Is Cowens' Term Coming to an End?

Maybe it's just wishful thinking on my behalf but I can't help feeling that the rug upon which our esteemed Taoiseach has placed himself, is unravelling beneath his very feet - at a rate of knots! Bit by bit his tenure is looking more and more shabby and threadbare and unlikely to last.

Everything he has done right back to 2004 when he was promoted into the Finance portfolio is under examination and at every turn he seems to have made the wrong decision. I think that, sooner or later, this Anglo Irish noose is going to tighten around his neck - both for his sins of ommission and indeed, of commisssion.

Perhaps that is why, even his voice is beginning to sound a bit strangulated and I'd say he's feeling the pressure.

Watch this space as I have a feeling that the rug is not far from being pulled altogether.

Litter Litter Everywhere!

Litter. Rubbish. It's disgusting. There must be something we can do to stop our beautiful Country from being dumped on by our citizens!

What is it about Irish people (not all, of course but a hefty minority) that they feel it is okay to destroy our roadsides, beaches, parks, streets with their dumped rubbish?

There are fly-tippers - those brazen, selfish - and yes, stupid - people who drive around in the dark of night waiting until there is no other car in sight so that they can horse a bag of rubbish out the door or window. There are casual litters, who throw papers out windows or drop them as they walk. There are rubbish families who think it's okay to leave nappies at the beach. There are teenagers who think it's cool to spit out your gum wherever you happen to be hanging out. There are dog walkers who see it as acceptable to leave dog faeces in parks and on paths.

What kind of a nation are we? Why do we do these things? Why won't we stop? We will whine til the end of time about things that we can't control and yet we continue to drop and to accept the dropping of litter, which is ruining our country! Take a walk or drive down any road, street, boreen, town, village or city in Ireland and just observe the litter. Now with the road verges cut and the new spring growth not yet in evidence the real scale of the problem is visible for one and all.

What kind of people do this? On what planet is this acceptable behaviour? None. What can we do? How can we make a substantial difference in a short time - because that is what we need to do?

The clean up of dumping and littering has cost this country dearly - and yet, some of the same people who are giving out about the billions going down the Anglo toilet are the cause of this particular cost to the nation. When are we going to stop tolerating it? The sooner the better I say.

What's the Anglo Story?

Unlike 99.99% of politicians that I have heard in recent days, I will ADMIT that I don't understand this whole Anglo Irish Bank debacle. Problem here is that, while I'm admitting it, none (I'm convinced) of the other 99.99% understand anything about it either. But that doesn't stop them spouting off as if they had done their PhD's on the very subject.

They are merely parroting what they have been told - each given a few standard lines to throw out when they are asked about it. These include: "it would cost more to wind it down"; and "it's the lesser of two evils" and "it was the Lehmans collapse that caused all this not government policy".

They are the very worst of sheep, following dutifully into the Dail chamber and supporting the Government, as the voting fodder they are while ignorantly not knowing or caring about the well that they have thrown our economy down. Sure, it's the lesser of two evils they say confidently. Gobsh*tes! The whole damned lot of them.

Did the Government really guarantee all those debts in the midst of an emotional night of hand-wringing by the banks - with no more examination of the consequences for this country than that? Are they really that stupid? I don't know why I'm even asking that question: we know now that they did (according to Cowen) and we know that they are (stupid that is).

I want to know: what damage to Fianna Fail is contained in those Anglo Irish vaults? What skeletons lurk there that are so damaging to them that the whole country has been sacrificed to keep them secret or to keep those who know about them quiet? We're a mad little country all the same.

I don't understand it no. But I know a pup when I'm being sold one. And this is no pup. This is a foul, diseased beast that in my opinion is going to grow and grow with an insatiable appetite that is to be feeding from the trough of this tiny economy for decades to come. It will devour schools, hospitals, jobs, businesses... And the most worrying thing is that the people we elect to run this country haven't the damnedest clue how big it's going to grow, what it's going to cost or how to control it.

Gilmore was right. This is economic treason. This is self-harm on a national scale. Ho hum, and in the FFr's troop to do what they're told.

Remember now lads, all together: "it would cost more to wind it down; it's the lesser of two evils; it was Lehmans not us.....louder at the back!"