchestrated by medics whose cohorts see nothing wrong in taking the rings from live people and demanding cash up front before treating people with terminal illness,have become the norm.You can have a drink and smoke there without feeling that you are a leper.
No doubt these shameless bullies will be looking for authority to raid your own houses to impose their wills on ye before long.
And why wouldn't they.Ye are fools enough to pay for their education at the expense of your emigrant children ,allow them then to go where they want to make their fortune and if they stay here charge ye 60 up front for five minutes.Most people I know can't afford a doctor .There are honorable exceptions who cover up for the excess of their mercenary colleagues of course.
And there is no chance of changing this approach because the Dail is full of them.Just like their teacher colleagues.All these people know better than you and because you will come up with a ton for them when your back is to the wall they figure that a tenner for twenty fags is fine.
Anyhow they have emptied the pubs of Ireland and are consolidating the new class of smuggling criminal who can source fags at half the shop price.Well done lads and Micheal an Caice in particular take a bow.
Against this background I ventured out to Nance last eve.A house party took away most of the very decent clientele well before the stroke of midnight.All young and many returned home for the Christmas.The eagle was on the music front and excelled,with the more mature patrons,few in number ,making the best of the night with a karakoey session.Prize for everyone in the audience.Mo.her bro,the cat,and jo gave it  diddy.We had twosomes threesomes and foursomes ,singing I hasten to add .And we hugged and kisses and Pep cried ,three sons away.And the Cavan man has only one son of seven at home and another family has only the ma,daddy and three gone .
Yep the Taliban is doing its job,Pubs emptying by the new time.Kill the joy.Take the jewellery first though.Happy new year.