Michael McDowell - the leader to make the PDs grow.

I'm gonna stick my neck out an make a prediction. I've a feeling that the PDs are going to become a bigger and more successful party under McDowell. I'm not saying that McDowell is brilliant in every way, he has flaws, but I do think he is good leadership material. He has plenty of fresh ideas and energy and is not afraid to go for it. There's always risks with an enfant terrible but I think he has enough skills and intelligence to pull off success. Winning ugly at times no doubt!

The PDs should always have been destined to make a big impact. They made a promising start in the mid 1980s. I know they were a reactionary to the Dessie versus Charlie fallout which filled a gap but they then lost their momentum eventually. I think Mary Harney was and is a great worker who gets things done. Excellent in Environment (smog free Dublin!) and Industry, doing her best in Health (tough job). Also a great people person. I'm not convinced she was an expansion type leader for the PDs. But the good thing is that the PDs under Harney did manage to punch way above their weight. Considering their size they are doing very well.

McDowell has the potential to bring the PDs to another level. The neat thing about a small party is flexibility and freshness. McDowell is the leader who can make or break them. I'm betting on the former.

High Definition TV - Wow!

I'm known by family and friends to get fun from latest technical breakthroughs in gadgets etc.

One of the reasons my blog has been quiet in the last few weeks is because I got our TV and Sky upgraded to include High Definition content. The Wow factor is huge.

For those who haven't heard of it or not seen a demo, High Definition TV (HDTV) shows four times finer detail than standard TV. Resolution, colour and contrast are all excellent on big plasma or LCD screens. I've been watching so many National Geographic and Discovery channel documentaries - landscape filming in Africa, underwater coral reef stuff etc would take you breath away. Movies and sport are all amazing also in HD. It has to be the biggest breakthrough in TV since colour.

Even though Sky is expensive enough, I have to give them credit for launching HDTV broadcasts. It is superb. Also the Sky+ facility of recording programmes onto the satellite box hard disk is fantastic - easy to use, can record two channels at once, is a perfect digital recording like the original broadcast and it has a huge storage capacity - we must have at least 20 movies and documentaries stored on the disk -many in high definition.

One word of advise if any of you are considering HDTV. With normal TV it is advised that you view from no more than 5 times the screen diagonal size - e.g. is you are viewing from 10 feet away then a 24 inch screen is about right. In the case of HDTV in order to see the extra fine detail you need to be a bit less than 3 times the diagonal size from the TV. Hence you tend to need a somewhat larger screen that you might realise. So if you are trying to justify the huge TV to your spouse - ya need to throw plenty of physics like this at them - it's vital! If that doesn't work then you (reluctantly!) sit much nearer to a smaller TV. The latter sucks!

I recommend Sorrento!

What a great holiday spousey and I had together - it befitted our 25th wedding anniversary this month. Marvelous place Sorrento, Italy. Our hotel was high up on a cliffside with a panoramic view of Sorrento, the Bay of Naples, Mt. Vesuvius etc. It truly must be one of the best views in the World.

We had wonderful 5-star waiter service evening meals on the great hotel rooftop restaurant watching the sunset over the stunning Bay of Naples, our ears serenaded with a singer gently performing lovely Italian songs inc. Sancta Lucia etc. as our palates and senses were pampered by exquisite food and glasses of the beautiful local wine Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio *. The nearest it gets to Heaven on Earth!

* Aside - this wine name translates as "The Tears of Christ" and amusingly is so named from Christ's emotions during his ascension into heaven at seeing the beauty of the Bay of Naples!

We had a guided tour of nearby Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius. What struck me about Pompeii was how large it is and the extent of excavation. It really is a city in scale. Most interesting. They have actually only uncovered 80% of the place - plenty more for future archaeologists.

Also visited the famous Isle of Capri and had boat tour around it. It's a spectacular island visually with high cliffs and peaks.

Best holiday spousey and I have had in years.

Italia!

Okay leaving for the airport in an hour, 1 week holiday in Sorrento, Italy, just spousy and I, excellent! It has been said that my local area of Killiney Bay and Hill, Vico Road, Sorrento Terrace area, Dalkey Island etc. is a bit like the Italian Bay of Naples/Sorrento area - hence the various copied names. I have my doubts but we'll soon find out.

Anyway, blog free until about 11th Aug.

Ciao!

You speak English?

The regional variations of accents and pronouncing of words can be both interesting and entertaining.

Here in Ireland notice how the Belfast accent is very flat and bassy. Further west in Derry it's higher pitched and when you get to West Donegal it's often like a high pitched scream. It's as if people's voices are increasingly competing with the screech of winds as you approach the Altantic seaboard!

My mother had a strong Derry accent and in Dublin when I was small our neighbouring family's parents had strong Cork accents. They had plenty of challenges in the early years trying to communicate with each other!

Regional accents come out stronger the more excitable or passionate the conversation becomes. Once in Tralee, Kerry I had occasion to be sitting beside two local businessmen. They were having a very intense talk about some serious matter. I'm convinced that they were talking in English, but their passion, speed of delivery and Kerry accents were so strong that I did not have a clue what they were saying. I could make out the odd "yerra" and "jaysus" but it was truly the only sustained time I can recall where I couldn't understand people in my own country! I think a degree of local understanding and body language was also kicking in as I've normally no problem understanding the Kerry accent.

The Dublin accent has it's own variations. In extreme cases the unique pronunciations of words get very ingrained. Recently I was reading a work related e-mail from a woman I had spoken to earlier that day. One sentence included something like "....air services to air customer". It puzzled me for a minute. Then I tried to imagine her speaking the sentence out loud and it suddenly made sense. Her strong Dublin accent pronouncing of "our" as "air" was so ingrained that she was even spelling it that way!

You expect TV news people to be accurate and neutral at pronouncing things, but there are many exceptions - including a Dublin TV reporter who says keeps saying "Are T E" for RTE. Then there are the other variations within Dublin - e.g. the newsreader accent would pronounce Lorry as Laurie and the stronger accent would say Lurry.

There are great English pronunciation and accent variations throughout Ireland, around the UK and all over USA and eleswhere. Once a gym coach was helping me and ran some tests and discussed ranges of exercises and diet etc. He kept mentioning how certain things would help me with my tinis. I was getting increasingly nervous as tinis sounded like some medical condition he thought I had. I then swallowed and bravely consulted him on what tinis was. Turned out it was just tennis with his Australian accent!

Americans often love their Irish roots but its fun watching them trying to cope with Irish words and names. I visited a supplier in Minneapolis some years ago. I brought a present of a traditional Irish doll for the small daughter of my regular contact. The packaging box named the doll as Róisín. I was back with the supplier 5 years later and the guy raved about how much his daughter still loved the Irish doll. For the past 5 years she had been calling the doll Rose-in (e.g. there is a rose in the garden). There was shock and horror on his face when I laughed and told him the correct pronunciation was "Rosheen". Too late for the child, it was Rose-in forever.

Speaking of Americans, I can't resist one last quick story, not too related to accents. Not long ago my sister-in-law brought some American friends to the 14th century Bunratty Castle, which is beside the motorway linking Limerick and Shannon. One of the American ladies said on exiting - "Gee, it's a lovely castle, but why did they build it so close to the freeway?" I suppose to some Americans Billy the Kid is their idea of ancient history!

Glad to hear any tales or views others have on accents and pronunciations.

Mediterranean Dublin

Following on my last blog, this one really seems trivial. But weather is always a topic we Irish banter about.

It has been hot and rain free for so long now. Our lawn is yellow, but at least I don't have to cut it so often.

We've had painters just finished tackling the entire outside of our house including balconies, railings, downpipes, roofboards, porches, chimneys, perimeter walls, the lot. It was tough for them in the sun heat and the glare from the white masonry. The four of them suffered for two weeks working flat out as it's a very large house, and this included them baking in the 30C peaks of last week. We were keeping the plastic recycling bins full with the number of drinks they went through each day.

It's hard to work when it's hot. In the office I feel our productivities are down as even with fans running the rooms are at 30C. I'm using any excuse to get out in the airconned car to visit a customer! Yesterday I lingered for longer than normal in a customer site with welcoming airconned offices. The workers looked comfortable and fresher than folk in our place.

I'm not good in high heat. Worst was when we were on holiday in Turkey in 2001. Temperatures hit a dangerous 46C. Given that this is 9C warmer than our blood it was often medically essential to use outdoor cold showers fully clothed - we were bone dry again in 5 minutes! The apartments were not airconned. We hardly slept at night, the building was a furnace. The unfortunate hot and bothered cleaning lady who came in each day seemed to have only three words of English which formed a mantra she repeated to us daily - "Give me water!". When we came back to Dublin I nearly did a papal kissing of the ground and we didn't go on a sun holiday for another 3 years!

I like the temperate climate of Ireland. You can be safely busy outdoors any time. But 20C is more than enough. This 30C type heat from last week was weird. I'm not built for it. Spousey has a more Latin dark haired makeup and normally likes the heat and sun, but she is even complaining lately - especially on how warm the house gets indoors in evening. The masonry seems to soak the sun's heat and give it out at night into the house.

Well we've a holiday in Sorrento Italy coming up end of next week, so I guess more heat. But I'm looking forward to the break, it seems an interesting area to visit and the hotel will be airconned. And of course we are getting aclimatised in Mediterranean Dublin.

Postscript: Saturday 29 July: Aaagh... I jinxed the weather - it's pouring rain here today.

Please be an organ donor

We've been shattered for the past week as a very close friend of my wife and I died suddenly from a stroke.

Our special friend for the last 33 years was wonderful, generous and kind to everyone in life and was the same even as she faced her own death. She was an organ donor and as she was conscious for awhile after the stroke in hospital she made sure her husband and family would carry out her wishes. When she became brain dead her body was kept alive on a ventilator for a further day so the best outcome for her organ usage would ensue. This also had the indirect benefit of allowing time for family and close friends to sit with her and say a final goodbye. We can now tell you from experience that although a very sad event, it is nice to sit and hold the warm hand of a loved one, whose heart still beats, whose chest still rises and falls as her lungs breathe air, whose normal face just looks like someone taking a nap.

Our friend also has a wonderful family. They allowed the transplant medics to ensure a good outcome and it's quite a quick process - a day or less. But there are now two people who have use of our friend's kidneys and another who carries her liver. So three people have been given life from our friends organs which were no use to her in death. This in turn releases vital hospital machines to help further people. It seems there are only a total of about 300 organ transplants per year in Ireland and our friend is responsible for three of these. She could even have given her lungs and heart also except there were no suitable recipients of the right size (she was a small lady). So you can see how one person simply carrying an organ donor card can make a big difference.

There is a lot of grief going around us all as our special friend was far too young to die (51, and indeed biologically and visibly was much younger). My thoughts are constantly with her husband who is my best pal and their four terrific children. But her generosity to others in death is truly of help in dealing with the pain and is a lasting legacy. To give multiple people life from your own death just by agreeing to be an organ donor has to make sense to everyone. But remember, it's equally important to have your family's co-operation, it's useless being an organ donor if your next of kin will not also give their consent when the vital time comes.

Please be an organ donor and encourage others to do it also. I've seen the benefits, it's truly remarkable. And lastly, make sure you enjoy life and all your loved ones, the unexpected can happen all to easily.


Written with kind permission of my best pal

The legend of Uncle Tom and the Bubble Car

My uncle Tom (Dad's eldest brother) passed away last year. He was a colourful interesting character and I've fond memories of him when I was a kid. He was the only businessman of the family at the time and ran pubs in the UK and later a supermarket in Ireland. In 1963 he and his wife came back from England for the summer with an impressive big Ford Consul car. My tongue was hanging out looking at this fine big car. Very few around us had cars at all and certainly nothing this size. Here's a link showing the model of Consul which Uncle Tom had.

One sunny day Uncle Tom and his wife took my Mum, Dad and I out for a long drive in the lovely big white Consul. It felt like we were royalty. We went to Dublin Airport and stopped in the countryside at the end of the runway. We had a picnic and waited for planes to take off and land.
After all the excitement of witnessing two aircraft take-offs in an hour (how different today), we got back into the presidential car. However our feelings of grandeur soon evaporated. The car would not start! Much under-the-bonnet inspection ensued by my Dad and Tom but nothing could be done.

Uncle Tom was sensibly a member of the Automobile Association. So he could phone them for assistance of course. Eh, that's if he could get to a phone. The only mobile phones in 1963 were in science fiction movies. So Tom attempted to thumb a lift to get to a phonebox. Cars passed by for awhile but then we noticed a bubble car approaching. Ah, the wonderful and enigmatic little bubble car, explanation diversion needed....

The Bubble Car was a tiny 3 wheeled and 3 seater car made by Heinkel - and actually assembled in Dundalk. Here's a site with photos of bubble cars. You entered the car through a single door - the entire front of the car was a door! There were two cramped side-by side seats in the front and a very tight single seat in the back - due to the teardrop shape of the car it was very narrow at the rear. The contraption was powered by a tiny engine of less than 200cc at the very back which drove the single rear wheel. It was like a lawn mower on steroids. The Bubble Car was popular for about 10 years from 1955-1965 and then was stopped for a combination of being dangerous in an accident and also losing market share to sensible and much bigger compact cars like the still famous Austin Mini.

Uncle Tom scanned the bubble car approaching with trepidation. I could hear faint murmurs from him like " Sweet Jaysus, don't let it stop, please don't let it stop!"

The bubble car stopped.

The front of the tiny car unfolded and somewhat appropriately there emerged a small skinny weed of a man. Uncle Tom's large hulking frame was a huge contrast. The little man listened to Uncle Tom and offered him a lift.

Very gingerly big Tom attempted entry to the bubble car. We all sniggered. I recall wondering if Uncle Tom weighed more than the car. The skinny man then sat beside him and was squashed against the side of the car by Uncle Tom's shoulders. This was getting funnier by the second. The last straw was watching the car drive away leaning precariously over to the side where Tom sat. We were in tears laughing by now. My mother got a bad cramp in her stomach from laughter and had to be helped to sit down. Eventually when Tom returned my Dad had to physically pull him from the bubble car. More uncontrolled laughter.

The AA were soon on the scene, fixed the Ford Consul and Uncle Tom was then back at the helm of a car that fitted him well.

There are other stories I could tell about Uncle Tom which were fun. When my own kids were small they used to enjoy me telling some of the tales at bedtime. But the favourite request was always..."Dad, tell us the story again of Uncle Tom and the Bubble Car!"

The Supreme Court shows that the Law may not be an ass!

I wrote passionately on the Mr. A release in May - see The Law is an ass .

I'm delighted with the very good sense of genuine justice and logical interpretations of law provided by the Supreme Court judges yesterday on ordering the re-arrest of Mr. A following the appeal.

It just goes to show that the law does not need to be an ass when good people take control.

Chess - this game helped me as a kid.

When I was growing up my parents had a few of my older cousins from Donegal and Derry lodging in our house when they started working in Dublin. At one stage the two lads took an interest in the game of chess. I watched them playing chess with each other with curiosity.

Then to my surprise I discovered that my Dad was a good chess player - he had learned to play chess in the Irish army during his time in the Curragh camp in the WWII years. So now I watched the three adults playing chess and they discussed the game regularly. I kept nagging at them all to teach me and they each put varying but small amounts of time into helping me learn. I guess I was maybe eleven years old at the time. My Dad was patient and put the most time into teaching me. This also felt like good bonding to me because Dad was a quiet man and not strong at communicating with his child. Lots of Dads were like that in the 1960s, he was far from unique.

So I found myself playing my cousins and my Dad at chess and getting beaten all the time. But every time I made a mistake or lost I learned something new which I didn't forget. Unlike the flighty cousins my Dad would play any time I asked him if he happened to be in the house. Dad was fond of going to the pub to drink with his friends and my eager youth made me hungry for greater access to his time for playing chess. He gave me tips on chess and it shaped a lot of ideas in clever moves and lateral thinking. It's a great strategy game. The length of the games improved as I learned more and I started to provide a challenge to the adults.

Next another thing happened. Completely unrelated, our primary school teacher decided it was a good idea for the class to learn to play chess. He asked the class if anyone could already play chess. Myself and another boy - Sean - put our hands up. The teacher taught the class how to play and he used myself and Sean to help out in the chess training. I was a very average pupil academically at the time, there were loads better than me in class - mainly because I was too bashful to fight for teacher time in the large class sizes of the 1960s. But chess was something where I had a head start over most of the others, for the first time I felt special and the teacher giving me an important job was brilliant.

The other boys in the class improved a lot at chess over the following months. The teacher then decided to have a class chess competition. It was a straight knockout tournament. The teacher had myself and Sean seeded on opposite parts of the draw so that we could potentially meet in the final.

Sean and myself played through all our rounds beating the other boys. They were not very easy matches as the class had improved a lot, but we won them nevertheless. So Sean and I met in the chess final for the best of 3 games. I won the first game and then Sean won the second. So it was down to the wire on the final game. I managed to win it. It was quite a thrill, first competition of any kind I'd ever won. And the prize was a beautiful orange 10 shilling note. In 1966 it would be the equivalent of a kid being handed a 50 Euro note today I suppose, and it meant more to me because we were a fairly poor family. I couldn't wait to get home to hold the note up to my parents and especially my Dad. Their excitement was equal to mine.

The win was a small thing in reality but it's funny how it inspired me. I tried to learn more about chess, even got out library books. The teacher then offered me a challenge at chess. When I managed to beat the teacher it was an amazing feeling. I often had a low opinion of myself in primary school and these little successes gave me such a badly needed boost.

I continued to play chess regularly with my Dad. He was a very pensive player, took a long time between moves, tough to beat. We were eventually fairly evenly matched, each winning as much as losing, which always kept it interesting.

So chess was a helpful little game for me as a kid - it drew me closer to my Dad and it did wonders for my confidence building in school. In hindsight I think it helped to make me believe in myself and build other goals.

Today as I watch my own kids enjoy little successes at school and other events I think on how important it is to offer kids a challenge, how it stimulates the natural enthusiasm of youth and maybe prepares them for greater goals later in life.

Wimbledon...Space Shuttle...World Cup

Okay. Some good reflections from yesterday...America's 4th July....

1. I took the afternoon off for various reasons - but partly to watch some Wimbledon live tennis. I enjoyed Maria Shapapova (my hero) beating Elena Dementieva in the ladies quarter finals.

2. I watched the US Space Shuttle launch live in the evening. It's always exciting to watch. I know it is mad expensive and risky putting people into space but the technological achievement blows me away. The raw power of that monster going vertically up into the air and reaching 4,000mph within a minute and 18,000 mph orbital speed within about 10 minutes - it's truly awesome. It brings me back to the glory days of Apollo launches and putting men on the Moon.

3. I watched most of the Italy - Germany World Cup semi-final. HOWEVER - I went to the bathroom for 2 minutes and missed BOTH GOALS at the end. That sucks!

The day I quit as an Altar Boy. The Genesis of success!!??

I was an altar boy for a few years in the 1960s when I was about 11 or 12 years old. It was technically an interesting little job. It made you feel important and it was a bit like acting out a play on stage. Most of my altar boy peers were also school pals and we used to have fun. There was always something to have a laugh about, usually without the priests knowing about it.

When I was an altar boy it was just before full English mass so we had to know a lot of Latin responses etc. Priests were major figures of authority to us of course and they would often criticise us after Mass for little mistakes and we took it seriously but then got over it quickly.

However I recall one incident when I was serving at an early Sunday morning Mass. I was helping with Communion distribution. This involved following along beside the priest at the rails as he put Communion onto each person's tongue. My job was to hold a gold plate - called the paten - under each person's chin to collect fragments of Holy Communion particles which might fall as the priest delivered the Communion to the person's tongue.

After Communion I was also supposed to bring the paten up to the altar so that the priest could wipe the Communion dust from the paten back into the chalice. This normally was quite a routine exercise. However, on this occasion as I started to walk up the steps to the altar the priest gestured to me from the altar with his hands that he didn't want me to come up.

Strange, I thought. I was confused. I looked down at the paten in my hand and there were clearly some particles of Communion dust on the paten. Normally my next task was to put the paten into a padded cloth storage glove. However I had the dilemma of the Communion dust. I surely can't put this in with Jesus dust on it!!?? But the priest doesn't want me to bring it to him.

I felt I had to think fast and I made an executive decision. I dusted the Communion particles off the paten myself with the back of my hand! However just as I did it I felt that maybe I had been too hasty. I looked up at the altar to see if the priest had noticed.

Oh yes he had noticed - big time! There was absolute fury on the priest's face as he looked down at me and I froze in fear. I also felt that the entire congregation in the church was witnessing my error through the priest's visible wrath. It was like a judge handing down a sentence and the entire courtroom agreeing with the guilty verdict. I could almost hear ghostly words from the priest's facial expression....

Only an ordained priest handles Holy Communion! And YOU....YOU...YOU touched the sacred Holy communion and much more besides. YOU threw bits of Jesus Christ all over the floor!! YOU ARE CONDEMNED!!!

The mass was almost over and I was freaking in fear as we went through the closing formalities. Finally when Mass ended, myself and the three other altar boys marched with the priest in procession style off the altar and into the sacristy.

What would happen to me now? The priest turned around and calmly blessed us as he always did after Mass. Then he said to us warmly and softly "Thank you boys" as he always did.

I was starting to feel signs of relief. But then he suddenly walked to me and turned from a Dr. Jekyll calm to a Mr. Hyde rage....

"BUT YOUUUUU!!!"

What followed was a blur of loud verbal anger and major admonishment. It was severe, long lasting and terrifying. I can't even remember what he said...it was just a torrent of pure rage. We all had a huge respect for priests - they were like Gods, everything they said was absolutely correct. So a litany of abuse like this from a priest to a child was like being made more than worthless in the extreme. I would have much preferred if he had just hit me instead, as teachers did.

As we left the sacristy I do recall one of my pals saying to me - "Jaysus! That was rough, are ye alright?" The other two boys remained silent and it looked like the intensity of the barrage had shaken them up a bit too.

We went our separate ways and I remember running home full of guilt and fear. My mother turned white when she saw me coming in the door visibly very upset. She thought something terrible had happened. She had to hold me by both shoulders, eyeball me and talk assertively to stop me shaking. She tried to get sense out of me and halt my hyperventilating.

When she heard what I had done my mother was the parent of dreams. She was kind, helpful, played it all down, brought me back from hell. My mother was a very serious Catholic but her relationship with God was a soft personal friendship. She knew I was not evil and as I listened to her a calmness slowly descended.

But I never went back to the church as an altar boy. I never wanted to hear rage like that again from a priest.

As I write this and reflect also on other incidents, it helps me to clarify a few things in my head about myself. I think I grew up into early adulthood with some fear and discomfort towards people who had strong authority over me, especially if it seemed badly used and was accompanied by anger. I also had a few part time jobs in my teens with absolutely moronic bosses.

I think it all helped me to develop over time some goals. The initial and most basic goal was that I was determined to work in a carreer in which I was respected as a person. This, coupled with a natural interest in science and technology, helped to drive me forward educationally. When I eventually graduated and worked in various large companies things were good. However I still felt some imprint of unease in a general sense at authority. This would apply in a moderate level to either individual bosses or - in the case of multi-nationals - of faceless forces who could control my own and other's direction and fate. I suppose it was one factor in getting out of it all and forming my own company, although there were other better reasons. I find I can cope with and enjoy challenges, pressures and deadlines from customers and even worries of failure much better than dealing with powerful - and especially unpredictable - figures of authority.

So who knows - often dark clouds have a silver lining.

Bebo...I think it's good

My three daughters (aged 16-22) use Bebo almost daily as do every one of their friends.

I put myself up on Bebo for a laugh and to learn more about it. It generated great amusement by my daughters and their pals for awhile that a 50+ dude would be on Bebo. The comments were generous though!

My overall view is that Bebo is quite a good service and particularly suited to Ireland in my opinion. Here is why I think it's good...

1. It is sociable and has helped young people network with both friends and friends of friends and school peer groups etc. It has been said that in Ireland everyone is almost a friend of a friend away from everyone else.

2. It encourages less time watching TV and using computer games so creates some balance.

3. It facilitates a certain amount of creative imagination and freedom of expression in sharing writing, pictures, video etc. It's hardly the stuff of genius but it's a start. Some of the participants are certainly hilarious and have good imaginations.

4. It's well used as a free alternative to mass texting and is great for organising parties and outings. When pals are abroad it's just as easy to stay in touch. It also marries well with Skype for talking free PC to PC.

One possible negative I notice is that a lot of macho talk goes on especially in relation to joking on male-female stuff and relationships generally. I could imagine a degree of bullying might simmer. However it's such an exposed medium that I think it tends to find it's limitations and gets sorted by good peer group pressures. Of course Bebo also has internal mechanisms to report and deal with bad behaviour.

Bebo is hugely popular and it's biggest advantage is that it's a good tool for fun sociable interactions and keeping and extending networks of pals.

Haughey...it pains me to say more.

So much has been written in the last few days following the funeral. It will continue and become more interesting, complex and revealing. To quote Churchill following the defeat of Rommel in North Africa in WWII - "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning".

I wrote a short piece on Haughey on the day of his death and I wanted to leave it there. The man pains me too much and has always done so since I was in my teens. I decided to try and move on by writing on Joyce's Ulysses on his funeral day (the old goat probably smiled from the grave at being buried on Bloomsday like another little man - Paddy Dignam). I've read many interesting things in recent days which were tempting to comment on. However I wasn't going to bother at all until I read John Waters in the Irish Times today.

I've respect for John Waters, a great writer, and I've agreed with him so many times. I can also forgive him for writing in my opinion a total load of rubbish on Haughey today. However, there is something much more sinister about what John wrote today which represents a bigger picture. It's the effect Haughey has had on intelligent people. It must be something approaching witchcraft. What else could make an intelligent man say about Haughey "He showed us a way we might live, by living it himself. That this emerged as another illusion was part of its value". I don't like just pulling out one part of his article, but the entire piece builds a picture of Haughey as showing the way for the masses who had it hard.

What bothers me is that so many good people were beguiled by Haughey. It was at it's most dangerous at the attempted illegal import of arms which could have easily caused a civil war bloodbath in Northern Ireland. As a Government Minister at the time he certainly (along with others) at the very least offered a quasi-morality to the acceleration of the Provisional IRA. He thought he was backing the winning game and of course when it went pear-shaped and he was caught - it was into his favourite pastime of lying and cheating his way out of trouble. I lived through all this as a teenager and I was in my 20s when my jaw dropped (along with Jack Lynch and most of the nation) as he became leader of Fianna Fail. His ability to beguile was laid bare for all. And yet supporters of Fianna Fail voted for him. Business men gave him truck loads of money, he tapped phones, he continued borrowing and swept the country into crippling debt. At it's peak I remember him in a televised pre-election debate with Garret Fitzgerald saying that Ireland had a good credit standing abroad for borrowing...i.e. let's keep doing it. He was proved to owe hugely in personal tax from wrongly channeled donations over his time as leader of the country and only made limited settlements recently when fully cornered. The beguiled authorities couldn't see fit to have him trialed and jailed.

What possessed Ben Dunne to give him so much money - 1.3 million? He spoke after Haughey's death on RTE radio that he felt guilty of the pain he caused Charlie after this (he generously gives Haughey money AND manages to feel guilty!!). Ben then said his own biggest weakness is his own BRAIN . Frightening stuff. More beguiling of a successful businessman - reduced to self criticism and self doubt.

There is so much more, not to mention Haughey's cheating on his poor wife, but I've had enough of him. I'm all spent, I was weakened and let down by a leader whose salary I paid. I feel a bit like Scott of Antarctica as he awaited death in the frozen wastelands...."It seems a pity but I don't think I can write any more".

However I hope many more keep writing on Haughey. It needs to be said.

Ulysses

It's Bloomsday.

I've been a part time student of James Joyce's Ulysses for years. I use the word student carefully as I believe it's not a book anyone can take lightly and just "read" it.

There have been times when I've agreed with Roddy Doyle that Ulysses needed a damn good editor to shorten it. However I can never help dipping back into it in phases and researching or learning more from it. I like it on many levels....

* In a simplistic way, as a Dubliner I enjoy it. It's full of places I know well. Also, some of the little expressions which come out in dialogue remind me of things I heard my paternal grandparents saying. A small example would be a description of Paddy Dignam at his funeral..."As decent a little man as ever wore a hat." My Grandad was always using such an expression. I've heard many say that it's a book that is better read out loud, and there is some truth in this. I think there are some parts of the book where you can just chill out and have a laugh, you don't always have to take it so seriously and it includes many interesting working class characters.

* Some of the descriptive images were very powerful. Stephen's description of his mother and her death are very strong. Even a simple description of the sea by Buck Mulligan will strike a chord with many people used to the Dublin coastline..."The snot-green sea...the scrotum tightening sea."

* Its depths and paralleling are of course hunting grounds for scholars. The Homer parallels and the little linked events in different chapters. Then of course each chapter is often in a different style altogether, it's almost like reading multiple but linked stories from different writers. And we have the Stream of Consciousness revised style at the time.

* In another way I'm interested in Joyce's wonderful blend of Dublin and Irishness and the greater World. He is a very free spirit globally. We see considerable analysis of Shakespeare's work and other English writers and Greek literature of course. I can't yet figure out if he was before his time in his view of Irishness or was somewhat taken in by the strong English influence on the artistic Dublin at the time - which maybe encouraged the wider global study. I suppose both views are compatible. There is mention of the Irish language in the book and Irish heritage but it seems subdued and almost strikes one as being of historical interest. The Irish freedom struggle from England is not given any serious analysis to the best of my recollection. This is interesting even though it would have been highly topical as he wrote Ulysses from 1914-1921(albeit abroad), but maybe in the setting of 1904 it was less topical. Joyce clearly liked Dublin and had strong memories as an exile. He used to say he felt he never left Dublin in his heart.

* Some of the beauty of Ulysses is that it constantly causes debate and analysis of meaning for scholars. This is assisted by Joyce's refusal afterwards to offer any help in answering detailed questions on the book. Nothing like a bit of innuendo to get literary sleuths excited.

I could waffle on longer about Ulysses, but one think is certain. The book is considered essential study for literary scholars Worldwide and by many as one of the most important works of literature in the last century. And it is all set on one summer day in Dublin - 102 years ago today. What a national treasure for us.

Charles J. Haughey died today

Well well, the man has passed away. Much will be said. I wonder how many times in the next week we will hear the Shakespearean quotation...."I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him!"

I think it's all best summed up by Fine Gael's Alan Dukes who was quoted as saying that Haughey was a gifted politician who ultimately wasted his talents - "I have never known anybody with such ability and who squandered it all spectacularly. It was incredible".


Footnote 6.00pm....

Speaking of Shakespeare - I almost forgot that Haughey quoted Othello when he resigned as Taoiseach around 1992 - "I have done the State some service." Things are bad when you need to go for self praise in a resignation speech. I head a cynical re-parsing of above recently for Mr. Haughey...

"I have DONE the State. Some service!"

DANGER - Daughter on route to domestic training....

Our middle daughter has just turned 20 and has finished 2nd year as student nurse. She travelled last week with a pal to Vancouver, Canada, for 3 months summer work. She is staying in dorm in a University. She is a little too used to home comforts as you will notice from below e-mail she sent me today...unedited from her text style and typos....

Hi dad,

Could u do a favour and print this letter off for mum to read or else read it to her. I thought you should both know how your favourite daughter had a reality check yesterday due to a sheltered life of never doing chores!!

So I woke up and decided I would have some breakfast only to discover I only had rashers, no bread, no drink. So a very parched Jill decided it was time to do a shop. Out came my big rucksack and down I treked to the bus stop. Got onto the bus and travelled the 7 minutes to the closest "tesco" as such where I signed up for a discount card because of low funds. I travelled up and down each aisle remembering that this is wat my good mother does so she dusnt forget anything!! I was quite chuffed with myself I bought lots of healthy things and it wasnt so expensive. I bought basmati rice, chicken fillets, tikka masala sauce, yogurts orange juice, spaghetti, soup apple juice oh and of course chicken nuggets n chips!!

So off i went after packing it into my bag. It weighed a tonne!!!! My poor back was broken....and i had to walk UP the hill to the bustop. I then got off a bus stop too late and had to walk 15 mins to our house by which stage my back was as gud as done in!!

So I made it home in one piece. I had bought myself all these nice foods......but i forgot i dont even no how to boil the rice!!! So all the girls had a great time laughing at me try to put my dinner together wondering where id been living all my life. But in the end I was quite proud of myself. With alot of help I barbqued a chicken fillet and cut it up n simmered it in tikka masala sauce and had it with the basmati rice!! It was the best and most proper meal Iv had since I got here!! I had a yop to follow and felt so much better !! Didnt realize I was eating so badly!! Anyways so I had learnt how to boil rice, cook chicken and masala sauce and how to shop for myslef and get the bus alone......wat else did i need to do? oh yes clean up after myself. So I had to go into the kitchen for 40 minutes and scrub all the pots and pans my plates and knives and forks ect. ect.

Then it dawned on me its Sunday....therefore its chore day in the house which means evryone is given a chore to do. Mine is to sweep and scrub down the second floor corridor......which I am realizing at 9pm. So up i go to my room and i realize i dont have any clothes to put on cuz ther ALL DIRTY. So once again the girls came to the rescue...i had to sort out my whites from my dark colours and bright colours and woollens from something else ITS ALL SO CONFUSING!! i had to trek three flights of stairs to put my washing on. Then back up the stair to sweep the corridor. Then I had to bleach and clean the mop and bucket with boiling hot water which i scorched my feet with on numerous occasions!! Then out to the corridor where I scrubbed it from top to bottom......

At this stage its almost midnight and the sweat was dripping of me. I went down the three flights of stairs to get my washing and put a new load on.....I didnt have money to put clothes into the drier so i had to hang my pants and clothes around the room...i then cleaned my room made my bed and then went bak down to get the second load of washing ad hang them around my room...

Finally i got into bed about 2am absolutly wiped ........and i no its only a matter of days before i have to do it all again....AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So growing up sucks......Im not enjoying doing chores MOMMY!!!! I DONT WANT TO CLEAN ANYMORE!!!!

u wont even recognize me wen i get home if i keep this up!!! anyway thought ud find this email amusing...i will not take u for granted anymore mother...........this is NOT fun!!!!

Other than my chores i still absolutely love vancouver and as hard as all my chores where it was actually very funny we all had a great time laughin at my expense!!! so for now its slightly amusing....!!!!

Still waiting to hear back on sum jobs....other then that not much news!! Gettin on great with aisling and all the girls in the house are lovely!!

Better go make sum breakfast.........

Ill call u guys soon!!!

Love ya lots!!

Jill!!!
x xx x x

Busy Saturday

Today has been busy. In morning I cut the grass and attacked some ivy which was attacking our shed and did general tidy up. Spousy did more though - washed every window in the house inside and outside - there's about 22 of them.

Whilst having lunch I alternated between England's World Cup opener against Paraguay and the ladies French Open tennis final on TV - I'm an expert channel flicker. I made sure I listened to BBC's experts views at half time and also Dunphy and gang on RTE. Predictably you would think they were commenting on two different matches - BBC guys thought England were playing great, Dunphy and gang didn't.

At 4.00pm I'd an inter-club singles tennis match. It was exhausting and lasted 3 sets and almost 3 hours. It was close but the other guy won. I'm absolutely shagged this evening, can hardly move, I was even too tired to do serious stretches afterwards - hence I can hardly walk. But I better learn as I've more tennis in morning.

George Lee - The Terminator!

If I listen to one more sentence of Irish economy negativity on programs and news bulletins from RTE's George Lee I think I'll freak. In the last few weeks he has been a right moany Mary! If ever one man has tried his best to talk us into a recession then the nearest I can think of is George Lee.

Look, we all know the economy has benefited from the property boom and of course the scale of the building program and valuations can't last forever. The recent interest rate rises were inevitable eventually - they had dropped to amazingly low levels about 2-4 years ago. But to hint that Ireland in general is in major trouble from changes in the property area and interest rates is very speculative.

Mr. Lee seems to like a bit of one-track journalism to keep his points nice and crisp. On a recent RTE program he augmented his fire and brimestone on property by rattling on about closures of many factories. There will always be businesses closing even in strong economies, especially as trading models change. Furthermore, he did not balance this one bit by mentioning all the new operations which continue to start in Ireland, nor indeed the continued success and growth of many long term large facilities here.

I'm not arguing that the economy and wealth here is going to continue at same pace as previously. However, equally I do not believe there is any strong evidence to suggest it will go into serious decline. We are now a very adaptable and well educated country and have built up a considerble variety of skills in the last few decades. Our English language base is very valuable internationally and we also have good quality labour sources both within and outside the country.

Of course there are challenges ahead, they are always around the corner, but being plummeted by one track negativity by journalist economist (and mainly behaving like the former) George Lee is likely to make many investors unnecessarily nervous. Wow, can you imagine putting George Lee in charge of a sales campaign. He would have all the customers convinced they should buy from the competition.

Perfume - by Patrick Suskind

I just finished reading the above novel. I hadn't heard of it before and it was given to me by a pal to read. I had been telling this pal about my theory of the past being full of bad odours (which was also subject of my blog on 2nd May - "Smell....the sense of the past"). He reckoned I should read this novel "Perfume", and gave me the book (thanks G!).

Patrick Suskind is a German author and the book was originally published in the German language as Das Perfum in 1985. I was a bit nervous that the translation into English might dull the quality of writing. However it still proved to be a colourful and interesting read.

It's a most unusual story. Set in France (mainly in Paris) during the mid 18th century it covers the birth, childhood and adult life of a fictional bizarre man called Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. Grenouille was born with an incredible sense of smell (and memory of smells) and also he himself has absolutely no body odour. As he grows up his driven passion of the pursuit of perfection in analysis and derivation of pleasure from odours develops him into a murderer. He also demonstrates phenomenal skills as an expert in the art of perfumery.

The beginning few pages of the book includes an amazing description of the stench of Paris in the mid 1700s. It made me smile as it confirmed even more strongly than I had thought how bad odours were a big feature in the daily routine of life in the distant past.

As I say it's an unusual book and makes you think a bit differently in lots of ways. It's not a bad yarn but of course includes plenty of fantasy. It also covers life in 18th century France quite well. I notice the book has received many good reviews and in fact it's just about to be released as a movie with Dustin Hoffman starring. It also is the featured book this month in Ryan Tubridy's book review club in his RTE morning radio programme.

"Perfume" is unlikely to hit the heights as a major work of literature but it is a different and interesting read. It really makes you think more on the sense of smell.

E.T. Phone Home...1971 style!

I'm a little amused by all the media coverage this week on the changes in Ireland in last 20 years since 1986. I understand and agree with the sentiments expressed but relatively speaking at the time I thought the mid 1980s were not that bad. The 1950s, 60s, and even 70s were considerably worse. Here is a little memory of telecommunications when I was 16...

I was in West Donegal in summer of 1971 camping for a few weeks with my cousin. We cycled there and we spent our time fishing and snorkeling and some rock climbing etc. We had hardly any money and had almost been surviving on what fish we caught! Money got too tight to survive by end of first week so I needed to make a phone call home to Dublin for help. The process of phoning home went like this....


I cycled a few miles to the small Kincasslagh Post Office - making sure to be there at a time when the postmistress was in attendance. In the outside phonebox there was no dialing facility - just a crank handle which generated ringing and alerted the reasonably elderly Postmistress. When she got finished selling some stamps to a customer the Postmistress answered my call...

"Yes?"

"I want to make a call to Dublin."

"Dublin!!?" She was almost in shock.

"Ye-yes, please". I was getting a bad feeling.

"Oh God, I can't connect you to Dublin. Is it important?"

"Well, I need my Dad to send me money, I've hardly any left."

"Ach I see. I'm going to have to try to get you through to Lifford first and they can connect to Dublin. Hold on a wee minute." The high pitched but warm West Donegal accent was offering some hope.

I could hear clanking and crackling in the background and then a dull distant ring. A male voice answered as "Lifford".

The postmistress pipped up....

"Hello Lifford. I've a wee fella here who wants to phone Dublin, can you help him?

After exchanging a few pleasantries with Lifford the postmistress hung up and left me talking to the Operator in Lifford.

"So you want to call Dublin?" There was a hint of amusement in his voice. "Well, I got a few calls through to Dublin earlier, so fasten your seat belt! What's the number?" I had a faint worry that he might have misheard me as saying Dubai or some such remote part of the World. But no, he knew I meant Dublin, Ireland.

I could hear him dialing the number I gave on his rotary dial set. On first attempt nothing useful happened. Then he tried again. After a seemingly long pause and crackling I could hear a faint ringback. The Operator was pleased....

"Ah it's ringing!" he exclaimed with glee. I was starting to feel a form of unexpected honour and I began to share his enthusiasm.

I should explain that the number ringing was in a neighbour's house in Dublin as we didn't have a phone in our house. There were a few reasons for this. The initial reason was that we couldn't afford it. In 1971 I would say only maybe one in five of our neighbours had a phone in the house. However my parents then figured it was important and we had applied for a phone earlier that year. The waiting list for a phone line was up to 5 years in those days and we eventually got a house phone in 1976!!

Anyway, our neighbour Mrs. O'Farrell answered the phone and the Operator guy chirped up...."Put in 2 shillings please Caller!".

After I put in the coins the Operator let me go ahead and I asked Mrs. O'Farrell politely if she wouldn't mind going next door to get one of my parents. She always was very obliging for important matters like this. After quite awhile (and another shilling requested by the Operator) I got talking on the poor quality line to my Dad. I managed to get his agreement to help and gave him an address to send some money - Dad was always generous if he had any money to spare.

I ended the call with my last coin used up and a major relief came over me from the success of this titanic struggle. I had to remember to crank the ringer handle again to alert the Postmistress in Kincasslagh that I was finished the call - so she could pull out the cord on her ancient switchboard.

I then watched for the post over coming days to a nearby house. The post in those days was probably better than today and the cavalry were soon seen coming over the hill!

I was in the same part of West Donegal recently. I recalled the above incident (and many others like it) with a smile as I used my PDA mobile phone to downloaded e-mails and talked to anyone in the World I wanted to. Now THAT is what I call change!

The Law is an ass....

I've had this feeling building up in me for years that Law in general really needs some fresh thinking and serious reform.

I suppose the Mr. A case this week tipped me over the edge into something close to a state of rage. I'm not going to go into this in detail but let's just state a few stark realities...

The difficulty with the existing piece of law it seems related to not allowing for the defense by an accused that they genuinely thought that the girl was over the correct age. In the Mr. A case the guy admitted he KNEW the girl was 12 years old at the time. However because of the technicality of the piece of law being deemed imperfect due to the non-allowance of defense of genuine assumption by an accused of age of victim - it was decided the entire piece is flawed and we throw out the whole damn piece of legislation - both currently and historically. Mr. A knew he was guilty of a crime, so did his defense team - and Mr. A even apologized for what he did as he was released. It seems the Judge could not take any other decision as it would involve the court in "a process akin to legislation".

What a disaster. If we can't allow Judges to make intelligent moral decisions in the stark irrefutable logic of justice then the law is indeed an ass.

I'm not just talking about Irish Law. It's the same Worldwide. Everything is about minute technical detail - Law and Justice are two different worlds when it comes to the written detail. Yet we allow (rightly I believe) considerable outcome variations to occur by using random juries to decide guilt or innocence and the level of sentencing (within ranges) is at discretion of a Judge - so that two seemingly very similar cases can have wildly different sentences by different judges. I believe the execution of true justice must become a foundation of all interpretation of written law. Furthermore I think the performance of individuals in the legal system (from solicitors upwards) needs more than self regulation from within, it needs outside independent monitoring.

All I'm asking is that we laterally rethink many of the parameters which make up LAW and give us what we all want - JUSTICE.

It's such fun to beat the crap out of fit young tennis players!

Being on the wrong side of 50 and overweight, I don't expect to be much good competing in sports against guys half my age. I regularly play tennis against hot shots in their 20s.

The number of times I win is amazing and extremely gratifying! The fit young big hitters have excellent court coverage abilities but sometimes overhit or get frustrated with themselves. My skills I suppose would be good placement of shots, consistency and reasonable power on forehand when I get a clean opportunity to hit hard. Although overweight I've some sort of basic fitness and can last through long matches (but taking longer to recover between long points!).

It's good to know one is not totally past it in an energetic sport after half a century on the planet. I wish I had taken up tennis seriously in my teens. I was almost 40 when I started playing in any proper way. I would encourage everyone to enjoy some sport and start as young as possible - but certainly don't be discouraged by starting when older.

Da Vinci Code - The Movie

Okay, I went to the movie lastnight.

I wasn't expecting to enjoy it near as much as I did the book. I was pleasantly surprised.

Firstly it was beautiful visually. The Louvre looked amazing on the big screen and likewise all the other wonderful buildings. The flashbacks were very well produced, looked brilliant and got the intended messages across very well. Other good visual effects also helped get across the various ideas being explored which otherwise could have involved much longer dialogue. I thought the moving camera work (no doubt with elements of computer graphics) over the inverted pyramid at the Louvre at the end was well done. I also liked the way they kept the aurally beautiful French language in many of the Parisian scenes.

To me the finer details of the acting skills, the mechanics of the plot - murder, police work, chases etc. were all of minor interest compared to the stimulation of both thought and senses with all the core ideas explored. The mysteries of early Christianity and development of the various Churches have always interested me and I like history of art and great historical buildings. I didn't feel the 150 minutes of the movie sailing past. I founded it absorbing to watch.

Of the actors I thought Ian McKellen was the best. I was expecting Audrey Tautou as Sophie to be poor from reading Sinead's review. Audrey was certainly a bit staid for a lot of the movie (and unhealthily skinny!) but towards the end she had a number of scenes where her acting skills came out. Regarding Tom Hanks - of course he is a good actor - but he just doesn't quite impress me as the professor Langdon of the book. He somehow visually fails to get best impact from the important lines he delivers. It's more a role for a Harrison Ford or Kevin Costner type - who seem more expressive as thinkers.

Having read the book with all it's absorbing detail - the movie was never going to get through everything. The pace and energy of the one or two day sequence of events also somehow came across better in the book.

Overall it's a movie I enjoyed on many levels and would watch again.

More on The Da Vinci Code...

As the book and now the film release hype reaches a crescendo I can safely say I'm sick of reading about the Da Vinci Code. However, I'm not sick for the obvious reasons of disliking Dan Brown's work. I'm nauseated by the literary and general artistic snobbery which is almost triumphantly displayed by expert critics. Rarely is a self respecting decent critic seen to publicly praise the work.

I think in truth what probably subconsciously irritates many purist critics is that the book presents its ideas so entertainingly without overworking the reader too much. It also touches on so many subjects which only experts in each field should be qualified to have a considered view on. It has elements of an "Introduction for Dummies" book in terms of art history, places and Christianity. Worse - it goes on to make conclusions in the fictional plot which are rather speculative to say the least.

I liked the book for two reasons...

1. It helped further enhance my existing interest in history of art, famous places and history of Chistianity and religions generally. The concept of the suppression of females in religion was also a well raised subject. Hence it did for me and evidently millions of others what any really good book should do - allows the reader to take something useful away from it, learn something, provoke thought and encourage further research. I wasn't for one moment convinced by the "garment" created from the cutting and stitching of fabrics of raw materials but it definitely provoked more study into actual facts. There was plenty of encouragement offered to the reader to think a bit differently and laterally.

2. It was a good yarn in a well tried and trusted thriller or detective format.

Yes the book was designed and written with maximum commercial success in mind. Yes it was using well understood shrink-wrapped psychology in keeping the reader interested and wanting to keep reading. Yes it had ingredients designed to make big numbers of vertical marketing groups read it - Christians, non-Christians, clergy, women (and men) irritated by overdose of male roles in religious hierarchal structures, thriller novel lovers, detective novel fans, casual history fans, lateral thinking fans, holiday readers, readers who want something easy to digest, young, middle aged and old people etc. Yes it is very American in how it's full of punchy ideas and yes it also avoided complex expressive literary writing styles. But so what I ask? The fact is that most of these elements tend to be seen as negatives by highbrow critics.


Here's a question partially related - in experiencing something new, should we criticise a well designed multimedia PC based self learning software package for the masses which maximises visual and aural stimuli as well as using psychologically proven teaching techniques in favour of drudging through research and going and listening to a plethora of badly delivered live lectures by experts? Each has their place and their merits.

The Da Vinci Code brings traditionally less studied subjects - raspberry flavoured by presentation skill and controversy - closer to the unwashed masses. This can irritate many well read critics.

However study of lateral ideas in art and religion should not be a domain for snobbery - it is for anyone who wants to feel liberated in thoughts away from their everyday lives. Shakespeare plays were always designed for the common people of England when they came out - now Shakespeare is largely in the realm of the artistic snob.

I'm going to be different to most critics and say The Da Vinci Code is a good book. I know hundreds of millions of intelligent people will support me. I doubt if the film will be a better overall experience but if it comes any way close then it can't be bad.

(PS - My first impressions on the book last year are on my blog of 1st Sept 2005.)

Adware, Scareware....I'm being attacked...Aaagh!!!

Wow, I've had a busy week or so at home fighting infestations on the home PC which is connected to broadband. This surprised me as I already have plenty of anti-virus and adware/malware protection, good security levels and firewall settings etc.

It seems a few of my daughters clicked on some weird adverts which arose directly or indirectly while on Bebo and before long I had nothing but trouble with loads of various strange uninvited programs and hidden files hopping around the PC.

The most cunning of these was manifested by a flashing security sign on the bottom toolbar which regularly launched a small pop-up saying that the computer was infected with a Malware type virus and to click for more help. In doing this I was directed straight to a very plausible looking website called spyfalcon.com which could fix the problem. This was very professional looking - with impressive picture of a Spy Falcon retail software box, loads of information and testimonials etc. You could download the software for a reasonable cost by giving credit card details. I was slightly tempted until I noticed that nowhere was there an address for the company nor a way of e-mailing them. Then a bit of Internet research showed it to be a Scareware thing - a complete scam.

Another problem was infestation of Internet Explorer - even though my home page was blank - by launching IE I was directed to another security site which was also very impressive - but yet another complete scam.

I ended up working very hard in most of my spare time over the last week finding how to sort out all the problems - via Internet searches, forums, talking to experts etc. I was successfully killing loads of problems and hidden files - but many were returning and one nasty program in particular - Smitfraud - was very hard to shake off. The other thing is that full scans can often take hours to execute - so you are going away, coming back, revisiting overnight etc. Eventually the only product I could find to really fix everything for good was XoftSpy - which I bought yesterday online for 48 US Dollars. It was also very fast at scanning. I would highly recommend it.

I'm left stunned by the ferocity of attacks and damage which can be carried out from the Internet and the incredible plausibility of some of the anti-virus software scams out there which can grab money by the poor user being conned. Then there are these nasty hidden key loggers etc. We are all used to the silly stuff which comes in by e-mail - false banks etc., and you know never to open unknown e-mail attachments - but this was on a different level of cunning.

On a scale of 1 - 10 on computer skills I might be a 5 or a 6 from working professionally in the telecoms industry. However, God help those who naively expose themselves to the raw Internet! No wonder Internet Security is such a growing business for profit making. It's like a constant war keeping evil away and probably getting worse!

Smell....the sense of the past

Our impressions of the distant past are mainly influenced by the written word, items, places, visual images as well as sounds such as music and voices.

Do we ever stop to think about the smells of the past? It's certainly not the first thing which comes to mind. In my casual readings of history, novels and watching documentaries I've often been hit by secondary thoughts that the distant past would have been unacceptable to us today in terms of bad smells.

We've rightly become rather intolerant today to bad smells and lack of hygiene. Most of us shower and change clothes daily, our houses are kept clean etc. We have very efficient chemicals, cleansing facilities and waste disposal infrastructure. We are intolerant of unclean bathrooms and we give out hell if a restaurant etc. has dirty toilets. Waste of all sort must be disposed of efficiently and rapidly go away from us in terms of visuals and odours.

Picture life in cities say 100-150 years ago. Washing, cleaning and personal hygiene was very difficult and labour intensive. Most of the time people would smell badly - their bodies, clothes, breath, teeth etc. Even the irregularly washed clothes with the crude soaps used would have smelled unacceptable in today's terms. The houses would smell badly too from a plethora of odours. Public baths were built and were irregularly used by the unwashed masses.

Out in the street horses were used for transport and dogs and cats were running loose. The place would have been riddled with the stench of fresh dung.

Buildings were damp and cold, open fires in houses and industry generated smog, food hygiene was poor - all generating more unpleasant smells. Disease was common, medicine was crude and ineffective - the smell of ill-health was regular. People smoked from unfiltered cigarettes and pipes anywhere they liked. More bad smells.

I suspect people used smell as a serious sense in the past. At one level they would not have been upset by the regular background of bad smells and on the other hand they would be able to make so many useful judgments in the richness of foul odours which made up their world. They could probably make all sorts of assessments of different people and places by their smells. A rather wild animal-like tool in today's terms.

Today we welcome pleasant odours as in florals and perfumes etc. However we are so revolted by anything even on the edge of a bad smell that everything is done to eliminate the chance of it ever hitting our nostrils.

We forget that the distant past was an extremely foul odoured place. Our sense of smell as a tool is slowly becoming redundant in our thankfully sanitized modern world.

Rugby tale...tough guys or not?

With all the rugby hype lately I'm reminded of when I first explained rugby to my eldest daughter about 12 years ago when she was maybe 10 years old or so......

A 5-nations match was taking place between Ireland and England at Landsdowne Road and we were watching the very start of it on TV. My daughter wanted to know more about the game so I explained the rules as generally as I could. I also explained to her that these guys were super fit and exceptionally strong. They can crash into each other, do huge tackles and come through without a bother on them. Built like bricks, nothing could hurt them. My daughter was very impressed by my little speech, she figured that we were looking at a pitch full of guys like Superman.

Just after I explained all this the TV camera was showing the England captain Will Carling. He was walking along gently and suddenly keeled over in agony. He was on the ground for ages and had to be taken away permanently on a stretcher. It seemed he had stepped accidentally into a little depression in the ground made by a boot and badly twisted his leg in some way.

Well, you can imagine my little daughter was not impressed with the incident......

"You lied to me Dad. You said they were all really strong. This man is the captain of England so he should be the toughest on the field. Nobody touched him. He just fell when walking and he was taken away in a stretcher!"

Highly embarrassing, and it took years for my little girl to believe anything more I said on the subject of sport!

Easter Rising of 1916 - right or wrong?

For the most part I'm a pacifist and as such I've mixed thoughts on how we should view 1916.

At one level it seemed an unnecessary and brutal event where innocent people were killed and the city centre of Dublin was ransacked and burned. It is often felt we would get Home Rule anyway and that maybe this just slowed it down.

On the other hand maybe it needed a big dramatic shakeup to get momentum back towards ordinary Irish people seeing independence as a good idea. We were in significant danger of complaisantly drifting along towards becoming increasingly British like Scotland or Wales. I for one am glad we are independent today. I believe we are a better people for it.

A good old sage and a man I much admire - Garret FitzGerald - wrote well on the subject in the Irish Times yesterday. I suppose there is more than a tinge of bias as he is unlikely to criticize his father Desmond FitzGerald too much (who took part in the rising). Nevertheless Garret makes his points logically and offers a refreshing insight into the events of 1916. If I am interpreting him correctly, Garret feels that that...

A. It's very hard to put cosy 21st century Ireland attitudes on the 1916 event. The Irish had just joined up in droves to fight in The Great War in the British Army against Germany. The appetite for Irish freedom was perceived to be declining. On the other hand many other Nations at the time were violently striking for independence from Monarchy type rule. So it was a case of the tiny minority maverick visionaries trying to inspire and lead the way - admittedly lunatics at the time in the eyes of some.

B. The Home Rule that was being promised was going to be very much a satellite service from England, not proper independence. Garret feels that 1916 restored the passion for true independence, pride and identity.

Of course in today's terms we often equate the modern IRA with the violent actions of the volunteers in 1916. I actually have difficulty looking at it that way - I've written on this before, extract below...

[...They (1916 volunteers) fought openly and bravely for freedom and either died fighting or were captured and executed. I know they were using violence to achieve their ends whilst slow political moves were afoot. However, it's hard to compare the 1916 Rising to the modern IRA practices of cowardly bomb planting with mass civilian deaths, secret executions and racketeering. Moreover, the modern IRA's cause to bludgeon Northern Ireland, where the majority are loyalist, into Irish unity was always completely misguided....

National Pride, 26th Oct 2005, Earth and Universe ]


Either way, 1916 happened. Like it or not, it's part of the story of what made us what we are today. We must pay attention to it, recognize it and at least give the people who put their lives on the line for the aspiration of Irish independence a level of respect. I agree with Garret that 1916 did restore dangerously flagging national pride - although not necessarily using desirable methods. The execution of the leaders was Britain's huge mistake.

Cool it with the President

President McAleese has been getting a few swipes from different directions in the last year and it seems fashionable almost for people to join the bandwagon. Almost like when a small fight breaks out in a pub and then everyone joins in.

Let's deal with some of the criticisms...

Ian Paisley and some in the DUP don't like her. I'll try to put to one side for now the scores and scores of ridiculous and inciteful statements Paisley has put out over many decades, (e.g. referring to the Pope as the anti-Christ!). His attitude that our president has a deep hatred of Northern Ireland and Unionists is bizarre to put it mildly. The president has worked harder than anyone before her to have unionists groups come to the Aras and has tried to visit so many traditional unionist locations over the years. Her remarks on unionism and Nazism was wrong and she apologised strongly for it. So she has made one hurtful remark against Paisley's countless ones, and he doesn't dream of apologising.

While her remark was wrong, it is true that Mary McAleese grew up in a Northern Ireland where voting arrangements were crazy and there was definite job discrimination against nationalists. It was well known that when a firm interviewed you for a job that they always checked what school you went to. Seemed nice and innocent but it proved which foot you kicked with. There was bigotry and nationalists were burned out of there homes. It's stretching a lot to compare it to Nazism but you can see there are Freudian subconscious pains still coming to the surface from a Belfast Nationalist like Mary McAleese. I'm not condoning what she said and neither does the president, but we must remember how bitter life was in the past. She holds some demons from growing up and it is a little understandable that the pain can surface at times in a flow of conversation. Unionist verbal rage seems to come thick and fast on a scale much bigger than anything our president has ever said. When you don't want inclusiveness and agreement then it's so typical to clutch at anything which will further your cause. But we just listen to the ranting and raving and put up with it. President McAleese is working very hard to build bridges to Northern Ireland and unionists. I pity her task. There is a line from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar which comes to mind as Mark Anthony describes the slain Caesar to the unruly anti-Caesar mob...."The evil which men do lives after them. The good is often interred with their bones".

Many thought President McAleese wrongly spoke on behalf of the Irish People in condemning the Danish Newspaper cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad. But it was carefully considered Government policy and we elected the Government. Nobody in Government circles, including the President, is condoning the evil exploitation of this event to incite killing and Jihad etc. Quite the opposite and the President went on to say as much. We are simply saying that it was wrong to use blasphemy against a religious tradition which is exceptionally sensitive to their prophet being drawn and ridiculed. We must remember that Islam, although Abrahamic in it's deepest origins, is different to what we are used to in Christianity today. The Koran and Islam is very deeply into fear of God in a way Christians no longer think. If we analyze it all objectively then the cartoon was wrong because it caused great hurt and the Government and the President were right to say so. There is no point saying to someone who is hurt that they are wrong to be hurt. Furthermore as a democracy the president condemning the publication on behalf of Ireland is fine even thought there will be those who still think it was okay to publish it.

The episode in Saudi Arabia in which the President made a speech where women were behind a screen seems easy to defend to me. Firstly you don't come into a foreign country like a bull in a china shop and start publicly shooting up their traditions. Far better to make your points more intelligently. Did nobody spot the brilliant point that was being made without our president even uttering a word? Here was the president of our country, a female, elected by the people (not from a Royal birth right) about to speak freely in their country where females had less rights. That helped the female cause in Saudi Arabia better than causing public anger by refusing to speak at all. And it highlighted the women behind the screens to the television networks everywhere. A Trojan Horse if ever there was one!

There are so many times when our president has articulated very well internationally our nations feelings. Her speeches during national and international disasters are excellent and she can always articulate just the right emotions for the occasion, she shows great humanity. President McAleese is also a great asset to our business community in helping exports as part of trade delegations. Never short of words to say - she could talk for Ireland as they say, and does!


A lesser point, but nonetheless worth mentioning - our president's physical presentation is excellent for ceremonial and media presence events - she is tall, slim and always elegantly groomed. On the occasions our president has stood beside the Queen of England, Her Royal Highness must have felt small and frumpy!

We all make a few mistakes, even leaders. You could argue that Paddy Hillery didn't make any mistakes as president - but that's easy when you stay quiet. Let's be thankful for such a great ambassador in Mary McAleese. Like all of us she has a few weaknesses, but they are greatly outnumbered by her strengths - so let's not throw out the baby with the bath water.

In praise of tennis...fun and fitness!

Well I do think more people of all ages should play tennis. It's great fun, social, good aerobic exercise, and unlike golf doesn't take up too much time, typically an hour or so. What's better is that you don't really think about the exercise element because it's primarily fun. In my opinion this is in stark contrast to jogging and gym work where it takes mental commitment and is hard to keep up regularly. And it's not a contact sport nor involves extreme strength so injuries are exceptionally rare - tend to only occur at professional levels.

All you need is someone to play against, a friend or someone else who wants a bit of exercise and fun. You can start by just hitting balls back and forth over the net without playing games at all. Gradually co-ordination improves and you get more and more fun from it.

Joining a club is a very good idea and it's then easy to get into a regular playing pattern and finding people your own level, nice social scene, coaching etc.

I've been in a tennis club for about 12 years now after starting by messing about on public courts. It's weird, but even though I've obviously aged since then, my tennis skills have improved in that time beyond all recognition. This is without any major commitment other than having fun playing regularly and the odd bit of informal or formal coaching. It's very rewarding to see your skills improving from year to year.

Tennis courts are something we are not short of in Ireland. You would be amazed by the number of clubs around, often hidden away off side roads and cul-de-sacs. There are plenty of public courts too. You need very little equipment other than a racket and runners.

Tennis is fun and fitness - and in that order of priority!

Top Gear...bittersweet feelings.

I often watch Jeremy Clarkson and the lads on Top Gear reviewing cars and getting up to all sorts of odd experiments and trials. A part of me enjoys it and a part of me finds it irritating.

The obvious positive for me about Top Gear is that I like cars. I have an engineering background so I also enjoy the technology aspects. I tinkered a lot mechanically with older cars when I was in my early twenties. After a motorcycle stint my first car was a rust bucket but nevertheless exciting Triumph Vitesse with a 2 litre six cylinder engine, twin carbs etc. Theoretically very fast but it would shake to death long before worrying Garda speed checks on open roads!

Anyway, the negatives for me on Top Gear would be....

1. Obsession with all-out performance on extreme sports cars like Ferraris, Porches etc......

It amused me on many programs where say a Ferrari is shown that they would go into raptures about it's handling and performance. But then you hear them offer minor irritations like.....the front skirt smashes off the ground on speed ramps or coming down from multi-story car parks. Or best of all...."Ferrari's can be quite tiring on long journeys". 200K plus Euros for a sports car that's tiring to sit in for too long and can't handle ramps! Not to mention the fact that it's completely illegal to use the performance on public roads. Do you think they would test a very good compromise sports car like the Hyundai Coupe? No chance! To the Top Gear team this would be either a girly or a hairdresser's car! However the latter coupe has reasonable power, corners and handles exceptionally well, looks amazing, and you can live with it comfortably on long journeys and all conditions. I'm biased maybe since my wife acquired such a red beast a few months ago and we loooove it! However sports cars have to have the right badge and go 0-100Km/hr in less than 5 seconds to even be considered on Top Gear.

2. Silly tests every week, which seem to only have a similar curiosity value to a bearded lady in a Circus. Examples...

* Jeremy tests an SLK Mercedes and a Porche at very high speed around a deserted village. A team of Army snipers are hidden in different parts of the village and all try to shoot him with laser rifles. He was shot less times in the Porche but came to the conclusion that since it was the Porche that was tested first - that the Army got used to the conditions for the Mercedes. Hence it was concluded that the test was fun but meaningless!

* Jeremy tries to out-maneuver an army tank in a Range Rover and avoid being hit by the tank's gun. What can I say!!??

* A Toyota 4x4 vehicle is placed on the roof of a high tower building which is demolished by a controlled explosion. When the smashed vehicle is recovered they found that with a little coaxing they could start the engine! Mildly interesting I suppose!

* A Boeing 747 Jumbo jet engine is fired up to full throttle on a runway. They drive a remote controlled Citroen 2CV car right across the path of the rear of the jet engine (well, the British hate French cars!). The Citroen is blown 10 feet into the air like a kite and lands utterly demolished about 200 feet down the runway! It did make me whistle in awe at the power of those jet engines....but it sure was a bizarre test!

* Jeremy drives a Land Rover Discovery to the top of a Scottish mountain. This was interesting in fairness and could possibly influence the 1% of 4x4 SUV drivers who would consider taking their expensive vehicles off-road!

3. The main negative for me though is the encouragement this program gives to immature boy racers. It's really a program which can excite such idiots. As if such killer fools needed any more encouragement - we've got grown parent type men on the show salivating as they blister cars along roads and do handbrake turns - everything is about pushing supercars to the limits. As much as I like cars - any time most of us are tempted to overdo the driving scene we think of unexpected events occurring to cause a collision, carnage, ruined lives etc. A split second's carelessness can ruin the happiness of a lifetime.

I'm not being a kill-joy here. I do in many ways enjoy Top Gear. But given that it's aimed at the general public - it's possible to have an exciting car program without comparing impractical supercars around a race track, wrongly influencing immature boy-racers and running childish and meaningless bizarre tests.


Footnote, 2nd April...

I have a small spoonfull of humble pie to eat...but not a platefull.

I watched Top Gear on Saturday to be treated to a road test of...guess what...the aforementioned Hyundai Coupe! And they liked it's solid handling on the road, it's great Ferrari type looks and general price vs. performance ratio. In contrast they thought a Lexus Coupe costing three times the price was crap.

A second spoonfull of pie was needed as they then tested a very cheap small hatchback which they also liked.

Wonders will never cease! But they should do this more often.

Michael McDowell and Cafe Bars

Michael McDowell is one of those innovative leaders who often gets up people's noses as his passion for what he believes in is a few steps out of sync with his mouth. He would make a great apprentice for Sir Alan Sugar.

Since there is plenty of negative coverage in recent days for McDowell, I'll try to be different. I have to commend the way he comes up with fresh ideas.

I thought McDowell's cafe-bar licensing idea last year was great. I've been in some of these here and abroad and they do tend to encourage people to balance consumption between food and drink. It's well known that having food reduces the intoxicating effect of a given measure of alcohol and there can be a tendency to drink less when having food. Apart from the obvious reduction in people being pissed out of their skulls with no food in their stomachs, there is also the avoidance of drunks spilling into chippers very late, causing trouble, and having trashy food in their stomachs before going to sleep.

I seem to recall that what killed McDowell's cafe bar plans was a strong rejection force from Fianna Fail back benchers - who may well have had links, lobbyists, or party donations from interests in the license trade.

Mary Harney, Ben Dunne...fight flab and motivate us all!

I'm nobody to preach about being overweight and I understand the problem only too well. But I just think our Minister for Health should consider solving her own weight problem for her own sake and as an added motivation it would set a wonderful example for the nation whose health she clearly is concerned with. Mary Harney has been overweight for as long as I can remember and seems to get larger with time. I'm sure she knows it's dangerous for her as she gets older and the stress and nature of the job with long sitting hours and lunches/dinners etc. can't be a help.

I'm not just picking on Mary Harney because she is a woman. There seems to be a bit of the "Emperor's clothes" taboo about commenting on the weight of a senior high profile female politician (or I suppose on any woman come to think of it!). It's not just about women though. Ben Dunne looks like a most unlikely person to be promoting his fitness clubs - and he has said as much himself! What an example he could set by losing weight and the free publicity for his clubs would be excellent for business. Would probably extend his life as a bonus.

I've noticed that any public comments on national obesity are made by the Taoiseach instead of the more logical Minister for Health, Mary Harney, so she clearly sees the irony. It's a free country as they say and people including elected politicians make their own personal choices. It's also bloody difficult to lose weight. It's a permanent attitude of mind to food which is needed.

I've always had great respect for Mary Harney as a politician. I still credit her for solving the smog problem in Dublin by banning sale of smoky fuels. And I do think she is the right person for sorting out the Health service, given time. Imagine how she could motivate all of us with weight problems by starting and participating in a nationwide and televised campaign to lose weight permanently. It's not easy for her but she could be doing it primarily for herself and secondly for the nation. Ben Dunne should team up with her on a national campaign! It would be fun and would get us all who are overweight in on the act.

Right, I know I'm sooooo dead for commenting on a woman's weight but I promise that if a very overweight man was Minister for Health I would suggest the same thing!

Finally, anyone volunteering to ask Mary? Not me, I'm too chicken....eh... the emperor has lovely clothes! I'll volunteer for Ben Dunne.

Inner demons

Many have varying interactions with the darker sides of life, but usually don't admit it.

Edgar Allen Poe's "The Oval Portrait" has some parallels with Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray" but written some 50 years earlier. We are subliminally interested in the blend of love, life and our mortality. Indeed it has always been a big subject with Woody Allen also and countless other writers.

It is a sensitive subject, but many truly do struggle with inner demons as too much gets on top of us. Look at all the suicides in Ireland and indeed the recent sad case of the mother who appears to have killed her children before taking her own life. Edgar Allen Poe himself was a very troubled individual but it may have helped him a little to write his macabre tales.

One of my daughters is a student psychiatric nurse. She is very professional about never mentioning names but in general terms seems to come across such a range of problems which very ordinary people have. Psychiatric problems seem to be on the increase.

My attitude in life is to see the funny side as much as possible, certainly it helps me. My wife is the same and in addition she has often said that those who are contemplating suicide should force themselves to go out and do something useful for others. If the inner pain is too much to live then maybe project outwards and just help someone else in a small way, even as a last deed. I would think it could be very therapeutic for the troubled person.

I don't pretend to know near enough on the inner demons and darkness which people go through. It's too big a subject for me but such a growingly important topic in today's world.

40 years since Nelson's Pillar was blown up

I didn't notice much media interest this week in the 40th anniversary of the blowing up of Nelson's Pillar on 8th March. I remember liking the pillar as a kid. It suited the street, matched the nearby GPO columns and you could walk to the top and have a good view of the city. I didn't give a toss at the time who Nelson himself was but there had been talk of putting a different statue on top and renaming the pillar. The IRA took more clinical action - presumably not liking the English admiral being on the street coming to the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising.

The Spire today in the same spot is modern and interesting and the idea wasn't bad. To me it looked better in the artist's impressions than in reality. Maybe when they finish all the surrounding plans in O'Connell Street it will give the full impact.


I wrote a previous blog on one of my little trips to the top of the pillar as a kid. I'll recopy it here...

Nelson's Pillar...a quick route to the top!

We approach the 40th anniversary of the blowing up of Nelson's Pillar in March 1966. I was 11 years old when that event occured and I must be one of the youngest today who can tell a tale of being up the famous pillar. My little story is also a reminder of an era of exceptional respect for the clergy.....

One of my pals had an aunt who was a nun. In 1965 she took my pal and I along with a few of his siblings into O'Connell Street, Dublin to see the movie Mary Poppins. This movie seemed to be running endlessly for up to a year in the Metropole Cinema (the cinema is long gone - it was beside Eason's bookshop). Coming out of the cinema after the matinee the towering Nelson's Pillar dominated the street. This wonderful nun said she would take us up to the top of the pillar as a further treat. We joined the end of the very long queue leading to the pillar. In her penguin robes the nun was instantly noticed by the ticket men. Within seconds we were being ushered past the hundreds of waiting people to the pillar entrance. My initial reaction was one of utter shock to be jumping a big queue. In school or elsewhere I would be a dead man walking! I looked nervously at the faces in the queue as we walked briskly past. Everyone was looking at us. However there was not one word of anger, no scowling faces. Quite the opposite in fact - I recall many warm smiles and even a few pleasant salutations to the nun as we passed. My shock melted into a wonderful sense of privilege and the nun grew hugely in my respect for her powers. We were like royalty, this was red carpet treatment!

We wound our way gingerly up the poorly lit narrow spiral stone steps inside the pillar. On eventually reaching the top we looked down at O'Connell Street far below and triumphantly noted the size of the queue still stretching up the street. To me the shaft of the pillar below us really seemed too narrow and fragile to support us all on our high viewing platform. We were even looking down at the roof on the huge GPO nearby. I also had a close look at the statue of Admiral Nelson himself on his pedestal just above us.

It was a great and memorable day. I enjoyed Mary Poppins, the excitement of Nelson's Pillar and I learned (alas temporarily!) that it was good practice to have a nun with you in a long queue!

PS - I wonder if that nun is still alive, I don't even recall her name, she was a kind person indeed.

Lucia wins "You're a Star"....thank goodness!

I had a passing interest in the final of RTE's "You're a Star" singing talent contest at the weekend. I was very wowed by the voice of Lucia Evans and she was in a different class to anyone else I heard in the previous weeks.

I was a little intrigued by what might happen in the public voting at the final. I'm guessing purely from anecdotal evidence that mainly females vote on these things (only a guess!) and I thought many might be swayed by the charm of the quintessentially Irish O'Sullivan lads. Also given that Lucia was a black girl originally from Zimbabwe I had a nagging fear that some element of racism or zenophobia could potentially creep in on a public but secret vote. I didn't think it would but you just never know. Certainly if she had lost the vote I would have had to suspect some racism because she was so clearly the best beyond any level of subjectivity associated with musical talent. Thankfully and rightly Lucia won the public vote. It doesn't really prove that the Irish are not racist but at least it didn't suggest that we are!

Loyalist Dublin parade...a quick analysis.

Before Saturday's event it was certainly a source of pride to me that we were allowing a type of march which would clearly be provocative in Northern Ireland. Imagine if republicans organised a "Love Ireland" march in Belfast for the victims of loyalist violence and sectarianism. Ouch, I suspect it would have made Saturday's incidents look like tea with the Tellytubbies. Soooo not-on as a march idea.

Let's examine brief components of the parade we were quite rightly happy to take place....

1. It was to commemorate the victims of Irish Republican violence.

2. It was to be held in the heart of Dublin, the capital of the Irish Republic, near both the scene and the 90th anniversary timing of the 1916 Easter Rising.

3. It was to be held by Ulster loyalists. There is still an almost genetic imprint in many nationalists close to the Northern Ireland situation on the history of loyalist marches up there. To some, even the words "parade" and "loyalist" in the same sentence still evokes a provocative image.

So yes, it was possibly a daring idea in the first place and it turns out it was too much to ask that some small elements would not exploit it.

However let's look at some positives which might be worth salvaging from this embarrassing ugly event....

1. We agreed to a march which was a challenge to our inclusiveness and as mentioned above could be argued to have some provocative components to hardcore republicans. The Gardai and 99.9% of Irish people were quite happy for it to go ahead and did not want trouble, nor did most of us expect trouble.

2. The violence was clinical but quick and ended by mid afternoon. This has the characteristics of an organised but tiny unrepresentative dissident group. Ordinary thuggery joined in of course to make it look bigger. Nobody was too seriously injured as I understand. By international standards it was certainly not the worst of riots and was very short in duration. Some Dubliners even managed to see a humourous side to parts of it in describing the thug youngsters looting and indeed poor old Charlie Bird's experiences.

3. Sinn Fein has spoken out strongly against the violence, and they needed to.

4. After the event no elected groups or authorities has denied the rights of loyalists to march in Dublin. Everyone was rightly embarrased and outraged by the attack on democracy.

5. We have concentrated on how the Gardai should have handled the event and more importantly on putting in big efforts to catch those responsible.

6. I'm glad that at least a loyalist band got to march in front of Leinster House, it was nice of the Irish Times to show that picture today. This is the image 99.9% of us in the south wanted from the event. I commend the Irish Times for rightly representing us this way and the good editorial.

7. Of course you expect some loyalists to shout a bit of propaganda over the ugly event, which they predictably did. However, according to today's Irish Times the DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson, while condemning the violence, also drew attention both to the lengths to which Gardai went to keep the visitors safe, and the spontaneous welcome and civility shown by people on the streets before the violence erupted.

Let's not give this short ugly riot the values the perpetrators intended.