Sunday Tribune, 18 January 2009
There it was, all grizzly and grinning, topped off with a Brillo pad and so craggy you could plant spuds in it. Miley Byrne's head was back in the papers last week, looking as fresh as if it had been preserved in a bog for the past eight years. Tourism Ireland had dug it up for the photocall to announce their new online marketing campaign.
I've missed Miley. He represented the core values of Old Ireland: farming, cups of tea, muck and rogering in hay barns. The only 'on-line' Miley knew was where Biddy put the washing.
He was there to add local colour to the search for 'quirky' Irish people to 'star' in 10 internet movies, to be made by Keo Films. They will talk about their favourite places and the films will showcase our true nature. You know: hospitable, friendly, all that crap.
Well Holy God, did Tourism Ireland get a lash when it was later revealed that Keo Films aren't Irish – they're from London.
This isn't the first time our tourist chiefs have been criticised for using foreigners. In 2007, a TV advert promoting whale-watching in Kerry was revealed to contain a large error – the whale apparently swimming off Ireland had been filmed in the southern hemisphere and digitally 'dropped' into the ad. Oops.
So now they've asked the British to shoot scenes of us in our native land. It could be worse. They might have asked the French. After Lisbon they just wanted to shoot us, full stop.
Picture the opening French advert:
'Scene: old house, west of Ireland. Frenchman with floppy hair sits down as Irish colleen slices a lump of Kerrygold to butter her spuds.
"Uhhhh … could you … to me … [shrugs Gallicly] … pass ze Kerreeegold?"
She glares balefully and shouts, through a mouthful of spuds, "No!"
"Mais, madame …" he stammers.
"No! No! NO! I've said 'No' once already. You can't force me to pass it!" she shrieks, wrapping herself in a tricolour. Camera closes in on butter… the word 'Lisbon' is carved on its surface. Frenchman shrugs [Gallicly] again. FIN.'
Or the Polish? The notice on the website: "Wanted: actors to play typical Irish people. No Irish need apply."
Or the Germans? Actually the Gerries did a couple of propaganda movies about the Irish during the war – 'Mein Leben fur Irland' and 'The Fox of Glenarvon'.
Possible ad could feature Willie O'Dea showing German Chancellor Angela Merkel around his favourite Limerick haunts before legging it and leaving her stranded in the middle of feud country. (They have history.)
No, on reflection, giving the job to the British was a good idea as they actually like us. For example, they gave Colin Farrell his break in Ballykissangel. They always vote for us in the Eurovision. They commissioned Father Ted (although that may have been compensation for allowing Foster and Allen perform in leprechaun suits on Top of The Pops).
And let's not forget that Ireland's been their favourite holiday destination for the past 800 years.
The films could feature Irish people showing the crew around their favourite places to shop: Tescos, Marks & Sparks, Topshop, Boots…
Their favourite sights, like the Dublin Spire – which was designed by an Englishman, Ian Ritchie. Or favourite pub where they watched Jack's boys in Italia '90. (Wasn't he English?)
They could even quote from Foras na Gaeilge's new Irish dictionary. Last year an East Sussex company won the contract to work on half of it.
So is outsourcing our Irishness to England such a bad thing, considering we've done it before? When you have 1,500 Irish film workers on the dole, of course it is. Tourism Ireland say they were hamstrung by strict tendering laws, but it just isn't morally right.
That said, if it had to go to anybody, I'd prefer it to be the Brits. We watch their TV, enjoy their sense of humour, dress like them. If you put history aside, they're just like annoying cousins, really.
Another problem with getting Keo Films to market us is that they might do too good a job. Then, just as the recession is bringing us back down to earth, we'll start believing our own press and get all smug again.
Ah, shure everybody loves the Irish, as Miley might say.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
As reality bites, the Greens carry on regardless in a parallel universe
Sunday Tribune, January 11, 2008
It's been some week. First there was Gaza and then the 1,900 job losses at Dell in Limerick.
Then the Russians started starving Europe of gas. This coincided with the discovery of a gas leak at our front gate which necessitated Bord Gáis drilling holes into the night and suspending our water and gas.
Then, as we lay shivering in sympathy with the citizens of Bulgaria, we discovered we had a mouse about the house: one with a helmet who kept headbutting the skirting board. Obviously not as bad as being in Gaza, but profoundly disturbing nonetheless.
Could things get worse? A bout of the vomiting bug perhaps?
Yes. On top of all this misery came the heartbreaking tale of one woman's fight to keep tens of thousands of euro out of the hands of a notorious Dublin 2-based gang. She fought tooth and nail until the gang leader wrestled her to the floor and took the money out of her Charlton Heston-like grip. She later said she had been singled out for attack.
Thank you Beverley, for the feelgood story of the week. Whenever I feel glum, it's always good to know you're out there making a show of yourself.
Bev wasn't the only government member entertaining the nation last week. Energy minister Eamon Ryan told Morning Ireland on Thursday that he could see a 'carbon tax' being introduced on fossil fuels this year.
The price of oil is currently rock-bottom, which is good news considering the economy. Raising it with a carbon tax, or 'floor price', would only hurt homeowners, motorists and industry. I nearly fell out of bed laughing. He was joking, right?
A quick google and I wasn't laughing any more. I was reminded why Ryan's party is the Sarah Palin of Irish politics.
You'll remember that last year they offered us free bikes to leave our cars at home while public transport was sneakily putting up its fares by 10%.
Well, last week, the day before Ryan's comments, they announced yet another top priority initiative: schools are now to be fined for wasting water. Gardeners who water their lawns during water shortages will also face on-the-spot fines of €125. Presumably, Ryan and John Gormley will personally enforce the new 'kick-ass' water-conservation laws, cycling around the country, getting tough on gardeners and schoolchildren.
Here's a question: did the Greens spend the past three summers in Ireland? Did they not notice the flooding and global warming-fuelled overabundance of water? Given their long Dáil holidays, probably not.
If that wasn't enough to show how the obsessive pursuit of their own Green agenda has blinded them to reality, along comes Ryan with his carbon tax. What kind of a political party says it wants to put up the price of a precious resource that is at a record low when people can least afford an increase? It's beyond witless.
Fundamentally, they are right. It would be really, really nice to live in their Green Utopia. But let's get the small matter of survival out of the way first.
A flick through last week's papers reveals – from east to west – hardships from the Dell lay-offs to A&Es grinding to a halt. On Little Christmas, the Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda had 38 ill people waiting on trolleys.
Then there was the story of single Dublin mother Ann J, who told a judge she turned to shoplifting as she desperately needed essentials for her and her new baby. These amounted to just €19.67. In light of her circumstances, the judge said he would make no order.
That, minister Ryan, is the Ireland we live in, and stories like Ann's will increase as the economy worsens and more jobs are lost. Your contribution is to make running a car more expensive just when having a car will give unemployed people an edge while looking for a new job. I'll bet the people in Dell will really thank you for this.
Between having you and Beverley to deal with, I'm actually starting to feel sorry for Biffo.
dkenny@tribune.ie
It's been some week. First there was Gaza and then the 1,900 job losses at Dell in Limerick.
Then the Russians started starving Europe of gas. This coincided with the discovery of a gas leak at our front gate which necessitated Bord Gáis drilling holes into the night and suspending our water and gas.
Then, as we lay shivering in sympathy with the citizens of Bulgaria, we discovered we had a mouse about the house: one with a helmet who kept headbutting the skirting board. Obviously not as bad as being in Gaza, but profoundly disturbing nonetheless.
Could things get worse? A bout of the vomiting bug perhaps?
Yes. On top of all this misery came the heartbreaking tale of one woman's fight to keep tens of thousands of euro out of the hands of a notorious Dublin 2-based gang. She fought tooth and nail until the gang leader wrestled her to the floor and took the money out of her Charlton Heston-like grip. She later said she had been singled out for attack.
Thank you Beverley, for the feelgood story of the week. Whenever I feel glum, it's always good to know you're out there making a show of yourself.
Bev wasn't the only government member entertaining the nation last week. Energy minister Eamon Ryan told Morning Ireland on Thursday that he could see a 'carbon tax' being introduced on fossil fuels this year.
The price of oil is currently rock-bottom, which is good news considering the economy. Raising it with a carbon tax, or 'floor price', would only hurt homeowners, motorists and industry. I nearly fell out of bed laughing. He was joking, right?
A quick google and I wasn't laughing any more. I was reminded why Ryan's party is the Sarah Palin of Irish politics.
You'll remember that last year they offered us free bikes to leave our cars at home while public transport was sneakily putting up its fares by 10%.
Well, last week, the day before Ryan's comments, they announced yet another top priority initiative: schools are now to be fined for wasting water. Gardeners who water their lawns during water shortages will also face on-the-spot fines of €125. Presumably, Ryan and John Gormley will personally enforce the new 'kick-ass' water-conservation laws, cycling around the country, getting tough on gardeners and schoolchildren.
Here's a question: did the Greens spend the past three summers in Ireland? Did they not notice the flooding and global warming-fuelled overabundance of water? Given their long Dáil holidays, probably not.
If that wasn't enough to show how the obsessive pursuit of their own Green agenda has blinded them to reality, along comes Ryan with his carbon tax. What kind of a political party says it wants to put up the price of a precious resource that is at a record low when people can least afford an increase? It's beyond witless.
Fundamentally, they are right. It would be really, really nice to live in their Green Utopia. But let's get the small matter of survival out of the way first.
A flick through last week's papers reveals – from east to west – hardships from the Dell lay-offs to A&Es grinding to a halt. On Little Christmas, the Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda had 38 ill people waiting on trolleys.
Then there was the story of single Dublin mother Ann J, who told a judge she turned to shoplifting as she desperately needed essentials for her and her new baby. These amounted to just €19.67. In light of her circumstances, the judge said he would make no order.
That, minister Ryan, is the Ireland we live in, and stories like Ann's will increase as the economy worsens and more jobs are lost. Your contribution is to make running a car more expensive just when having a car will give unemployed people an edge while looking for a new job. I'll bet the people in Dell will really thank you for this.
Between having you and Beverley to deal with, I'm actually starting to feel sorry for Biffo.
dkenny@tribune.ie
We're all so thick, we need the nanny state to tell us what to do
Sunday Tribune, January 4, 2009
Christmas is barely over and we are sluggishly bemoaning our imminent return to work.
Not the nation's do-gooders, though. They've been back at work for days, merrily kicking the nanny state out of its Yuletide slumber.
I'm referring to anti-smokers group Ash, which last week said it wanted a ban on smoking in cars carrying children under the age of 16.
This statement struck me on two counts – first, how stupid it is to drive around turning your children into kippers, and second, how stupid it is to try and ban this practice, given how hard it would be to police it.
How could a garda possibly guess the age of a teenager beetling along in the car beside their smoking parent? Some 12-year-olds look 16 while some 16-year-olds look 12. The gardaí would need superhuman eyesight. So should the rule – for the sake of practicality – be confined to those under the age of 10? But that's not fair on the 10-to-16 age group.
Then, can you imagine how infuriating it would be to get stopped by the guards every time you were driving your young-looking 17-year-old to the train while having a fag?
And what next? Would the gardaí be given special powers to raid the homes of suspected parental smokers? Would neighbours grass on each other? It would be enforced less rigorously than the fining of dog-walkers whose pets foul the footpath. I've never witnessed anyone being arrested by the Poo Police. Have you?
On the other hand maybe Ash is right. Maybe we need more nanny state rules. Maybe the majority of us are so thick we need to be constantly dictated to.
Been designated driver for the evening? Sorry, you can't take a bottle home with you as we're now closing off-licences at 10pm. It's for your own good.
Nightclubbing? New law – everybody out at 2am instead of the old staggered times. You'll thank us for it. (Try telling that to the chap kicking your head in during the riot at the taxi rank.)
No smoking indoors. No smoking outdoors either, not with that drink in your hand – it's against the law. (This Christmas a garda took the names of people drinking outside one of our village's pubs because it was too crowded inside).
Don't drink, don't smoke, don't park there, sit up straight, comb your hair, don't talk back: JUST DO WHAT WE TELL YOU.
On New Year's Eve, the chief executive of drinkaware.ie advised the nation to take care at drinks parties. She said home measures "can be considerably more generous than those in the pub". Duh, really? "The message is simple," she said. "Measure up; calculate how many standard drinks you're actually having, not how many glasses."
Phew, thanks for that. I'd never have known. Where's my calculator?
The Irish are a race of preternatural stupidity. That's why we need people like drinkaware.ie and Ash to tell us what to do.
Another story last week seemed to back this up. According to the gardaí, since September there have been a dozen incidents of idiots trying to dazzle pilots with high-powered laser pointers as they flew into Dublin airport.
The pilots' association has called for a clampdown on the use of these lasers. Ebay has already banned the sale of them. This ban makes sense as they are seldom used legitimately and are potentially highly dangerous. I say 'potentially' because it depends on who is using them.
And that's the point. We're not all idiots. The vast majority of us behave responsibly. The morons who laser-attack pilots or smoke with their kids in the car are the tiny minority. The rest of us are just lumped in with them and told to shut up and take our medicine.
Ash badly undermined its credibility when it came out with that rubbish last week. Not that we have to worry about any new laws being passed for weeks yet as our deputies don't return to work until the 27th of the month.
Come to think of it, considering the amount we allow that crowd away with, maybe we do deserve to live in a nanny state.
dkenny@tribune.ie
January 4, 2009
Christmas is barely over and we are sluggishly bemoaning our imminent return to work.
Not the nation's do-gooders, though. They've been back at work for days, merrily kicking the nanny state out of its Yuletide slumber.
I'm referring to anti-smokers group Ash, which last week said it wanted a ban on smoking in cars carrying children under the age of 16.
This statement struck me on two counts – first, how stupid it is to drive around turning your children into kippers, and second, how stupid it is to try and ban this practice, given how hard it would be to police it.
How could a garda possibly guess the age of a teenager beetling along in the car beside their smoking parent? Some 12-year-olds look 16 while some 16-year-olds look 12. The gardaí would need superhuman eyesight. So should the rule – for the sake of practicality – be confined to those under the age of 10? But that's not fair on the 10-to-16 age group.
Then, can you imagine how infuriating it would be to get stopped by the guards every time you were driving your young-looking 17-year-old to the train while having a fag?
And what next? Would the gardaí be given special powers to raid the homes of suspected parental smokers? Would neighbours grass on each other? It would be enforced less rigorously than the fining of dog-walkers whose pets foul the footpath. I've never witnessed anyone being arrested by the Poo Police. Have you?
On the other hand maybe Ash is right. Maybe we need more nanny state rules. Maybe the majority of us are so thick we need to be constantly dictated to.
Been designated driver for the evening? Sorry, you can't take a bottle home with you as we're now closing off-licences at 10pm. It's for your own good.
Nightclubbing? New law – everybody out at 2am instead of the old staggered times. You'll thank us for it. (Try telling that to the chap kicking your head in during the riot at the taxi rank.)
No smoking indoors. No smoking outdoors either, not with that drink in your hand – it's against the law. (This Christmas a garda took the names of people drinking outside one of our village's pubs because it was too crowded inside).
Don't drink, don't smoke, don't park there, sit up straight, comb your hair, don't talk back: JUST DO WHAT WE TELL YOU.
On New Year's Eve, the chief executive of drinkaware.ie advised the nation to take care at drinks parties. She said home measures "can be considerably more generous than those in the pub". Duh, really? "The message is simple," she said. "Measure up; calculate how many standard drinks you're actually having, not how many glasses."
Phew, thanks for that. I'd never have known. Where's my calculator?
The Irish are a race of preternatural stupidity. That's why we need people like drinkaware.ie and Ash to tell us what to do.
Another story last week seemed to back this up. According to the gardaí, since September there have been a dozen incidents of idiots trying to dazzle pilots with high-powered laser pointers as they flew into Dublin airport.
The pilots' association has called for a clampdown on the use of these lasers. Ebay has already banned the sale of them. This ban makes sense as they are seldom used legitimately and are potentially highly dangerous. I say 'potentially' because it depends on who is using them.
And that's the point. We're not all idiots. The vast majority of us behave responsibly. The morons who laser-attack pilots or smoke with their kids in the car are the tiny minority. The rest of us are just lumped in with them and told to shut up and take our medicine.
Ash badly undermined its credibility when it came out with that rubbish last week. Not that we have to worry about any new laws being passed for weeks yet as our deputies don't return to work until the 27th of the month.
Come to think of it, considering the amount we allow that crowd away with, maybe we do deserve to live in a nanny state.
dkenny@tribune.ie
January 4, 2009
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Once more with ill-tempered feeling, it's Christmas cold turkey
Sunday Tribune 28 December
I'll happily bet that Sir Walter bloody Raleigh never wore nicotine patches. Or made New Year's resolutions. I'll bet he never once sloped off to the fire escape on a busy workday morning for a furtive fag, or smelt like a perambulating ashtray.
He didn't have yellow fingers, bleeding gums or a larynx-loosening cough. I'll wager the swine never even knew how to spell 'Marlboro' when he sailed away from the New World with a hold full of weeds.
So why didn't he stick to inventing the potato or whatever else he did with his weekends? Why did he have to make this time of year such an unbearable pain in the bottom for millions of people?
Next Thursday, hordes of us smokers will wake up and resolve (after a bit of sputum hocking) never to smoke again.
It'll be like this great global cacophony; a bazillion throaty fanfares greeting the arrival of a fresh new day.
Then half of us will go "oh, jaysus" and reach for the ciggies.
I won't be one of them however. I normally last six days.
No, on Thursday I will be relatively clean smelling (relative to a dead skunk at any rate) and partially lung-clear. I will also be fidgety, cranky, depressed, aggressive, jittery, boorish and decidedly unhappy.
Normally I am only three of these things at any one time, so you can imagine my predicament. I will not so much be climbing the walls as doing my best impression of Spiderman on Speed.
The world, as you are no doubt aware, is divided into two camps; those who are addicted to nicotine and those who suffer from nicotine addiction.
I am in the former camp; my family and most of my friends are in the latter. Every January they have to suffer my mood swings as I try to keep myself from falling apart with patches and gum. My popularity – never the most remarkable of my personal attributes – will suffer greatly.
I will also be driven mad by people giving me advice. Non-smokers will tell me to stick with it, that every ciggie takes two minutes off my life. Smokers will, almost inevitably, then contradict this by saying that their granny smoked 500 Woodbines a day, drank a gallon of methylated spirits out of a galvanised bucket and still lived to the age of 104.
Who do you believe? I've done the sums and, if one ciggie equals two minutes, then I've already lost eight months off my life, which isn't too bad if I'm destined to live to 104, but not so great if God has short-term plans for me. So why am I going to bother again this year?
My dad was a smoker. He gave up in his 40s and lived to the age of 72. Cigarettes didn't kill him, but they certainly gave him emphysema which dramatically affected his quality of life.
The sound of dad gulping draughts of air, like a drowning man, clings to the memory like the graveyard mud that clung to my shoes this Christmas.
There were other sights and sounds too, when he was alive. The hum of the nebuliser pumping oxygen to his lungs never got so commonplace that it wouldn't distract you from the Christmas TV.
Then there was the panic in his eyes when the asthma and emphysema would conspire to launch a surprise attack on his weak lungs.
Dad was a gifted journalist, and even in the darkest moments of his decade-long death occasional bursts of tar-black humour would bubble to the surface.
When we were children he would strum the air and (kind of) sing "I brought my catarrh to a parteeeeee, but nobody asked me to play..." This was always rounded off with a disgusting, throaty "kkkkkwwwwwiiiikkkkkkkkk" sound that we kiddies thought was a hoot.
If he was here this Christmas he would be furiously encouraging me to stay off the ciggies, with patches, gum or whatever. And I would probably attempt some lame joke about cold turkey.
To which he would roll his eyes up to heaven and say:
"On your bike, Raleigh."
(Happy New Year)
I'll happily bet that Sir Walter bloody Raleigh never wore nicotine patches. Or made New Year's resolutions. I'll bet he never once sloped off to the fire escape on a busy workday morning for a furtive fag, or smelt like a perambulating ashtray.
He didn't have yellow fingers, bleeding gums or a larynx-loosening cough. I'll wager the swine never even knew how to spell 'Marlboro' when he sailed away from the New World with a hold full of weeds.
So why didn't he stick to inventing the potato or whatever else he did with his weekends? Why did he have to make this time of year such an unbearable pain in the bottom for millions of people?
Next Thursday, hordes of us smokers will wake up and resolve (after a bit of sputum hocking) never to smoke again.
It'll be like this great global cacophony; a bazillion throaty fanfares greeting the arrival of a fresh new day.
Then half of us will go "oh, jaysus" and reach for the ciggies.
I won't be one of them however. I normally last six days.
No, on Thursday I will be relatively clean smelling (relative to a dead skunk at any rate) and partially lung-clear. I will also be fidgety, cranky, depressed, aggressive, jittery, boorish and decidedly unhappy.
Normally I am only three of these things at any one time, so you can imagine my predicament. I will not so much be climbing the walls as doing my best impression of Spiderman on Speed.
The world, as you are no doubt aware, is divided into two camps; those who are addicted to nicotine and those who suffer from nicotine addiction.
I am in the former camp; my family and most of my friends are in the latter. Every January they have to suffer my mood swings as I try to keep myself from falling apart with patches and gum. My popularity – never the most remarkable of my personal attributes – will suffer greatly.
I will also be driven mad by people giving me advice. Non-smokers will tell me to stick with it, that every ciggie takes two minutes off my life. Smokers will, almost inevitably, then contradict this by saying that their granny smoked 500 Woodbines a day, drank a gallon of methylated spirits out of a galvanised bucket and still lived to the age of 104.
Who do you believe? I've done the sums and, if one ciggie equals two minutes, then I've already lost eight months off my life, which isn't too bad if I'm destined to live to 104, but not so great if God has short-term plans for me. So why am I going to bother again this year?
My dad was a smoker. He gave up in his 40s and lived to the age of 72. Cigarettes didn't kill him, but they certainly gave him emphysema which dramatically affected his quality of life.
The sound of dad gulping draughts of air, like a drowning man, clings to the memory like the graveyard mud that clung to my shoes this Christmas.
There were other sights and sounds too, when he was alive. The hum of the nebuliser pumping oxygen to his lungs never got so commonplace that it wouldn't distract you from the Christmas TV.
Then there was the panic in his eyes when the asthma and emphysema would conspire to launch a surprise attack on his weak lungs.
Dad was a gifted journalist, and even in the darkest moments of his decade-long death occasional bursts of tar-black humour would bubble to the surface.
When we were children he would strum the air and (kind of) sing "I brought my catarrh to a parteeeeee, but nobody asked me to play..." This was always rounded off with a disgusting, throaty "kkkkkwwwwwiiiikkkkkkkkk" sound that we kiddies thought was a hoot.
If he was here this Christmas he would be furiously encouraging me to stay off the ciggies, with patches, gum or whatever. And I would probably attempt some lame joke about cold turkey.
To which he would roll his eyes up to heaven and say:
"On your bike, Raleigh."
(Happy New Year)
Monday, December 22, 2008
Fate, the toss of a coin and why we are not just statistics
I wrote about my friend 'Luke' nine years ago and feel it's timely to retell his story this week. Luke isn't his real name: I've changed it for privacy reasons. His friends will know who I'm writing about.
Fate has a habit of arriving when you least expect it.
It leaped out at me 19 years ago on the way home from a workmate's wedding. It stole up on Luke with the toss of a coin two years later.
Luke spent a disproportionate amount of his early 20s playing draughts with Fate whenever he turned up for work. The
city centre branch of the financial institution that employed him held the record for most armed robberies back in the '80s.
Fortunately, the robbers who preyed on his workplace were not always top notch and sometimes succeeded only in terrifying the staff before legging it empty-handed.
Legend has it that at the end of one abortive raid Luke's shocked colleagues discovered he had gone missing in action. Fearing for his safety, a search party was assembled.
Cool Hand Luke was eventually found safe (literally) locked in the strongroom. He was, understandably, handled with gloves of the finest kid leather after his terrible ordeal.
Later, the video footage of him with his feet up, eating a packet of crisps, happily unaware of the commotion outside, did a lot to kill the initial sympathy.
Local lore also has it that on a notable Thursday, Luke and a colleague decided they'd start the weekend early. Luke came up with the idea of setting the clock forward by 10 minutes.
After the last customer had been shunted out the door the boys locked up and got ready to leave. At exactly (what should have been) 5.30pm there was a loud banging at the shutters and a gang of thwarted villains cursed their misfortune at arriving late (by Luke Time) to rob the place. Luke, typically, took it in his stride.
Two decades on, it's hard to recall if I told Luke about the night when Fate set in motion its plan for us.
As I said earlier, it leaped out on the way home from a colleague's wedding. Some of the other revellers in the minibus, who were singing merrily, didn't notice the fireball on the other side of the Naas dual carriageway. I did, and to my shame, was too jarred to question it. It looked like the work of vandals. The taximan kept driving.
The next day I read that a couple had stopped their car to eat chips in the lay-by when a drunk ploughed into them. They must still have been trapped inside when we passed by. Disgusted with myself, I swore to always stop and investigate in future.
Luke's moment with Fate came on a Friday night when he tossed a coin to decide which nightclub to go to: in quiet Killiney or busy Dun Laoghaire. So as not to hurt the feelings of one group of friends he 'cheated' and came to join us in Dun Laoghaire. We had a brilliant night.
But that was to be expected. Luke was the kind of man you had to have a good time with. His roguishness, his humour, his kindness, his spontaneity, frequently charmed the birds out of the trees.
Later my taxi passed by a road accident. Remembering Naas two years previously I insisted the driver pull over.
An injured man was lying face down by the side of the road. He had been hit by a speeding car.
Luke was dying. He had left the nightclub early and met Fate while walking home. He was gone a few hours later.
Nineteen years on his friends still swap stories about him. He's still vivid.
Last Monday Betty Cawley, who was the TV face of
families bereaved by road deaths, finally succumbed to injuries she suffered in a crash which claimed her daughter Errin in 2004.
To those who remember them, Luke, Betty and Errin aren't just statistics, like those which will be released shortly to tally up 2008's fatalities.
Please take care on the road this Christmas and have a happy and peaceful break.
dkenny@tribune.ie
December 21, 2008
Fate has a habit of arriving when you least expect it.
It leaped out at me 19 years ago on the way home from a workmate's wedding. It stole up on Luke with the toss of a coin two years later.
Luke spent a disproportionate amount of his early 20s playing draughts with Fate whenever he turned up for work. The
city centre branch of the financial institution that employed him held the record for most armed robberies back in the '80s.
Fortunately, the robbers who preyed on his workplace were not always top notch and sometimes succeeded only in terrifying the staff before legging it empty-handed.
Legend has it that at the end of one abortive raid Luke's shocked colleagues discovered he had gone missing in action. Fearing for his safety, a search party was assembled.
Cool Hand Luke was eventually found safe (literally) locked in the strongroom. He was, understandably, handled with gloves of the finest kid leather after his terrible ordeal.
Later, the video footage of him with his feet up, eating a packet of crisps, happily unaware of the commotion outside, did a lot to kill the initial sympathy.
Local lore also has it that on a notable Thursday, Luke and a colleague decided they'd start the weekend early. Luke came up with the idea of setting the clock forward by 10 minutes.
After the last customer had been shunted out the door the boys locked up and got ready to leave. At exactly (what should have been) 5.30pm there was a loud banging at the shutters and a gang of thwarted villains cursed their misfortune at arriving late (by Luke Time) to rob the place. Luke, typically, took it in his stride.
Two decades on, it's hard to recall if I told Luke about the night when Fate set in motion its plan for us.
As I said earlier, it leaped out on the way home from a colleague's wedding. Some of the other revellers in the minibus, who were singing merrily, didn't notice the fireball on the other side of the Naas dual carriageway. I did, and to my shame, was too jarred to question it. It looked like the work of vandals. The taximan kept driving.
The next day I read that a couple had stopped their car to eat chips in the lay-by when a drunk ploughed into them. They must still have been trapped inside when we passed by. Disgusted with myself, I swore to always stop and investigate in future.
Luke's moment with Fate came on a Friday night when he tossed a coin to decide which nightclub to go to: in quiet Killiney or busy Dun Laoghaire. So as not to hurt the feelings of one group of friends he 'cheated' and came to join us in Dun Laoghaire. We had a brilliant night.
But that was to be expected. Luke was the kind of man you had to have a good time with. His roguishness, his humour, his kindness, his spontaneity, frequently charmed the birds out of the trees.
Later my taxi passed by a road accident. Remembering Naas two years previously I insisted the driver pull over.
An injured man was lying face down by the side of the road. He had been hit by a speeding car.
Luke was dying. He had left the nightclub early and met Fate while walking home. He was gone a few hours later.
Nineteen years on his friends still swap stories about him. He's still vivid.
Last Monday Betty Cawley, who was the TV face of
families bereaved by road deaths, finally succumbed to injuries she suffered in a crash which claimed her daughter Errin in 2004.
To those who remember them, Luke, Betty and Errin aren't just statistics, like those which will be released shortly to tally up 2008's fatalities.
Please take care on the road this Christmas and have a happy and peaceful break.
dkenny@tribune.ie
December 21, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
And this little piggy had roast beef ... but I'm still going for the ham
14 December 2008
Extract from
'The Bacon Diaries'
Monday: 1pm. I am in my local, reading the menu. Despite a weekend of Christmas parties I still feel festive. I order the stuffed turkey.
A far from paltry pile of poultry arrives. I am drooling as I lift a flap of meat with my fork ... but wait, there's something miss- ing. Where's the ham?
I look at the menu again. There's '_ and cabbage', 'toasted _ and cheese', '_ and mash' and 'baked honeyglazed _'.
Switching my brain on I remember: pork is off. I push my plate away and contemplate Christmas – no, LIFE – without lovely pork. It's horrible. I realise that I am rocking back and forth, moaning quietly, the early stages of cold turkey. Soon, I notice the sound of manic crunching coming from the gloomier recesses of the pub. It is then that I make a startling discovery, which I'll tell you about later.
Tuesday: 11am. Air of gloom as lay-offs increase. Country waits for safety verdict from EU. A German friend of mine, Jason, is getting calls begging him not to eat Irish pork. The schweinhund! My own swine hunt continues as I beg for a rasher sandwich.
2pm. Wondering if Cowen has done the right thing by doing a Schwarzenegger (Total Recall). Is he the man to save our bacon now our goose is cooked? Medi- cal cards, Lisbon and now this?
3pm. I contemplate the thorough Irishness of the pig. No Victorian Punch cartoon of a Paddy was complete without a pig in his parlour.
Pigs feature in our mythology, bedtime stories and rhymes: from 'Mac do Tho's Pig' to the 'Three Little Piggies' to 'This Little Piggy Went to Market'. Actually, doesn't the last line of that go: "and this little piggy had roast beef."? Change that to: "this little piggy had rendered animal waste tainted by dioxin-rich fuel fumes.…"
The pig has given us phrases for when we're celebrating: "we're on the pig's back." Cocking up: "you made a pig's ear of that." Earning: "bringing home the bacon." In trouble: "Sketch! It's the Pigs!!"
I resolve to forego Lidl and wait for Irish ham to return. I will then buy lorryloads of it. I will ask you to do the same.
Wednesday: 4pm. The Danes are saying nasty things about our pork. It's obvious they just want payback for Clontarf. It's nothing to do with selling their products here.
While they're mouthing off, the EU says our rashers are safe. SAFE?? Haven't they seen the gick that comes off them when they're frying? You're more likely to die of a coronary eating one than dioxin poisoning. It's 'Rasher Roulette' – but we love it.
5pm. I decide to appeal to any butcher reading this to make me a quiet offer on a dioxin ham. Part of the deal is you have to cook it for me. I'm serious. Email me.
Thursday: 9.30am. See some workmen forlornly eating ciabatta rolls filled with falafal and rocket leaves. Even their 'builder's crack' isn't smiling. They don't know Superquinn is back selling Irish pork.
10.45am. Again wondering if the government overreacted. I conclude that, in fairness, it may be the first thing that Cowen's lot has got right. It seems a case of "damned if you do, etc."
11.30pm. Dream of Cowen posing for the cameras stuffing his face with bacon to show the world everything is okay. He looks like a man who likes his rashers. Maybe by the time this is printed he will have done so.
Friday: 8am. Wake up worried that I'm having dreams about Brian Cowen.Then I remember to explain Monday's crunching sound.
As I was suffering pork withdrawals, the bar was doing a brisk trade on piggy methadone – aka, Bacon Fries. I ordered three packs and wondered how they would go with sprouts. Then I read the ingredients. I was startled. Did you know that Bacon Fries have zero pork in them?
Despite looking the part, they are a sham. Then, when it comes to the crunch, they disintegrate.
And no, Mr Cowen, we're not drawing any comparisons ... this time.
Extract from
'The Bacon Diaries'
Monday: 1pm. I am in my local, reading the menu. Despite a weekend of Christmas parties I still feel festive. I order the stuffed turkey.
A far from paltry pile of poultry arrives. I am drooling as I lift a flap of meat with my fork ... but wait, there's something miss- ing. Where's the ham?
I look at the menu again. There's '_ and cabbage', 'toasted _ and cheese', '_ and mash' and 'baked honeyglazed _'.
Switching my brain on I remember: pork is off. I push my plate away and contemplate Christmas – no, LIFE – without lovely pork. It's horrible. I realise that I am rocking back and forth, moaning quietly, the early stages of cold turkey. Soon, I notice the sound of manic crunching coming from the gloomier recesses of the pub. It is then that I make a startling discovery, which I'll tell you about later.
Tuesday: 11am. Air of gloom as lay-offs increase. Country waits for safety verdict from EU. A German friend of mine, Jason, is getting calls begging him not to eat Irish pork. The schweinhund! My own swine hunt continues as I beg for a rasher sandwich.
2pm. Wondering if Cowen has done the right thing by doing a Schwarzenegger (Total Recall). Is he the man to save our bacon now our goose is cooked? Medi- cal cards, Lisbon and now this?
3pm. I contemplate the thorough Irishness of the pig. No Victorian Punch cartoon of a Paddy was complete without a pig in his parlour.
Pigs feature in our mythology, bedtime stories and rhymes: from 'Mac do Tho's Pig' to the 'Three Little Piggies' to 'This Little Piggy Went to Market'. Actually, doesn't the last line of that go: "and this little piggy had roast beef."? Change that to: "this little piggy had rendered animal waste tainted by dioxin-rich fuel fumes.…"
The pig has given us phrases for when we're celebrating: "we're on the pig's back." Cocking up: "you made a pig's ear of that." Earning: "bringing home the bacon." In trouble: "Sketch! It's the Pigs!!"
I resolve to forego Lidl and wait for Irish ham to return. I will then buy lorryloads of it. I will ask you to do the same.
Wednesday: 4pm. The Danes are saying nasty things about our pork. It's obvious they just want payback for Clontarf. It's nothing to do with selling their products here.
While they're mouthing off, the EU says our rashers are safe. SAFE?? Haven't they seen the gick that comes off them when they're frying? You're more likely to die of a coronary eating one than dioxin poisoning. It's 'Rasher Roulette' – but we love it.
5pm. I decide to appeal to any butcher reading this to make me a quiet offer on a dioxin ham. Part of the deal is you have to cook it for me. I'm serious. Email me.
Thursday: 9.30am. See some workmen forlornly eating ciabatta rolls filled with falafal and rocket leaves. Even their 'builder's crack' isn't smiling. They don't know Superquinn is back selling Irish pork.
10.45am. Again wondering if the government overreacted. I conclude that, in fairness, it may be the first thing that Cowen's lot has got right. It seems a case of "damned if you do, etc."
11.30pm. Dream of Cowen posing for the cameras stuffing his face with bacon to show the world everything is okay. He looks like a man who likes his rashers. Maybe by the time this is printed he will have done so.
Friday: 8am. Wake up worried that I'm having dreams about Brian Cowen.Then I remember to explain Monday's crunching sound.
As I was suffering pork withdrawals, the bar was doing a brisk trade on piggy methadone – aka, Bacon Fries. I ordered three packs and wondered how they would go with sprouts. Then I read the ingredients. I was startled. Did you know that Bacon Fries have zero pork in them?
Despite looking the part, they are a sham. Then, when it comes to the crunch, they disintegrate.
And no, Mr Cowen, we're not drawing any comparisons ... this time.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
At least the price of drowning our sorrows is staying the same
Question: What's the difference between a pint of Guinness and a Dublin city councillor? (The answer's at the end, now please read on…)
Last week, the nation's publicans announced their new initiative to battle the economic crisis.
The price of a pint (cue drumroll) will be… FROZEN for 12 months. Ta-dah!
This announcement was greeted with derision by most tipplers who saw it as a cynical PR ploy by the vintners' associations.
People don't have sympathy for publicans. Drink is too expensive in pubs, the mark-up on soft drinks is outrageous and don't get me started about crisps.
Publicans blame the smoking ban, drink-driving laws, energy costs and Diageo (Guinness) for hiking up prices. Everybody, except themselves.
Since 2001, 10% of Ireland's pubs (1,500) have closed. The Thomas Read group last week became the latest casualty. In isolated rural areas these closures are causing serious hardship.
In 2001, pubs held 68% of the drinks market. Last year, this figure dropped to 48% as off-licences benefited from more people drinking at home.
Why is this? Price is obviously a factor. Dublin's city-centre drinkers are well used to being fleeced. One pub near the Dáil actually hikes up its prices after 11pm.
Then there's the drink driving. And the new work practices; earlier starts, later arrivals home from work.
There's the cheaper off-licences too: if you can buy a bottle of wine for the price of two pints why go to the pub?
In September, the ESRI pointed out one good reason for not doing your drinking at home. It revealed that the number of cases of women in their mid-30s presenting with liver disease more than doubled from 18 in 2002 to 39 in 2006. The figure for men in this age category had risen from 45 to 47. The HSE's Dr Joe Barry blamed the rise on increased consumption of wine at home.
The temptation to open that second bottle is definitely greater at home where we can let our hair down in private.
And there'll be a lot more drinking done at home this Christmas due to the bargains in Newry. Sainsbury's up there, by the way, sells more alcohol than any other branch in the UK.
This is not good for the nation's livers – or locals.
The pub isn't just about getting jarred. It's the nation's parlour. It's the home of debate, banter, people-watching. We romance there, we cheer our teams there, we wake our loved ones there: as Charlie Chawke was being interviewed by RTÉ outside The Goat pub on Monday, there were three funeral lunches taking place inside.
The Consumer Agency last week correctly said prices must come down if pubs are to survive. In October, the Evening Herald reported that many Dublin publicans were doing the opposite and raising prices before the budget. They did the same in August prior to a rise by Diageo.
That hike by Diageo had been criticised by the Irish Farmers Association, who said that while the company was blaming high raw material costs, its main supplier of barley was cutting the price paid to growers by more than 20%. Was this barley saving ultimately passed on to customers? No.
Despite their transgressions, the vintners deserve credit for their price freeze. Diageo should follow their lead and not raise prices next March as it have said it will.
The publicans effectively took a price cut last Monday when they absorbed the VAT hike and will do so again if Diageo doesn't play ball. It's small change, but it's a start. Instead of being accused of cynicism, they should be encouraged to continue along this road.
Save your derision, instead, for Dublin City Council. Unlike the publicans, these clowns are still raising their prices. Last week, they hiked parking charges up 20 cents an hour, claiming it would free up space for Christmas shoppers.
If that's so, will they lower the charges after Christmas? Don't hold your breath.
And so, finally: what's the difference between a pint of Guinness and a city councillor?
One's famous for its big, thick head… and the other's a pint of stout.
Last week, the nation's publicans announced their new initiative to battle the economic crisis.
The price of a pint (cue drumroll) will be… FROZEN for 12 months. Ta-dah!
This announcement was greeted with derision by most tipplers who saw it as a cynical PR ploy by the vintners' associations.
People don't have sympathy for publicans. Drink is too expensive in pubs, the mark-up on soft drinks is outrageous and don't get me started about crisps.
Publicans blame the smoking ban, drink-driving laws, energy costs and Diageo (Guinness) for hiking up prices. Everybody, except themselves.
Since 2001, 10% of Ireland's pubs (1,500) have closed. The Thomas Read group last week became the latest casualty. In isolated rural areas these closures are causing serious hardship.
In 2001, pubs held 68% of the drinks market. Last year, this figure dropped to 48% as off-licences benefited from more people drinking at home.
Why is this? Price is obviously a factor. Dublin's city-centre drinkers are well used to being fleeced. One pub near the Dáil actually hikes up its prices after 11pm.
Then there's the drink driving. And the new work practices; earlier starts, later arrivals home from work.
There's the cheaper off-licences too: if you can buy a bottle of wine for the price of two pints why go to the pub?
In September, the ESRI pointed out one good reason for not doing your drinking at home. It revealed that the number of cases of women in their mid-30s presenting with liver disease more than doubled from 18 in 2002 to 39 in 2006. The figure for men in this age category had risen from 45 to 47. The HSE's Dr Joe Barry blamed the rise on increased consumption of wine at home.
The temptation to open that second bottle is definitely greater at home where we can let our hair down in private.
And there'll be a lot more drinking done at home this Christmas due to the bargains in Newry. Sainsbury's up there, by the way, sells more alcohol than any other branch in the UK.
This is not good for the nation's livers – or locals.
The pub isn't just about getting jarred. It's the nation's parlour. It's the home of debate, banter, people-watching. We romance there, we cheer our teams there, we wake our loved ones there: as Charlie Chawke was being interviewed by RTÉ outside The Goat pub on Monday, there were three funeral lunches taking place inside.
The Consumer Agency last week correctly said prices must come down if pubs are to survive. In October, the Evening Herald reported that many Dublin publicans were doing the opposite and raising prices before the budget. They did the same in August prior to a rise by Diageo.
That hike by Diageo had been criticised by the Irish Farmers Association, who said that while the company was blaming high raw material costs, its main supplier of barley was cutting the price paid to growers by more than 20%. Was this barley saving ultimately passed on to customers? No.
Despite their transgressions, the vintners deserve credit for their price freeze. Diageo should follow their lead and not raise prices next March as it have said it will.
The publicans effectively took a price cut last Monday when they absorbed the VAT hike and will do so again if Diageo doesn't play ball. It's small change, but it's a start. Instead of being accused of cynicism, they should be encouraged to continue along this road.
Save your derision, instead, for Dublin City Council. Unlike the publicans, these clowns are still raising their prices. Last week, they hiked parking charges up 20 cents an hour, claiming it would free up space for Christmas shoppers.
If that's so, will they lower the charges after Christmas? Don't hold your breath.
And so, finally: what's the difference between a pint of Guinness and a city councillor?
One's famous for its big, thick head… and the other's a pint of stout.
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