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!
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Thursday, April 13, 2006
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.
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.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
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.
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.
Friday, March 31, 2006
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!
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!
Monday, March 27, 2006
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.
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.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
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.
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.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
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.
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.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
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.
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.
Friday, March 10, 2006
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.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
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!
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!
Monday, February 27, 2006
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.
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.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Innovative geniuses today...not quite as before!
Sir Clive Sinclair was a modern British inventor. Famous in the late 1970s and early 1980s for bringing affordable micro computers into the home. The Sinclair ZX80, ZX81 and Spectrum. Also the battery powered car. At the height of his fame he was asked if he thought people were becoming more and more innovatively intelligent. He said that he actually thought we were getting more and more stupid as time went on!
Although I don't totally agree, I can relate a little to what he meant. I love the world we live in, I love the capabilities and reliability of all the machinery and electronic systems we use every day. We can get much more done and at a quicker pace. But we understand so little of what we control. For example there was a time a few decades back when many with some DIY and electrical knowledge could understand and repair domestic electrical gadgets and service our own cars etc. Now sub-assemblies and big lumps of electronics are swapped out and thrown away and most gadgets are cheaper to replace than to repair. GUI computer operating systems like Windows and plug-and-play USB interfaces makes controlling PCs somewhat easier. But there is a wider and deeper content to computers at the electronics, BIOS and machine code level which is a mystery even to most good computer literate people. This is natural division of skills at play and largely there is nothing wrong with it. It's just that everything is getting so much more specialised to the extent that we are often losing the old abilities to think in an inventive and wider field of thought and have a reasonable knowledge on a lot of subjects. In pursuing useful progress we can get a bit blinkered and this can often affect good creative lateral thinking.
Innovative genius today in terms of science and technology is based on teams in laboratories unraveling mysteries which the average person no longer relates to. It's probably the exception now for one individual to stand out strongly. Breakthroughs are also often based on exploiting or improving on existing inventions and discoveries which other specialist teams elsewhere know more about.
Individual geniuses in the past had much simpler but wider sensory linked foundations to work with and certainly poorer tools. They had to be so creative and have powerful imaginations. Da Vinci, Copernicus, Gauss, Faraday, Planck, Einstein and many many more. The lateral thinking of Einstein was amazing. It takes a real open minded genius to figure out that the long accepted fixed time factor in an equation of motion is not a constant and depends on relative speeds. He had little to go on to prove his theory living in a pre-space age world of low relative speeds and lack of advanced facilities. Carl Friedrich Gauss was an exceptional individual genius in mathematics and physics. My esteemed 3rd level advanced mathematics lecturer often talked in awe about Gauss who seemed to be his inspirational role model. He once said..."Even on my very best day I would never be one hundredth as good as Gauss on his worst day!"
We live in a time of constant exciting changes and improvements. We have built great foundations and have fantastic tools to go further and further. There are special individuals who are creatively tuned into what's happening around them, who think differently and positively, and who then passionately work hard at what they believe. Not all will succeed, but coming from this pool are the individual innovative geniuses who will always shape the World. In my opinion in today's complex World it is the very special entrepreneur and leader who can bring progress to the masses through visionary and intelligent use of people skills (including technical teams) and resources. Progress is often at big financial risk also.
The right type of visionary entrepreneur would have a good macro view often missed by specialised technical teams. The idea will often involve exploiting existing technologies with some visionary thinking thrown in. Sometimes the spark of gold dust can even be blindingly simple with clever lateral thinking. As a crude micro example you only have to relate to one of Bill Cullen's tales in his autobiography "It's a long way from penny apples". As a child he was doing street selling in the Moore Street area. He had little bags of balloons and was trying to sell individual balloons for 1 penny each. Hard work and not too successful. Then he decided to inflate each balloon and put each on a stick. He sold big quantities of them for 3 pence each! A simple but ingenious lesson from a child in adding value. This type of thinking and more like it can easily apply to bigger projects.
Usually it's the commitment and hard work which is more important than the idea. For example, in the world of novel writing Maeve Binchy was more than once told by ordinary readers she met..."Your novels seem very simple, I could have written those myself and been as successful as you." Maeve's response was..."Yes, indeed you could, but you didn't!" It's a big step from thinking you can do something to making it really happen.
I'm not trying here in any way to play down the vital importance of specialised and systems level teams of scientists and engineers in innovation. Indeed the entrepreneur/leader may even be an engineer/scientist and on one of the teams. I'm just saying that in the complexity of today's wide knowledge base it takes additional skills to create a useful innovation and make it happen. What Sir Clive Sinclair was missing in his statement is that the type of people who are driving real mass progress are changing. A different type of creative intelligent thinking is emerging.
Although I don't totally agree, I can relate a little to what he meant. I love the world we live in, I love the capabilities and reliability of all the machinery and electronic systems we use every day. We can get much more done and at a quicker pace. But we understand so little of what we control. For example there was a time a few decades back when many with some DIY and electrical knowledge could understand and repair domestic electrical gadgets and service our own cars etc. Now sub-assemblies and big lumps of electronics are swapped out and thrown away and most gadgets are cheaper to replace than to repair. GUI computer operating systems like Windows and plug-and-play USB interfaces makes controlling PCs somewhat easier. But there is a wider and deeper content to computers at the electronics, BIOS and machine code level which is a mystery even to most good computer literate people. This is natural division of skills at play and largely there is nothing wrong with it. It's just that everything is getting so much more specialised to the extent that we are often losing the old abilities to think in an inventive and wider field of thought and have a reasonable knowledge on a lot of subjects. In pursuing useful progress we can get a bit blinkered and this can often affect good creative lateral thinking.
Innovative genius today in terms of science and technology is based on teams in laboratories unraveling mysteries which the average person no longer relates to. It's probably the exception now for one individual to stand out strongly. Breakthroughs are also often based on exploiting or improving on existing inventions and discoveries which other specialist teams elsewhere know more about.
Individual geniuses in the past had much simpler but wider sensory linked foundations to work with and certainly poorer tools. They had to be so creative and have powerful imaginations. Da Vinci, Copernicus, Gauss, Faraday, Planck, Einstein and many many more. The lateral thinking of Einstein was amazing. It takes a real open minded genius to figure out that the long accepted fixed time factor in an equation of motion is not a constant and depends on relative speeds. He had little to go on to prove his theory living in a pre-space age world of low relative speeds and lack of advanced facilities. Carl Friedrich Gauss was an exceptional individual genius in mathematics and physics. My esteemed 3rd level advanced mathematics lecturer often talked in awe about Gauss who seemed to be his inspirational role model. He once said..."Even on my very best day I would never be one hundredth as good as Gauss on his worst day!"
We live in a time of constant exciting changes and improvements. We have built great foundations and have fantastic tools to go further and further. There are special individuals who are creatively tuned into what's happening around them, who think differently and positively, and who then passionately work hard at what they believe. Not all will succeed, but coming from this pool are the individual innovative geniuses who will always shape the World. In my opinion in today's complex World it is the very special entrepreneur and leader who can bring progress to the masses through visionary and intelligent use of people skills (including technical teams) and resources. Progress is often at big financial risk also.
The right type of visionary entrepreneur would have a good macro view often missed by specialised technical teams. The idea will often involve exploiting existing technologies with some visionary thinking thrown in. Sometimes the spark of gold dust can even be blindingly simple with clever lateral thinking. As a crude micro example you only have to relate to one of Bill Cullen's tales in his autobiography "It's a long way from penny apples". As a child he was doing street selling in the Moore Street area. He had little bags of balloons and was trying to sell individual balloons for 1 penny each. Hard work and not too successful. Then he decided to inflate each balloon and put each on a stick. He sold big quantities of them for 3 pence each! A simple but ingenious lesson from a child in adding value. This type of thinking and more like it can easily apply to bigger projects.
Usually it's the commitment and hard work which is more important than the idea. For example, in the world of novel writing Maeve Binchy was more than once told by ordinary readers she met..."Your novels seem very simple, I could have written those myself and been as successful as you." Maeve's response was..."Yes, indeed you could, but you didn't!" It's a big step from thinking you can do something to making it really happen.
I'm not trying here in any way to play down the vital importance of specialised and systems level teams of scientists and engineers in innovation. Indeed the entrepreneur/leader may even be an engineer/scientist and on one of the teams. I'm just saying that in the complexity of today's wide knowledge base it takes additional skills to create a useful innovation and make it happen. What Sir Clive Sinclair was missing in his statement is that the type of people who are driving real mass progress are changing. A different type of creative intelligent thinking is emerging.
Monday, February 13, 2006
Stardust Anniversary and RTE drama
I watched the RTE drama lastnight and second part is tonight.
Of course I recall the event well from 1981. I was driving home across the city from my fiancee's house in early hours of the morning and wondered why there were many more ambulances than usual flying around.
Watching the drama lastnight I was almost brought to tears. I can only imagine how it affects the families involved to rewatch. The difference for me now 25 years later is that I've three daughters at ages where they go into clubs around the city every week. We worry about them being safe, meeting dangerous people, having trouble coming home in taxis etc. You don't relax fully until they are home. The last thing we would expect is for them to be trapped and burned in the club they attend. In 1981 there weren't even mobile phones and the agony, panic, confusion and waiting by parents for news must have seemed endless that night.
I recall the major enforcements in public places afterwards regarding flammable materials and usable exits. It became standard practice for a host to point out emergency exits. So many of us became extra conscious of learning how to get quickly out of a building. I'm sure lives were saved by the lessons from Stardust. I just hope we never become complacent. For the poor families who either couldn't watch or didn't want this RTE drama to be aired I would just say that if it helps us redouble our efforts never to let it's like happen again and helps save some lives in the future - then surely it must have some value. The families will never forget what happened, we must make sure nobody else does either.
Of course I recall the event well from 1981. I was driving home across the city from my fiancee's house in early hours of the morning and wondered why there were many more ambulances than usual flying around.
Watching the drama lastnight I was almost brought to tears. I can only imagine how it affects the families involved to rewatch. The difference for me now 25 years later is that I've three daughters at ages where they go into clubs around the city every week. We worry about them being safe, meeting dangerous people, having trouble coming home in taxis etc. You don't relax fully until they are home. The last thing we would expect is for them to be trapped and burned in the club they attend. In 1981 there weren't even mobile phones and the agony, panic, confusion and waiting by parents for news must have seemed endless that night.
I recall the major enforcements in public places afterwards regarding flammable materials and usable exits. It became standard practice for a host to point out emergency exits. So many of us became extra conscious of learning how to get quickly out of a building. I'm sure lives were saved by the lessons from Stardust. I just hope we never become complacent. For the poor families who either couldn't watch or didn't want this RTE drama to be aired I would just say that if it helps us redouble our efforts never to let it's like happen again and helps save some lives in the future - then surely it must have some value. The families will never forget what happened, we must make sure nobody else does either.
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
My Parents - thanks guys!
It's my late Dad's birthday and he would have been 80 today. It's an age more and more people actually reach - Garret Fitzgerald is fit and well and will be 80 tomorrow (9th Feb is my own birthday also).
Both my parents are deceased and I'm their one and only offspring. So I feel if I don't write of them in praise and thanks for how they helped me then nobody ever will.
In hindsight, after my parents married in 1951 they lived for quite some time on the edge of poverty. Mum had been a shirt factory worker from Derry, my Dad a farm hand from Meath. I came along in 1955. At that stage my Dad was a casual labourer in the ESB (not properly staffed) and my Mum had been doing occasional cleaning work for a nuns convent. The three of us were in a rented 10ft x 10ft ground floor room in a house in Clontarf and a toilet was shared with other tenants. On the window of our room there were vertical security bars and my Mum used to say it felt like a prison cell. There was so little space that my parents shared a single bed which was widened fractionally by some cushions. I slept in a cot in the room right up to almost eight years old when we finally moved. There was simply no space in the room for an extra bed. In the final three years I was increasingly sleeping in a kind of foetal position as I was easily outgrowing the cot.
Dad worked in the rural electrification teams out around Wicklow and was away for long hours each day. Working conditions were bad and pay was even worse. His stories of challenges in bringing electricity up to Kippure mountain to the mast for the about-to-come RTE sounded like Napoleonic adventures deep in the Russian winter. The alternative in the 1950s would have been emigration to Britain and I suppose he was lucky to have any work here. Things were tough for them but eventually my Dad became a permanent linesman in the ESB and after a struggle the folks managed to get a mortgage for a new terraced 3 bedroom house in Finglas in late 1962. This was a huge step forward for them but a big financial burden. They were relieved to be able to provide me with a full sized bed and my own room. My mother supplemented the meagre wages by renting the extra few rooms. The third bedroom went to one of my cousins from Donegal who was starting as a 3rd level student in a Dublin college. The front room downstairs went to another cousin who worked in Dublin. It was a full and happy house, my cousins were plenty of fun, almost like older siblings.
My parents had left the education system very early themselves and they did their best to help me to do better. They gently encouraged me through school and every little success I achieved they praised. Thankfully free secondary education came in just in time for us to benefit. I was then gradually taking an interest in science and technology. When the option for third level education came along I had achieved sufficient Leaving Cert results so we got a grant to pay the fees, helped by the family means test. I studied full time for four years towards a degree in electrical engineering. I felt guilty in not pulling in some income to help the folks. I had few part time jobs, but tried to ease their burden by cycling the sixteen miles college round trip each day and taking my Mum's packed lunch and flask to minimise expenses. I was determined not to let them down and studied long hours in the college library on almost every weekday evening. I know it was a sacrifice for them to be carrying me on their backs up to the age of 22. To see their humble smiling faces at the eventual conferring in Trinity College was a big moment for me. Later that evening at home my Dad clowned around posing for photos wearing my gown and holding the degree. I'm delighted to have those photos - he deserved a big share of the credit!
Dad was an intelligent man, a quiet thinker. He could have been anything he wanted with the right breaks. He was a versatile DIY handyman and I picked up many good tips from him in that area. He did progress as much as he could in the ESB and by retirement he was an area supervisor for maintenance crews. Mum was enterprising, always got the best out of any money they had, even made herself a rather good dressing table from bare timber. They were very good people, well known for their kindness and liked by everyone.
My parents lived to see me have a good career and become very happily married. They enjoyed their three grandchildren. By now Dad at last had his own car and the pair of them had fun driving to different parts of Ireland on mini-breaks.
Dad died rather suddenly in 1990 from a heart attack less than a year after retiring. One of my maternal aunts who was widowed had been living with my parents. Incredibly she also died from a heart attack only a month after my Dad, leaving my Mum in the house on her own. Mum stayed on in the house for another 8 years with another elderly lady lodger added for company. I then moved Mum into a nursing home very near where my own family lived in Glenageary and I could visit her much more regularly. She had been in gradual decline and died three years later.
I suppose if the parents were to measure my success in terms of physical wealth then they did not live long enough to witness me moving on to form a very successful telecoms company, a move to a huge house in Killiney with stunning views, quality cars in the driveways etc. How different it all is to the humble start in the tiny rented room in Clontarf. But the folks would know that the real success was how they had taught me good values and gave me the opportunity to be happy, well educated and work for anything I could dream of. They knew they had set me on the right path, given me all the right ingredients. I still sense them all around me and I thank them big time.
Happy Birthday Dad!
Both my parents are deceased and I'm their one and only offspring. So I feel if I don't write of them in praise and thanks for how they helped me then nobody ever will.
In hindsight, after my parents married in 1951 they lived for quite some time on the edge of poverty. Mum had been a shirt factory worker from Derry, my Dad a farm hand from Meath. I came along in 1955. At that stage my Dad was a casual labourer in the ESB (not properly staffed) and my Mum had been doing occasional cleaning work for a nuns convent. The three of us were in a rented 10ft x 10ft ground floor room in a house in Clontarf and a toilet was shared with other tenants. On the window of our room there were vertical security bars and my Mum used to say it felt like a prison cell. There was so little space that my parents shared a single bed which was widened fractionally by some cushions. I slept in a cot in the room right up to almost eight years old when we finally moved. There was simply no space in the room for an extra bed. In the final three years I was increasingly sleeping in a kind of foetal position as I was easily outgrowing the cot.
Dad worked in the rural electrification teams out around Wicklow and was away for long hours each day. Working conditions were bad and pay was even worse. His stories of challenges in bringing electricity up to Kippure mountain to the mast for the about-to-come RTE sounded like Napoleonic adventures deep in the Russian winter. The alternative in the 1950s would have been emigration to Britain and I suppose he was lucky to have any work here. Things were tough for them but eventually my Dad became a permanent linesman in the ESB and after a struggle the folks managed to get a mortgage for a new terraced 3 bedroom house in Finglas in late 1962. This was a huge step forward for them but a big financial burden. They were relieved to be able to provide me with a full sized bed and my own room. My mother supplemented the meagre wages by renting the extra few rooms. The third bedroom went to one of my cousins from Donegal who was starting as a 3rd level student in a Dublin college. The front room downstairs went to another cousin who worked in Dublin. It was a full and happy house, my cousins were plenty of fun, almost like older siblings.
My parents had left the education system very early themselves and they did their best to help me to do better. They gently encouraged me through school and every little success I achieved they praised. Thankfully free secondary education came in just in time for us to benefit. I was then gradually taking an interest in science and technology. When the option for third level education came along I had achieved sufficient Leaving Cert results so we got a grant to pay the fees, helped by the family means test. I studied full time for four years towards a degree in electrical engineering. I felt guilty in not pulling in some income to help the folks. I had few part time jobs, but tried to ease their burden by cycling the sixteen miles college round trip each day and taking my Mum's packed lunch and flask to minimise expenses. I was determined not to let them down and studied long hours in the college library on almost every weekday evening. I know it was a sacrifice for them to be carrying me on their backs up to the age of 22. To see their humble smiling faces at the eventual conferring in Trinity College was a big moment for me. Later that evening at home my Dad clowned around posing for photos wearing my gown and holding the degree. I'm delighted to have those photos - he deserved a big share of the credit!
Dad was an intelligent man, a quiet thinker. He could have been anything he wanted with the right breaks. He was a versatile DIY handyman and I picked up many good tips from him in that area. He did progress as much as he could in the ESB and by retirement he was an area supervisor for maintenance crews. Mum was enterprising, always got the best out of any money they had, even made herself a rather good dressing table from bare timber. They were very good people, well known for their kindness and liked by everyone.
My parents lived to see me have a good career and become very happily married. They enjoyed their three grandchildren. By now Dad at last had his own car and the pair of them had fun driving to different parts of Ireland on mini-breaks.
Dad died rather suddenly in 1990 from a heart attack less than a year after retiring. One of my maternal aunts who was widowed had been living with my parents. Incredibly she also died from a heart attack only a month after my Dad, leaving my Mum in the house on her own. Mum stayed on in the house for another 8 years with another elderly lady lodger added for company. I then moved Mum into a nursing home very near where my own family lived in Glenageary and I could visit her much more regularly. She had been in gradual decline and died three years later.
I suppose if the parents were to measure my success in terms of physical wealth then they did not live long enough to witness me moving on to form a very successful telecoms company, a move to a huge house in Killiney with stunning views, quality cars in the driveways etc. How different it all is to the humble start in the tiny rented room in Clontarf. But the folks would know that the real success was how they had taught me good values and gave me the opportunity to be happy, well educated and work for anything I could dream of. They knew they had set me on the right path, given me all the right ingredients. I still sense them all around me and I thank them big time.
Happy Birthday Dad!
Monday, February 06, 2006
Friendship above Fighting
A female journalist, whose name I can't recall, wrote shortly before the US led Afghanistan and Iraqi invasion on the possible benefits of a completely lateral concept. What if we gradually tempted these difficult parts of the World and it's people with all the luxuries we have in the west, tempt them with all sorts of sweeteners and deals and trading. It would drive the leaders crazy but could ultimately win them over!
Don't laugh, this general approach has a tendency to work. Look at China since it took control of wealthy capitalist Hong Kong. Many thought at the time that Hong Kong would be ruined. Quite the opposite is emerging. The Chinese wanted and are getting into the gravy train they saw in Hong Kong. Places like North Korea with their archaic regimes are beginning to look stupid as South Korea and other neighbours prosper. The North Korean leaders are pathetically trying to promote an image that they have a happy educated people. But their wagons are being circled and time is running out.
The blunt stick of war is a very crude weapon in the 21st century. It pisses people off for decades afterwards, creates a horrible mess. The American liking for using military methods to make the World safer even disguises and suppresses to the recipients the improved values and lifestyles we are trying to promote. Military intervention may sometimes be necessary but is rather overrated and should be a very last resort.
The hand of friendship, goodwill and trade can be powerful. I'm not saying it always works. Crazy leaders who incite their people are always a problem. But in today's world with excellent potential for good trade and communications it is possible to use sophisticated methods to influence peoples better than ever.
The most basic thing which all people want is a better life for themselves and their family. To rise from poverty, to enjoy some comforts, lack of hunger, have good shelter and build from there. In the nasty regimes most of their people lack these basics.
Unfortunately religion extremism is still alive and well as a powerful cocktail for the poor and frustrated and is exploited as a weapon by right wing leaders in less developed parts of the World. So it can take time and patience to get people around to doing something tangible to improve their lot. We don't help our cause by over use of military options. Violence begets more violence.
This is a complex subject. But we in the western world must always develop international friendship, communications, partnerships and trade as the prime tool in improving our World. I must say that Ireland for it's small size has not been too bad at promoting this concept. It's the bigger western cats who have to listen more.
Don't laugh, this general approach has a tendency to work. Look at China since it took control of wealthy capitalist Hong Kong. Many thought at the time that Hong Kong would be ruined. Quite the opposite is emerging. The Chinese wanted and are getting into the gravy train they saw in Hong Kong. Places like North Korea with their archaic regimes are beginning to look stupid as South Korea and other neighbours prosper. The North Korean leaders are pathetically trying to promote an image that they have a happy educated people. But their wagons are being circled and time is running out.
The blunt stick of war is a very crude weapon in the 21st century. It pisses people off for decades afterwards, creates a horrible mess. The American liking for using military methods to make the World safer even disguises and suppresses to the recipients the improved values and lifestyles we are trying to promote. Military intervention may sometimes be necessary but is rather overrated and should be a very last resort.
The hand of friendship, goodwill and trade can be powerful. I'm not saying it always works. Crazy leaders who incite their people are always a problem. But in today's world with excellent potential for good trade and communications it is possible to use sophisticated methods to influence peoples better than ever.
The most basic thing which all people want is a better life for themselves and their family. To rise from poverty, to enjoy some comforts, lack of hunger, have good shelter and build from there. In the nasty regimes most of their people lack these basics.
Unfortunately religion extremism is still alive and well as a powerful cocktail for the poor and frustrated and is exploited as a weapon by right wing leaders in less developed parts of the World. So it can take time and patience to get people around to doing something tangible to improve their lot. We don't help our cause by over use of military options. Violence begets more violence.
This is a complex subject. But we in the western world must always develop international friendship, communications, partnerships and trade as the prime tool in improving our World. I must say that Ireland for it's small size has not been too bad at promoting this concept. It's the bigger western cats who have to listen more.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Comedy - your views wanted!
Wow, I'm just noticing how long my post on Laughter and Comedy was! I did waffle on quite a bit.
I'm genuinely interested in the psychology of comedy and laughter so I strongly welcome views here on what people do and don't find funny.
What kid of TV/Movie humour is good or pure rubbish?
Is laughter good for us?
Are there any subjects where we can't see some funny side? Religion/terminal illness/abuse?
Satire/Burlesque/Slapstick/Kids stuff...do they work for everyone?
SPEAK ON ANY OF ABOVE OR WHATEVER!
John
I'm genuinely interested in the psychology of comedy and laughter so I strongly welcome views here on what people do and don't find funny.
What kid of TV/Movie humour is good or pure rubbish?
Is laughter good for us?
Are there any subjects where we can't see some funny side? Religion/terminal illness/abuse?
Satire/Burlesque/Slapstick/Kids stuff...do they work for everyone?
SPEAK ON ANY OF ABOVE OR WHATEVER!
John
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Laughter and Comedy
I've always admired people who can make others laugh. During some of my time growing up we had older cousins lodging and they had an amazing ability in making everyday things very funny. A few of my aunts and uncles had the same gift. When I first met the girl in my life it was our mutual sense of humour which helped us initially hit off. We still make each other laugh every day and I must say our three grown daughters have a wicked sense of humour and have us cracking up laughing at times.
Regarding TV/movie comedy, it has to be witty for me to enjoy it. I'm not a fan of mindless slapstick stuff which normally doesn't relate to realistic situations.
I usually don't like American canned humour but I'm a big Mike Myers fan, enjoyed both the Waynes World and the Austin Powers series. The Arthur movies with Dudley Moore were brilliant. Most of the older Woody Allen movies were very enjoyable and clever but they had moments of too much pure slapstick. I feft Allen lost the opportunity to develop his messages using increasingly more intelligent humour. Manhattan and Annie Hall were the closest I felt he got to going in that direction, but I confess I haven't seen all his more recent works. Love and Death was my personal favourite though. Frazier is a very good series and I thought Friends was just about okay. The latter worked reasonably well as the chemistry between the cast was good.
One of the few old time funny guys I liked was Groucho Marx. He was way before his time. I loved his lines like... "I'd never join a club that would have me as a member". A lot of people liked Bob Hope. I didn't personally, but he wasn't the worst of his era, he did raise a smile from me at times, mainly his facial expressions. George Burns as an old guy wasn't bad too - a gifted exponent of deadpan and not laughing at your own humour. An interviewer said to Burns on about his 93rd birthday something like... "You are amazing, I hope to see you on your 100th birthday" Burns replied without smiling..."I don't see why not, you're a young man!" He did make it to 100 as it turned out.
I loved many British comedians. I thought Peter Sellers was great in the US produced Pink Panther series. He was a very talented comic. Dudley Moore was brilliant in the Arthur movies as mentioned above - again US produced - must be some extra ummph that certain UK comedians bring to the USA. I was never much of a Monty Python fan, it had intelligent humour potential but was too slow and somewhat over stressed it's own humour, which is a mistake. Yes Minister was a good series and Fawlty Towers was very good too. I never rated Tommy Cooper much nor the late Ronnie Barker. I thought Ronnie Corbett was good though. He had a great way of telling yarns and digressing brilliantly into sub-plot stories. I thought Corbett made Barker look better than he was and the same could be said of the Morecombe and Wise combination. Eric Morecombe was superb, great timing and use of silence and body language.
Only Fools and Horses was a very funny and well written series by John Sullivan. It just worked so well with a great range of characters. One of the recognised funniest moments on television was the pub scene where Del Boy is standing talking to his dimwit friend Trigger. Del goes to lean on the bar flap which unknown to him has just been lifted and he collapses from view. Trigger's reaction is priceless as he can't figure out where Del has disappeared to! And who can forget the two chandeliers scene in another episode.
One British mini-series I loved and which is largely forgotten was "The life and loves of a She-Devil" from about 1986. Really brilliant. It was based on a Fay Weldon novel. It was great identifying with Ruth as her revenge on husband Bobbo gets worse and worse. I also thought her husband Bobbo's mad mother was great in it as was Tom Baker as the vicar. I must get it on DVD.
In Ireland there is often a lack of good comedy. We exported some of it. Dave Allen was a great Irish talent in the UK. Dermot Morgan was a genius comedian and Father Ted was a superb series. Pauline Glynn deserves special mention too in this series. Speaking of Irish exports, you might think this strange, but I also rated Terry Wogan when he was running Blanketty Blank. It was a stupid program and Wogan knew it was stupid and he brilliantly exploited this fact to make it funny and witty. He got the most from his celebrity guests. Les Dawson and others were very poor at running this show.
Dermot Morgan mentioned above was probably our best while he worked here. I loved the Scrap Saturday radio satire pieces while they lasted in the late 80s. Brilliant send up on the politicians. I also used to like Kevin MacAleer a lot, but his style has aged a bit. It was his deadpan face and black humour which was effective. He was very good at describing changing life in the 1960s era from a Northern Ireland perspective. For example describing his family getting their first B&W TV. "Oh, the whole family and the granny and grandad all sat in front of the TV and we were glued to it for 20 minutes or more. Then the father said - lets turn it on!"
I've a lot of respect for Tommy Tiernan and Ed Bishop too. Hector is a bit of an idiot, I just about tolerate him. Brendan Grace is not bad too. He works hard at being a comic, I often think he is rather shy and not entirely naturally funny. I've met him once and he is a very nice person.
I think Deirdre O'Kane is an excellent female comic. Very talented in so many ways. One RTE mini series I really enjoyed was "Fergus's Wedding". The guy who played Fergus was brilliantly retro and Deirdre O'Kane was excellent as the wedding planner. Brendan O'Carroll is very talented too, he brings a lot of clever humour into working class situations. I also like RTE's "The Panel". Dara O'Briain and all the regular contributors are very good, especially Colin Murphy. It has good momentum and energy.
Pat Shortt is a very gifted comic but I think Killinaskully portrays an Ireland we no longer want to know and many no longer recognise. The so called old Irish country moronic humour. It grates too many nerve ends for me.
Comedy is a subtle, complex and often subjective form of entertainment. It usually works by just exploring people trying to live or improve their daily lives and highlighting their spectacular human failure in doing so. It is as much about actions, silences and body language as it is about what is said. Comedy is an amazing tonic though. Laughter makes us feel good and it's also said to reduce stress levels and make us healthier. I'm inclined to agree with Tommy Tiernan that there is probably nothing we shouldn't see the funny side of. It just depends on how well it's handled.
Glad to hear what others like, I could rant for hours on this subject!
Regarding TV/movie comedy, it has to be witty for me to enjoy it. I'm not a fan of mindless slapstick stuff which normally doesn't relate to realistic situations.
I usually don't like American canned humour but I'm a big Mike Myers fan, enjoyed both the Waynes World and the Austin Powers series. The Arthur movies with Dudley Moore were brilliant. Most of the older Woody Allen movies were very enjoyable and clever but they had moments of too much pure slapstick. I feft Allen lost the opportunity to develop his messages using increasingly more intelligent humour. Manhattan and Annie Hall were the closest I felt he got to going in that direction, but I confess I haven't seen all his more recent works. Love and Death was my personal favourite though. Frazier is a very good series and I thought Friends was just about okay. The latter worked reasonably well as the chemistry between the cast was good.
One of the few old time funny guys I liked was Groucho Marx. He was way before his time. I loved his lines like... "I'd never join a club that would have me as a member". A lot of people liked Bob Hope. I didn't personally, but he wasn't the worst of his era, he did raise a smile from me at times, mainly his facial expressions. George Burns as an old guy wasn't bad too - a gifted exponent of deadpan and not laughing at your own humour. An interviewer said to Burns on about his 93rd birthday something like... "You are amazing, I hope to see you on your 100th birthday" Burns replied without smiling..."I don't see why not, you're a young man!" He did make it to 100 as it turned out.
I loved many British comedians. I thought Peter Sellers was great in the US produced Pink Panther series. He was a very talented comic. Dudley Moore was brilliant in the Arthur movies as mentioned above - again US produced - must be some extra ummph that certain UK comedians bring to the USA. I was never much of a Monty Python fan, it had intelligent humour potential but was too slow and somewhat over stressed it's own humour, which is a mistake. Yes Minister was a good series and Fawlty Towers was very good too. I never rated Tommy Cooper much nor the late Ronnie Barker. I thought Ronnie Corbett was good though. He had a great way of telling yarns and digressing brilliantly into sub-plot stories. I thought Corbett made Barker look better than he was and the same could be said of the Morecombe and Wise combination. Eric Morecombe was superb, great timing and use of silence and body language.
Only Fools and Horses was a very funny and well written series by John Sullivan. It just worked so well with a great range of characters. One of the recognised funniest moments on television was the pub scene where Del Boy is standing talking to his dimwit friend Trigger. Del goes to lean on the bar flap which unknown to him has just been lifted and he collapses from view. Trigger's reaction is priceless as he can't figure out where Del has disappeared to! And who can forget the two chandeliers scene in another episode.
One British mini-series I loved and which is largely forgotten was "The life and loves of a She-Devil" from about 1986. Really brilliant. It was based on a Fay Weldon novel. It was great identifying with Ruth as her revenge on husband Bobbo gets worse and worse. I also thought her husband Bobbo's mad mother was great in it as was Tom Baker as the vicar. I must get it on DVD.
In Ireland there is often a lack of good comedy. We exported some of it. Dave Allen was a great Irish talent in the UK. Dermot Morgan was a genius comedian and Father Ted was a superb series. Pauline Glynn deserves special mention too in this series. Speaking of Irish exports, you might think this strange, but I also rated Terry Wogan when he was running Blanketty Blank. It was a stupid program and Wogan knew it was stupid and he brilliantly exploited this fact to make it funny and witty. He got the most from his celebrity guests. Les Dawson and others were very poor at running this show.
Dermot Morgan mentioned above was probably our best while he worked here. I loved the Scrap Saturday radio satire pieces while they lasted in the late 80s. Brilliant send up on the politicians. I also used to like Kevin MacAleer a lot, but his style has aged a bit. It was his deadpan face and black humour which was effective. He was very good at describing changing life in the 1960s era from a Northern Ireland perspective. For example describing his family getting their first B&W TV. "Oh, the whole family and the granny and grandad all sat in front of the TV and we were glued to it for 20 minutes or more. Then the father said - lets turn it on!"
I've a lot of respect for Tommy Tiernan and Ed Bishop too. Hector is a bit of an idiot, I just about tolerate him. Brendan Grace is not bad too. He works hard at being a comic, I often think he is rather shy and not entirely naturally funny. I've met him once and he is a very nice person.
I think Deirdre O'Kane is an excellent female comic. Very talented in so many ways. One RTE mini series I really enjoyed was "Fergus's Wedding". The guy who played Fergus was brilliantly retro and Deirdre O'Kane was excellent as the wedding planner. Brendan O'Carroll is very talented too, he brings a lot of clever humour into working class situations. I also like RTE's "The Panel". Dara O'Briain and all the regular contributors are very good, especially Colin Murphy. It has good momentum and energy.
Pat Shortt is a very gifted comic but I think Killinaskully portrays an Ireland we no longer want to know and many no longer recognise. The so called old Irish country moronic humour. It grates too many nerve ends for me.
Comedy is a subtle, complex and often subjective form of entertainment. It usually works by just exploring people trying to live or improve their daily lives and highlighting their spectacular human failure in doing so. It is as much about actions, silences and body language as it is about what is said. Comedy is an amazing tonic though. Laughter makes us feel good and it's also said to reduce stress levels and make us healthier. I'm inclined to agree with Tommy Tiernan that there is probably nothing we shouldn't see the funny side of. It just depends on how well it's handled.
Glad to hear what others like, I could rant for hours on this subject!
Monday, January 30, 2006
Sure we're a grand little country!
Many of our own Irish writers can be critical of Ireland and our relationship with the outside World. I often do see where they are coming from. But like the cliche of the glass being half empty and half full I usually like to dwell on the positives.
Our neutrality for example is frequently criticised. I know it was rather odd during WW2 for us to be neutral. Britain and later the USA effectively protected us. We still saw Britain as the old enemy and didn't see beyond them in fighting what seemed to be their war. So we locked up both the British and the German militia in the Curragh if they landed. If Hitler had annexed Britain we would have been toasted next! I read somewhere years ago that a secret document had been uncovered whereby Hitler thought Ireland was interesting agriculturally but it's people unnecessary. His idea was apparently to have us all exterminated. I can't exactly verify how true this was. However 3 million Irish at the time was probably a minor challenge to him compared to the 6+ million Jews he had killed.
Nevertheless, all we can do now is look at neutrality in 2006 terms. It's much better overall for a nation our size to team up in the UN concept to help others and ourselves. This is constructive use of neutrality. Now the UN itself has flaws but that's another story. I do think we play the international relations game in a beautifully balanced way. We are the cutest feckers in the World! Keep everyone liking us. We didn't like the Bush/Blair policy on Iraq as it went against the UN and we spoke out on it. We were right. But we still kept the British and Americans firmly on our sides.
As a nation we've never invaded other countries, we have little or no baggage internationally, pissed nobody off.
[Aside: only thing I vaguely recall from my history lessons was that back in 12th century one of the High Kings (Ruari O'Connor maybe) had been thinking of invading the Isle of Man. Only thinking of it mind you! Then like many Irish after him our wonderful laid-back attitude kicked in..."ah, feck it, I won't bother my arse!"]
I believe Ireland falls into the "kill them with kindness" category of international relations, which I think is good. Even the awkward French like us..once they realise we are not British. When it comes to providing aid abroad we are in a class of our own. We are much more generous per capita than almost any nation in the World. There are so many Irish abroad giving their time to all sorts of charities and re-building programs.
Yes, the British empire suppressed us and also divided us - particularly with the plantation of Ulster. But let's be honest, the British did us a lot of good as well, albeit unintentionally. Apart from considerable infrastructural improvements we had been given the most useful language in the World. If Irish was spoken as only language by the vast majority we would be an isolated and remote little country indeed with little foreign investment. With each generation we have been getting more and more comfortable in our relationship with Britain. It even looks likely we will have the Queen over this year. Also, although still a very important neighbour, Britain is not as crucial to us as before. Our economic wings have spread in all directions and we even embraced the Euro currency without Britain.
We Irish are liked for our warmth, humour and enjoyment of people's company. We love to chat to people. It also shows in the massive amount of phoning and texting we do. And I actually don't think we are particularly racist. We object to people of all types sponging off the state..including our own. It's still a bit new too us having large numbers of people actually wanting to come here to live and there are undoubtedly small sections who still get bitter. But I believe in general we've always had respect for the working Chinese, Indians, Africans and others in our community. It's not racist to object to big numbers of people coming in illegally and not pulling their weight here. I object just as much to the Irish doing the same illegally in USA and elsewhere.
In 2006 Ireland are considered a well educated and wealthy country with good confidence in our dealings with the international community. I was only 8 years old when President Kennedy came here in 1963 but I still recall the unbelievable euphoria. As a nation we were so humble, poor and introverted and a US president amongst us was as if God had descended from Heaven. There were pictures of Kennedy in households alongside the Sacred Heart for a decade or more after the event! Contrast that to a US president coming today - it hardly raises an eyebrow and we have strong opinions and protestors out in mass.
Let's stop beating ourselves up so much. Ireland today is a great nation, punching well above it's weight in business, foreign aid, sport and other areas. We have managed our independence, economic growth and our alliances quite well and have spread ourselves in all parts of the World. For sure we have made some errors in the past and we are still adapting as a nation to many changes. However I do believe our future looks brighter and brighter.
Our neutrality for example is frequently criticised. I know it was rather odd during WW2 for us to be neutral. Britain and later the USA effectively protected us. We still saw Britain as the old enemy and didn't see beyond them in fighting what seemed to be their war. So we locked up both the British and the German militia in the Curragh if they landed. If Hitler had annexed Britain we would have been toasted next! I read somewhere years ago that a secret document had been uncovered whereby Hitler thought Ireland was interesting agriculturally but it's people unnecessary. His idea was apparently to have us all exterminated. I can't exactly verify how true this was. However 3 million Irish at the time was probably a minor challenge to him compared to the 6+ million Jews he had killed.
Nevertheless, all we can do now is look at neutrality in 2006 terms. It's much better overall for a nation our size to team up in the UN concept to help others and ourselves. This is constructive use of neutrality. Now the UN itself has flaws but that's another story. I do think we play the international relations game in a beautifully balanced way. We are the cutest feckers in the World! Keep everyone liking us. We didn't like the Bush/Blair policy on Iraq as it went against the UN and we spoke out on it. We were right. But we still kept the British and Americans firmly on our sides.
As a nation we've never invaded other countries, we have little or no baggage internationally, pissed nobody off.
[Aside: only thing I vaguely recall from my history lessons was that back in 12th century one of the High Kings (Ruari O'Connor maybe) had been thinking of invading the Isle of Man. Only thinking of it mind you! Then like many Irish after him our wonderful laid-back attitude kicked in..."ah, feck it, I won't bother my arse!"]
I believe Ireland falls into the "kill them with kindness" category of international relations, which I think is good. Even the awkward French like us..once they realise we are not British. When it comes to providing aid abroad we are in a class of our own. We are much more generous per capita than almost any nation in the World. There are so many Irish abroad giving their time to all sorts of charities and re-building programs.
Yes, the British empire suppressed us and also divided us - particularly with the plantation of Ulster. But let's be honest, the British did us a lot of good as well, albeit unintentionally. Apart from considerable infrastructural improvements we had been given the most useful language in the World. If Irish was spoken as only language by the vast majority we would be an isolated and remote little country indeed with little foreign investment. With each generation we have been getting more and more comfortable in our relationship with Britain. It even looks likely we will have the Queen over this year. Also, although still a very important neighbour, Britain is not as crucial to us as before. Our economic wings have spread in all directions and we even embraced the Euro currency without Britain.
We Irish are liked for our warmth, humour and enjoyment of people's company. We love to chat to people. It also shows in the massive amount of phoning and texting we do. And I actually don't think we are particularly racist. We object to people of all types sponging off the state..including our own. It's still a bit new too us having large numbers of people actually wanting to come here to live and there are undoubtedly small sections who still get bitter. But I believe in general we've always had respect for the working Chinese, Indians, Africans and others in our community. It's not racist to object to big numbers of people coming in illegally and not pulling their weight here. I object just as much to the Irish doing the same illegally in USA and elsewhere.
In 2006 Ireland are considered a well educated and wealthy country with good confidence in our dealings with the international community. I was only 8 years old when President Kennedy came here in 1963 but I still recall the unbelievable euphoria. As a nation we were so humble, poor and introverted and a US president amongst us was as if God had descended from Heaven. There were pictures of Kennedy in households alongside the Sacred Heart for a decade or more after the event! Contrast that to a US president coming today - it hardly raises an eyebrow and we have strong opinions and protestors out in mass.
Let's stop beating ourselves up so much. Ireland today is a great nation, punching well above it's weight in business, foreign aid, sport and other areas. We have managed our independence, economic growth and our alliances quite well and have spread ourselves in all parts of the World. For sure we have made some errors in the past and we are still adapting as a nation to many changes. However I do believe our future looks brighter and brighter.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Kevin Myers and Irish Independence
I read and enjoyed the Kevin Myers opinion article in today's Irish Times re. 1916 and independence and how we fared before and after.
As usual with Kevin Myers articles there is much to agree with. He offers a good clinical analysis of what was really happening at 1916. I agree that it was all rather misguided and I don't believe it did anything to help independence except for maybe the mistake of executing the leaders. But I do think it is very hard to offer severe black and white judgments on the organizers actions at that time based on today's knowledge. Much was different ninety years ago and considerable frustrations abounded in every way. Be that as it may I'm not in agreement of celebrating the bloody event of 1916. Solemn remembrance yes, but it's not like celebrating independence. I've written on this before and I haven't changed my view.
My main point of contention is with the Kevin Myers logic on what transpired post-independence. He almost reduces the aspirations for freedom at the time to ticking YES/NO boxes on a form called "The List of Public Benefits after Independence" If it were all measured by wealth, radical social change and purity of language, culture etc. then of course it was a mistake. Yes, we would have been better off economically up to recently being part of UK. But this has some vague similarity to saying that hookers in a harem are better off than the purer and poorer girls working in factories. Did we not deserve independence if we aspired to it? How many businesses would ever be born if the founders didn't put up with some form of hardships in the early years. Indeed many folk in smaller businesses formed are happy never being as wealthy as they were in a previous stuffy big corporate entity. Things don't always end up exactly the way we dreamed but often it's just as good and it's certainly no reason to criticise those with the original aspirations.
I've also a problem with the Myers statement of Ireland in 1910 being better off than most in other countries with the brief caveat "emigration notwithstanding". Terrific well researched text book statement. I wonder how that wealth was measured. I'm sure those in rural Ireland at the time suppressed to within an inch of their lives would have welcomed an elaboration. And the "emigration notwithstanding" comment does not do sufficient justice to this massive problem provoked by unbearable poverty and which created layers and layers of further problems, frustrations and depressions for those left behind. Poverty is about much more than what's in your pocket as measured by insensitive economists.
In summary, I'm beginning to see through much of the Kevin Myers view of the World. He is an excellent scholar of history, knows all the facts and in general has a logical interpretation of events and directions. I actually really agree with most of what he writes and I've great respect for his views. But it's sometimes rather robotic, I don't think he always sees into the hearts, fears, dreams and aspirations of humanity in all it's complex diversity.
As usual with Kevin Myers articles there is much to agree with. He offers a good clinical analysis of what was really happening at 1916. I agree that it was all rather misguided and I don't believe it did anything to help independence except for maybe the mistake of executing the leaders. But I do think it is very hard to offer severe black and white judgments on the organizers actions at that time based on today's knowledge. Much was different ninety years ago and considerable frustrations abounded in every way. Be that as it may I'm not in agreement of celebrating the bloody event of 1916. Solemn remembrance yes, but it's not like celebrating independence. I've written on this before and I haven't changed my view.
My main point of contention is with the Kevin Myers logic on what transpired post-independence. He almost reduces the aspirations for freedom at the time to ticking YES/NO boxes on a form called "The List of Public Benefits after Independence" If it were all measured by wealth, radical social change and purity of language, culture etc. then of course it was a mistake. Yes, we would have been better off economically up to recently being part of UK. But this has some vague similarity to saying that hookers in a harem are better off than the purer and poorer girls working in factories. Did we not deserve independence if we aspired to it? How many businesses would ever be born if the founders didn't put up with some form of hardships in the early years. Indeed many folk in smaller businesses formed are happy never being as wealthy as they were in a previous stuffy big corporate entity. Things don't always end up exactly the way we dreamed but often it's just as good and it's certainly no reason to criticise those with the original aspirations.
I've also a problem with the Myers statement of Ireland in 1910 being better off than most in other countries with the brief caveat "emigration notwithstanding". Terrific well researched text book statement. I wonder how that wealth was measured. I'm sure those in rural Ireland at the time suppressed to within an inch of their lives would have welcomed an elaboration. And the "emigration notwithstanding" comment does not do sufficient justice to this massive problem provoked by unbearable poverty and which created layers and layers of further problems, frustrations and depressions for those left behind. Poverty is about much more than what's in your pocket as measured by insensitive economists.
In summary, I'm beginning to see through much of the Kevin Myers view of the World. He is an excellent scholar of history, knows all the facts and in general has a logical interpretation of events and directions. I actually really agree with most of what he writes and I've great respect for his views. But it's sometimes rather robotic, I don't think he always sees into the hearts, fears, dreams and aspirations of humanity in all it's complex diversity.
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
A quick thanks for a Christmas gift....
Before I do any other writing this year I just want to publicly say a word of thanks to one of my relations and a great long time friend.
My sister-in-law gave me a most unexpected and treasured gift this Christmas. When I unwrapped it I wasn't sure at first what exactly it would be. I was looking at a beautifully bound A4 sized hardback book and inside was about 40 stiff pages in nice beige background and all the writing was in a lovely font. In the slight wine induced haze following the St. Stephens Day extended family dinner - something looked familiar about the writing. When I looked inside the opening cover at the title the wonderful truth dawned. My sister-in-law had produced a book containing all my "Earth and Universe" blog articles of 2005. What a cool present.
I must say that I felt both humble and honoured to receive such a gift. My sister-in-law had been commenting on my articles at family gatherings over recent months. I've always respected her opinion. She holds a PhD and is exceptionally well read on a plethora of books and topics.
Thank you my dear, I know there was a lot of work in putting it together, it was a brilliant present!
My sister-in-law gave me a most unexpected and treasured gift this Christmas. When I unwrapped it I wasn't sure at first what exactly it would be. I was looking at a beautifully bound A4 sized hardback book and inside was about 40 stiff pages in nice beige background and all the writing was in a lovely font. In the slight wine induced haze following the St. Stephens Day extended family dinner - something looked familiar about the writing. When I looked inside the opening cover at the title the wonderful truth dawned. My sister-in-law had produced a book containing all my "Earth and Universe" blog articles of 2005. What a cool present.
I must say that I felt both humble and honoured to receive such a gift. My sister-in-law had been commenting on my articles at family gatherings over recent months. I've always respected her opinion. She holds a PhD and is exceptionally well read on a plethora of books and topics.
Thank you my dear, I know there was a lot of work in putting it together, it was a brilliant present!
Monday, December 19, 2005
The Picture of Dorian Gray
No, this has little directly to do with the Oscar Wilde classic book.
It's about my spouse and I. My wife is the same age as me (50). But she is the equivalent of Dorian Gray who doesn't age and I'm the portrait which does! It ain't fair.
Jet black hair, youthful skin, still a good figure, she could pass for 30. She has had a merest hint of greying at the temples recently, but it would be undetectable to a casual eye.
Me though...going grey since mid 30s, now totally grey. And hair now getting thinner on top. My weight fluctuates as I go on and off fitness regimes but the general picture is overweight. In summary, I could pass for 60.
Of course spousey enjoys all this. She told me of an almost disguised Freudian slip one of her lady acquaintances made recently. "Saw you walking the pier yesterday with your fath-...husband."
On another occasion I was walking towards our seat with our food tray from cash desk at a self service cafe place. Spouse was still at desk getting condiments. Another lady noticed a wooden walking stick left at the cash desk and chirped up to my wife...."tell that man (me) he left his walking stick".
I console myself that I can still play tennis quite well. Use the bicycle from time to time. A reasonable swimmer too with diving qualification. And like spousey I never smoked. But I look like a bad mixture of Bertie Ahern and Father Jack (from Fr. Ted) and I can do terrifyingly realistic impressions of the latter.
Ah feck it, you're as young as you feel and it's nice to have a spouse 30 years younger.
It's about my spouse and I. My wife is the same age as me (50). But she is the equivalent of Dorian Gray who doesn't age and I'm the portrait which does! It ain't fair.
Jet black hair, youthful skin, still a good figure, she could pass for 30. She has had a merest hint of greying at the temples recently, but it would be undetectable to a casual eye.
Me though...going grey since mid 30s, now totally grey. And hair now getting thinner on top. My weight fluctuates as I go on and off fitness regimes but the general picture is overweight. In summary, I could pass for 60.
Of course spousey enjoys all this. She told me of an almost disguised Freudian slip one of her lady acquaintances made recently. "Saw you walking the pier yesterday with your fath-...husband."
On another occasion I was walking towards our seat with our food tray from cash desk at a self service cafe place. Spouse was still at desk getting condiments. Another lady noticed a wooden walking stick left at the cash desk and chirped up to my wife...."tell that man (me) he left his walking stick".
I console myself that I can still play tennis quite well. Use the bicycle from time to time. A reasonable swimmer too with diving qualification. And like spousey I never smoked. But I look like a bad mixture of Bertie Ahern and Father Jack (from Fr. Ted) and I can do terrifyingly realistic impressions of the latter.
Ah feck it, you're as young as you feel and it's nice to have a spouse 30 years younger.
Friday, December 16, 2005
Old folk can be cool
Some parts of two RTE TV programmes over last month helped me reflect a bit deeper on the feelings of the elderly.
The first was on Ryan Confidential with Gerry Ryan interviewing Nell McCafferty. I hadn't thought of Nell as being particularly old but she recounted a story of her recently stopping on a busy street to do something with her bag. A very young woman spoke in a friendly way to her and asked her how she was. Nell said to the young person that it was great to be recognised (as a celebrity). The young person looked puzzled, said she didn't know her at all, was simply trying to help an old woman! Nell was facing many changes.
The next was on the Afternoon Show - I casually see some of the breakfast repeats on my way out. As an experiment Anna Nolan got made up as an old lady and went slowly walking down Grafton Street whilst being secretly filmed. Said afterwards she felt totally invisible, completely ignored, as if she didn't exist.
In the studio on same programme Anna also interviewed an elderly lady who was trying (I think) to help in improving social attitudes to the elderly. This lady recounted an experience she had herself on a visit to a hospital. A nurse was asking her questions in a loud condescending voice as if the lady was a mentally challenged child. I paraphrase here but it was along the lines of...
What tablets do you take, love?
"I don't take tablets."
Ah, you must! You know, they'd be in a little plastic bottle...what you take before you go to bed.
"I don't take tablets."
"Look love, I'm going to look through your handbag, won't be a minute. Ah, wait, here's your daughter, I'll ask her about the tablets."
Can you imagine how degrading that would be if you were the recipient.
I've witnessed many old folk going through this general type of treatment - including my own mother on my regular visits to her in nursing homes and hospitals in her final years. Unfortunately many of the elderly do lose their short term memories, they become slow and immobile and looking down at them seems to be a norm. It is wrong. In their brains is a lifetime of knowledge and experiences, they were young and built a world and created our generation.
Listening and talking to old people can be illuminating and rewarding. In some cases it can require the commitment to sift though the outer interference of their broken bodies to the inner mental treasures. I chatted to many interesting people in the nursing homes while visiting my Mum. If you tuned in to them you could learn so much. I heard many tales from retired people such as homemakers, shopkeepers, Gardai, civil servants and teachers about the way they once lived.
One guy called Tom was a very lucid ninety-nine years of age. He spoke in detail to me about the Titanic sinking and it being in the newspapers for so long that everyone was sick of hearing it! He was facinating, he even could explain his grandparent's experiences in the potato famine. An amusing aside about Tom was that he was very sprightly on his feet. He once was standing talking to me as I was leaving the big sitting room. He enquired from me as to why everyone in the room were always sitting around and not doing anything. I explained to him that they were all old people...just realising as I spoke that they were actually up to twenty years his junior!
Of course there are cases of extreme brokenness in the elderly (as indeed in the young) which are exceptional challenges but these I hope are becoming rarer with better medical treatments. For the most part old people can be fun, inside they are often lively...the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak.
Well guys, the only thing that separates us from all this is time. There is going to be a huge swell of us in the elderly category in the next 20-40 years. I know we'll want to be respected, we should aspire to being oases of wisdom. Let's hope we can still use a laptop and have good broadband. It may need to be a cheap laptop if the pensions don't work out!
PS - hey, I've just noticed that today is my late Mum's birthday. So this one's for you Mum!
The first was on Ryan Confidential with Gerry Ryan interviewing Nell McCafferty. I hadn't thought of Nell as being particularly old but she recounted a story of her recently stopping on a busy street to do something with her bag. A very young woman spoke in a friendly way to her and asked her how she was. Nell said to the young person that it was great to be recognised (as a celebrity). The young person looked puzzled, said she didn't know her at all, was simply trying to help an old woman! Nell was facing many changes.
The next was on the Afternoon Show - I casually see some of the breakfast repeats on my way out. As an experiment Anna Nolan got made up as an old lady and went slowly walking down Grafton Street whilst being secretly filmed. Said afterwards she felt totally invisible, completely ignored, as if she didn't exist.
In the studio on same programme Anna also interviewed an elderly lady who was trying (I think) to help in improving social attitudes to the elderly. This lady recounted an experience she had herself on a visit to a hospital. A nurse was asking her questions in a loud condescending voice as if the lady was a mentally challenged child. I paraphrase here but it was along the lines of...
What tablets do you take, love?
"I don't take tablets."
Ah, you must! You know, they'd be in a little plastic bottle...what you take before you go to bed.
"I don't take tablets."
"Look love, I'm going to look through your handbag, won't be a minute. Ah, wait, here's your daughter, I'll ask her about the tablets."
Can you imagine how degrading that would be if you were the recipient.
I've witnessed many old folk going through this general type of treatment - including my own mother on my regular visits to her in nursing homes and hospitals in her final years. Unfortunately many of the elderly do lose their short term memories, they become slow and immobile and looking down at them seems to be a norm. It is wrong. In their brains is a lifetime of knowledge and experiences, they were young and built a world and created our generation.
Listening and talking to old people can be illuminating and rewarding. In some cases it can require the commitment to sift though the outer interference of their broken bodies to the inner mental treasures. I chatted to many interesting people in the nursing homes while visiting my Mum. If you tuned in to them you could learn so much. I heard many tales from retired people such as homemakers, shopkeepers, Gardai, civil servants and teachers about the way they once lived.
One guy called Tom was a very lucid ninety-nine years of age. He spoke in detail to me about the Titanic sinking and it being in the newspapers for so long that everyone was sick of hearing it! He was facinating, he even could explain his grandparent's experiences in the potato famine. An amusing aside about Tom was that he was very sprightly on his feet. He once was standing talking to me as I was leaving the big sitting room. He enquired from me as to why everyone in the room were always sitting around and not doing anything. I explained to him that they were all old people...just realising as I spoke that they were actually up to twenty years his junior!
Of course there are cases of extreme brokenness in the elderly (as indeed in the young) which are exceptional challenges but these I hope are becoming rarer with better medical treatments. For the most part old people can be fun, inside they are often lively...the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak.
Well guys, the only thing that separates us from all this is time. There is going to be a huge swell of us in the elderly category in the next 20-40 years. I know we'll want to be respected, we should aspire to being oases of wisdom. Let's hope we can still use a laptop and have good broadband. It may need to be a cheap laptop if the pensions don't work out!
PS - hey, I've just noticed that today is my late Mum's birthday. So this one's for you Mum!
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Once upon a time in the IT world...
During an office tidy up today we came across my feature published in Irish Computer magazine in 2002. It was to mark 25 years since the magazine was founded by the late Don McDonald and it was a brief mixture of how the ICT landscape had changed for me in that time and references to Don himself. 1977 is not exactly ancient history, but it was in ICT terms. I must write again on similar telecom outrages of the 1970s. Anyway here is my Irish Computer piece as written three years ago, I'm not all that proud of it....
Don McDonald launched Irish Computer Magazine in the same year as my career started. In 1977 I graduated with a degree in electrical engineering and joined the Data HQ section of the Dept of Posts and Telegraphs – now Eircom. I worked there for over 4 years on many interesting projects – launching X25 services, designing data test centres and data leased line equipment, latest modem evaluations etc. Cutting edge stuff at the time. However it was long before PCs were invented and I used pen and paper to write tender specifications and posted them over to the Typing Section. Days later the typed work returned with mistakes – everything so slow!
Dial-up modems in those days had to be rented from the Dept of Posts and Telegraphs. Most popular speed was 300bits/sec and if you could afford it there were the dangerously faster 1200 or 2400bits/sec modems! We had hundreds of modems in stock but the process whereby the poor customers got their rental modem took about eight weeks of paperwork and post between many different sections involved. This was civil service bureaucracy at it’s most extreme and the lack of IT infrastructure didn’t help.
I joined Technico in 1982 and later headed their datacoms division. I remember an accountant there using one of the first IBM PCs. It had no hard disk – so the DOS operating system was always loaded by floppy! The first PC I used in 1984 was the then powerful IBM AT with a massive 20MB hard disk. The accountant with the IBM PC was jealous!
I enjoyed working with Don McDonald and I particularly recall him persuading Technico to take a stand at the very first Comms Show in 1993. Before the show Don kindly offered to play tennis with me at his club in Kilternan – at the time I was struggling to improve my tennis and looking to join a club. So one Sunday morning, Don – old enough to be my father – spent the first set battering me around for a 6-2 win! Before the second set – whilst I drank a gallon of water – he asked me how many people I thought would visit the new Comms Show. Following my estimate Don looked at me in genuine horror and told me it would be double that figure! He then polished me off even more in the second set at 6-0! After the Comms show Don came to our stand to tell me the visitor count. The figure was much closer to his estimate than mine – all I could do was congratulate him and admire his vision.
I started up Multinet Systems Ltd. in 2000 and we are involved in advancing areas like VPNs, VOIPs etc. So much has improved in the last 25 years. I recently read Bill Cullen’s excellent book on the changes through his life - “It’s a long way from Penny Apples”. In my case, from the 1977 Dept of Posts and Telegraphs days – “It’s a long way from pens and paper!”
Don McDonald launched Irish Computer Magazine in the same year as my career started. In 1977 I graduated with a degree in electrical engineering and joined the Data HQ section of the Dept of Posts and Telegraphs – now Eircom. I worked there for over 4 years on many interesting projects – launching X25 services, designing data test centres and data leased line equipment, latest modem evaluations etc. Cutting edge stuff at the time. However it was long before PCs were invented and I used pen and paper to write tender specifications and posted them over to the Typing Section. Days later the typed work returned with mistakes – everything so slow!
Dial-up modems in those days had to be rented from the Dept of Posts and Telegraphs. Most popular speed was 300bits/sec and if you could afford it there were the dangerously faster 1200 or 2400bits/sec modems! We had hundreds of modems in stock but the process whereby the poor customers got their rental modem took about eight weeks of paperwork and post between many different sections involved. This was civil service bureaucracy at it’s most extreme and the lack of IT infrastructure didn’t help.
I joined Technico in 1982 and later headed their datacoms division. I remember an accountant there using one of the first IBM PCs. It had no hard disk – so the DOS operating system was always loaded by floppy! The first PC I used in 1984 was the then powerful IBM AT with a massive 20MB hard disk. The accountant with the IBM PC was jealous!
I enjoyed working with Don McDonald and I particularly recall him persuading Technico to take a stand at the very first Comms Show in 1993. Before the show Don kindly offered to play tennis with me at his club in Kilternan – at the time I was struggling to improve my tennis and looking to join a club. So one Sunday morning, Don – old enough to be my father – spent the first set battering me around for a 6-2 win! Before the second set – whilst I drank a gallon of water – he asked me how many people I thought would visit the new Comms Show. Following my estimate Don looked at me in genuine horror and told me it would be double that figure! He then polished me off even more in the second set at 6-0! After the Comms show Don came to our stand to tell me the visitor count. The figure was much closer to his estimate than mine – all I could do was congratulate him and admire his vision.
I started up Multinet Systems Ltd. in 2000 and we are involved in advancing areas like VPNs, VOIPs etc. So much has improved in the last 25 years. I recently read Bill Cullen’s excellent book on the changes through his life - “It’s a long way from Penny Apples”. In my case, from the 1977 Dept of Posts and Telegraphs days – “It’s a long way from pens and paper!”
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
David Cameron is new Tory Leader
I've always clutched to the comfort that as I get older and greyer...at least all the serious World leaders remain older than me. Alas no more....the Tories have elected as their leader a 39 year old man with a 34 year old spouse! And yes, he has the vital full head of hair without even a hint of grey. And the TV showed him cycling a flashy bicycle and generally hopping around like an enthusiastic adolescent chimp. All changed, changed utterly, a terrible beauty is born....perhaps.
I heard someone say that to young people the Conservatives may now become...eh...cool. Even Tory old fogie Tarzan (Michael Heseltine) was impressed. He reckons it is the nearest that the UK have come to having a Kennedy Camelot type political family pack. Indeed Cameron is a good 4 years younger than the youthful John F. Kennedy when he was elected president. Sadly for the young Camerons they have the challenges of a disabled son...but truthfully that's actually an asset to their public image.
There is prima facia evidence that David Cameron might be good. At Prime Minister question time today he took a fresh approach from the usual silly pantomime antics. We will have to wait and see his progress. Image is crucial but substance is just as crucial.
I heard someone say that to young people the Conservatives may now become...eh...cool. Even Tory old fogie Tarzan (Michael Heseltine) was impressed. He reckons it is the nearest that the UK have come to having a Kennedy Camelot type political family pack. Indeed Cameron is a good 4 years younger than the youthful John F. Kennedy when he was elected president. Sadly for the young Camerons they have the challenges of a disabled son...but truthfully that's actually an asset to their public image.
There is prima facia evidence that David Cameron might be good. At Prime Minister question time today he took a fresh approach from the usual silly pantomime antics. We will have to wait and see his progress. Image is crucial but substance is just as crucial.
Sunday, November 27, 2005
"The Sea" by John Banville
I've just finished reading this book which won the Man Booker prize this year. In common with a lot of good literature, I had to be patient and open minded as I read it. But it was worth it. I also have an unfortunate tendency to read at bedtime and my concentration wanes. I'll have to get into habit of reading at more alert times.
The first person voice style is the initial element which hits you. I say voice because it comes across deliberately raw, rambling and unedited of course, just as one might think out loud. I found it vaguely irritating for awhile but I gradually admired the freedom of expression. Previously I had been used to the first person style as offering a balanced reference type character. However I increasingly found myself disliking many aspects of the Max Morden character as the novel developed. Even the revealing ending didn't assist me too much in rekindling a liking for him. For me I found this both strange and interesting.
The imagery and descriptive quality was poetically excellent and often amusing. The characters were all well defined, although I found Max's wife's character a little tricky to believe. Oddly, I felt Max's daughter Claire was a very key player. To me she represented the true outside world, offering some degree of objective normality if you like. In that sense she was a useful reference point and of course had the helpful experience of knowing her father and experiencing the death of her mother. It was Max's interactions with his daughter Claire which initially and slowly kindled my dislike of him. It would be too easy to say that Claire's lack of understanding of Chloe from Max's childhood was a factor in their relationship.
Disliking the main character was the last thing I expected when reading a novel promoted as centring on the man grieving for his lost wife and dealing with some strong childhood experiences. Max came across to me as a somewhat introverted, arrogant and self centred individual. There is ample solid evidence to support this opinion. His tragedies I feel don't excuse his behaviour and mental attitudes to others, particularly evident with his daughter. John Banville paints Max as a rather complex dark character. He is an interesting and very believable character but the story line and tragedy might have been more powerful if Max was intrinsically a more balanced human being. I wonder is there a macho element at play in a male author dealing with a male central character's raw grief. I found Banville even made Max's wife a little detached from believable manifestations of grief as she was coming to terms with death. I just felt there was a failed opportunity to create proper emotional empathy to the characters from the well set up story line. Even Chloe was a bit weird.
I waxed in admiration of the fusion of past and present throughout the book. There is a general tendancy for particular memories from our own childhoods to rekindle when something serious happens in the present. In that sense there is perhaps a varying personal dimension to the novel for readers.
I'm not entirely convinced that the book's structure facilitated maintaining the attention of the average novel reader. For a long time you are treated to seemingly rambling disconnected thoughts and events. You are not automatically hungry to read on. However on completion of the book you realise that you have in fact experienced a good work of literature. There are depths to revisit. The written constructions in the voice style first person wanderings were on balance interesting, refreshing and liberating, almost flirting with the ungrammatical. Like all good literature, the book challenges the reader, one needs to be patient to gain the most from it.
I suppose the lingering value of the book for me was the interesting style of writing and the poetic descriptions as well as the fun in analysing the character of Max Morden and others.
The first person voice style is the initial element which hits you. I say voice because it comes across deliberately raw, rambling and unedited of course, just as one might think out loud. I found it vaguely irritating for awhile but I gradually admired the freedom of expression. Previously I had been used to the first person style as offering a balanced reference type character. However I increasingly found myself disliking many aspects of the Max Morden character as the novel developed. Even the revealing ending didn't assist me too much in rekindling a liking for him. For me I found this both strange and interesting.
The imagery and descriptive quality was poetically excellent and often amusing. The characters were all well defined, although I found Max's wife's character a little tricky to believe. Oddly, I felt Max's daughter Claire was a very key player. To me she represented the true outside world, offering some degree of objective normality if you like. In that sense she was a useful reference point and of course had the helpful experience of knowing her father and experiencing the death of her mother. It was Max's interactions with his daughter Claire which initially and slowly kindled my dislike of him. It would be too easy to say that Claire's lack of understanding of Chloe from Max's childhood was a factor in their relationship.
Disliking the main character was the last thing I expected when reading a novel promoted as centring on the man grieving for his lost wife and dealing with some strong childhood experiences. Max came across to me as a somewhat introverted, arrogant and self centred individual. There is ample solid evidence to support this opinion. His tragedies I feel don't excuse his behaviour and mental attitudes to others, particularly evident with his daughter. John Banville paints Max as a rather complex dark character. He is an interesting and very believable character but the story line and tragedy might have been more powerful if Max was intrinsically a more balanced human being. I wonder is there a macho element at play in a male author dealing with a male central character's raw grief. I found Banville even made Max's wife a little detached from believable manifestations of grief as she was coming to terms with death. I just felt there was a failed opportunity to create proper emotional empathy to the characters from the well set up story line. Even Chloe was a bit weird.
I waxed in admiration of the fusion of past and present throughout the book. There is a general tendancy for particular memories from our own childhoods to rekindle when something serious happens in the present. In that sense there is perhaps a varying personal dimension to the novel for readers.
I'm not entirely convinced that the book's structure facilitated maintaining the attention of the average novel reader. For a long time you are treated to seemingly rambling disconnected thoughts and events. You are not automatically hungry to read on. However on completion of the book you realise that you have in fact experienced a good work of literature. There are depths to revisit. The written constructions in the voice style first person wanderings were on balance interesting, refreshing and liberating, almost flirting with the ungrammatical. Like all good literature, the book challenges the reader, one needs to be patient to gain the most from it.
I suppose the lingering value of the book for me was the interesting style of writing and the poetic descriptions as well as the fun in analysing the character of Max Morden and others.
Friday, November 25, 2005
George Best dies today.
Lots will be written about George. I grew up watching him at his spectacular peak in the late 1960s. His tackling skill and intuitive intelligence on the pitch was breathtaking to watch.
He was another of the amazing breakaway superstars of the 1960s who just didn't follow the rulebook in becoming exceptionally talented in their speciality. We had Muhammad Ali in boxing, the Beatles in music, George Best in football, what an exciting time it was.
He was another of the amazing breakaway superstars of the 1960s who just didn't follow the rulebook in becoming exceptionally talented in their speciality. We had Muhammad Ali in boxing, the Beatles in music, George Best in football, what an exciting time it was.
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Willie inspects Army Ranger's guns in Pandora's box!
Minister Willie O'Dea is a little lad and little folk secretly like big toys.
For a few moments of blissful escapism Willie was a child again with machine guns, big pistols, all sorts of powerful weaponry. Suddenly immersed into a Freudian subconscious ecstasy world with boring responsible consciousness gratefully hidden behind an adrenalin built solid wall, Willie was having serious fun. He was 6ft 4 inch Clint Eastwood pointing the big pistol close at the camera and oh so much wanted to utter with gritted teeth "Well punk, do ya feel lucky?" Reality was nagging at him, threatening to pull him back through the wall from paradise.
But this was why I wanted to be Minister for Defense, everything was leading to climaxes like this moment. Nobody needs to know.
Oh shit, I'm on front of the Irish Times! Those feckers Rabbitte, Costello, Higgins and Sargent are giving out stink and the Ceann Comhairle can't even stop them. Joe Duffy's listeners are jamming the RTE switchboard.
"Ahem.... I didn't mean any offence to anyone"...hell, the gun wasn't even loaded.
Mmmh...loaded...that would be fun...must put some of Biffo's extra money into a new firing range...I'll need to open it of course, or maybe twice. Actually we need tanks as well come to think of it. Let me see that Irish Times picture.....Crikey I look the part! Big eyebrows, moustache the envy of Jessie James. Smirky nefarious grin and purposeful eyes aiming the big pistol to blow the brains out of the teasing photographer. Gimme a scissors, it's straight into the scrapbook. What a great life!
For a few moments of blissful escapism Willie was a child again with machine guns, big pistols, all sorts of powerful weaponry. Suddenly immersed into a Freudian subconscious ecstasy world with boring responsible consciousness gratefully hidden behind an adrenalin built solid wall, Willie was having serious fun. He was 6ft 4 inch Clint Eastwood pointing the big pistol close at the camera and oh so much wanted to utter with gritted teeth "Well punk, do ya feel lucky?" Reality was nagging at him, threatening to pull him back through the wall from paradise.
But this was why I wanted to be Minister for Defense, everything was leading to climaxes like this moment. Nobody needs to know.
Oh shit, I'm on front of the Irish Times! Those feckers Rabbitte, Costello, Higgins and Sargent are giving out stink and the Ceann Comhairle can't even stop them. Joe Duffy's listeners are jamming the RTE switchboard.
"Ahem.... I didn't mean any offence to anyone"...hell, the gun wasn't even loaded.
Mmmh...loaded...that would be fun...must put some of Biffo's extra money into a new firing range...I'll need to open it of course, or maybe twice. Actually we need tanks as well come to think of it. Let me see that Irish Times picture.....Crikey I look the part! Big eyebrows, moustache the envy of Jessie James. Smirky nefarious grin and purposeful eyes aiming the big pistol to blow the brains out of the teasing photographer. Gimme a scissors, it's straight into the scrapbook. What a great life!
Monday, November 14, 2005
Slapping in junior school 1960...The Switch!
At school for junior and senior infants (teacher called it low babies and high babies!) in Clontarf there were about sixty of us in each classroom from 1960-62. We ranged in age from four to seven years old.
The teacher would routinely slap us for disciplinary offences. She had a black leather strap. It was usually three slaps on each hand but could be more depending on the offence. If a child was really bad then he was sent to the principal's office for a punishment which the teacher referred to as The Switch.
Now I didn't know exactly what The Switch was, but the few small children who came back into the classroom after being administered The Switch were a terrifying sight. They were bawling crying and in absolute agony. It made the hairs stand on my head to witness this spectacle of trauma. In a class of sixty children you tended to play in many separated groups and I never got to hear exactly what The Switch was. However, my imagination started to work it out from my various limited experiences....
I was familiar with electric light switches at home and my parents told me that electricity was very dangerous and could kill you. I knew my granny didn't have electricity in her house in the country and many older country folk didn't want it because it was so dangerous. Rural electrification was not yet completed in Ireland. Our house would not have had today's modern safe electric wiring with earthing everywhere and proper circuit breaker protection. So electricity was still a respected, misunderstood and feared energy even by adults.
Also at the time, there was a much older boy called Ian up our road at home who had an electricity experiment set. Ian once used this to electrocute me just for his evil fun! He asked me to hold a few electrodes and he then flicked a large switch. A piercing and frightening pain from a powerful invisible energy bolted though my entire body. I roared out loud. Ian gave a fiendish cackling giggle as he all too slowly flicked back the switch - causing the pain to gratefully and mysteriously vanish instantly.
That must be it, I was sure of it. The Switch in school is controling some kind of electrocution! My mind visualized the bold child being brought into a room where they were connected up to electrodes and wires and then the principal flicked The Switch. A more sinister thought also crept into my mind from the parental warnings on electricity. The Switch in the principal's office might even be powerful enough to kill you. Wow, really scary! I was determined to be as quiet as a mouse in class, it was not worth risking my life.
The image of The Switch suppressed all natural creativity, I was even afraid to ask simple questions in class. I explained my hypothesis of The Switch to some of my close classmates - so I inadvertently scared the hell out of them also! Funny how an incorrect image lingers for a long time...it was only years later when I was told that The Switch was simply the name given to a thin wooden cane for slapping children.
Today even the cane would rightly be unacceptable trauma for children. I went to early school not too concerned about being slapped - but vividly concerned of being executed by electrocution!
The teacher would routinely slap us for disciplinary offences. She had a black leather strap. It was usually three slaps on each hand but could be more depending on the offence. If a child was really bad then he was sent to the principal's office for a punishment which the teacher referred to as The Switch.
Now I didn't know exactly what The Switch was, but the few small children who came back into the classroom after being administered The Switch were a terrifying sight. They were bawling crying and in absolute agony. It made the hairs stand on my head to witness this spectacle of trauma. In a class of sixty children you tended to play in many separated groups and I never got to hear exactly what The Switch was. However, my imagination started to work it out from my various limited experiences....
I was familiar with electric light switches at home and my parents told me that electricity was very dangerous and could kill you. I knew my granny didn't have electricity in her house in the country and many older country folk didn't want it because it was so dangerous. Rural electrification was not yet completed in Ireland. Our house would not have had today's modern safe electric wiring with earthing everywhere and proper circuit breaker protection. So electricity was still a respected, misunderstood and feared energy even by adults.
Also at the time, there was a much older boy called Ian up our road at home who had an electricity experiment set. Ian once used this to electrocute me just for his evil fun! He asked me to hold a few electrodes and he then flicked a large switch. A piercing and frightening pain from a powerful invisible energy bolted though my entire body. I roared out loud. Ian gave a fiendish cackling giggle as he all too slowly flicked back the switch - causing the pain to gratefully and mysteriously vanish instantly.
That must be it, I was sure of it. The Switch in school is controling some kind of electrocution! My mind visualized the bold child being brought into a room where they were connected up to electrodes and wires and then the principal flicked The Switch. A more sinister thought also crept into my mind from the parental warnings on electricity. The Switch in the principal's office might even be powerful enough to kill you. Wow, really scary! I was determined to be as quiet as a mouse in class, it was not worth risking my life.
The image of The Switch suppressed all natural creativity, I was even afraid to ask simple questions in class. I explained my hypothesis of The Switch to some of my close classmates - so I inadvertently scared the hell out of them also! Funny how an incorrect image lingers for a long time...it was only years later when I was told that The Switch was simply the name given to a thin wooden cane for slapping children.
Today even the cane would rightly be unacceptable trauma for children. I went to early school not too concerned about being slapped - but vividly concerned of being executed by electrocution!
Monday, November 07, 2005
Confirmation memories
The catechism of catholic doctrine – we kids called it the caddier. A weighty green book filled with questions and answers on a plethora of Catholic truths. Every 11 year-old had to know every question and answer off by heart for their confirmation day. Confirmation meant you were to be an adult Catholic – so knowledge of the caddier was crucial. After several years of preparation in learning hymns and intensive swotting of the caddier I was standing in St. Canice’s Church Finglas in 1966 for my confirmation. Like the rest of the boys I wore a dark suit with short trousers - chosen expertly by myself – no repeat of the cream communion suit likely! Nevertheless I was still nervous. We were told that the bishop could ask us a question from the caddier. There was a sense by most of us though – including our teacher - that there were too many of us in the church to get through everyone. It was more likely that some random sampling would occur for questions. Safe enough maybe.
The church was full with those to be confirmed, girls on the left, boys on the right. No parents or relatives in the church to protect us. The bishop with his entourage walked up the church in all his impressive robes and tall miter. Larger than life. The priests of the parish were figures of awe to us kids – but the priests were looking humble in the bishop’s wake. On reaching the altar the priest’s fluttered - including the parish priest - in alter-boy-like subservient activities around the great man. Was the bishop even human as we know it? This entity was powerful, 10 times more dangerous and scary than any priest alive. He was probably capable of sending us all to the fires of hell with one wave of his crozier. I was in a row about two thirds of the way down the church – gratefully distant from the altar. Even though I had classmates on either side of me, none of us dared speak a word. We had been warned by teachers. Eventually we noticed the unmistakable miter of the bishop moving slowly from left to right, then right to left amongst the boys near the top of the church. He was asking questions from the caddier. The awful truth slowly dawned on me and I broke out in a cold sweat. I had wondered why we were all in rows with every second row empty. The bishop and his entourage were passing between each row and quizzing the boys face to face. Wow! Surely he wouldn’t come this far down the church. Take too long.
Time ticked by endlessly. The bishop was sticking doggedly to his task. Going though every row of boys. The tall hat was getting closer. Eventually I could see the bishop’s face and the priests on either side of him. When he was a few rows from me I could see the pattern. The bishop had a well worn green caddier in his hand and was asking a question from it to every second boy. This pattern was very consistent, I was studying him with the heightened awareness of a drowning child. I did a desperate count of the number of boys ahead of me and came to the daunting calculation that the bishop would definitely be asking me a question. Closer and closer. I’m only eleven years old, too young for this terror. Then my throat dried in fear as I looked up into the face of the bishop – stationary and towering in front of me – the most powerful entity on Earth. The bishop was framed by two priests – one of them the parish priest. It looked like a firing squad. There was an eerie silence as the bishop selected a page in the green caddier. He called out a question. It did sound familiar, but I was almost frozen in fear. It was a question with a long answer. I struggled though it. Got mixed up with one sentence, made a bit of a mess of it. Too scared to think. The bishop paused. He wasn’t happy. He slowly flicked to other pages of the book. My heart was racing. He asked me another question. This one was better. Answer a bit shorter. I managed to get through it okay, but not quite perfectly. The bishop paused in silence. I avoided eye contact in fear of what anger his face might reveal. Then to my considerable relief the bishop and team slowly moved on to the next boy. I now ventured a glance up at the bishop’s face. He was staring back at me even as he moved, with disapproving eyes. The expression said to me – you really aren’t good enough, you barely scraped through. I wondered - what if I had messed up on the second question? Was I close to being marched out of the church, made an example of? What would my parents and friends think of me – a failure on this big moment in front of the bishop. Anyway, no point in dwelling too long. I was safe and the rest of the ceremony was a doddle after this.
I can laugh back at the confirmation catechism episode today. But it gives a flavour of how much in awe kids were at the time of priests, bishops, teachers and those in strong positions of authority. I can only imagine how easy it must have been for the deviant minority to get away with sexually abusing children and the horror it would have been for such kids. Fortunately I never experienced this, nor at the time did I hear of any who were. However, the irrational fear of those in strong authority lingered well into my adult life. Even today, as successful as I am and with my own company etc., there are still little traces left of fear of those in controlling positions.
The church was full with those to be confirmed, girls on the left, boys on the right. No parents or relatives in the church to protect us. The bishop with his entourage walked up the church in all his impressive robes and tall miter. Larger than life. The priests of the parish were figures of awe to us kids – but the priests were looking humble in the bishop’s wake. On reaching the altar the priest’s fluttered - including the parish priest - in alter-boy-like subservient activities around the great man. Was the bishop even human as we know it? This entity was powerful, 10 times more dangerous and scary than any priest alive. He was probably capable of sending us all to the fires of hell with one wave of his crozier. I was in a row about two thirds of the way down the church – gratefully distant from the altar. Even though I had classmates on either side of me, none of us dared speak a word. We had been warned by teachers. Eventually we noticed the unmistakable miter of the bishop moving slowly from left to right, then right to left amongst the boys near the top of the church. He was asking questions from the caddier. The awful truth slowly dawned on me and I broke out in a cold sweat. I had wondered why we were all in rows with every second row empty. The bishop and his entourage were passing between each row and quizzing the boys face to face. Wow! Surely he wouldn’t come this far down the church. Take too long.
Time ticked by endlessly. The bishop was sticking doggedly to his task. Going though every row of boys. The tall hat was getting closer. Eventually I could see the bishop’s face and the priests on either side of him. When he was a few rows from me I could see the pattern. The bishop had a well worn green caddier in his hand and was asking a question from it to every second boy. This pattern was very consistent, I was studying him with the heightened awareness of a drowning child. I did a desperate count of the number of boys ahead of me and came to the daunting calculation that the bishop would definitely be asking me a question. Closer and closer. I’m only eleven years old, too young for this terror. Then my throat dried in fear as I looked up into the face of the bishop – stationary and towering in front of me – the most powerful entity on Earth. The bishop was framed by two priests – one of them the parish priest. It looked like a firing squad. There was an eerie silence as the bishop selected a page in the green caddier. He called out a question. It did sound familiar, but I was almost frozen in fear. It was a question with a long answer. I struggled though it. Got mixed up with one sentence, made a bit of a mess of it. Too scared to think. The bishop paused. He wasn’t happy. He slowly flicked to other pages of the book. My heart was racing. He asked me another question. This one was better. Answer a bit shorter. I managed to get through it okay, but not quite perfectly. The bishop paused in silence. I avoided eye contact in fear of what anger his face might reveal. Then to my considerable relief the bishop and team slowly moved on to the next boy. I now ventured a glance up at the bishop’s face. He was staring back at me even as he moved, with disapproving eyes. The expression said to me – you really aren’t good enough, you barely scraped through. I wondered - what if I had messed up on the second question? Was I close to being marched out of the church, made an example of? What would my parents and friends think of me – a failure on this big moment in front of the bishop. Anyway, no point in dwelling too long. I was safe and the rest of the ceremony was a doddle after this.
I can laugh back at the confirmation catechism episode today. But it gives a flavour of how much in awe kids were at the time of priests, bishops, teachers and those in strong positions of authority. I can only imagine how easy it must have been for the deviant minority to get away with sexually abusing children and the horror it would have been for such kids. Fortunately I never experienced this, nor at the time did I hear of any who were. However, the irrational fear of those in strong authority lingered well into my adult life. Even today, as successful as I am and with my own company etc., there are still little traces left of fear of those in controlling positions.
Saturday, November 05, 2005
First Confession/Communion memories
Preparation for First Holy Communion was serious business at school in Ireland in 1962.
First Confession had to be prepared for initially. Our teacher, I realized later in my schooling, mimicked a scene from Frank O'Connor's short story First Confession. Fear of Hell needed to be instilled into kids so they would avoid sin. The teacher lit a candle on her desk and invited anyone to hold a finger over the flame for more than a few seconds. One or two tough guys tried it and ended quickly back at their desks yelping. The teacher then gloatingly explained that they had experienced a very tiny glimpse of Hell. However, rather than a quick pain in the tip of the finger, the fires of Hell gave continuous pain over over every inch of your body - for all eternity. Wow! We seven year old kids were almost traumatized with the thought. It was too much to take in. Better avoid sin big time. I became very fearfully interested in the technicalities of mortal and venial sin and telling a proper confession.
The 10 commandments were also taught to us carefully. The teacher did however gloss over the commandment "Thou shalt not commit adultery." She said that we would learn more about that sin when we were older. I wasn't impressed by this response and it worried me that I could be guilty of it without knowing. I looked at the wording carefully and coupled with the teacher's vague clue I figured that the sin had to mean pretending to be an adult when you were only a kid. When I went to confession I actually told the priest that I had committed adultery! After I landed this bombshell the priest leaned forward and looked carefully at me out of the grill in the dark confession box. "Do you know what adultery is, my child?", he asked. I suddenly realized that I must have been completely wrong in my notion of adultery. I then nervously said "Eh, no." A faint smile appeared on the priest's face but thankfully he dropped the subject and asked me to continue with my confession.
There was a test run in the class for receiving communion properly. We each went up to the front of the class in a line and received unconsecrated communion from the teacher. The idea was to practice the mouth opening and swallowing the communion without biting it. It was well before the time of having an option on receiving communion in the hand. Biting or touching communion was a serious offence. Everything in general went well on the test run except one boy did, perhaps by accident, bite the communion. The teacher noticed instantly. I recall that she did not slap the boy (although that was a very real option open to her - see my other article Slapping in junior school 1960...The Switch!) but instead made a major example of him and his fatal action to the entire class. I recall the kid in tears and terrible distress at his desk. The stigma the teacher made of his action was powerful and affected us all in the classroom. Even in the schoolyard afterwards the lad was identified in talk as the boy who bit the communion. It scared us all of ever biting communion. And this was just a test run. Imagine what the priest would do at the live event!
I have to say that by contrast to teachers and clergy, my mother had a gentle and friendly, albeit intense, approach to faith. She also wanted her only child turned out really well for First Holy Communion. However, I still can never forgive her for choosing a cream coloured suit for me! Just picture the view from the balcony of the packed church in St. Gabriels, Clontarf. On the left side of the centre aisle was an ocean of little girls in white dresses. On the right was a mass of boys in dark suits. Right in the middle of the dark suits was an idiot in white! I felt incredibly self-conscious and although I laugh at it now, it was quite an issue at the time (I made absolutely sure that I chose my own Confirmation suit four years later!).
My father had borrowed an old black Morris Minor car for the First Communion day. I thought this was very exciting - I loved cars and rarely had the opportunity to be a passenger. My Dad drove my Mum and I to my granny down in the country - a little cottage in a rural townland called Dorea, some miles beyond Ashbourne. I recall that I collected 7 shillings in total from relations and family friends - a good solid innings at the time, 44 cents in today's money!
First Confession had to be prepared for initially. Our teacher, I realized later in my schooling, mimicked a scene from Frank O'Connor's short story First Confession. Fear of Hell needed to be instilled into kids so they would avoid sin. The teacher lit a candle on her desk and invited anyone to hold a finger over the flame for more than a few seconds. One or two tough guys tried it and ended quickly back at their desks yelping. The teacher then gloatingly explained that they had experienced a very tiny glimpse of Hell. However, rather than a quick pain in the tip of the finger, the fires of Hell gave continuous pain over over every inch of your body - for all eternity. Wow! We seven year old kids were almost traumatized with the thought. It was too much to take in. Better avoid sin big time. I became very fearfully interested in the technicalities of mortal and venial sin and telling a proper confession.
The 10 commandments were also taught to us carefully. The teacher did however gloss over the commandment "Thou shalt not commit adultery." She said that we would learn more about that sin when we were older. I wasn't impressed by this response and it worried me that I could be guilty of it without knowing. I looked at the wording carefully and coupled with the teacher's vague clue I figured that the sin had to mean pretending to be an adult when you were only a kid. When I went to confession I actually told the priest that I had committed adultery! After I landed this bombshell the priest leaned forward and looked carefully at me out of the grill in the dark confession box. "Do you know what adultery is, my child?", he asked. I suddenly realized that I must have been completely wrong in my notion of adultery. I then nervously said "Eh, no." A faint smile appeared on the priest's face but thankfully he dropped the subject and asked me to continue with my confession.
There was a test run in the class for receiving communion properly. We each went up to the front of the class in a line and received unconsecrated communion from the teacher. The idea was to practice the mouth opening and swallowing the communion without biting it. It was well before the time of having an option on receiving communion in the hand. Biting or touching communion was a serious offence. Everything in general went well on the test run except one boy did, perhaps by accident, bite the communion. The teacher noticed instantly. I recall that she did not slap the boy (although that was a very real option open to her - see my other article Slapping in junior school 1960...The Switch!) but instead made a major example of him and his fatal action to the entire class. I recall the kid in tears and terrible distress at his desk. The stigma the teacher made of his action was powerful and affected us all in the classroom. Even in the schoolyard afterwards the lad was identified in talk as the boy who bit the communion. It scared us all of ever biting communion. And this was just a test run. Imagine what the priest would do at the live event!
I have to say that by contrast to teachers and clergy, my mother had a gentle and friendly, albeit intense, approach to faith. She also wanted her only child turned out really well for First Holy Communion. However, I still can never forgive her for choosing a cream coloured suit for me! Just picture the view from the balcony of the packed church in St. Gabriels, Clontarf. On the left side of the centre aisle was an ocean of little girls in white dresses. On the right was a mass of boys in dark suits. Right in the middle of the dark suits was an idiot in white! I felt incredibly self-conscious and although I laugh at it now, it was quite an issue at the time (I made absolutely sure that I chose my own Confirmation suit four years later!).
My father had borrowed an old black Morris Minor car for the First Communion day. I thought this was very exciting - I loved cars and rarely had the opportunity to be a passenger. My Dad drove my Mum and I to my granny down in the country - a little cottage in a rural townland called Dorea, some miles beyond Ashbourne. I recall that I collected 7 shillings in total from relations and family friends - a good solid innings at the time, 44 cents in today's money!
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
USA and the World
It's almost fashionable to dislike USA foreign policy under Bush these days and it has generated a lot of general anti-American feeling - especially in younger people.
It's true that USA has meddled heavily in World affairs. Some of this is perceived as very morally questionable, but there is much which was and is extremely useful to the countries in receipt. Military intervention was very welcome in Europe in WWII and the subsequent Marshall Plan. The fear of Communism was passionate in the past and was a motivating force in Korea and Vietnam of course and created rather unsavoury unwinnable conflicts.
In the business world so many of us in Western Europe and elsewhere benefit greatly from American companies setting up and trading abroad. My own company is totally dependant on US suppliers and indeed US established companies in Ireland as customers. Business is a two way system however - it also suits the US companies to trade here from all the benefits Ireland have to offer. That is not to dilute the respect and gratitude each party is entitled to extend both ways. The USA are very good trading partners. We depend on them a lot and we have strong historical connections.
One of the factors which troubles myself and others is the USA's sheer dominance as a superpower. Bush has had a rather nasty tendency to make this factor look dangerous to us all since 9/11. A lot of his rhetoric to the nations of the World just before Afganistan and Iraq invasions was along the lines of "if you are not with us - you are against us". Their military might makes you wonder what could happen if someone a bit more right wing than Bush came along and got the US people motivated enough to believe that more and more countries outside USA are dangerous. The manipulation and ultimate ignoring of the UN was also a heavy handed step which compounds this future danger. Without the UN - who is able to tell the USA when enough is enough?
It's easy to imagine the above happening. USA is a big place with great geographical, climatic and to some extent cultural diversity. In the vaste majority of American states people's idea of a foreign holiday is going to places like California or Florida or Hawaii. I've been to USA many times on business and it's incredible how little that ordinary people know or care about places external to North America. You could picture a situation where they were persuaded that more places in the World needed to be made safe as threats to Americans. 9/11 having hit the USA heavily right in their quintessential heart - had the effect of silencing any major sense of American foreign injustice - as had happened for Vietnam.
I recall in 1996 when the huge (but aging and non-nucleor) aircraft carrier JFK was in Dublin Bay for about a week. The big HSS passenger ferry looked like a small toy as it daily steamed past the JFK. Dun Laoghaire was full of sailors in crisp white uniforms. On Sunday morning in our tennis club we all stopped our tennis matches to look up in awe as a handful of powerful American jet fighters flew right over our club. I thought to myself that these jets probably had the potential firepower to wipe out much of Dublin. The impressive Dublin visitation would have represented a tiny fraction of 1% of the USA's military might.
Let's not forget that in spite of USA's warnings on the dangers of nucleor weapons that the USA are the only nation to have used nucleor bombs as a weapon - twice in fact.
There is an uneasy feeling created from the Bush administraion that we mustn't get the USA too mad. We are lucky to have all the foreign investment and the protection and we should be very grateful and be good little democracies. There was hint of this squirmy feeling when Bertie kept the refueling in Shannon arrangement going even though we are a neutral state. Our condemnation to the Bush administration's ignoring of the UN was diplomatic eggshell walking. Our little country needs all the American business.
Having said all of the above, there have been and still are disgusting activities going on in foreign regimes. Many states seem to latch onto religious extremism and Al Qaeda are an exceptionally nasty group who have completely exploited Islam. There must be unity against terror. I just think Bush's style of being a shoot-from-the-hip old wild west sherriff is grossly over simplistic, encourages the terrorists further and makes traditional allies uncomfortable. A more sophisticated long term approach is required with considerably greater intelligence and less insightment to motivate even more terror.
It's true that USA has meddled heavily in World affairs. Some of this is perceived as very morally questionable, but there is much which was and is extremely useful to the countries in receipt. Military intervention was very welcome in Europe in WWII and the subsequent Marshall Plan. The fear of Communism was passionate in the past and was a motivating force in Korea and Vietnam of course and created rather unsavoury unwinnable conflicts.
In the business world so many of us in Western Europe and elsewhere benefit greatly from American companies setting up and trading abroad. My own company is totally dependant on US suppliers and indeed US established companies in Ireland as customers. Business is a two way system however - it also suits the US companies to trade here from all the benefits Ireland have to offer. That is not to dilute the respect and gratitude each party is entitled to extend both ways. The USA are very good trading partners. We depend on them a lot and we have strong historical connections.
One of the factors which troubles myself and others is the USA's sheer dominance as a superpower. Bush has had a rather nasty tendency to make this factor look dangerous to us all since 9/11. A lot of his rhetoric to the nations of the World just before Afganistan and Iraq invasions was along the lines of "if you are not with us - you are against us". Their military might makes you wonder what could happen if someone a bit more right wing than Bush came along and got the US people motivated enough to believe that more and more countries outside USA are dangerous. The manipulation and ultimate ignoring of the UN was also a heavy handed step which compounds this future danger. Without the UN - who is able to tell the USA when enough is enough?
It's easy to imagine the above happening. USA is a big place with great geographical, climatic and to some extent cultural diversity. In the vaste majority of American states people's idea of a foreign holiday is going to places like California or Florida or Hawaii. I've been to USA many times on business and it's incredible how little that ordinary people know or care about places external to North America. You could picture a situation where they were persuaded that more places in the World needed to be made safe as threats to Americans. 9/11 having hit the USA heavily right in their quintessential heart - had the effect of silencing any major sense of American foreign injustice - as had happened for Vietnam.
I recall in 1996 when the huge (but aging and non-nucleor) aircraft carrier JFK was in Dublin Bay for about a week. The big HSS passenger ferry looked like a small toy as it daily steamed past the JFK. Dun Laoghaire was full of sailors in crisp white uniforms. On Sunday morning in our tennis club we all stopped our tennis matches to look up in awe as a handful of powerful American jet fighters flew right over our club. I thought to myself that these jets probably had the potential firepower to wipe out much of Dublin. The impressive Dublin visitation would have represented a tiny fraction of 1% of the USA's military might.
Let's not forget that in spite of USA's warnings on the dangers of nucleor weapons that the USA are the only nation to have used nucleor bombs as a weapon - twice in fact.
There is an uneasy feeling created from the Bush administraion that we mustn't get the USA too mad. We are lucky to have all the foreign investment and the protection and we should be very grateful and be good little democracies. There was hint of this squirmy feeling when Bertie kept the refueling in Shannon arrangement going even though we are a neutral state. Our condemnation to the Bush administration's ignoring of the UN was diplomatic eggshell walking. Our little country needs all the American business.
Having said all of the above, there have been and still are disgusting activities going on in foreign regimes. Many states seem to latch onto religious extremism and Al Qaeda are an exceptionally nasty group who have completely exploited Islam. There must be unity against terror. I just think Bush's style of being a shoot-from-the-hip old wild west sherriff is grossly over simplistic, encourages the terrorists further and makes traditional allies uncomfortable. A more sophisticated long term approach is required with considerably greater intelligence and less insightment to motivate even more terror.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
National pride
At the weekend Fianna Fail Ard Fheis the Taoiseach announced the return of commemoration of 1916 with a military march past the GPO from next year (90th anniversary).
[Aside....I enjoyed a great belly laugh from Miriam Lord's light hearted article in the Irish Independent on Saturday. She evoked a brilliant image ...."It'll be like Red Square in O'Connell Street next Easter. Socialist Bertie on top of the GPO taking the salute in a Russian hat and the might of the Irish army parading a few missiles and their new tanks. Fly pasts. Gunboats on the Liffey."..... Yes indeed, 1916, 1917, what's a year between comrades?!]
Assisted by the recent IRA cessation I do welcome the spirit of enhanced pride in our cherished Irish heritage, history and imagery. I mean this on two levels...
1. I recall the 50th anniversary of the 1916 Rising when I was at school. We were taught to have pride in the brave men and women who fought for Irish freedom from Britain. There was an RTE serialized drama on TV depicting all the events of Easter week 1916. The rebel Irish leaders and their forces took over the GPO and other buildings, read a proclamation, put themselves in the front line. 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. Of course the IRA ceasefire has to be welcomed and has opened the door for us to recapture some pride in our identity. We should celebrate the birth of our independence in 1922. Regarding 1916, even though it was a violent event, I do feel that the Irish Government should take control of it's remembrance. It has to be better than the Sinn Fein/IRA folk hijacking it.
2. I was at a funeral a few years ago of an lovely elderly lady who was devoted to her country and language. Her funeral mass was conducted in the Irish language and there was an Irish flag on the altar. A lady in green clothing read prayers in Irish. One part of me said that this is beautiful....another part of me associated the imagery with a modern Sinn Fein/IRA propaganda event. How horrible to have such unwelcome negative thoughts invade my mind. The modern IRA had caused this. Let's hope they are finished with senseless violence for good and we can restore all our rightful pride in what we are.
As a footnote...There are those who say Bertie's plan was a master stroke for the Ard Fheis to win some political ground from Sinn Fein and that he didn't get other parties involved in a prior debate. Yes indeed, but so what? That's one reason why Fianna Fail are successful - good PR. Fine Gael could arguably claim an equal or better republican pedigree but never use it.
[Aside....I enjoyed a great belly laugh from Miriam Lord's light hearted article in the Irish Independent on Saturday. She evoked a brilliant image ...."It'll be like Red Square in O'Connell Street next Easter. Socialist Bertie on top of the GPO taking the salute in a Russian hat and the might of the Irish army parading a few missiles and their new tanks. Fly pasts. Gunboats on the Liffey."..... Yes indeed, 1916, 1917, what's a year between comrades?!]
Assisted by the recent IRA cessation I do welcome the spirit of enhanced pride in our cherished Irish heritage, history and imagery. I mean this on two levels...
1. I recall the 50th anniversary of the 1916 Rising when I was at school. We were taught to have pride in the brave men and women who fought for Irish freedom from Britain. There was an RTE serialized drama on TV depicting all the events of Easter week 1916. The rebel Irish leaders and their forces took over the GPO and other buildings, read a proclamation, put themselves in the front line. 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. Of course the IRA ceasefire has to be welcomed and has opened the door for us to recapture some pride in our identity. We should celebrate the birth of our independence in 1922. Regarding 1916, even though it was a violent event, I do feel that the Irish Government should take control of it's remembrance. It has to be better than the Sinn Fein/IRA folk hijacking it.
2. I was at a funeral a few years ago of an lovely elderly lady who was devoted to her country and language. Her funeral mass was conducted in the Irish language and there was an Irish flag on the altar. A lady in green clothing read prayers in Irish. One part of me said that this is beautiful....another part of me associated the imagery with a modern Sinn Fein/IRA propaganda event. How horrible to have such unwelcome negative thoughts invade my mind. The modern IRA had caused this. Let's hope they are finished with senseless violence for good and we can restore all our rightful pride in what we are.
As a footnote...There are those who say Bertie's plan was a master stroke for the Ard Fheis to win some political ground from Sinn Fein and that he didn't get other parties involved in a prior debate. Yes indeed, but so what? That's one reason why Fianna Fail are successful - good PR. Fine Gael could arguably claim an equal or better republican pedigree but never use it.
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