Two Nights Before Christmas

'Tis two nights before Christmas and all thru the land

We're all realising 'twas all built on sand

The TD's have run for the country like hares

The bankers all hope we'll forget their affairs

The Churchmen are cowering in the corner in fright

Like that proverbial rabbit, caught in the light

The judges are sitting on top of their loot

Consultants are too - they don't give hoot

About those down the ladder - perhaps the first rung

Who are scrimping and scraping, not having much fun

But hurrah say the lads in their nice pin-striped jackets

Why are those poor making such a big racket?

We're okay with our bonuses which we rightly deserve

And the poor pointing at us have got quite a nerve

To those men and those women as rich as Croesus

Might be worth remembering the words of one Jesus

As you rich men barter or rich women wheedle

Ponder if you will, the eye of a needle

Can a camel pass thru it in a year or say, seven?

That's how easy it is for you to get to heaven

Perhaps as we think on this cold Christmas season

Our country will come back from the brink into reason

And to try figure out as a new decade dawns

If life's about bathrooms and holiday homes?

On a hushed Christmas night as we look at the stars

And ask ourselves exactly who it is that we are

Look around you and see, in the light from above

That the message of Christmas is all about love

For ourselves and our families, our neighbours and friends

And even for those who drive us round the bend

And maybe next year we'll see more in our community

Than a consumer or a sponger or a selling opportunity.

Merry Christmas to all my family, friends, supporters and readers. My humblest apologies for this bad poetry offering. But every now and then there's nothing I like more than a bit of ould rhymin' Call it my Christmas indulgence! Hope your Christmas is peaceful and fun and that 2010 brings everything good for you and yours. God bless. Mary.

What a Week

A sexual abuser in Listowel is lionised by some of his local community; a Waterford family are turfed out of their home by a sub-prime lender; four Bishops still won't do the right thing; the poor are being made to pay to bail out the banks; a priest child abuser gets just 2 years in jail..... What kind of a twisted country are we living in at all?

How many of Mr Foley's supporters down in Kerry have been the victim of a rape? Including the parish priest who said he was always respectful of women?

Which banker (imagine Stepstone is partly owned by Lehman Brothers and KBC) has lost their home in the weeks before Christmas with a 17 year old special needs child, in the same week that they lost that glorious and brave 4.1% off their carers allowance and job seekers allowance, in the same year that they lost their jobs and their pension scheme were found to be insolvent leaving them with nothing?

Who, among the international cheerleaders for our Finance minister Brian Lenihan for his 'courage' in taking the right decisions by cutting 4.1% from the poorest and lowest paid, is living on €200 a week?

What planet is the judge who convicted a priest of abusing a child and sentencing him to 2 years in jail (plus one year suspended) living on, that he thinks this is a fair punishment?

This country has got its' priorities all mixed up. The bankers should be in jail; the poor should be protected; the rich should pay their fare share; the abusers should go to hell and we should all get our act together. Right is not right anymore: wrong is right and its okay for rich people sitting in their penthouse apartments to spit on the little people. Not the way things should be I'm afraid.

At a time when we need Christian principles more than ever - where are they? With the Catholic Church, in the grave I'm afraid.

A Century of Trade & Enterprise in Waterford

An uncle of mine, Bill Irish and his colleague Andrew Kelly kindly asked me to launch a book for them last Saturday entitled 'A Century of Trade & Enterprise in Waterford'.

The book is a photographic essay of work and workers in Waterford City & County from the 1880's through to the 1980's and there are some fantastic images of industrial life in the city.

From the opening of the first motor garage in Ireland in 1906 on Catherine Street (Chapter 1) to the first ever scheduled Ryanair passenger flight (page 26) in 1985 - many people forget that Ryanair started in Waterford! - and even including a photograph of a Grand-uncle of mine, one Paddy Roche who was a foreman in the Foundry (page 94) who is pictured next to the first Rayburn cooker made there in the 1950's - there is sure to be much in this book to amuse and intrigue anyone with even a passing interest in Waterford.

For those of us who love Waterford it is a veritable treasure trove to be poured over. I particularly like the photographs of The Quays, with the sailing ships berthed along her entire length as well as the ones of the faces of those good citizens who have gone before us going about their everyday business. You have to check out the women selling apples in The Applemarket (where else) on page 72 with their 'dudeens'! There are stories in those faces.

I've always been a fan of WLR fms resident 'On This Day' historian Julian Walton and I always remember him saying that he was of the opinion that people shouldn't be able to collect their pensions until they wrote down their life stories! He was jesting of course but he had a point. Every day we lose people, and their history and story goes with them. How great it would be to have a record of the lives and struggles of those who went before us and who, essentially, made us what we are. This book certainly tells part of those stories.

Anyway, Bill and Andys' book is now launched and is on sale in the Granary, the Book Centre, Ardkeen Stores, and Supervalu Tramore (great photo's of the cockle women and more from Tramore) for a mere €15. It would make a lovely gift for Waterford people at home an away.

Thanks to the Waterford Civic Trust (Chairman Padraig O'Griofa pictured above on the right with myself and the two authors) for their support in publishing the book. And the best of luck to Bill and Andy with this project and the many more I know they will produce in time.

An Bord Pleanala and those Out-Of-Town Developments

In light of recent issues and decisions facing Waterford City Council, I note with interest a number of refusals from An Bord Pleanala in recent months which clearly underpin Waterfords' strategy of ensuring the primacy of the city centre core shopping area.

The first is the recent decision taken by ABP to refuse a large retail proposal on the old Mart site outside Kilkenny on the basis (amongst other things) that it could adversely affect the vitality and vibrancy on the core retail area of the town centre! Interestingly, the initial application had also been refused by Kilkenny Borough Council - although merely on the basis of traffic impact.

Along the same lines in another decision - last July - the Bord also refused permission for a large extension to The Crescent Shopping Centre outside Limerick city - which was being built in part to accommodate and new Marks & Spencer (ring any bells?). The reason for the refusal was similar - the threat to the core shopping centre of Limerick city.

These two decisions set out clearly that national policy is now being strictly implemented and that An Bord Pleanala is insisting that Councils follow the Regional Planning Guidelines for Shopping which are strongly in favour of protecting and developing core City Centre shopping.

One can only hope that these recent decisions will inform the elected members and those in the planning departments of our neighbouring authorities who are doing everything in their power to undermine the retail core our our city for their own benefit, with no regard to the impact of those decisions on Waterfords' core shopping area. (Perhaps the enormous, still empty shopping centre on the outskirts of the city in Ferrybank will be lesson enough.)

This is a clear message to those who have been lobbying hard to try and get Waterford City Council to contravene this policy. Wasting any more time on this strategy is merely that - a waste. I would now urge and encourage those companies to look again at city centre developments which can and will cater to their requirements. That way, we are all winners. We sincerely want as much retail development as possible in the heart of Waterford - the Zara's, the HMV's, the M&S's - you name it. But it is essential that they locate in the city centre.

It is now obvious that this policy has national backing so roll on the new developments!

I also note and welcome that the Lismore Residents Association have withdrawn their objection to the further development of WITs' Cork Road Campus.

Church Response to Murphy Report

I wrote here a few days ago about the Murphy report and finished on a note about atonement. It now appears that 'the church' as an institution has no intention of atoning for the terrible sins it vested on the faithful and their children. I am not even talking in this instance about the actual abuse itself. I am talking about the church, at best ignoring and at worst, facilitating that child abuse through the actions of the Bishops.

We have all known about the abuse for some time now, and not to lessen that at all but the Murphy report was more about the Churches role both in not stopping child abusers and in allowing those abusers continue to abuse by moving them on from parish to parish with their reputations intact, directly causing the abuse of many many more children.

The Church is going to have to make a fundamental change in its governance and transparency and it is, quite simply going to have to carry out a purge of those who allowed - and may still carry the culture of denial of child abuse with them in their current roles.

The institutional church - the higher it goes, the more it has left everyone down. The culture of the Bishops closing ranks - and even daring to suggest a witch hunt against them - is very disappointing. The total silence of the Vatican is unbelievable.

Perhaps it is time that the real church - the lay people demanded and took (for it seems they will not be given) ownership of their church from those Bishops - who feel, let us be under no illusions that it is okay to lie to us - or as they call it 'mental reservation'!

I say all this in the context of acknowledging the many members of the church, the many priests, brothers and Bishops who are sickened by all of this and who are flabbergasted by the silence that is emanating from their superiors.

Unless there is real visible change in the institutional church then no good will have come from this whole exercise. I'm afraid throwing your hands in the air and crying mea culpa just doesn't cut it any more. Words are too easy. Actions are what is needed. Personal responsibility is what is needed. Change is what is demanded.

Otherwise what is left of the flock will soon bypass the Roman Catholic institution and channel their Christian faith through their own personal routes. Maybe that would be the best thing at this stage?

Penneys Re-opening Very Welcome

The re-opening of Penneys this morning has provided a welcome boost to shopping in the City Centre in advance of Christmas. If the crowds there this morning are anything to go by then the new store wll prove extremely popular and a great draw into Barronstrand Street.

The new store is really nice, with lovely architectural and acheological touches in the main floor downstairs and on the first floor. Not like any Penneys that I have ever seen to date.

The selection is also huge and spread as it is over two floors allows much more of Penneys products to be on sale.

I really welcome Penneys opening this morning, just in time for Christmas. It will absolutely prove a big draw into the city and no doubt many other premises will also feel the benefit. Hopefully this is the beginning of a regeneration of the City Centre and I congratulate Penneys and wish them well for the future.

I also welcome the return of the gorgeous carousel (pictured above) which proved such a hit last year. No doubt that, the lights and the weekend market will add to the festive atmosphere. Bring on the shoppers!

Suicide Levels & Help Services Must Be Tackled

If the amount of people that are dying by suicide were happening through any other method, the whole country would be up in arms. If a foreign power had come to our shores and were killing over 600 people a year - there would be an international outcry. Look at the re-action to the swine-flu pandemic - and even at its' worst, the numbers who are expected to lose their lives come nowhere near the numbers who are currently dying by suicide. Something has got to be done.

I have read with despair in todays' Sunday newspapers the stories of several very very young people - as young as 12 years old - who have chosen suicide in the last few weeks and months. Yet it continues to be ignored as a problem at National level. We have to tackle this issue head on if we don't want to lose increasing numbers of young people and indeed - people of all ages.

Perhaps there is a sentiment at official level that suicide is such a personal issue that no national strategies could reduce it. This is a fallacy. There is an awful lot that could and should be done to lower the numbers of those who are opting for suicide. Many in our communities have been voices in the wilderness for a long time now pleading for something to be done, but they remain just that: voices in the wilderness. There seems to be no imperative to tackle suicide. Better roads and rules reduces road deaths: what solutions or rules could reduce suicide?

Well I'm no expert but I do have limited insight having been involved with Waterford Area Partnership and their efforts to draw up and implement a suicide prevention strategy for the city with partner agencies. I Chaired, as part of that process, a public meeting, where a surprisingly large and vocal and much more informed than me turnout detailed with searing honesty, the short-comings in the current system and how it might be improved.

One way that stood out in my mind (and I'm para-phrasing) would be for many in the psychiatric services to come out of the dark-ages and start offering a real service to their clients. Story after story detailed the deficiencies in the service provided by many so-called professionals. Many seemed content to medicate constantly with no hope of improvement in their clients mental health and many were also completely opposed to any other form of treatment. Several of those in attendance detailed how their psychiatrists insisted that if their patients sought any other form of (complimentary) treatment, say perhaps counselling, that they were told they needn't bother coming back! There was a litany of short-comings detailed - most specifically at the HSE.

In fairness, staff from the HSE Suicide Prevention Office attended that night and listened and one can only hope that the message was unequivocally brought back to those seemingly high and mighty professionals who were so excoriated by those for whom they were quite simply not providing a good, effective or even adequate service.

This is not even to go into details of out-of-hours services that should be available or services specific to certain vulnerable groups such as, say teenagers.

Suicide, is without doubt a most difficult area. It needs to be spoken about but not in such a way as to promote it. People who have taken their own lives by suicide need to be remembered and celebrated - without celebrating their choice to die by suicide. It is an area riven with risks and sensitivities.

My heart goes out to the many people, families and caring doctors and professionals who try their best, in a very difficult area, to do the best they can. But as a society we need to deal with this issue. We need the government to prioritise investment in suicide prevention. We need the HSE to ensure that their professionals are constantly provided with training and support in the most appropriate and up-to-date methods of treating people. We need openness and accountability in a very hidden and sad area. We need to throw light into this dark corner.

The one thing we cannot do, is turn a blind eye when 12 year olds are taking their own lives. The one thing we cannot do is believe that there is nothing we can do. We cannot allow people to think that they are not the most valuable things we have in our society - despite debts, mental illness, stress, depression, bullying or any of the many things that can push people over the edge.

If there's one thing that last weeks floods have shown us, it is that a sense of neighbourliness, of caring and of community is not too far under the surface in Ireland. I hope that now that those things have been re-awakened in us, we won't wait until the next disaster to put them into action again.

I hope that that we, as a society, will continue to offer that helping hand to our neighbour and will help to re-build our society with the foundations that really matter. Not money and property. But people and community.

Dublin Archdiocese Report

More terrible, devastating revelations today in the Murphy Report into the cover up by the Dublin Diocese of child abuse. It is almost impossible to comprehend how little the church cared about what happened to hundreds of innocent children.

They did, it seems, everything they could to protect the abusers and discredit, ostracise and ignore the children and their families. In fairness, all credit goes to Archbishop Diarmuid Martin for finally and completely coming clean on the issue and offering unhindered access to their files.

I do feel sorry for the many good men and women in the church who have been tangled up in this most awful scandal. But, if anyone has let them down, it is their own church, who by their inaction - or worse, their action in merely moving on accused priests - have exposed them to accusation by association.

It seems that the church was either incapable or just wasn't prepared to understand the despicable crime that child abuse is, and the effect it can have on victims lives. Another, perhaps unintended consequence of priests living solitary lives where they are excluded from having and thereby understanding any close relationships.

It has always been my opinion that it is not a healthy way or even a natural way for a man to be forced to live. As a result of having no close relationships many can not understand what it is like either for the abused or for their parents. If you don't care deeply about, not just people in general, but some specific loved ones, how can you relate to people in a situation that is completely alien and detached from you?

Not only the church, but also state authorities were complicit. I am not convinced that the structures are in place even today to protect children although I think the Gardaí are fantastic now in these cases and pursue cases without fear or favour. How much better though, to have systems in place to protect children, than having to go investigating after the fact. The damage has been done at that stage.

It is heart-breaking to think how many lives and families have been broken or destroyed. The country is coming through a catharsis on many fronts but this one is surely the most devastating. We have had the hands in the air fronts the churches and, we think, the remorse. Now for the atonement.

That Cheating Hand

It is a pretty bitter pill to swallow, being knocked out of the World Cup Finals by 'le main de frog' as it has become known. Now I know and have heard all the arguments from 'get over it' by Roy Keane (I mean hello? Pot - kettle and all that!) to 'we should have won in previous games', from however many pundits you care to name.

But whatever about all those discussions which will go on for many years I suspect: it does not change the fact that France won through cheating. Now every other governing body of sport that I can think of goes out of its' way to both eliminate the chances of cheating, to even rescinding previous awards to cheats - however deliberate or accidental that cheating is judged to be.

Think of the Olympics - where medals are regularly recalled and records erased - even years later, if it is proven that they were achieved through fraudulent means. And rugby - where even after a game, a player can be 'cited' for unsportsmanlike behaviour on the pitch.

It seems that FIFA is the only one prepared to allow blatant and open cheating and to reward same. In my opinion, world soccer has been delivered a fairly dangerous blow by 'henry-gate'. I, for one, now have no faith whatsoever in either their objectivity (the dogs on the street know they wanted France to win) or their commitment to 'fair play'. It has all be proven to be a pack of lies. All front with no determination to implement any of their fine words, once the result suits them.

And, to be honest, my seven year old son has no faith in them either. He can't understand how the goal - and the subsequent result - can be allowed to stand. You know how self-righteous seven year olds can be. Life can be fairly back and white for them. Normally I try to enlighten him than life is sometimes not fair. But when its so unfair and so obvious that the 'bad guy' has won, I find it very hard to explain to him why it should be ok to cheat - as long as you get away with it. In fact, I won't do it.

I have written an email to FIFA (falling on deaf ears, no doubt) but whatever they say: they are wrong. They have just written a Cheaters Charter and have no more moral authority with me - or my son!

Waterford Was Lucky - This Time!

Above is a photo of a flooded Cork City and we have just seen a few days when large parts of the Country - parts which have never seen flooding in living memory - have been under dangerous levels of water. Congratulations are due to all those in the emergency services, local authorities, Gardaí, army and in the community who came to the aid of people who were stuck. I certainly don't remember anything of this severity in my lifetime.

Waterford was lucky - this time. The elements that conspire to flood our city were mercifully absent this time. Normally is takes a combination of things - a very high tide, excessive rain and a South Easterly gale - to cause flooding in Waterford. Thankfully not all of those were present but it is only a matter of time before they will be. I well remember the Quays in the City being under several feet of water as well as flooding in many other low lying areas.

The closing of just one stretch of the Inner Ring Road alone caused enough traffic mayhem.

Our flood defences are underway but will not be delivered in full for quite a number of years yet. The Quays are being worked on as we speak; the Waterside, all through the Park, out past Quinsworth in Poleberry, as far as and including the Tramore Road are all due to commence and be completed in the next few years. But it will take time to complete it all. It is to be hoped that we will be spared a flood here in the intervening time but I wouldn't be confident about that.

I have to say that Padraig Walsh, the President of the IFA, made a lot of sense when he said that we have to go back to dredging the rivers and streams. These have been silting up for years now but due to 'environmental concerns' dredging is almost never carried out anymore. As a result the rivers and streams have become considerably shallower and not at all able to carry the water capacity that they once were.

Indeed I believe that even under the marinas in the City, the boats are now regularly sitting on the bottom in low tide and that many boats cannot berth at all on the inside of the marina due to the shallowness of the water. The seriousness of this situation has now become apparent and it is crucial that river management schemes are put in place to remove silt build up in rivers and streams - despite concerns about worms!

Yes some development has not helped but the sheer scale of what happened last week and the fact that places flooded which have never ever flooded before, points to other issues than simply building on flood plains.

The water from last week seems to be receding - although very slowly. For now. There can be no doubt but that there will be serious discomfort and millions upon millions of euro worth of damage left in its' wake.

The main thing though, is peoples' lives and personal safety and so far, thank God, there appears to have been no loss of life as a result of the floods. That, at least, is surely positive.