BEDS v PASSATS THE MATHS IS ALL THE SAME, EIGHT INTO ONE WON'T GO...

There's a children's song that goes "eight in the bed and little one said roll-over, and they all rolled over and one fell out, hit the floor and gave a shout. Please remember to tie a knot in your pyjamas...."

In the light of the tragic events in Buncranna, you have to ask who in their right mind thinks they can get eight in a bed let a lone a VW Passat.

To bring you up to speed if you're reading this from outside Ireland. On Sunday night last, the 11th of July. Eight men where killed in a two car collision on the Clonmany to Buncranna road in Co. Donegal, seven in one car and the single occupant driver of the other. Yes I said single occupant of the other vehicle, there were eight including the driver in the Passat!!!!! Sean Kelly the driver is in a serious condition in Letterkenny Hospital.

This has been described as the worst road accident since records began, bad accidents are not uncommon in Donegal which has the worst record for road accidents and fatalities in the country.

The main crux of this incident is that Sean Kelly the driver of the Passat thought he'd be ok driving a car with 8 passengers in it... Er I drive a Ford Fiesta and it feels crowded with two people and a dog, a Jack Russell who has the run of the back seat at that. Nowhere in the VW manual for a Passat will it ever say "fits four, but hey will easily take another four for good measure..."

They say the cause of the accident wasn't drink related.... Wrong!! The 8 men in the Passat had been out in Clonmany watching the world cup final and according news reports had decided to all pile into one car so as not to drink and drive... Ha! Tell that to the family of 66 year Hugh Friel the innocent party in the other car who was minding his own business on his way home from bingo. I also take into account that the driver of the Passat wasn't drinking, but one of the other loons in the car should have had the guts to stand up and say, listen I'll join Sean in the role of "Designated Dessie". But no the lure of getting tanked while watching the match was too strong when weighed up against the thought of free soft drinks all night courtesy of Coco-Cola or even going four ways on a cab. Ah but sure our "Seanie" has Daddy's great big Passat.

Another part of the story was that just before the fatal impact the Passat had been in a minor collision with another car, too all intents and purposes it failed to stop. This shows what was going on in the car and how uncontrollable it was with that weight in it. For example, there were probably two people in the passenger seat, inebriated, twiddling with the stereo and encroaching onto the drivers space. In the back were at least 5 again in a state of inebriation malarking around, they were all around the 19-22 age group, this wasn't exactly the local knitting clubs annual day trip. The driver concentration wouldn't have been anywhere near the minimum requirement for the roads in that part of the country, He also couldn't see out the rear window due heads, bodies, feet and arms. Peer pressure probably goaded him into fleeing the first scene, pity seven of them didn't get a chance to flee the second scene.

With five people in the back I'm surprised the car was able to get up enough speed to lose control, it's exhaust would've been rubbing on the road and god help it if they'd hit a pot-hole or speed bump. But as I've said and so have other commentators in the past, this generation are brought up behind wheels of high powered sports cars on their games consoles at home, what they never take into consideration is that no matter how much realism a software engineer or games designer puts into his product, in real life there is no restart button.

I'd hate to be in the driver Sean Kelly's shoes when he recovers, the Gardai will probably throw the book at him. Also He'll have the deaths of seven friends and one innocent man on his conscience.

What happens next? The towns of Clonmany and Buncranna will host eight funerals, as for more road safety campaigns, Donegal already has a large and committed Traffic corps, what they and the ongoing graphic media campaigns can't stop is stupid people trying to break a Guinness world record for squeezing people into a family saloon and then trying to drive....

A NOT SO JOLLY JAUNT ROUND THE MED

So you've squashed your bare feet into your deck shoes and slung the waterproof kit bag over your shoulder and headed out the door. On reaching the port you stow your gear on board and go up topside to join your mates haphazzardly painting over the Irish tri-colour on the side of the boat, in accordance with an official request by the Irish Governement. Then you sip GnT's or slug Hieno's as the boat slips out into the Irish Sea. three or four days later you pass through the Iberian peninsula taking in the majestic sight of Gibraltar in the distance.

Then this morning it all seems to go a wry when one is awoken to here the news that number of foreign Nationals have died in a confrontation with Israeli Commandos .

Now this isn't how a Jaunt round the Med should go... Down off certain parts of Africa where Pirates roam, those of course that bear no resemblance to Jack Sparrow, it's expected. But in the Med its a lot more tranquil. Unless that is if you ignore a warning from the Israelis not to go near Palestine, then in my book one is asking for whatever comes your way.

So you say the poor Palestinians are starving, that the big brutish US backed Israel is blockading them. Ok point taken, but firstly are the Palestinians totally without blame in this regards.... Er no. They voted a terrorist group into power, who continue to kill innocent men women and kids, by firing rockets into their neighbours back yard. Hezbollah screamed for years to be given power to change Palestine, what happens once they got there... They realised what a bloody mess the country was in, so went back to doing what they do best, blaming everyone especially Israel for their woes and running up the body count in both Israel and Palestine, without realising how much of a hiding they're on. The Israelis are the master poker players in international politics, whatever you throw at them they'll multiply the response by ten they don't give a tinkers about the attitude of the rest of world, they're getting a job done the only way the know how, according to the Mossad/ 24 hand book.

So why did you join the flotilla? To bring aid to Palestine... Leave that to the professionals, Goal, UNICEF etc, this ain't Dunkirk... It's not an opportunity for you and the Commodore of the local yacht club to steam into something that isn't any of your business. Also the Palestinian smugglers are doing a roaring trade under the Turkish border, I don't really think Palestine is starving, have you seen what they're bring through the tunnels... You name it they'll get it through. Maybe FedEx should take note.

Now I hear you want me to march round the town, ha! When was the last time a Palestinian marched because of anything happening in Ireland. Did they rise up against Anglo Irish? Against the OAPs losing their medical cards... Hmm thought not.

Of course as I walked home through Bray tonight, the biggest bunch of "Bandwagon" jumpers in Ireland where out flag waving at the town hall, with placards proclaiming "Free Gaza". It stood a better chance of that before Hezbollah got their feet under the table.

We have big enough problems ourselves without getting involved a pissing contest between two middle eastern countries, they've been bitching at each other for years, all you'll get for sticking your oar in (excuse the pun) is an over zealous Israeli response . If you walk up to a gate and see a sign saying beware of the dog, then catch site of a big angry Alsatian baring his teeth at you from behind, do you still go in? No you find another way to make contact, send a letter, email use the phone....

To those who lost their lives today, my condolences to the relatives, but they new, they were warned.

FAREWELL LISTOWEL AND YOUR FILTY MINDED FIFTY WHO SOLD THEIR SOULS AND YOURS TO THE DEVIL

Have you ever been to Listowel? No, me neither. After the scenes that occurred in a Kerry district court earlier this week I and quite few people in this country have no intention of willingly going there in the future.

What happened was that just prior to the sentencing of one Danny Foley a 35 year old bouncer from the town who was found guilty of raping a 24year old girl from the town. That fifty, mainly men from the local community marched up in single file and shook his hand and hugged the prisoner, right in front of the distraught and shocked victim.

As well as that the local parish priest, who had come out of retirement to cover sick leave in Mr. Foley's parish appeared as a character witness for him. He has since been forced to step down from his duties and the diocese has issued a statement distancing it's self from the priests comments and actions. This in a time when the catholic church in Ireland is embroiled in the aftermath of the recently published "Murphy Report" on child sex abuse by priests in the Dublin diocese.

If you're a resident of Listowel or know someone from the town, I as well as yourself would like to know what type of misguided town do they live in. That stands up to publicly promote the perpetration of the sexual assault of women as a good thing.

Sexual assaults are the work of warped evil miscreants who have no place in society, no ifs, no butts if you force yourself on a member the opposite sex you get whats coming to you. If you support this man then your no better then he is, if he was my brother or cousin or a friend I'd quickly distance myself from him.

People like this are generally not one off merchants, if they can do it once they will do it again and again, whenever the opportunity arises. So the sight of fifty people glad handing you like some winner of a competition and slapping you on the back like some returning prodigal son just gives the many other sexual deviants out there more cause to go out and continue their sick and twisted activities. Oh but these morally misguided individuals would probably be the first to go screaming foul if one of their kids was sexually attacked and the same scene took place in front of them.

Listowel residents, hang your heads in shame. In one foul and sickening swoop you have undone all the good work of one of your most famous sons, the playwright John B. Keane. Who put Listowel on the map. He must be spinning in his grave at how badly you've tarnished the towns good name.

As for Mr. Foley he got seven years, a pitiful sentence for the crime. Twenty five may have been more fitting, but people will argue that is only given to those who murder. Mr Foley has to all intents and purposes taken the victims life away and ruined it for her, he has also been aided and abetted by his fifty filthy minded cohorts, who think themselves morally superior to the rest of us.

We also learn in the media that his fiancee is sticking by him and claims he is not the man portrayed in court. My dear you need your sight testing as well as your moral compass. As stated earlier in this piece, if I was you I'd drop him like a hot potato and never want to set eyes on him again. A leopard never changes his spots, whether it be even after seven years or twenty years, also he's tainted and damaged goods now, a convicted sex attacker who will go on the sex offenders register on his release.

Finally, it's been alledged that within 24 hours of starting his sentence in Portlaoise prison in the midlands. That Mr. Foley requested a transfer to a Prison in the south of the country so that he maybe closer to his family... Er... A word of advice, it doesn't work that way. You don't take advantage of a poor innocent young woman, wear a sickeningly cocky grin all the way through your trial, then start to play the poor innocent little boy bit when you enter prison and reality sets in. Reality should have set in when you set out on this course of action that has led you to where you are tonight. Also let me reiterate, if your family has any sense they'll oppose the request and want you as far away from them as possible... Out of sight out of mind.

Happy Christmas and good riddance Danny Boy...

ZERO HOUR TOLERANCE

Hello everyone, Yes it's been a while since my last confession. Mainly down to the fact that I got a job and had college work to do etc, etc.

So what has me at the keyboard at such an late or early hour?

I came home from work this evening to discover my mail included a letter from the nice boys and girls in the Garda Siochana (The Police, if your reading this from outside Ireland). The letter was notice of a fixed penalty fine being issued to me for parking on a double yellow line on the main street of my home town of Bray.

Oooh you naughty boy your probably saying and normally I'd agree with you. But what has really irked me is at what time the ticket was issued.... 0:00.. Yes midnight on Friday 2 weeks ago....

What in the living daylights was a guard thinking when he gave me the ticket. Who in gods name worries about getting a parking ticket at midnight!!!!!!!!!!! The only type of guard to issue tickets at that time of night is a bloody minded Jobs worth, with nothing better to do. That is an unmitigated lie... Of course he has something better to do at that time of night.

He or She at that time of night is charged with keeping the streets safe for people leaving the pubs on the main st and making there way home. They are certainly falling down on the job if a woman is attacked at mugged or sexually assaulted while this dipstick is wasting his time and mine filling out a bloody parking ticket.

Bray isn't exactly a hot-bed of crime, it's the largest town in Wicklow and the first major town you come to south of Dublin. It has a drug problem, a problem with street crime especially at night when the pubs and clubs close, we're regularly visited by the Garda Chopper late at night. But in the midst of all this crime, one stupid moron from the sticks with just enough cop on to graduate from Templemore (Garda training college), decides at midnight on the 20th of November to stop his beat protecting the main street, to put a ticket on a car which was not obstructing a driveway or the entrance to a hospital or fire station...

I'm a supporter of the guards my late Uncle was a guard, my second cousin is one, actually based in Bray. I have a good friend who is in the Garda reserves and I'm friends with a number of local guards too. But past two weeks haven't been good for the Garda PR machine, last week they were severely criticised in the Murphy report into Child abuse allegations in the Dublin Diocese, for basically looking the other way when there was overwhelming evidence of children being a bused by local priests. Then this week there were reports of the unlawful arrest and detention of a member of the public by two plain clothes officers in Dublin recently. Why?

The member of the public was walking home through the centre of Dublin a couple of weeks ago, when he witnessed a car mount a pavement and almost knock him down , so it could take a short cut. He remonstrated at the vehicle with his hand. Five minutes later the same car screeched to a halt next to him as he continued on his way. The two men intimidated the man and then cuffed him for no reason and manhandled him into the car. At no stage did they identify themselves as guards until they got him in the car and drove him to the local Garda station. In the process of cuffing him and putting him in the car they broke his finger... His only crime showing his disapproval at the actions of a couple of jumped up boyo's who thought they were Dublin's answer to Crockett and Tubbs, more like Crocked and tubby ...

So what do I have to do know, at a time when I'm short of cash I have to find €40 to pay the fine, at this time of year I don't see why I shouldn't be able to hand over a receipt showing I'd made a donation for the amount in question to a deserving charity. Instead it goes into the coffers of a corrupt and useless government, who couldn't organise a Christmas party in a brewery and whose inept style of leadership is obviously rubbing off on the guardians of law and order in our society.

UNKNOWINGLY JOINING THE GREAT UNWASHED

I've just come back from a lovely walk around Bray, where I live. As I passed my local church I decided to pop in for some quiet reflection, which didn't turn out to be very quiet as there was the daily gathering of middle aged and elderly men and women doing their novenas at the top of their voices.

What got to me though, was that again as I went to bless myself at the font on entering and leaving, both of them were empty. Now, I must of had a funny or disgruntled look on my face, because a middle aged woman who was entering turned to me and said, they've stopped filling them.

Why? Is there a shortage of holy water or more precisely priests to bless it, I wondered.

She went on to say, that the junkies had been washing their syringes in the fonts.

Now, I'm all for live and let live and peace and good will to all men, but when the great unwashed and those under the unrelenting scourge of drugs start utilising my holy water, I must protest... Yes, in India everyone goes into the Gangees together on holy days. But that's a fast flowing river, where the effluent and grime from a couple million people all bathing at once ends up, is anyone's guess. But it doesn't linger in a fetid little ceramic pool.

How long have they been doing it?(Is this a national problem?) I've visited churches in some of the more hard-up areas of Dublin. Because, no matter where you are a church is a sanctuary where everyone is equal in the eyes of god.

There are things we're not supposed to do in church, according to the bible. Lend money , barter or trade on it's grounds... Ha, I've been to churches in the UK where they have social clubs with bars on the church grounds. My own one has a coffee shop on it's grounds. Commit crime, churches are regularly robbed, hence why the majority are locked and only opened for a certain period of time each day. Dan Brown's characters seem to think murder in a church is ok.

So I suppose junkies washing their syringes in the fonts isn't a new low, lets hope that's all their doing. Good lord, I've seen a few homeless people sleep in the porch of my local place of worship, but are they using the facilities at the door too, to wash... Oooooohhh. Maybe I should go and place a bar of soap next to the fonts, toothbrush, mouth-wash and a towel...

Ok, so I maybe coming across as very un-christian, but see how christian any you would be. If you or any of your loved ones contracted something because one of these clowns, decided it was clever to wash before or after shooting up. Yes I'll always encourage hygiene, especially with H1-N1 running rife and with more and more institutions providing dispensers on their premises.

But this takes the biscuit, It's not as if a clean syringe is going to cost you anything, most if not all drop-in centres will give them out free. So I must deduce that in this case the junkies in my home town are just down right lazy..

OUR KENNEDY MOMENT

They say every generation has it's "Kennedy Moment", that being able to recall with almost super-human clarity where you were and what you were doing at the exact time you heard about JFK's assassination. My own generation has had two "Kennedy Moments", those being Diana's death and 911.

The generation before was of course the Kennedy one, but there are some who may say Elvis's death was a "Kennedy Moment" too. Then the previous generation is rather harder to Clarify, Churchill's death maybe.

So where were you on September 11th 2oo1? Me, I was at my job with Bord Gais(Irish Gas Board) in their south county Dublin offices, manning the Emergency leak telephone lines, when we heard that a plane had crashed into one of the twin towers. No one knew what type of plane, so we assumed it was a small Cessna or something like that. But then people who were in the canteen downstairs came up and said it was a commercial plane and the building was on fire. It had been a busyish morning on the phones, but after the first plane went in the calls dried-up, everyone was glued to the TV news.

I went down to the canteen on my lunch and stood watching the sight on the TV in the corner..I got my meal and sat down facing the screen, as I was tucking into it, I watched the other plane hit. At first just like the newscasters, I thought we were seeing a rerun on the pictures coming from the American stations. But then it dawned on us that both towers were now burning.. I've never witnessed an execution. But that day along with millions of others I saw 59 innocent victims die right there infront of my eyes(this was akin to the German soldiers marching their victims into the gas chambers, there was no way out for those souls), I couldn't finish my meal.

Ok I can also say I watched the towers fall, so I again witnessed along with the rest of us 2,628 people lose their lives trying to escape. Before that day too I'd never seen a "Jumper", we saw a few of them. Poor desperate people trapped above the impact points to which there was no chance of rescue or escape.

This year is the 8th anniversary of the events of that day, in 2002 I wrote a poem in memory of all those who were killed in the twin towers, lest we forget the victims in the Pentagon and on united 93, it's for them too.

This is the first time it's been published, despite trying to get it onto poetry.com alongside a previous award winner of mine.

IT CAME FROM THE AIR


I crossed the marble flooring as ground beneath us shook,
There by elevators a phantom of my partner I mistook,
Then briefly in an instant they’d gone again from there,
Now where they stood, terror and panic filled the air air air….

Disfigured and tormented wraiths ran screaming from the stairs,
Outside the world was raining crimson and darkness filled the Air air air.

I dialled the phone upon my desk,
Mum I love you,
I said with despair despair despair….

Sam’s mobile rang out,
And with broken heart and tears,
I said to a recording, take care, care, care

Across the hall in my bosses’ office they did come,
Two frightened souls whose escape was in one last affair affair Affair….

The office now filled with tears, as we knew our plight,
By the window one young man looked back and said,
I’ll see you there, there, there

As smoke filled my lungs I made one final call, to see if they could help us,

but as I tried to dial my mind it went all numb,
For the number of the fire dept and date were all in,
Nine one one one one one one ………


Adrian Murphy (c) 2oo2

THE PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL COST OF REJECTION

I'm sitting here in Bray writing this blog, less then a mile from where in the early hours of Sunday morning last, the 16th August. Two young men lost their lives in a vicious knife attack. Over the weekend in Ireland alone there where four stabbing incidents. the other two where in Balinrobe Co. Mayo on the west coast.

The details surrounding the fatal attack in Bray are sketchy due to the fact that the two main witnesses are still being treated in hospital. Jennifer Hannigan a 22 year old girl who was the ex girlfriend of Shane Clancy the attacker and second fatal victim and dating Sebastian Crean the first victim. Was so viciously attacked that the knife broke while still in her back, she's since undergone surgery to remove it.

According to Fine Gael the main opposition party in the Dail, the number of knife attacks in Ireland has increased by 300% between 2003 - 2007, although it has dipped slightly in the past year, but never the less it is still on the rise.

The thing that is clear about the Bray incident, is that is was driven by jealousy.

What is it about the youth of today that they find rejection so hard? Is it all down to the media, where falling in love is portrayed as being easy, when in real life it takes time and a bit of work from both parties to nurture a relationship. Or is it fuelled by "shoot-em ups" and games like "Grand theft Auto" which portray the taking of life for an innocuous event as fair game.

Yes, breaking up is hard to do, we've all done it or had it done to us, but I've never felt like going and killing my Ex's. On the contrary, I've wanted them to come back, change their minds or forgive me and take me back. But if anyone did anything to them I'd stand to their defence and do serious harm to the perpetrator. But I and the majority of people I know could never harm someone they once held feelings for or may even still do.

How are we supposed to deal rejection? Me I'll play soppy love songs from Ronan Keating, Air Supply, "Ole Blue Eyes" and Deano... Have a month to six week Bridget Jones moment... Others will hit the drink to drown their sorrows. This has it's own dire side effects, which can lead to confrontational situations with the ex.

The reports in the media suggest that Shane Clancy was depressed. So does it mean that this generation are a lot mentally weaker then previous generations. Do we have more more stresses in our lives then our parents did? They might say life is easier for this generation.

back in their days your main line of communication was the landline, you made an appointment to meet a friend hours or days in advance. Or you even wrote a letter which took anything from a couple of days to a week to get somewhere, Now-a-days, we are in constant communication. Everything is done in a nano second. Emails, texts, etc. Your every sodding living breathing experience is telegraphed across the ether to friends acquaintances and even total strangers who are friends of friends of friends, via social networking sites and texts and tweets.

Back in our parents generation you had a "Circle of Friends"... It was like a golf club, you almost had to go through a Spanish Inquisition style interview to be accepted into the inner circle. Secrets were kept within the group and if you told those secrets to someone outside, you ran the risk of being exiled.

So as I wind up this piece, I send my condolences and thoughts to the three families affected by this tragedy. The Crean's whose second son Dylan, Sebastian's older brother was injured when he went to his assistance. The Hannigan's, we wish Jennifer like Dylan a speedy recovery, though the scars may heal eventually over time, it's the emotional ones which will be the hardest to get past. Finally to the Clancy's, no one will blame you for what happened. Shane may have been your son, but you can never know what is going through your child's mind every hour of the day.

Maybe Dickens said it best, "In the little world in which children have their existence... There is nothing so finely perceived or so finely felt as injustice..."