Education and Learning

Minister for Education Orders Schools to Stay Closed

2010-01-08T18:13:00.001Z

The Minister for Education and Science, Batt O’Keeffe TD, has ordered all primary and post-primary schools to remain closed on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week due to the very bad weather.
Minister O’Keeffe said that he took the decision in the interest of the health and safety of school children and their parents.
The Minister took the decision following a meeting today of the Government’s emergency planning group. Minister O’Keeffe said: “I took the decision to close all schools based on my concern for the health and safety of school children in these very challenging weather conditions. I considered, in particular, the forecast for snowfall on Sunday and Monday which will cause further disruption. Although most schools decided not to open this week and many more will take the same decision next week, I wanted to bring clarity and certainty to the position for parents and students by telling all schools to close. While it may be that some schools would have been in a position to open depending on the weather, I consider on balance that the responsible and prudent approach at this stage is to close schools in the interest of safety. The situation will be reviewed on Tuesday”.
Third level institutions will decide for themselves whether or not to open next week – based on local conditions.

We Are Abandoned Ireland

2009-12-27T14:53:00.002Z

I discovered this site: www.abondonedireland.com today.

As I looked through the abondoned buildings, I was shocked to read that 155 “inmates”‘ bodies were discovered in the grounds of the Good Shepherd Convent in Sunday’s Well, Cork.

http://www.abandonedireland.com/mc.html

I knew this went on in Dublin, but I don’t remember this scandal.

A convent fit for royalty, an orphanage for our children and an Irish solution in the Magdalen laundry.
It only closed in the late 1970s.
Shame on us.
Women and children were impisoned here, there’s no other word for it.
Children through no fault of their own, and women for being human.
We cannot let this happen ever again to our fellow human beings.

It's ironic that I learned about these abondoned Irish on a website called abondonedireland - a site devoted to abondoned buildings in Ireland.

Should Bishops remain as Patrons of our schools?

2009-12-20T16:35:00.001Z

Church involvement in education - then and now

2009-05-27T18:58:00.002Z

I am really disgusted at the contents of the Ryan Report.
My heart was in my mouth reading about the abuse suffered by those poor, little children. I just don't know how they survived it. Many didn't.

I am very sad and mad as hell at the subsequent reaction of the so-called religious and also of our so-called Government.

I know that this is a very simplistic view, but children were abused in Ireland for decades because:

The State outsourced education and health care.

The State kow-towed to the church.

Has anything changed there?
No.
The church and religious still run education in this country.
They are still very involved in health care.
Woods and Ahern agreed to the shocking deal in favour of the nuns and religious.
Bertie taunted Pat Rabitte (when he questioned that deal) that he only wanted to get rid of the religious in Ireland!
Rabitte saw that as trying to ruin his reputation, and he was right, it probably did damage it.
The State is very deferential to bishops over education.
Many people are still scared of the church's power in Ireland.

I'm sick of the lies and rotteness, and more to come.

I have an idea to rid us of this rotten lot.
Seize everything they own (change the constitution if necessary).
Round them all up and send them to Haughey's island in Kerry - how appropriate! One screwed the country, the other screwed the country :-(
Let them do what they like to each other there.
Provide free counselling and care for the victims.
Keep the rest in trust for future cases, because this is not over yet.
Threaten FFers with the island too if they don't cop on pronto.

Special Education - Value for Money Audit

2009-05-16T09:01:00.004Z

Batt O' Keeffe, the Minister of Education and Science, ordered an audit of all Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) in all schools in Ireland earlier this year. They are still at it. There are about 3,500 primary schools alone, and only about 20 SENOs. He says that he wants to make sure that the tax payer is getting value for money.

An SNA is appointed under very stringent conditions. A child must have a special need, a particular diagnosis and must basically have care needs (cannot do certain things for themselves, like go to the toilet, turn a page, eat, take medication, walk, see) and / or safety needs (will hurt themselves ar someone else) before they will be given an SNA. Often SNAs are shared between 2 or more children. There is no excess, I assure you. We need probably 10 times more SNAs in our schools, but this Audit is an attempt to cut, cut, cut.

The people carrying out the Audits are already completely run off their feet. They are the Special Education Needs Organisers (SENOs). Their job is to examine professional reports, visit the school, meet the child and the parents and then award supports for this special needs child, or not. The Minister has them running around doing audits and reviews, so their core job is on the back burner. That suits, because if they don't have time to award resources, well the Minister saves more money. Meanwhile, the special needs children have no support in school and suffer immeasurably, as do their parents, classmates and teachers.

Now, let's look at this Minister and the value for money HE is giving the tax payer? He was in Ballingeary, Co. Cork last Sunday canvassing for his son who is running for Cork County Council - Batt handed over the seat to his son a few years ago. How nice of him.
You might say - so what if he was in Ballingeary canvassing for his son! What he does in his own free time is his own business!
Ok, fair enough! BUT, he had his big state car, his driver, armed bodyguards and 3 or 4 other cars full of men with him in a convoy!! Knocking on doors in a small village in County Cork, asking for votes for his son. IS THIS VALUE FOR MONEY? The driver and detectives were probably on double or triple time for the Sunday?? That trip out would probably have paid an SNA for a few months? This particular village has one of its own, Jerry O' Sullivan, running as an Independent candidate in this election, so Batt's boy is unlikely to get any votes there despite his Daddy's day out. If Batt went to Ballingeary, he's probably canvassing elsewhere too.

MINISTER, THIS IS NOT VALUE FOR MONEY. IF YOU WANT TO CANVASS FOR YOUR SON, DRIVE YOURSELF, TAKE YOUR OWN CAR AND GO ALONE, IN YOUR OWN TIME. SHAME ON YOU!
AGAIN!

That Linehan gene strikes again?

2009-05-08T19:02:00.006Z

Those Linehans (Conor, Brians Jr and Sr, and Auntie Mary too) are great for opening their mouths and letting any old thing flop out.

According to www.kildarestreet.com, in an attempt at glossing over Batt O' Keeffe's axing of vital supports for special needs children, Conor Linehan explained to the Dáil that -
"The mainstream approach to those with mild general learning disability is universally understood by educators to be the correct approach to this learning disability, which is general and mild by its nature".

What?

I am an educator. I don't understand any such thing, of itself, as a stand alone statement, without further supports. I support inclusion, but it has to be supported inclusion. We do not have supported inclusion in our schools, we have inclusion on the cheap.

A mild general learning disability IS NOT what it says on the tin, as Linehan makes out! It certainly is not MILD, as in not very serious, as Conor Linehan infers. This is a serious and a life-long learning disability.

In layperson's terms (this is for you, Conor!)-
Children can have a (1) high IQ; (2) an average IQ; (3) a low IQ; (4) a very low IQ and (5) an IQ which is difficult to measure.
Children who have been diagnosed as having a mild learning disability fit in to category (3). It is a LEARNING DISABILITY! This LD needs specialist teaching and support. Placing such a child into a mainstream class does absolutely nothing for them, they don't breathe in intelligence from other children in the class. They need careful and caring teaching. Class teachers find it really, really, really hard to cater for Batt's increased class sizes, not to mind catering for children with SEN as well.

Don't fall for FF's claims that their record in special education is fantabulous! It is NOT. Yes, provision for special ed has improved very much since 1998, but that is because it was virtually non-existent prior to that year. FF got their act together, because parents like e.g. Kathy Sinnott dragged them off to court! Today, in 2009, the special ed provision in Ireland is still bottom of the pile. It is a disgrace! The most that this FF crowd will give to a special needs child is FIVE hours of specialist teaching A WEEK. Yes, I did say a week! These FFers TOOK AWAY support hours (2 and a half hours per week) from pupils with Mild learning disabilities in mainstream classes in 2004/5. They also removed support hours (two and a half per week)from pupils with dyslexia! (The Minister who did this was Noel Dempsey. I will never forgive him for it). Those hours were miserably inadequate, but they were better than nothing. These children now have NOTHING, NO ENTITLEMENT TO ANY SUPPORT TEACHING, unless they are lucky enough to be in a special class, but now Batt is axing those.

Don't fall for FF's claims that these children will get support under the general allocation model. That's another crock! These children have NO ENTITLEMENT to any support in mainstream schools under FF's rules. What happens is that schools stretch and stretch their support teachers as best as they can in order to sqeeze in these children if at all possible. Schools are so over-stretched though that it just is not always possible. For a fact, the children do not get the amount of support that they need, which in my professional opinion is at LEAST one hour per day, every day.

The amazing thing is that when these children transfer to secondary school (if they do) then they DO get support teaching hours there. How typically FF stupid is that?!! It's in primary school that the foundation should be built for the child.

I am so disillusioned with this Government. They are not fit to govern. Dempsey stole support hours from learning disabled children in the middle of the boom years! Batt stole what was left.

Shame on ye all.
Shame on those who voted against the FG motion yesterday.
Shame on those yellow greens!
Shame on the FFers who spoke against the motion and showed that they hadn't a clue about this issue.

I work in this area every day. My pupils are fantastic, but they are not getting anywhere near the support that they need in mainstream schools. It is very unjust.

Don't worry, Conor, the boot up the backside we will give you, and the other Linehans,and the yellow greens shortly will only be MILD.................

Is your TD worth what you're paying him / her?

2009-04-26T18:33:00.004Z

Thank you, Bock, for telling me about this site -

http://www.kildarestreet.com/

It is very new (only days old), but you should go and have a look.
You can track your favourite TD - what did he say? What did he ask?
Shortly you can track expenses etc... too.

Excellent work and very timely!

The Cork Hurlers

2009-03-01T14:14:00.006Z

What's the story with the Cork hurlers?
Let me tell you.

The Secretary of the Cork County Board is a man named Frank Murphy.
He has been in this job for about 35 years now.
The dogs on the street say that he writes his own pay cheque.
No-one seems to know how much.
The County Board don't seem to believe in having an agenda prior to meetings.
They like "surprise" votes.
They had one of these in Feb of this year.
Delegates were unprepared. Clubs had given them no instructions as to how they should vote, because they didn't know there would be a vote.
People in Cork GAA have learned not to cross Frank.
If they do, then they say that there is a price to pay.
Fixtures miles from home.
General control stuff.
Delegates have learned not to vote against Frank, so they don't.

In 2002, the Cork hurlers faced Frank.
Their conditions were very poor - e.g. having to pick a corner in the gym in which to pee; poor diet, care, physio etc...
They went on strike.
Things improved a bit, but it seems that Frank never forgave them.
How dare they!
Many people in Cork believe that Frank foisted the previous far from successful Manager Gerald McCarthy on the Cork hurlers for one reason, and one reason only.
He knew that it would cause ructions.
People say that he hoped that a few of them e.g. Seán Og, Donal Og, Joe Deane, the Rock would retire, fed up with Frank and his yes men in the Cork County Board.
It didn't work out like that.
All 30 hurlers said STOP.
Frank's response? Hire a PR company to sling mud at the players.
Bad mistake. The Cork people love these lads.
10,000 marched in support of them.
Frank ignored 10,000 fans.
It is his way or no way.
To hell with Cork hurling.

The Manager was appointed in a democratice fashion, Frank says.
Was he?
The players said - anyone but Gerald Mac.
We can't win a bit with him.
We will not play for him.
Frank didn't tell the Board that piece of the jig-saw.
Then he pulled another good one.
Set up the vote for Gerald Mac (hurling) AND Conor Counihan (football) in the one vote!!!
Counihan seems to have what it takes, and has huge support.
Gerald Mac? Not really, but he seems to be Frank's man.
Counihan was definitely going to get the votes, so what better way of getting Gerald in than by having a vote like this.
Democratic?

What about Gerald McCarthy's role in all of this?
The players do not want him.
He has a proven track record (2 years as manager) of not being good enough.
He should have gone months ago, as managers generally do when they have lost the dressing room.
He refuses to budge.
Some say that he is being used by Frank.
Could be true. I don't know.
Could it be that he is putting personal interests before Cork hurling?
Surely not?
I don't know.

The players are making a stand against an undemocratic system.
It would be much easier for them to say nothing, put up with it, play knowing that they would not win with this man as their leader...
BUT - they are winners. They know what winning feels like. They know how to win. They know that they cannot win with Gerald McCarthy. They are not prima donnas. They do not want to choose their manager. They want to win. These lads train several times a week, they give their all to Cork for no financial gain. The people who are trying to degrade them, however, receive pretty hefty financial gain.

Support our hurlers was the byword for the March in February.
Another protest is now being organised for the 8th of March.
Why not at today's hurling match?
The organisers feel that it might become violent.
Also, people have vowed not to pay in to a hurling match until this is resolved.
Cork fans are happy to support the footballers and at the same time let the country know their views.
It might be one of the last times that Cork people get to watch the footballers too, because they have vowed to stop playing also if the dispute is not resolved to the hurler's satisfaction.

Here is the message:

IGNORED BY THE BOARD

March 8th - 2 p.m. Kennedy Park.............

To attend the Cork football match at Pairc Uí Chaoimh.

Dress code : Rebel.

If they want to ignore us on the street, we will have to take our message to them..........the last time it was for the players, this time it's for US!!!!

Frank Murphy and Gerald McCarthy and the Cork County Board thought that they would get away with fielding another squad! It has gone down like a lead balloon. About 40 - 50 young hurlers refused to play in this so-called 09 development squad. The lads who agreed to play are making a big mistake. Cork people will not forget that they have effectively breached a picket line. Word on the street has it that the County Board are grooming another set of lads for when / if the footballers go! Cork will erupt if that happens.

Some will say - Would they ever shut up, down there in Cork! We have far worse problems in the country!!
We have.
Problems created by people who think that they are above the rest of us.
People who have one rule for us and another for themselves.
People who are greedy.
People who are incompetant.
The Cork situation is a microcosm of what is wrong with our entire country.
The Cork hurlers are standing up and being counted.

Stand beside them.

Irish Congress of Trade Unions National Recovery Plan

2009-02-12T19:33:00.000Z

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has proposed the following plan for national recovery –
Here it is:

THERE IS A BETTER, FAIRER WAY

Congress Plan for National Recovery

Irish Congress of Trade Unions
February 2009
Introduction
Congress has consistently advocated the adoption of a Social Solidarity Pact as a better and fairer route to national recovery.

On January 28, Congress, Government and the employers settled on an outline Framework Agreement, which was to provide a basis for more detailed discussions on a National Recovery Plan.

The Framework committed all parties to a plan in which “all sectors of society contribute in accordance with their ability to do so, and….the most vulnerable, low paid, unemployed and social welfare recipients are insulated against the worst effects of recession.”

But Government failed to follow through on this commitment, which envisaged no less than a coherent response to all of the major issues facing working families.

They resorted instead to a narrow focus on the public finances - without seeking a contribution from the wealthy. Their intent is to achieve a competitive devaluation of wages across the economy, as we are no longer in a position to devalue the currency. Ironically, a currency devaluation would be more equitable, as it would reduce living standards for everyone, not just workers.

Congress remains committed to the concept of a Social Solidarity Pact and here we present 10 key initiatives that we believe must form part of such plan or agreement.

Our preferred option is to engage with all parties on these initiatives but if that is not possible, we will embark upon a major campaign to achieve a change in policy, commencing with nationwide demonstrations on February 21.

1. Protecting Jobs & Tackling Unemployment
Our social welfare system must be radically altered and integrated with skills enhancement, education and training. In a number of European countries, unemployed workers are guaranteed incomes of 80 percent of salary for two years, conditional on their participation in extensive training and upskilling. Employers are also assisted to identify alternatives to redundancy, such as short term working weeks and other arrangements.

A similar scheme, modified for Irish conditions, could be funded by amalgamating current expenditure on benefits with additional funding from the Public Capital Programme (PCP). This approach should be complemented by reprioritising the PCP to support job protection and labour intensive activities.

2. The Banking System & the Public Interest
The Bank Recapitalisation Programme involves handing over €7 billion of public money, from the Pension Reserve Fund, to the same people who presided over the collapse. Their refusal to forego enormous personal salaries and bonuses speaks volumes about their contempt for the taxpayer. That €7 billion must not disappear into a black hole and only one consideration – the public interest – should inform Government decisions on this crucial matter. And given all that has emerged about the conduct of senior bank executives, we require a complete overhaul of Corporate Governance and clear indications that wrongdoing will be punished. Support for the banking system should be conditional on:

o public control, either through Recapitalisation or Nationalisation;
o a legally-enforceable obligation to provide support for innovation and development in the economy, along with credit and support for business cash flow, where it can be shown that it is critical to job protection or creation;
o replace all top executives responsible for the crisis, in the relevant banks;
o remuneration from all sources for those at the top must be capped;
o three year moratorium on home repossessions, where people cannot pay due to redundancy or unfair dismissal.

3. Competitiveness.
In addition to the absence of a properly functioning banking system, the most immediate threat to our competitiveness comes from the weakness of Sterling, not wage rates. This accounts for about two thirds of the deterioration in recent months.

Energy prices must be reduced and the only impediment to this is the nonsensical regulatory regime that has pushed prices higher to ensure private generating companies make a profit. Coupled with the failure of our broadband infrastructure - following the privatisation of Eircom - this demonstrates the critical importance of strategic state intervention in the economy.

Our cost of living in Ireland is some 20 percent above the European average. Failure to pass through gains from a weakened Sterling and high professional fees are an unjustifiable drag on competitiveness.

4. The Pay Agreement
Congress continues to adhere to the Social Partnership agreement. The Government, CIF and IBEC have now, in effect, reneged on the pay deal they negotiated in September 2008. Yet, significant numbers of private sector companies have paid the first phase of that deal and others have committed to doing so. No credible reason has been advanced to explain why the ‘inability to pay’ clause has not been utilised.

This is no less than a campaign against wages, as an alternative to a currency devaluation, to promote competitiveness. But the state of the global economy is such that wage devaluation is unlikely to have much impact on exports, whereas it will seriously depress domestic demand.

Ultimately no incomes policy can have credibility unless the remuneration of senior company executives is curtailed, as has happened in the US.

5. Fairness & Taxation
The Framework Agreement includes commitments to fair and progressive taxation measures. But Government must spell out what this means in practice. How much of the €2bn shortfall will be carried by the wealthiest in the country? We believe the following reforms should be introduced:

o Income from all sources – capital and labour - must be taxed the same;
o Tax exiles must stay away if they don’t want to be taxed here;
o Tax shelters without a proven economic gain should be abolished;
o A property tax should apply to property other than the principal private residence;
o The levy on high earners (above €100k) should be graded upwards significantly;
o A new rate of income tax at 48 percent for high income earners;
o Abolish hospital co-location, with its generous tax breaks for developers.

6. Restoring Consumer Confidence
The property boom encouraged unsustainable levels of credit and spending. This has now been reversed and people are frightened to spend. This fear is paralysing the economy as people are worried about unemployment, pensions and repossession of their homes. As almost half our GDP comes from consumer spending, this has enormous implications. It undermines employment and jeopardises the survival of businesses. The state also loses out on tax revenue.

It is imperative that people’s fears are addressed. The failed policies of letting the wealthy off the hook, while forcing working families pay for the crisis, has already led to a slump in consumption unparalleled elsewhere in Europe. Retail sales in Ireland have been falling at an annual rate of 8 percent, as compared with the EU average of one to two percent. Recent VAT increases have exacerbated the problem.

Policy to date has been almost exclusively deflationary in practice. Surely the most sensible option is to stimulate the economy, rather than dampen spending and growth? To this end, all parties must now return to the negotiating table to agree a resolution of the situation on the National Pay Agreement, to provide people with some confidence for the future.

7. The Public Service ‘Pension Levy’
We acknowledge there is a crisis in the public finances. Government must return to the Framework Agreement of January 28. This recognised the necessity for radical measures to bring the public finances under control, on the basis of all sides contributing in accordance with their ability to do so. Until that happens there can be no sustainable plan for national recovery.

The so-called ‘Public Service Pension Levy’ is a crude and unfair instrument. As currently structured it is a straightforward pay cut. It has no regard for ability to pay. Indeed, some people on lower incomes pay proportionately more than those on higher pay. Apart from seeking to tackle the public finances without charging the wealthy a cent, it is also part of a strategy to drive down wages across the economy.

Workers did not create the problem, but will contribute to resolving it - as long as the wealthy also contribute. The problem with the course currently being pursued by Government and employers’ organisations is that the weakest suffer, while the wealthy contribute nothing.

8. Pensions
Private sector pensions are in crisis and there is increasing doubt about the long term viability of many funds. Government cannot stand by and allow people to emerge with nothing, having worked and contributed to a fund for perhaps 40 years. Waterford Crystal is a case in point.

Congress wants the National Pension Reserve Fund to be used as a Pension Protection Fund – which EU law requires us to establish. It has not escaped people’s notice that there is official reluctance to use it for this purpose and none whatsoever when it comes to propping up the banks.

Other innovations suggested by Congress include a state backed annuity and the possibility that private pension funds could have the option of voluntarily surrendering their assets to the state, in return for a certain level of guaranteed pension.

9. Employment Rights Legislation
In Towards 2016 Government committed to enacting a programme of legislation to protect the rights of all workers in the context of EU enlargement. The aim is to stop exploitation of workers regardless of nationality. Recent events in the UK demonstrate the need to get this legislation enacted quickly.

10. National Recovery Bond
It is clear that people are anxious to contribute to national recovery. This spirit could be channelled positively by establishing a National Recovery Bond. While we have enough borrowings for the immediate future, the state will presumably need to borrow more next year. With the cost of this borrowing increasing, a domestic National Recovery Bond could save the exchequer a lot of money. It could also be targeted at specific sectors such as school building or public transport, so people could see tangible gains

ends

I am a public service worker

2009-02-03T19:36:00.004Z

I am a public service worker....

Our ineffective so-called "Government" and their pals in IBEC have demonised us to such an extent, that I nearly feel that I should apologise for that or be ashamed or even scared to admit it.

I am a primary school teacher, and I would like to set a few lies straight.

1. Private sector workers are facing job losses, public sector are not.The pupil-teacher ratio was REDUCED in the recent flawed Budget. Many teachers will lose their jobs. Very few newly qualified teachers will be able to get a job in September 2009 and thereafter for quite some time.

2. Private sector workers are facing the dole queues.
During the 1980s, it was really difficult to get a full-time job teaching. It took me 10 years. Yes, ten years. I had to sign on the dole every Christmas, Easter and summer and when I had no work. It was tough, very tough. I have never enjoyed riches.

3. Private sector workers have lost their pensions, public sector have not.
I took out an AVC to address my pensionable service shortfall of ten years. It wasn't that I wasn't working, I was, but it was not permanent teaching, so the Government would not ALLOW me to pay any pension - hence the shortfall. My AVC is worth very little now due to the downfall, despite very large contributions from me each fortnight.

4. We can't afford to pay public sector pension contributions.
I pay 6.5% into my pension, as does every public sector worker.
How much does the private sector worker pay into their pension?

5. The public service pension is guaranteed, that's not fair.
Actually..... I don't believe that my pension IS guaranteed.
Our pension goes straight to the Government. Do they invest it wisely for us? No, they use it for day-to-day expenditure. My pension contributions run this country. You wouldn't think so the way IBEC talks about me.
Also, my AVC pension contributions have gone up in smoke, just like yours.

6. Private service workers have had to take pay cuts.
Why?
To keep profits high.
Do I have to suffer too for private sector employer's profits?

7. It's not fair.
No, it's not fair.
I HAVE TO pay into this pension scheme.
I have no choice.
6.5% of my annual salary is taken whether I like it or not.
Maybe I would like that 6.5% to spend?
Maybe I would like the choice?
I do not have a choice.
Instead, I was penalised by 12.5% in 2008 for being a part of this compulsory pension, and now I am being told to pay a pension levy too.

By the way, have you seen the breakdown of proposed levy contributions?
A teacher on 50,000 must pay 7.5% of gross salary on this levy, and pay tax again on it, with no means of claiming tax back on it.
A TD earning 6 times that teacher's salary must only pay 9.6%.
Why?
Why not 6 times the salary = 6 times the levy = 45%??
Why not, Brians?
Are we not in this together?
No, we're in it and you are special?
No, you are not.

Would the two Brians like me to leave this fantastic pension scheme? So fantastic that I have been penalised a 12.5% pay increase in 2008 already and now these dirty levies.
OK, what would that mean?
What would happen if we all left this fantastic pension scheme, that makes IBEC hate us so much?
Well, I would have an extra 6.5% in my pay packet.
The Government would have to borrow that 6.5% to run the country.
I would be eligible for the old age non-contributory pension when I retire.
That would cost me squat.
I would be eligible for a medical card and all of the added benefits associated with it.
I would take on the Fianna Fáil ethos - "Leave someone else pay for my lack of forward planning". Spend away bedamned and let the little guys take the tab!
I would blow my 6.5% and let the last hour be the hardest, i.e. let someone else look after my pension and me.
Sounds good.
Sounds damn good.
Two Brians, watch out.
I am very, very, very tired of carrying your can of worms.

I am not the enemy.
Brain Cowen, Brian Linehan, the Marys and all the rest of the FFs plus the light bulbers - THEY ARE THE ENEMY.

Don't be fooled.

What would I do to save those billions?
1. Put a cap of 100,000 on every single wage in this country.
2. Replace every single top banker.
3. Get rid of every Junior Minister and half of the TDs.
4. Get rid of Mary McAleese, we can't afford her.
5. Cap TDs pensions.
6. Withdraw pensions and drivers and cars from retired TDs.
7. Cut TD expenses radically.
8. Allow no expenses without a receipt.
9. Make Cowen et al stay in the country - no more gadding about.
10. Take at least half of profits from every Bank.
11. Make rich religious pay tax like the rest of us.
12. Make people in receipt of social welfare payments DO something, anything to avoid the "I am entitled" attitude.
13. Make everyone pay some tax, even €1, again to avoid the feeling of "I am entitled".
14. Create a whistle blower number so people can blow the whistle on tax dodgers / welfare abusers in anonymity.
15. Abolish the tax exile dodge and every other of the dozens and dozens of dodges.
16. Put €1000 on second houses and €2000 on third and subsequent houses - each.
17. Leave necessities alone. Look at luxuries and tax them.
18. Outlaw nepotism - that way Cowen, Linehan etc... etc... and etc... would never get into the Dáil. Pass a law that no child can follow their parent to the Dáil. Make it skip a generation to avoid mutation into crookery.
19. Make the Catholic church pay their own abuse costs. That would save at least a billion.
20. Last but by no means least - Issue a Government Bond / savings incentive. You give the Government say €2000 - for 5 years at 1% (or 0.5% or nothing) - that's €2000 that they don't have to borrow at 6%. Borrow from the Irish people in the form of a guaranteed bond. Money is still out there, but people are scared to spend it.

How am I doing?
OK for a start?
A couple of years of this and we will be sorted.

The argument that we have to pay our TDs well or else if we just pay peanuts then we will get monkeys...... well, that has been proven to be a fallacy.
I would clear them out of the Dáil.
I will never vote for any of them.
I do not trust them.
I do not believe that they have a clue.
They tempt strike and strife in our country.
Not good.
If the Brians had added 3 short sentences to today’s fiasco -
"This is a temporary measure to get the country out of serious trouble. We are only borrowing this pension levy from you. We guarantee to repay it within 5 years." (10 whatever)
- then the public sector would have been sore, but willing to help.
We have already given 6.5% to run the country.
Teachers have already given up half of their lunch break (to Dev) to teach Religion for nothing.
We are not bad people.
Just a soft target.

Don't be fooled.
Send your poison arrows to the correct target!

Lobby your TDs

2008-10-24T20:59:00.002Z

Labour have tabled a private member's motion on class size.
It is set to be debated on next Wednesday, and voted on the following day at about 12:30, as far as I can gather.

If you care about our education system, please lobby your TD, and tell him / her how you feel.

You can find the contact details for your local TD at www.into.ie - just scroll down a little to find them.

Here are e-mail addresses for all of our TDs. Some of them are out of date, so my apologies for that.

taoiseach@taoiseach.ie, bertie.ahern@oireachtas.ie, michael.ahern@oireachtas.ie, noel.ahern@oireachtas.ie, bernard.allen@oireachtas.ie, chris.andrews@oireachtas.ie, barry.andrews@oireachtas.ie, sean@ardagh.org, bobby.aylward@oireachtas.ie, james.bannon@oireachtas.ie, sean.barrett@oireachtas.ie, joe.behan@oireachtas.ie, john.browne@oireachtas.ie, aine.brady@oireachtas.ie, cyprian.brady@oireachtas.ie, johnny.brady@oireachtas.ie, pat.breen@oireachtas.ie, thomas.p.broughan@oireachtas.ie, niall.blaney@oireachtas.ie, richard.bruton@oireachtas.ie, ulick.burke@oireachtas.ie, joan.burton@oireachtas.ie, catherine.byrne@oireachtas.ie, thomas.byrne@oireachtas.ie, niall.collins@oireachtas.ie, minister.carey@taoiseach.gov.ie, joe.carey@oireachtas.ie, deirdre.clune@oireachtas.ie, dara.calleary@oireachtas.ie, margaret.conlon@oireachtas.ie, paul.connaughton@oireachtas.ie, sean.connick@oireachtas.ie, michael.creed@oireachtas.ie, joe.costello@oireachtas.ie, simon.coveney@oireachtas.ie, minister@finance.gov.ie, seymour.crawford@oireachtas.ie, noel.coonan@oireachtas.ie, john.cregan@oireachtas.ie, lucinda.creighton@oireachtas.ie, jimmy.devins@oireachtas.ie, minister@welfare.ie, john.curran@oireachtas.ie, michael.darcy@oireachtas.ie, john.deasy@oireachtas.ie, jdeenihan@eircom.net, minister@transport.ie, ciaran.cuffe@oireachtas.ie, timmy.dooley@oireachtas.ie, andrew.doyle@oireachtas.ie, bernard.durkan@oireachtas.ie, damien.english@oireachtas.ie, michael.fitzpatrick@oireachtas.ie, frank.fahey@oireachtas.ie, frank.feighan@oireachtas.ie, martin.ferris@oireachtas.ie, michael.finneran@oireachtas.ie, olwyn.enright@oireachtas.ie, charles.flanagan@oireachtas.ie, terence.flanagan@oireachtas.ie, sean.fleming@oireachtas.ie, beverly.flynn@oireachtas.ie, patthecope.gallagher@oireachtas.ie, tony.gregory@oireachtas.ie, paul.gogarty@oireachtas.ie, minister@environ.ie, minister@justice.ie, ministersoffice@dast.gov.ie, minister@dfa.ie, noel.grealish@oireachtas.ie, eamon.gilmore@oireachtas.ie, ministers_office@health.irlgov.ie, brendan.howlin@oireachtas.ie, brian.hayes@oireachtas.ie, tom.hayes@oireachtas.ie, Jackie.Healy.Rae@oireachtas.ie, michael.higgins@oireachtas.ie, maire.hoctor@oireachtas.ie, philip.hogan@oireachtas.ie, sean_haughey@education.gov.ie, paul.kehoe@oireachtas.ie, billy.kelleher@eircom.net, peter.kelly@oireachtas.ie, bwk@eircom.net, michael.kennedy@oireachtas.ie, enda.kenny@oireachtas.ie, ministerofstate@dcmnr.gov.ie, minister.kitt@taoiseach.gov.ie, michael.kitt@oireachtas.ie, seamus.kirk@oireachtas.ie, brian.lenihan@oireachtas.ie, conor.lenihan@oireachtas.ie, michael.lowry@oireachtas.ie, kathleen.lynch@oireachtas.ie,tom.mcellistrim@oireachtas.ie, martin.mansergh@oireachtas.ie, minister_martin@entemp.ie, padraic.mccormack@oireachtas.ie, jim.mcdaid@oireachtas.ie, ciaran.lynch@oireachtas.ie, shane.mcentee@oireachtas.ie, dinny.mcginley@oireachtas.ie, mattie.mcgrath@oireachtas.ie, michael.mcgrath@oireachtas.ie, finian.mcgrath@oireachtas.ie, minister@agriculture.gov.ie, john.moloney@oireachtas.ie, joe.mchugh@oireachtas.ie, liz.mcmanus@oireachtas.ie, olivia.mitchell@oireachtas.ie, john.mcguinness@oireachtas.ie, arthur.morgan@oireachtas.ie, michael.moynihan.td@oireachtas.ie, michael.mulcahy@oireachtas.ie, denis.naughten@oireachtas.ie, sean.ofearghail@oireachtas.ie, mj.nolan@oireachtas.ie, michael.noonan@oireachtas.ie, ocaolain@oireachtas.ie, aire@pobail.ie, minister_okeeffe@education.gov.ie, daniel.neville@oireachtas.ie, aengus.osnodaigh@oireachtas.ie, darragh.obrien@oireachtas.ie, charlie.oconnor@oireachtas.ie, kieran.odonnell@oireachtas.ie, john.odonoghue@oireachtas.ie, fergus.odowd@oireachtas.ie, noel.oflynn@oireachtas.ie, rory.ohanlon@oireachtas.ie, webmaster@defence.irlgov.ie, jim.okeefe@oireachtas.ie, ned.okeefe@oireachtas.ie, john.omahony@oireachtas.ie, sean.power@oireachtas.ie, boshea@eircom.net, christy.osullivan@oireachtas.ie, jan.osullivan@oireachtas.ie, willie.penrose@oireachtas.ie, john.perry@oireachtas.ie, mary.orourke@Oireachtas.ie, peter.power@oireachtas.ie, ruairi.quinn@oireachtas.ie, pat.rabbitte@oireachtas.ie, james.reilly@oireachtas.ie, alan.shatter@oireachtas.ie, dick.roche@oireachtas.ie, tanaiste@entemp.ie, minister.ryan@dcmnr.gov.ie, trevor.sargent@oireachtas.ie, eamon.scanlon@oireachtas.ie, michael.ring@oireachtas.ie, pj.sheehan@oireachtas.ie, sean.sherlock@oireachtas.ie, tom.sheahan@oireachtas.ie, roisin.shortall@oireachtas.ie, joanna.tuffy@oireachtas.ie, emmet.stagg@oireachtas.ie, dstanton@eircom.net, billy.timmins@oireachtas.ie, noel.treacy@oireachtas.ie, mary.upton@oireachtas.ie, michael.woods@oireachtas.ie, jack.wall@oireachtas.ie, mary_wallace@health.irlgov.ie, marya.white@oireachtas.ie, leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie,

The Next Generation of Broadband

2008-07-03T10:25:00.003Z

Is this another joke?
The NEXT generation of broadband is being rolled out?
The first generation is still in nappies!

Were you told that every primary school in Ireland now has broadband access?
Not so.
Some can't access anything.
Most have something, but it's as slow as dial-up, sometimes slower.
Some schools have reverted back to dial-up, because their so-called mega fast broadband is so painfully slow and unworkable.

This wonderful government has no meas in I.T. anyway.
How do I know this?

1. Mary Hanafin promised a "copper-fastened" (her words) 230ish million euro for schools.
That's seriously in doubt now, according to Batt.
It was always in doubt, Mary just spun and spun it.
She announced that scheme about 17 times, but delivered not one cent.

2. The last computer the Department of Education and Science provided to primary schools was circa 1998 / 1999, and that was a donation from Gateway. Parents are expected to fundraise since. So, we have so-called braodband in our schools, and a 10year old computer is meant to run it? I wonder how many Ministers have 10 year old computers on their desk?

3. 21 ICT Advisors based in Education Centres have been "returned to their schools". This means that schools now have ZERO access to experts. Batt's office says they want to support the individual school's ICT co-ordinator now. Whaaaa? Who's that? Most schools don't have such a thing. Those that do have a co-ordinator...well, it's just a title, it's just a teacher who has a class to teach and no time. He / she is not a technician who can maintain a 10 year old PC provided by Gateway on behalf of DES. The support is not there.

The timing of not renewing the contracts for these 21 ICT Advisors was partcularly disgraceful - the week of the holidays! Not only that, but each of the 21 are replaced in their schools (obviously) and 21 teachers who thought they had a job, who signed a contract! for a job - now do not actually have a job. DES don't care about being sued for breach of contract of course, because DES will pass the buck to the Board of Management, and let the ordinary Joe soap members of the Board get sued. Lovely!

4. Teachers do summer courses every summer. On-line ones have started to become very popular. They suit people, especially those with family commitments etc... they save on childminder fees, petrol, and can be done in your own time. They also encourage the use of I.T. Many teachers I know have used I.T. for the first time during an online summer course. Many teachers I know do 2-3 courses, some online, some face-to-face. What did the DES do this year? Decided that teachers can do as many face-to-face courses as they wish (as usual) but can only do ONE online course. What kind of discrimination and backward thinking is that? What kind of message does that give teachers about I.T.?

The Department of Education and Science don't think much of I.T., so when you hear the platitudes falling from FF mouths about the importance of I.T. going forward, to meet the needs of an expanding economy, to be well-placed for the resurgence in international markets - all of that babble-speak - know they're lying through their teeth.

The next generation of broadband?
Can we have the first generation first, please?
Can we have a REAL commitment to I.T.?
Can we stop LYING?
Can we educate our children for the future, please?
Any hope?

I'm Alive.

2008-06-30T14:23:00.003Z

Isn't it crazy the amount of people who kill their own people, i.e. husbands / wives, relations.
Sometimes I look at my dearly beloveds and wonder if they have it in them to do me in?
Surely not?
Although, beloved is always telling me (when there's a new murder on the news) that if he did the deed, he'd never be caught because he'd hide the body (mine!!) in the sceptic tank! Lovely!
Needless to say, I have told everyone to check there first if I go "missing".
This is all said in jest, but sometimes, just sometimes - I wonder?

Seriously though, isn't it a scary state of affairs when people who supposedly love each other can commit murder?

I am sometimes very sick of certain people in my life, but I don't think I could actually kill them. Disappear them to a gulag, yes, but kill them, no. What kind of a person would you have to be to kill someone? Maybe there's a killer in all of us given the right circumstances? What do you think?

Annoying People

2008-02-13T21:08:00.003Z

Anyone know how to block a number on a landline? on a mobile phone?
This person keeps ringing and annoying the absolute blazes out of me!
I can't call it a nuisance call exactly, because it's a relative......... Well, an in-law! So, I can't complain to the gardai, pity!
Worse again sez you and you'd be right, right, right!
Moany, groany, poor me phone calls!
Sickening rubbish.
I really want to screen these calls for a while.
Anyone know what to do?

An Open Letter To Minister Mary Harney

2008-01-27T21:43:00.000Z

Dear Minister Harney,
I have admired your guts and your work ethic for many years, but Mary, the health system is a crock!
A relative of mine (late 80s) was ambulanced to hospital yesterday morning.
He spent four and a half hours on a trolly in A&E, before being ambulanced to a second hospital for a scan.
The machine to perform the scan was available in hospital one, but these hospitals take turns to roster people to perform the scans at weekends. Saving money, I suppose, Mary... EXCEPT that hiring three ambulance crews on a Saturday (double time!) can't surely be cheaper than paying one or two scan people?????? Six crews actually, making 18 people, because there are two shifts.
Four hours more of lying on another trolley in hospital two, the scan was performed.
Three more hours were spent waiting for an ambulance crew to become available, to take the poor octogenarian back to hospital one. No, Mary, they were not rushed off their feet, they were on a break, then they changed shift, then it took a while to get cracking = 3 hours.
Back at hospital one, the octogenarian lay on yet another trolly in A&E waiting for a bed there all over again. Five hours more and a bed was sorted.
It was wretched. 17 hours of awfulness.
It was not an isolated incident.
Everyone we met was waiting for horrendous hours upon hours.
The stupendous lack of organisation and plain stupidity was evident on a huge scale in both hospitals.
Mary, please, for Ireland's sake, sort it, would you, please?
Mairéad.

Education in Ireland?

2007-12-18T19:45:00.000Z

We pride ourselves in Ireland of having a top class education system.
"Experts" maintain that we shouldn't be too worried about the building boom collapsing, because our real strength is our knowledge, our graduates, our people.
Various people have been questioning these facts recently.
Let's see, take a look at the primary (compulsory schooling) sector...

Mary Hanafin, T.D. Minister of Education and Science talks a damn good talk, but that's all it is - talk.
Remember when she promised to double the capitation grants paid to schools? Easter 2007 that was. INTO Congress actually - where she did NOT get a standing ovation, remember, but some journalists claimed that she did. Less than 8 months later and that promise was shown to be a complete lie.

Remember the class size protests we had all of last Winter by the INTO, teachers, parents and CPSMA? Did Mary lower our shockingly high class sizes and pupil-teacher ratio? Did she heck as like, as they say on Corrie. She won't either, according to Budget 2007! Your child, in a class of 20 plus cannot succeed as well as he / she could in a class of less than fifteen. I know hundreds and hundreds of classes of 30 plus. Your child! It is shameful. Mary Hanafin has done a great disservice to our children. How do you feel about that? I am as mad as Hell, but I'm worn down, fed up.

Remember how she talks and talks about how she has ploughed millions into special educational needs (SEN) pupils, and really, she can't do everything!!? It was Micheal Martin who did that in 1999. Mary did give a few hundred extra SEN teachers in 2005, but let's take a closer look at that. She only gave the bare minimum. She only gave enough to keep herself and her Government out of the courts. For example, currently, a child with dyslexia has NO RIGHT to extra specialised teaching, neither do kids with a Mild Learning Disability (LD) - these children used to have two and a half hours (PER WEEK - half a measly hour a day) but Mr. Noel Dempsey T.D. took that away and Mary kept it away; children with Down's Syndrome get NOTHING; children with a Moderate Learning Disability (more severe than a mild LD which we used to call "mentally disabled" back in our unenlightened day) - these children get 3 hours (PER WEEK - less than 40 minutes a day); children with Autism are entitled to 5 hours of extra, specialised teaching (PER WEEK - one hour per day)... What happens to these kids for the rest of the school day, the rest of the week? It's an absolute disgrace. Don't listen to a single word she ever says again. Do not believe her.

Remember the school building projects that she keeps on announcing? 25 million here, 3 billion there? It's easy to announce these things, what people don't realise is that she regularly announces plans for the same schools every year for 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 years, but makes no move whatsoever to build feck all!!!! Don't believe her. Don't be fooled by her. The Summer Works Scheme which was brutal to work around gave help to many schools to put in new windows, build toilets etc... She invited applications under this scheme but then suddenly did away with it after Budget 2007. Schools had to employ engineers etc... at 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 plus thousand euro a go in order to meet with the stringent application process - who pays them now?? The scheme used to cover these fees. Mary is not sure yet she says.... Schools have not got this money.

Water charges. Remember them? Hot potato this week. Now pretty much dropped. She didn't give a tu'ppeny damn about schools going into debt to pay these bills until she was told in no uncertain terms (this week) by teachers, principals and the INTO that if she wanted them paid then she would have to give the funds to pay them!!! Schools do not have this kind of money. These are State schools. The State must fund them. They are not funding primary schools even half way properly. Any funds that are given are given in installments, the first in Jan / Feb; so schools have to try to survive Sept, Oct; Nov; Dec; Jan. and usually Feb. with ZERO!!! Did you know that? It's an impossible situation. That's why schools go cap in hand to parents - wrongly, I believe. Very wrongly. Refuse to raise one penny for your local school ever again. Don't bake for the cake sale. Don't buy a cake. Definitely don't send in money for photocopying, art, drama... whatever. Schools should not ask for your money. They are in a very tight corner financially, because Mary is very, very, very seriously underfunding primary schools in Ireland. You can help more by writing to her and giving her a piece of your mind than by sending in that twenty euro that your schol really has no right to beg from you. Do not give it. Do not collect the Tesco, Super Valu, Dunnes tokens. Write to Mary. Tell her to fund your school properly.

Listen to the forked tongue of Mary Hanafin with new ears from now on....

Forgetful Michael Woods

2007-11-05T20:26:00.000Z

So, Brian Cowen changed the law so that Michael Woods could get the pension he forgot to claim?
"Ordinary" citizens who miss their pension deadlines have to just go and buzz off.
I say buzz off Michael Woods.
Remember this is the fella who "negotiated" with the church about their share of child sexual abuse claims! Negotiated? He cost the tax payer billions more like, and let the Church off with a negligible, capped, liability!!!!
Now we have to change the law to compensate him for his forgetfulness?
He should be compensating US!!
I hope every "ordinary" forgetful pensioner fights this one.

Blog Birthday

2007-11-01T19:08:00.000Z

I just realised that I've been blogging for a year now!
Yeeeeaaa.
Ooops, I missed my blog birthday.
My blog was one on October 29th.
Sorry blog!

What's Your Favourite Song

2007-10-24T19:26:00.000Z

I was thinking about favourite songs, and what they say about a person... For example, Roy Keane's favourite is said to be Bob Dylan's Positively 4th Street. Scroll down and read the lyrics. Here is a snippet:

You got a lotta nerve
To say you are my friend
When I was down
You just stood there grinning

It's just Roy all out, isn't it? Not that I even know him!
I was soooo busy analysing Roy, that I nearly fell off my chair when I thought of my own favourite song and what it might mean about ME!! As a teenager, my favourite was The Eagle's "Lying Eyes" and I still love it. I absolutely HATE deceit and lying of any kind.

Do we choose songs because they describe us? Do the lyrics simply resonate with us? Do we like something that agrees with our own point of view? Do we simply choose a snappy tune?

What is YOUR favourite song? Tell us - does it describe a deep part of you?

Positively 4th Street by Bob Dylan

You got a lotta nerve
To say you are my friend
When I was down
You just stood there grinning

You got a lotta nerve
To say you got a helping hand to lend
You just want to be on
The side that's winning

You say I let you down
You know it's not like that
If you're so hurt
Why then don't you show it

You say you lost your faith
But that's not where it's at
You had no faith to lose
And you know it

I know the reason
That you talk behind my back
I used to be among the crowd
You're in with

Do you take me for such a fool
To think I'd make contact
With the one who tries to hide
What he don't know to begin with

You see me on the street
You always act surprised
You say, "How are you?" "Good luck"
But you don't mean it

When you know as well as me
You'd rather see me paralyzed
Why don't you just come out once
And scream it

No, I do not feel that good
When I see the heartbreaks you embrace
If I was a master thief
Perhaps I'd rob them

And now I know you're dissatisfied
With your position and your place
Don't you understand
It's not my problem

I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
And just for that one moment
I could be you

Yes, I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
You'd know what a drag it is
To see you

Spin and Bull

2007-10-04T22:15:00.000Z

Well, I've heard it all now....
The new road linking Cork to Killarney is going to be re-routed because ecologists have found Killarney slugs in Cascade Wood in Ballyvourney. This road was to be built over 30 years ago and is a disgrace between Macroom and Killarney. The new GREEN Minister has said absolutely no to the slug destroyers!
Slugs?
The re-routing will cost a fortune! A fortune!
For slugs?
I know this wood. It's about 2 acres in size only. It's wild.
A big scelp of it was cut out of it only a few weeks ago for a prominent local politician's son to build a house on it.
Where were the slugs then?
Another well-connected fella cuts timber from it for his wood-burning stove!!!
What about the Slugs? Who will save the slugs from the builder? the chainsaw? the stove????
I listened to a programme about it on RTE Radio 1 tonight - The Green Light or something it's called. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The fabulousness of the slug was mentioned many times, and the ferns and the trees...... Some ecologist lady said how marvellous it is that the locals are full behind the protection of the slug and the wood..... No, they're not! They think it's a load of crap!
Spending possible millions to save a fecking slug?
I'm all for protecting our environment, but this is derisory!!
A slug, like??
Ah g'way from me wudja!

What about Miriam?

2007-09-26T20:57:00.000Z

OK we're all good and sick of Bertie and his escapades - but what about Miriam Ahern?
Why is she staying so quiet?
If my ex-husband was using our break-up and ME as an excuse for his tally-ho, I think I'd have something to say about it. (I don't have an ex-husband, thank God, they sound like nothing but trouble!)
If my ex-husband closed his bank accounts, dealt in cash, seemingly hid money and did me out of my due marriage settlement... I doubt I'd be silent! I doubt I'd be invisible! I doubt I'd hang out with him in public like Miriam did during the election!
How did Bertie swing the election is an easy one compared to - how did Bertie secure Miriam's support even though he "done" her?
The most cunning of them all, boy!
Did he promise her the moon?
Maybe we're all wrong about him and he's a great guy?
Miriam! What's the story?

New Adventure

2007-08-02T12:21:00.000Z

I took my courage into my hands over the weekend and bought something on e-bay!
I was too scared until now, but we needed a TV bracket that we couldn't find in the shops (for less than €250!), so I had a look on-line. I found a few great ones on e-bay, so I decided to have a go.
It was so exciting, bidding away.
I won it for £40.
The bracket was delivered on Wednesday, so that's not bad at all. It looks great.

I bought a much bigger (more expensive) item on Monday (again for a snip compared to the shops). That time the bidding was frenetic. I loved it, but stuck to my limit and I won again! It hasn't arrived yet, so I hope everything goes ok, but I'm feeling positive enough.
I have bought on-line before, but never on e-bay.
Was I the last e-bay virgin in Cork?

Liar, liar.

2007-07-10T22:21:00.000Z

Do you know a liar?
I do.
It's a person within my close circle.
He tells lies all the time.
He tells huge lies and stupid, pointless lies with the same unflinching gaze.
He gets really angry if he is doubted.
He has no word.
He is often caught out.
He brazens it out usually - "So what!" kind of thing.
He blames others (including me) for forcing him to lie!!
That drives me nuts.
He promises faithfully that he will never, ever lie again.
He does.
Again and again and again.
What to do?

The Irish Phone-Call Home

2007-06-17T12:22:00.000Z

John Mc got me thinking about the Irish phone-call to the old sod (land, not old fella!) in his response to my comment over at his place.
It made me remember the hoops my parents had to go through to phone home in the early 70s, when we lived in England, as part of the Irish diaspora.
Mam would write to her parents to tell them that she would phone the one and only local phone box at 6.30p.m. on Thursday, 17th of June - she'd give about 2 weeks notice in case someone else wanted to get a call on that day at that time - on that phone!
Then, the day before the big event, I would be given the job of phoning the operator, asking for the international operator, then the "Irish service" to book the call for the following day. I never questioned why I was given this job - even though I was only a kid!! Thinking about it today though, it was probably because I was the eldest kid, and because the operator might not understand my parents' Irish accent? As I think on it, they used to have quite a bit of trouble being understood by the natives. It didn't affect us too much though, because the Irish tended to stick together.
Anyway, the big day would come, and we would all be crowded around the phone. I would go through the rigmarole again at 6pm - 1. operator 2. international operator 3. Irish service - speaking to each operator in turn. Eventually, we'd get through to Ireland. Then the fun would start!! I would be put through to God knows how many exchanges, asking for Ballymagash 4 * (roaring down the phone because they couldn't hear me!!), spelling it, saying what county it was in - looking back, it was a scream, at the time though it was quite serious, because my parents contact with home lay in my young hands!
At long, long last, I'd be put through to another person and I'd say, "Hello, is that Ballymagash 4*?" and if everything had gone right (it didn't always) then I'd hear, "Hello, is that you, Mairéad, this is your granda. You're a great girl. Is your Mammy waiting there for me?" I'd hand over the phone, and Mam would get all the news of the weather, the weddings, funerals, illnesses - just like John Mc gets today when he rings home.
Like I said to John - some things have changed utterly, while other things haven't changed at all.

*Ballymagash 4 wasn't the number, but it was close. We didn't get an automatic service where I live in Cork until about 1984?? maybe later. We were physically "put through" by a local person whom we all knew, and by God but she knew all about us too, thanks to her excellent listening skills!!!

What a Week!

2007-06-15T21:25:00.000Z

Well, I have survived! So far anyway!
The two stressful things turned into three!!
First, I had an interview for promotion. That was the 6/10 one on the stressometer. It turned out well in the end. I got it. Yeaaa. Very stressful though.
Next, I can't talk about it - subjudicae - that was the 10/10 one, and t'was a good ten alright. Feicfimis.
Third, we got a little surprise visitor from Mr. Stress - hubby got news that he is facing redundancy. Not pleasant.
I suspect that the hundreds of job losses announced this week were kept under wraps until after the election. What do you think?

So, all in all, a very tough week.
I hadn't time to give the yoga a go, John, or the walk and soak, Conan, so I did a spot of deep breathing as per FMC. It worked!! Many thanks for the support everyone.

Stress

2007-06-05T21:24:00.000Z

I'm feeling a bit stressed these days.
I have two high-pressures things to do within a week.
Both have been brewing for a while.
The first thing is tomorrow (Wed), and it's been on the boil since September. It's about a 6 out of ten on the stress scale.
The second thing is worse, and has been hanging over me for about three and a half years. It's definitely a ten out of ten. It's hitting boiling point next week.

The butterflies are in full flight. I'm bilious and queasy. I'm nervous, irritable, cranky and a bit scared.
Any tips on getting through tough times?

P.S. My first-born starts his Leaving Cert exams tomorrow too. He's extremely laid back, cool and calm - long may it last!

I'm alright, Jack - local politics win the day?

2007-05-27T11:47:00.000Z

Well, the unthinkable has happened. Fianna Fail have been embraced for another term by the people of Ireland. This means that we'll have 15 years in a row of lies and broken promises. It means that FF will have been in power for most of the last quarter of a century, except for a couple of brief spells here and there!! That's just not healthy.

Why did it happen? Greed? A feeling that they're all the same? A wish to let FF deal with the predicted job losses and general economic slow-down? I think it's because people wanted to vote in their local man ( and it was nearly all men again). I don't understand that argument. Surely, we need an overall Government, overall policy, overall planning?? Not fabulous roads in South Kerry from Jackie-Healy Rae, for example, while the surrounding roads are pitiable!!

We don't quite know yet who will form our brand new, shiny Government, but the Fianna Failers look set to be the bosses! Brian Cowen (Bertie's next in command and "very close, personal friend" - wonder if he ever gave him a dig out?) raged yesterday that he doesn't need anyone to straighten him up or to clean him up (it seems someone from the Green Party said FF needed just that - imagine!).

If FF choose to take a few Independents into their arms, you can be sure they'll strike a hard bargain. Jackie will want more fine roads; Tony will want x,y,z for inner city Dublin, Beverley will want the same for her gaff. People are saying that this crack would be terrible for the country. Let's face the truth though, every TD is an Independent in a way, because they have to satisfy their own local constituents in our local politics-system. Can a country really be run properly like this?

Pick your party

2007-05-21T20:05:00.000Z

Check out this website:
www.pickyourparty.ie
answer a few questions and find the political party closest to your own beliefs.

By the way, are those polls for real?
Will Fianna Fail actually get back in to Government again?
15 years of lies?
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

The Real Issues?

2007-05-17T19:18:00.000Z

What are the real issues in this election?
Bertie and co. keep telling us to get off his case and talk about the real issues, so what are they?
I suppose that depends on who you are, where you stand, what you need.
The nurses think that the main issue is a 35 hour week and more pay.
The consultants think the main issue is to hold what they have.
The teachers think that having one of the largest class sizes in Europe is the main issue.
Lots of people think that the mega house prices, long commutes and lack of child care are the main issues.
Others believe that law and order madness is the main issue.

I asked my firstborn what he thought (he'll be voting for the first time next week). He gave a great answer, that I never thought of, but I like.
He said that the main issue that needs to be resolved in Ireland today is our I.T. situation. We need fast broadband all over Ireland TODAY. We need proper funding in schools for I.T. TODAY. We need to get way up to speed on I.T. in order to have a hope of competing with other countries now and in the future.

We are miles behind. Do you know how many computers the Government have bought for Irish primary schools? NONE. Yes, that's right - ZERO. In around 1998, Gateway GAVE every primary school ONE machine, not the Government. Parents and teachers fundraised to buy others. Tesco got shoppers to collect tokens for more. The Government gave schools grants in 2000 of a couple of grand, to spend on I.T. - software, printers, ink cartridges the whole lot. A few schools managed to buy a computer or two maybe. Nothing for years now, not a penny. Schools got broadband during the last 6-12 months, but it is absolutely dire - so slow. Many schools have returned to dial-up, to get a more reliable, faster service! Imagine! Not one cent has ever been given to schools for upkeep, maintenance, renewal etc.... No grants for building a computer room either! It's a joke, except it's not funny.

We have fallen completely behind in the I.T. field in Ireland, and it could very well BE the main issue.

What do you think?

Ah sure we all love the nurses

2007-05-10T19:09:00.000Z

Did you hear Mary Harney saying that on Questions and Answers a couple of weeks ago? She was showing the nurses her tough, but caring side, giving out about their strike action. The audience were drawing in their breath a bit, so she said:
"Ah sure, we all love the nurses" or something like that.
I've been thinking about it.
I don't love the nurses.
Most of my experiences with nurses have been bad ones.
The nurses I know personally have told me great, gas stories about night shift when five are on duty, but four go to bed for the night!!?? (I wasn't impressed!). They told me about the overtime they get paid; the anti-social hours money they get paid; the three days on and four days off they work; the bitchiness towards each other and to patients who complain; the way they won't "lower themselves" to carry out duties that I thought were "nursing" the patient???.....
I'd get over all that, but, other experiences I've had with nurses aren't as easy to take. For example, the slowness in bringing pain relief to someone in absolute agony; the impatience, bluntness and roughness after I had my first baby; the promise to get something / someone when they get a chance and never doing it; the making me feel like I was getting a huge favour when they did something for me / my child / husband / mother; the baby talk to me, as if I was an imbecile; the needless temperature taking just when the poor patient had gotten off to sleep; the endless, pointless walking around they do up and down the corridors, in and out of offices just amazes and maddens me; the bed sores from neglect; the fear they have instilled in my old people; the calling them by their first name when they might have preferred Mr / Mrs; the night-time eating of my little four year old cousin's sweeties as she watched helplessly...

Nah. I don't like nurses in general. I really like my nurse friends, and I'm sure that some nurses are absolutely fabulous. I just haven't met many on my travels through our hospitals.

Do you trust Bertie Ahern?

2007-04-30T20:42:00.000Z

I see that a few "new revealations" have leaked out again today, showing Bertie in a less-than-honest light...
Let me just say: I don't belong to any political party. I don't vote along party lines / family tradition. I am a floating voter. I don't know WHO the hell I will vote for this time, but I will vote.
Back to Bertie Ahern.
Do you trust him?
I don't.
I can't believe the brass neck of the man. I can't stomach his flustering half truths. I am absolutely astonished that ANYONE bought his ol' tripe about the last bit of trouble he had. The people who saw a tear in his eye on the news, felt sorry for him and ripped into anyone who had a bad word to say about him, like er.. the opposition... (I thought that was their job?)
"The most devious of them all" - Charlie Haughey described Bertie Ahern thus! Mmmmm, well, that coming from Charlie, Bertie must be pretty damn devious then?!
Fianna Fáil lied through their teeth before the last election. Promised us the world and no additional taxation. Lies and damn lies.
I didn't believe them then.
I don't believe them now.
I definitely won't be voting for more nods, winks and lies for another five years!
Anyone else?

* For those outside Ireland:
Our Taoiseach (Prime Minister), Bertie Ahern, has called an election for the end of May. He has been caught out in many "uncertain" situations over the last many years. Some of those came to light earlier this year. Amazingly, Bertie's popularity grew - he cultivated and gained a lot of public sympathy. He has been caught out again today with a few more irregularities - e.g. cash was given to his life partner of the time. Was it a brown envelope (bribe)????

Watch out for 4 Homes!

2007-04-24T21:01:00.000Z

I bought a few things from 4Homes in Killarney over the weekend. Boring household items, but at good prices - or so I thought...
Turns out that the advertised prices (on the shelves) and the sticker prices (on the items themselves) were not the REAL prices.
They added VAT on at the till!
I thought that was illegal?
False advertising?
Reportable to the consumer watchdog?
I didn't cop it until I got home.
What should I do?

In the meantime, don't get caught out yerselves!!!

P.S. I love you, Wayne, for that beautiful goal tonight! (Yes! Wayne reads this blog... well, he might!!!)

Births in Ireland To Unmarried Couples

2007-04-20T19:58:00.000Z

I read somewhere recently that something like 57% of births in Cork hospitals nowadays are to unmarried couples.
I was shocked!
Not shocked, as in morally, socially, economically..... shocked, just shocked at the change in Ireland.
When I was pregnant with my first-born, and booking the hospital / doctor, (only 18 years ago!) I had to fill in a form that required my date of marriage. That was ok for me, we were married a couple of years, but I know a lot of women who were really upset and ashamed about that question. Some of them even lied to cover up being pregnant when they got married!! That was wrong. Why did it matter? Why did the hospital / doctor need to know that?
How things have changed!
Thanks God they have!
Have we gone too far?
Discuss.

Standing Ovation? Nah!!

2007-04-10T14:39:00.000Z

Minister of Education and Science, Mrs. Mary Hanafin, DID NOT get a standing ovation from primary teachers this morning - at the I.N.T.O. Annual Congress. I heard on the radio that she did, but I was there and I assure you that she DID NOT!
Minister Mary and the Government promised - 5 years ago, before the last election, funnily enough!!! - that no child under nine years old would be taught in a class of over 24 pupils. That promise has been completely broken. We have the highest class sizes in the developed world!! We are awash with billions, but years 1 to 3 of the life of this Government, no change was made to class sizes whatsoever. The last school year got a decrease of one, next year is supposed to see another decrease of one. This means that instead of the promised class size of 24, our children are in classes of 28 (average) after over five years of this Government and 27 next year if they keep that promise!
Teachers are hopping mad over the size of classes in Irish primary schools - FOR THE CHILDRENS' SAKE. The INTO launched a huge campaign this Spring to get the Government to keep their class size promise of 24.
This morning, Minister Mary told us that she will decrease class sizes by one in 2008, one in 2009, one in 2010 - then, we will have our promised class size of 24, which was promised in 2002!!
She has been telling us and telling us , and she told us again this morning, that she prioritised special needs, and gave the teachers to help special needs and disadvantaged. She did. Why? She was going to be sued to Hell and back for the excrutiatingly inadequate provision for special ed. in our schools, that's why! She HAD to do better. Mind you, she actually gave very, very little. For example, she gave 5 hours PER WEEK to autistic children; 3 hours PER WEEK to children with Moderate Learning Disability (very low IQ)..... in other words, she gave a pittance. The bare minimum. No great shakes to be boasting about!!!
It needn't have been an either / or situation though. The money was there and IS there to do both. It's a bit of a joke to give a special needs child half an hour a day with a specialist teacher, and let them sit in an overcrowded classroom for the rest of the day!!!! These children need specialist interventions, AND every child needs a small class size. I personally think that 24 is too high. Imagine trying to teach 24 young children! Imagine trying to give them individual attention as per the Revised primary Curriculum? It simply cannot be done. It's such a shame because it's a really good, active, hands-on, child-centred, child-friendly, joyous curriculum.

Did Minister Mary really get a standing ovation for the tale she spun to us this morning?
NOT A CHANCE!
Does she really think that we will fall for that old chestnut for a second time?
I won't!

Car Insurance companies don't do what they say on the tin!!!

2007-03-29T20:37:00.000Z

Well, over 9 weeks after my tumble on black ice, I have AT LAST received my insurance pay out.
It has been Hell.
When their cheque has cleared I will post more fully on this diabolical gang.
For now, let me warn fellow drivers about a couple of presumptions I had that turned out to be wishful thinking / WRONG!

Comprehensive insurance does not cover you comprehensively.
YOU WILL BE OUT OF POCKET!
Do not accept their first offer. I squeezed another grand out of them.
A "write-off" does not necessarily mean that the car cannot be driven again. My insurance company interpret it as meaning that I cannot drive it again, THEY will not pay for it to be fixed, BUT they will arrange for it to be sold to a SALVAGE DEALER so that they can fix it and sell it on to some poor creature... That is just immoral and I told them so. My garage told me that my car would never again be safe to drive!
A salvage dealer does not deal with salvage, as I understood it, i.e. use a "write off" for spare parts. They actually fix written off cars and sell them to some unsuspecting person for a massive profit!!
My insurance company gave me a cheque for 3/4 of the claim and expected me to get the rest from their salvage dealer!!!! This is just plain wrong, and disgusting. I kept explaining to them that I am insured by them - NOT HIM!!! Don't even know the man!
My car was taxed from Dec 06 to 07 - they gave me no credit (CASH!!!) for that.
My car was NCTd on 4th of Jan 07 - they gave me no credit for that.
Be a total bastard to them. They don't return calls to nice people.
Don't bother with the poor lads and lasses answering the phones - get the manager!

I hope this helps someone. I am shellshocked.

Bertie - Taoíseach or Fuhrer?

2007-03-24T21:22:00.000Z

I just saw the last five minutes of Bertie's address to the Fianna Fáil Árd Fheis on telly.
I can't get over how cocky he was! Really puffed up and oozing confidence.
Also, the camera focused on a few faces (women) and they looked absolutely ecstatic... That's the best word I can think of to describe their enthralled expressions and huge smiles!
The crowd were waving a load of little, green flags!
Are they for real? Do they REALLY think that this Government, this man, is doing a good job for Ireland? Maybe they've been hypnotised? The glazed expressions indicated some kind of mind control??

My first born will vote for the first time during the next election. He was watching with me. This is what he said about Bertie -
He reminds me of Hitler, when he gave the "Ein volk, ein reich, ein Fuhrer" speech!
Quite!

Abuse in Primary Schools

2007-03-24T00:10:00.000Z

The Prime Time special on Thursday night was excellent.
The fact that the Department of Education and Science (DES) wriggle out of paying compensation to children who were abused at primary school is yet another disgrace from this appalling Government.
I've posted before about how the DES refuse to acknowledge that they are the employers of primary teachers. Why? It must be so that they don't have to be responsible for them. They're now doing the same thing to our children. They don't want to be responsible for them either. The State insists that children attend primary school, but they refuse to be responsible if they are abused by their teachers. The DES tell them to go off and sue the Board of Management if they like!! Now, in fairness!! Boards of Management (BOM) are made up of ordinary people working as volunteers, without any real training at all, with no real power. Yes, the BOM has to go through the motions of power, but they have to implement DES rules and memoes, they must allow inspection by DES inspectors, they oversee the process of appointing teachers, but both the Patron and the DES must sanction their decision! the DES wants its bread buttered on both sides - all of the power but no responsibility! Now the DES want victims of abuse in primary schools to sue the volunteers!!! instead of them??? It makes me sick.
So much makes me sick about this Government, but doing the dirty on our children is THE WORST YET.

Roy Keane has a sense of humour!

2007-03-23T23:49:00.000Z

Roy Keane has a sense of humour! No big surprise to me, but if you don't believe me, listen to his interview with Mario Rosenstock's "Roy" on this morning's GiftGrub on Today FM Radio. I'm not sure that I could laugh at someone impersonating me to my face!

Here's the link, but it was down earlier when I tried it (too many people were trying to access it), so apologies if it doesn't work immediately for you. Persevere with it though, it's a scream.

http://www.todayfm.com/article.asp?id=375327

Roy talks up again

2007-03-22T22:24:00.000Z

"Roy's off on another rant", I've heard, or "That Roy Keane is having another go at the soccer lads, would he ever leave them alone.....", I've heard that too.

I think we need a few more men like Roy to shake up our little country. Someone to tell the truth, grab the bull by the horns, get things done. He might anger a few people, but am I bovvered? Not one bit. The more he annoys mediocre chancers the more I admire him.

For the record, this is what he said:

“When a team’s not performing and not winning football matches, you’ve got to look at who’s not being selected. If you keep picking the same players who are not performing all the time, it’s insanity — you get the same result.

“We all know which players we’re talking about. There’s a fine line between loyalty and stupidity. A very fine line. You’ve got to be loyal to lads who’ve done okay. But to keep playing them on reputations they’ve built up through the media or because they do lots of interviews, that is wrong — 100 per cent wrong.

“In Steve’s defence, a manager can only do so much. Come Saturday against Wales, the senior players have to step up to the plate. You look at some of the lads we have at the bigger clubs: Robbie’s doing okay at Tottenham, John O’Shea’s in and out at United, Duffer’s at Newcastle. Who else? Shay is at Newcastle. None of these players are setting the world alight at their respective clubs. The senior lads need to help the younger players and not expect young [Anthony] Stokes or Stephen Ireland to come on and do the business.

“If Miller was from further up the country, I’m pretty sure he’d be in the Irish squad. But if you’re telling me that he isn’t among the best 22 players. There’s lads in the squad who are not even in their own first team squads. I don’t just say these things. There’s no doubt in my mind that being from Cork certainly doesn’t help him. It happened to me when I was 17 or 18, not getting a game with Irish youth teams because there were lads ahead of you who were a year younger and could still have played a year later.

“It happened to me in Bray when we played France. The lads that got in ahead of me that night were from Dublin and the manager that night was from Dublin. I know Steve Staunton’s not from Dublin but a lot of the FAI are.

“If you’re celebrating on the pitch after beating San Marino then that does worry me. And that comes from the top, from the FAI. If you’re used to the mediocre, that will get through to the players. The ‘That’ll do’ attitude has been going on far too long. I think even the Irish fans are getting a bit fed up with it. All fans want is the players to give 100 per cent. Everyone needs to do a bit more.

“The FAI and the soccer can learn a lot from the rugby lads, even the cricket lads. If you go into something believing you’re going to get there, then there’s a good chance you’ll get there. If you think you’re not going to get there, it’s a guarantee you won’t get there. You cut corners, and that gets through to the team. It’s got to be all or nothing.

“It goes back to me in 2002. If you prepare for something and it’s not right, you’re going to get bloody nowhere. Have the FAI improved? I don’t know really. I don’t care. But you’ve got to treat the players right, you’ve got to prepare them properly. I said it before, 2002 with me was the tip of the iceberg. And that was a farce. But there have been others. I’m sure ex-players could tell you hundreds of stories. Eventually it has to stop.

“I don’t think supporters want to hear that. Then you’re beaten even before you start. You shouldn’t fear anybody. We’ve been in tough groups before and qualified. But if you’re going into it thinking, ‘we should be peaking in three or four years’ time’, then what message does that send to everybody? You’re getting your excuses in first.

“As an international manager you really can’t be looking four years down the line. Because you won’t be there four years down the line. If you keep losing football matches, it doesn’t matter whether you have a ten-year contract, you’ll be sacked.

“Look at the rugby lads. They don’t seem to be resting on their laurels or patting each other on the back for winning Triple Crowns. They want to be winning Grand Slams and going to the World Cup. That comes from the manager and the staff. I’ve met them and that’s what they believe.

“I was watching the cricket team the other night. Brilliant. Beating a country who live and breathe the game of cricket. You can achieve anything you want if you believe it. If you don’t believe it, and that’s coming, like I keep saying, from the FAI, or the manager or the staff, then you’re going to get nowhere.”

Wikipedia - Somebody's Big Brother is watching you!

2007-03-18T20:35:00.000Z

I presume you've all heard of the on-line encyclopaedia - wikipedia - at:
http://www.wikipedia.org/

Well, have a look at the competition - conservapedia - at:
http://www.conservapedia.com/Main_Page

I thought it was a joke, but seemingly not.
Interestingly, you can search wikipedia for conservapedia and get a fair amount of information - see here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservapedia

BUT conservapedia only gives wikipedia a couple of lines:
http://www.conservapedia.com/Wikipedia

Try searching both of these sites for the same subject. Try "abortion" for example - it's completely amazing the difference in the information we're given. Actually, it's dangerous, e.g. the snip on one of them that states that abortion definitely causes cancer, while the other site completely refutes that. Which one is telling the truth? I think I know!

Teacher Beliefs / Orientation

2007-03-14T19:24:00.000Z

Do you think that it matters what teachers believe (Religion-wise)?
Do you think that it matters if your child's teacher is straight or gay or bisexual or transexual?
Do you believe that teachers should be treated differently to all other workers in Ireland? They are!
Ironically, Section 37 (1) of the Employment Equality Acts 1998 and 2004 treat teachers unequally - legally!!!
This Section 37 (1) states that a school with a religious ethos* does not discriminate against employees if it takes action to prevent employees from undermining this ethos.
It's unclear what this means exactly, which of course is normal for Department of Education and Science - speak and Catholic church - speak.
The Irish National Teachers' Organization (INTO) are trying hard to get this section deleted from the Act, seeing it as potentially discriminating against teachers based on their life-style choices.
No other employees are expected to uphold the ethos of their employer.
Equality is equality. This inference that some employees are more equal than others is just tooooooo George Orwell for 2007! (Animal Farm - "Some animals are more equal than others").

*The majority of primary schools in Ireland have a Catholic ethos and have the local Bishop as their patron. Primary teachers teach Religion - without pay!

Better news for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender primary teachers in Ireland is that they have formed support groups under the umbrella of the INTO.

Our Health Service Is A Disgrace!

2007-03-07T14:14:00.000Z

My sister's daughter, C, fell and fractured her wrist on Saturday. The local, main hospital doesn't do x-rays on weekends - I'm NOT joking - so she got one on Monday! The doctors there told my sister that C would need to have her wrist in plaster for 4 weeks, BUT, they don't do plasters!!! She had to make an appointment with the University hospital (almost 50 miles away) for yesterday, Tuesday, to get the plaster put on. First though they had to meet the CONSULTANT. Their appointment was for 8a.m. (how inconvenient can you get, like?), and they waited for 4 hours to see this God. When they did, he looked at the x-rays from the original hospital, and agreed that yes, C had fractured her wrist and yes, she needed a plaster. Off they went to the plaster suite. Waited another 2 hours. Eventually they met the "plasterers", who did their thing very efficiently and quickly. My sister was all praise for these two lads, but she couldn't understand what all the waiting was about. There was hardly anyone in there. She was amazed at how many doctors and nurses were walking around all day, seemingly doing nothing. Even my young niece, C, remarked on it, asking her Mom why so many people were walking up and down the corridors and how come nobody was working? Out of the mouth of babes...... When they were done, my sister collected her other kids from various minders and got home eventually at about 5pm, after leaving home that morning at 6.15a.m.
This is just crap. That job should've taken a couple of hours max. The original hospital should've been able to set the wrist, or if they couldn't then surely they should've been believed??? Why did they have to wait all day to see that consultant to rubber stamp the original hospital's finding? Why were they given such an early, totally inconvenient appointment?
Luckily, C's fractured wrist was relatively minor, BUT, if a small thing like that can't even be done properly, well, I'd hate to be seriously ill in this country.
Our health system is a disgrace!

Stroke Identification

2007-03-02T22:30:00.000Z

My friend sent the text below to me in an e-mail and encouraged me to spread the word.

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:
During a BBQ, my friend, Ingrid, stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) and just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food - while she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening. Ingrid's husband called later that night to say that his wife had passed away. She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today. Some don't die. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead. It only takes a minute to read this...
A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE
Remember the "3" steps, STR .

S * Ask the individual to SMILE .
T * Ask the person to TALK to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently) (i.e. . . It is sunny out today).
R * Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS .

NOTE : Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out their tongue. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other that is also an indication of a stroke. If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call 999 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

Ironic or What?

2007-02-27T16:33:00.000Z

Remember Bishop Eamonn Casey of Galway?
Remember he "misappropriated" funds from the Catholic church's charity Trócaire? (in order to keep his secret love child with Ms. Annie Murphy a secret - remember?)
Well, every year Trócaire run a Lenten Campaign - they give boxes to every church in Ireland, for every Catholic in Ireland to fill up during Lent with the pennies saved from giving up sweets, drinks, cigarettes, whatever.
There was a time not very long ago when children brought the full boxes in to school and the teachers had to count the coppers for the priest.
Every year, they have a theme for their fundraiser.
Guess what it is this year?
Gender Equality.
Yes, the most gender unequal club in Christendom is raising money to help stamp out gender inequality.
Ironic or what?
Wonder what Annie Murphy would make of it???

Saucy E-mails: New Rules in the UK Could Land Sender On Sex Offenders List

2007-02-20T20:51:00.000Z

Saw this article on the web.
"PCness gone crazy" or "about time too"?
Read on:

Racy E-mails Could Land Sender On Sex Offenders List

A new amendment to the Sexual Offences Act in the U.K. could land people on the register for sending e-mails of a 'sexual nature.'

By Sharon Gaudin
InformationWeek

Feb 20, 2007 12:25 PM

If you live in the United Kingdom, you better give serious thought before you forward the latest racy e-mail to a bunch of friends or colleagues. You could end up on a sex offenders' registry.

Sophos, an antivirus and antispam company, is warning users that a recent amendment to the U.K.'s Sexual Offences Act, which was first introduced in 2003, now lists electronic communication found to be "grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene, or menacing character" as punishable by a Sexual Offences Prevention Order. Sending e-mails of a "sexual nature" could land the sender on the sex offenders' register, according to media reports in the United Kingdom.

The amendment brings electronic communications into the scope of offenses being monitored. Being added to the list is at the discretion of the police or a judge.

"Being listed on the sex offenders' register is no laughing matter," said Carole Theriault, senior security consultant at Sophos, in a written statement. "Although some senders might intentionally want to cause upset with an offensive e-mail, others might see it as a joke or a marketing tactic. The problem is that a recipient might see things very differently, so it is wise to think twice before pressing the send button.

"Businesses should clearly explain their electronic communication policies to their employees, as well as consider a security solution to help block undesirable messages from reaching a recipient's desktop," she wrote.

Homework for Kids??

2007-02-18T20:55:00.000Z

Do you think that primary school children should be given homework?
I don't.
All the usual arguments in favour of homework - contact with home, revision, get ready for secondary school homework etc.... have largely been squashed to pieces by research. For example, take a read of Alfie Kohn - he'll make you question this age-old Irish tradition. Sheila Wolfendale and David et al also write about homework / meaningful parental involvement in primary schools.

I completed all of my primary schooling in England (the Irish diaspora again!!) and never, ever, ever, ever, not even once got homework! My cousins in Ireland (same age as me) were given hours and hours of homework. Who got on better in secondary school? Me, by a hundred miles. Who went on to third level? Not them. They couldn't get out of school fast enough. I blame it on too much homework in primary school - they just HATED school, plenty of ability, but they wanted some free time and I don't blame them. Tommy Tiernan puts it well in his routine ("Cracked", I think) when he spoke about getting homework as a young child - "Homework! I had running around to be catching up with!!"

As a parent, the homework drives me insane. For example, why do some teachers give 20 plus of the same sums to do? Surely 4 or 5 would show whether or not the concept is secure. It's just busy work. Worse - if the kids can't do the sums then they're doing them incorrectly 20 or 30 times!! Then, it's often not even corrected, now what is the point of that??

I believe that prmary school pupils should never be given homework. Why?
1. It wastes good teaching and learning time in school - setting and correcting homework.
2. It can seriously damage the parent-child relationship. (Anyone who has argued with their child about homework will know what I mean). Parents are parents, it is wrong to redefine that relationship by making them "teach" homework that is often unclear.
3. Parents are not teachers, they don't know how to teach like teachers do and shouldn't be expected to do it.
4. Pupils don't want more school at home, they need to wind down, do other things.
5. Homework does not improve grades or IQ.
6. Research has consistently shown that homework does not create "good habits" for later schooling. It is more likely to turn children off!
7. Homework is frequently poorly thought out by teachers - given just to keep the parents happy!! Imagine that!
8. and 9. Homework is very seriosuly damaging to parent-teacher relationships, and in turn pupil-teacher respect ("Who does that Miss X thinks she is giving you 3 pages of Maths"..... junior listening to that doesn't help anything??).
10. Homework is a habit at best and lazy teaching at worst. Parents should never be expected to complete unfinished school work. Parents have their own jobs to do.
All in all, homework is worse than useless (worse, because it is actually damaging).
Children should definitely never be given homework until they can do it themselves - without any help.
What do ye think of that then?

Tazmanian Devil

2007-02-10T16:07:00.000Z

I feel like Taz, the cartoon tazmanian devil - remember him? He was always in a tizz about something. I'm in several tizzes at the moment. I feel like I'm fighting with everyone about everything:

The car insurance offered me a derisory amount for my crashed car, so I'm in severe battle mode with them.

My employer has made a mess of my salary three times this year based on wrong information they received from the tax office. I'm on to them frequently trying to straighten it out........... grinding my teeth.

The tax office are a right bunch of tulips. They have awarded me zero tax credits and zero cut-off point resulting on my salary effectively being docked an extra €200 per salary cheque. Every time I ring they tell me about another computer glitch (yeah right!) but they've fixed it now. Sure enough, no they haven't!! I had an actual pain in my bursting head yesterday after two farcical conversations with them. It must've been blood pressure?

I heard this week that an absolute chancer might be promoted to a very important position in my line of work. I am raging mad that we have such a system that rewards mediocrity and downright awfulness. This fella is lazy, incompetent, dishonest, useless, elitist, sneaky, liardy, ass-licky and generally ughy. I'll nearly have to take to my bed if he gets this job. It's unbelievably disgusting.

A wan at work is making me sick too. She's not great at her job, but amazingly good at passing the buck. I'm sick of her. So sick of her that I have gashes in my tongue from biting it. I'll probably snap at something small and irrelevant. Onlookers will think I'm nuts and I will be...

Last but by no means the bottom of my list - One of my friends dropped dead three weeks ago. Turns out his appendix burst and poisoned him. He was 43. Two different doctors told him he had a tummy bug, one prescribed motilium, the other said he'd be grand in a couple of days. He was six feet under in a couple of days.......... A terrible tragedy. I'm so mad about our cod of a health system. It's killing us. It doesn't need more money, it needs the people in it to do their bloody jobs!!

I'm really angry these days. I'm like a wound-up coil, ready to spring into attack. I can't fight everyone and everything. I've enough to be doing. Is it PMT? Am I turning psycho? Perhaps I've just had an unlucky couple of weeks having to deal with too many idiots in a row in an idiotic country?

San Marino V Ireland

2007-02-07T22:03:00.000Z

Good God! Roy Keane said today that Ireland would o' course win tonight, because San Marino are "shocking", and it should be an easy win for Ireland.
Yeah, it should've bin - instead we needed the ref's watch to go on strike.
Shocking is right, but so were Ireland!
Stevie Stan your days as Ireland Manager are numbered surely? "We controlled the game from start to finish", says Stevie? I must've missed that bit.

Neary et al??

2007-02-06T21:39:00.000Z

What was going on in his head? Neary? I can't bear to call him a Doctor.
Was it a control thing?
Why do we Irish accept that we will be controlled?
We seem to be programmed somehow to be controlled and to control.
Professional men are almost untouchable. Neary seems to have been a shocking control freak. The three boys who protected him were only doing what any good boy would do for another! It's no surprise to any of us. Why do we take it though?
The carryings-on of our priests is another example of above-the-law-ness.
Our Governement does what it likes.
Our Taoiseach lies and is still popular. What the hell is wrong with us?
The gárdai - can we trust them?
The insurance companies? I've found out (the hard way) that they are the bosses - I just pay what I'm told to pay. I'm meaningless to them. (No word yet from them by the way).
The Banks? They can do what they like too.
We've got a very strange country. On the one hand, we're modern, progressive and intelligent. On the other, we tug the cap, bend the knee and accept our powerlessness.
Maybe our non-nationals will kick a hole in this nuttiness for us? We can't seem to do it for ourselves??

*For Non-Irish-Readers: Dr. Michael Neary removed dozens, hundreds of Irish women's wombs completely needlessly. For the years 1993-98, the rate of hysterectomy in pregnancy as a proportion of Caesarean sections was: Coombe Hospital - one per 600, Holles Street - one per 405, Drogheda - one per 42 and Dr Neary - one per 20 cases.
Three of his colleagues "investigated" him, said he was grand, so he kept at it. Eventaully, the Medical Council struck him off. This man has hurt hundreds of Irish women.

Car Insurance

2007-02-03T20:48:00.000Z

People warned me that my car insurance people would give me a pain in my brain - and they have!
My car was "surveyed" by an "engineer" 3 days after the accident. A week later I am sick of ringing my insurance company. They say that the "engineer" has decided that my car is a write-off, i.e. they explained that it's beyond economical repair. He valued my car at X thousand euro. There's no way in Hell that I can buy the same make, model, year for that amount. I was invited to send the insurance company proof of higher values, so I did (about 20 prices from 2 Irish sites on the web). The insurance tell me that they will forward these prices to "the engineer", and contact me again "in due course". Meanwhile, I am driving a replacement car from my garage - day 11 today, but the insurance company only cover me for €120 total car replacement. Their heel-dragging is expensive for me, not them.
While I'm genuinely relieved not to be injured, and feel bad for moaning, I'm fed up with this tally-ho! Both my husband and I have been with the same insurance company for 20plus years without a single claim, so I expected better treatment than this. Naive??? Probably.

C.A.O.

2007-01-28T22:56:00.000Z

I've just completed an on-line C.A.O. Form with my first-born son!!
(C.A.O. = Central Applications Office - for the non-Irish readers, this office processes applications to Universities and Colleges in Ireland. Places are awarded based on points achieved in the Leaving Certificate exams, e.g. an A1 is worth 100 points).
I can't believe that he's this old, or that I'm this old!! Wow, the years have flown by... It seems like only the other day that I held him in my arms for the first time, and he returned my gaze with serene concentration. I was so happy that day. He's a great lad, but not a saint! My grumbles about him are only surface things like the state of his bedroom (arrrrrrrrrgggggggghhhhh!!), and his love of loud music (Jeeeeesus!!) All in all, he's a super young fella. I can't believe that he'll be off to College in a few short months.
To all of you with young children, cracking up with the lack of sleep and general toddlerdom - enjoy it, it's a beautiful time. I used to groan when "old fogies" said that to me, but it's really true. I must be an old fogie now then??? Damn!

Black Ice

2007-01-23T22:12:00.000Z

I met a bit of black ice this morning on the way to work, and ended up shaking hands with a couple of ditches as a result of my chance meeting.......... not nice! My poor car is a write off, but I walked away with two hands, two legs, no blood, so I'm very, very relieved and thankful for that. It was hairy though. I skated, spun, skated, hit the ditch, skated some more, spun upside down, hit the ditch, then for the grand finale the car turned onto the drivers side (mine) and slid wildly around on the road before hitting the ditch with a final bang........... Jesus!
I hit my knee on final impact, and my knee, ankle and back are pretty painful tonight, but it could be sooo much worse.
It'll be a pain in the ass sorting out insurance, another car etc... but I know that I've had a lucky escape, and I won't be moaning............ except for one thing - why didn't the council grit or salt the damn road? Banana Republic is alive and well, Bob!

The Irish Diaspora

2007-01-15T16:50:00.000Z

In my last post, I wrote about how my family and I are very much the living, breathing, bleeding incarnation of President Mary Robinson's Irish diaspora.

Mary R spoke and wrote about this at length and with great pride. Actually, it should have been a source of great SHAME to her and to Ireland. How was it a good thing then? Generations of Irish lost to their families and to Ireland - that was a good thing? It wasn't......... it was excruciatingly painful for the people who had to go and for the people who were left behind also.

It's hard to imagine now, with the Celtic tiger running rings around us in Ireland, but our people HAD TO leave Ireland to find work. My generation had to go. One August morning in 1988 three of my mother's five children left the house, two bound for New York and one for London. I don't think she ever got over it. I have three children myself, and I named them with plain names that would travel - so ingrained in me is it that they too would have to leave. Times have changed immeasurably, and they could conceivably get work here at home when the time comes for them, but that awful past is just a short memory away.

Mary Robinson was wrong to glorify that pain, and that failure of the State that we couldn't employ our own people. My sister was in NY at the time and she said that New Yorkers would nearly riot if they couldn't get jobs down the road. What did we do? Any riots down your way? Nah! We accepted it all meekly, queued for the Visas, bought the tickets for Slatterys or Aer Lingus, our President glorified a national disgrace, lit candles in Aras an Uachtaráin and I named my babies for export........

Moving House

2007-01-12T16:50:00.000Z

Andraste has posted about her recent house move, and she got me thinking.
When I was 13, we moved countries - my parents and us 5 kids aged 13, 12, 10, 8 and 7. We were part of the great Irish diaspora that enlivened Mary Robinson so much.

At least three generations of my family left Ireland for work (had to), returned with a brood and that brood had to go off in their turn. My grandfather left Ireland for America. My grandmother went a few years later. They met and married over there, even though they were from adjacent parishes in Ireland. The depression hit America, and they had to come home with their two babies (including my mother). They had four more children here in Ireland. My mother went to England, married my Dad who also went over there looking for work, and had us five. When the opportunity arose for them to come home they grabbed it, and were really delighted.

I didn't want to leave, none of the kids did, and we bitched and bitched in the car, on the ferry, in the car again, in the new house.... cried myself to sleep every night..... lost my home, friends, school, first REAL (yeah, right!) boyfriend...... Oh the teenage angst!!

Any house move I've had since then has been just grand!! Not taking anything away from anyone else's move, just remembering my own horror..... It still gives me the shivers, but I'm glad now. My parents were right. Not that I'm going to tell them that now after all of these delicious years of moaning and "how ya'll did me wronging"!

Reading Autobiographies

2007-01-10T20:28:00.000Z

I read two very interesting autobiographies "over the Christmas".
1. John Diamond's - Even Cowards get Cancer.
2. Paul McGrath's - Back from the Brink.
Both were astonishingly honest and fairly brutal. Sometimes I felt that Paul McGrath in particular was a bit TOOOOOO honest - a bit like Nuala O Faoiláin in "Are you Somebody". I really admired Nuala at the time though, and the same goes for Paul. I'm an intrinsically honest person myself, but I couldn't see myself ever baring my soul like that for everyone to know my deepest, innermost "stuff". It would be very liberating though I'd say.

Anyway, John Diamond was married to Nigella Lawson, and died of throat cancer after a very public struggle with it, and losing his tongue and various bits of his throat. It was a difficult read, but empowering too in a weird sort of way. I think it was harder to read knowing that he died in the end after such a hard fight. I had heard of this book a few years ago and bought it quite a while ago, but only read it during Christmas - not very jolly reading, especially given that I've been suffering from a sore throat myself since February 2006.......... (am attending consultants - plural - but no better).

Paul McGrath's book was totally different, but very harrowing also. The fact that this man was able to even get out of bed in the morning, not to mind play fantastic football for many years is just amazing to me and very inspiring.

I'd recommend both of these books, but don't expect jollifications - even though John Diamond is darkly humourous at times.

Roy lands young Stokes!

2007-01-09T20:29:00.000Z

So, Roy Keane has landed young Stokes?
Wow! Great coup for Sunderland, beating off the likes of Celtic and Premiership side Charlton to sign the teenage goal machine!
It seems that Roy was Anthony Stokes' greatest hero and that's why he chose Sunderland. Good lad! Roy Keane is my hero too, but I think I've mentioned that before....
Happy New Year everyone!

Your Personalized Cartoon Image

2006-12-09T20:40:00.000Z

If you want a "cartoon" image of yourself for your profile or to use in MSN or other chat and forum sites, have a look at this website

http://www.tommilsom.com/shop/msn/msn.html

Tom says:
"So here's the deal. I'll draw a 100x100 picture of you, based on any portrait photo you send me for just £1. Yeah! I know! That's all! Once you buy this, you'll be prompted to put your e-mail address in. I'll then send you an e-mail asking for your portrait photo as an attachment or as a hyperlink, and once you've sent it, I'll try to get it done within a day, and send it back to you as a 100x100 jpg for your own personal use as a display pic for MSN, yahoo!, LiveJournal, chatrooms, and anything else you can think of. All for a pound!"

Hellinger

2006-12-04T21:52:00.000Z

I heard about Burt Hellinger and the Hellinger Method only three weeks ago. This weekend, I attended a two day Hellinger workshop. It was truly amazing and incredible. If any of you get the chance to attend one of these workshops, I would urge you to go for it.
I don't want to say too much about it, because frankly, it sounds crackpot crazy stuff. It isn't though. Also, it's best to go in with an open mind and be open to the experiences awaiting you, so I don't want to over-describe it....
Basically, Hellinger believes that many people experience difficulties in this life that have echoed down to them from previous generations. The workshops involve 15-30 people in a circle with a counsellor / facilitator. People volunteer "to do some work", based on a difficulty they're having. The volunteer talks to the facilitator about the difficulty, everyone else listens quietly. The facilitator decides on the characters to be represented e.g. mother, father, grandmother. The volunteer gets up and chooses people from the group to represent these people and someone to represent them also. They are all "placed" in the circle by the volunteer. This is when it starts to get amazing, and I really can't explain how it happens because all I know is that it does.... The facilitator directs the tableau with help from the "volunteer" and gets the representatives to describe their feelings. It is all kind of acted out, but it's not acting... it's representing someone else. The feelings that come out are not yours, but you are feeling them, and you are representing them. It is very cleansing, healing and makes things very clear. I didn't "do any of my own work" as they call it, yet, but I was involved in representing some people and it was just incredible.
It sounds crazy doesn't it??? It is, but on the other hand it really isn't.
Anyway, go if you ever get the chance.

Being left-handed

2006-12-02T20:46:00.000Z

As a right-handed person, I have always been interested in the fact that some people are left-handed, probably because we have a high incidence of it in my family: my daughter, lots of cousins, aunt, grandfather.

In the past, left-handers were thought to be in league with the devil!!!!! My grandfather and aunt were ridiculed at school, called ciotógs, and MADE to write with their right hand. I've heard of teachers tying children's left hands behind their backs so that they would have to write with the right hand. My daughter never suffered like that, but no accommodations were made for her either. She had to knit right-handed, play the tin whistle right-handed, use scissors right-handed etc.... It did her no harm, you might say, but she found it tough there for a while - the woodwork was the worst, trying to use all of those right-oriented tools. Her teachers don't even realize that she's left-handed. It's not that they don't care, but they don't know how to teach a leftie!! She's great for adapting to situations now, so it has given her strength. She's a tough little cookie though, and a more delicate flower might have given up and withered.

I've bought a few things for her (left-handed scissors, peeling knife) at:
http://www.anythingleft-handed.co.uk/news_archive.html

This site has recently changed to:

http://www.lefthandworld.com/

Enjoy!

TED talks

2006-11-30T19:27:00.000Z

Have you ever heard of Ted Talks?
TED stands for "Technology Entertainment Design". Take a look around http://www.ted.com/

For example, this link:

http://www.ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalksplayer.cfm?key=ken_robinson&flashEna&flashEnabled=1

takes you to a talk from Sir Ken Robinson about education. "Sir Ken Robinson is author of Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative, and a leading expert on innovation and human resources. In this talk, he makes an entertaining (and profoundly moving) case for creating an education system that nurtures creativity, rather than undermining it. (Recorded February, 2006 in Monterey, CA.)"

Another great presentation on TED can be seen at:
http://www.ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalksplayer.cfm?key=j_han&flashEnabled=1

This one is about I.T. in the future. WOW and double WOW is all I can say.

Equality Award for Dyslexia Sufferers

2006-11-24T00:29:00.000Z

I hadn't seen this story, until Bock the Robber highlighted it in his blog today. I started to post a comment to him, but it turned into a blog instead!

The bones of today's story are quoted on
http://www.unison.ie/breakingnews/index.php3?ca=9&si=101770
as follows:

<<<<<<
Two former Leaving Cert students with Dyslexia have won a discrimination case they took against the Department of Education. They were angry after notes were attached to their Leaving Certs, saying they were assessed on all parts of the exam apart from spelling and grammar.

The Equality Tribunal has found that this was discriminatory, and has ordered the Department to pay each claimant compensation of six thousand euro, and issue them with new certificates. Niall Crowley chief executive of the Equality Authority has described the ruling as a landmark judgement.

'What the case highlights is an exam system that isn't accessible to people with disabilities and doesn't assess their abilities on an equal basis with other students. The next step is to review that exam system and change it in a way so it does become accessible to students with disabilities' said Mr Crowley.>>>>>>>

End of quote.

I see dyslexia and its effects - not least of which is a terrible blow to young children's self esteem - every day. Some of them never recover. This is shocking, because with specialist teaching, dyslexic pupils can learn to overcome their reading and writing difficulties. Without it, they are lost.

A person can't just announce that they have dyslexia, it's diagnosed by an educational psychologist under stringent criteria. (Costs between 3 and 4 hundred euro!! Primary schools are only allowed 2 assessments per 100 pupils per annum, so parents often have to pay privately. It's another national disgrace.) Various research has found that between 10 and 20% of the population suffers from a learning disability ( dyslexia is only one), so for 100 pupils, between 10 and 20 assessments should be available - NOT JUST TWO.

People who have dyslexia have an above average IQ, but they have varying difficulty expressing themselves in writing. In the last few years, secondary schools can apply for some exam assistance for such pupils , e.g. a scribe or a reader, if they have the necessary assessments. The student still has to have the information, the knowledge, the scribe only writes down what the student says. The reader only reads the exam paper. For example - you're brilliant at Maths, but can't read the paper, you get a reader to read it out to you, but you do the exam - your results are marked with a comment.... How would you feel? How would you feel if it were your child?

Until recently (2000) dyslexic pupils received very little help in primary school, and less in 2nd level. To struggle through your entire school career and then have your exam results worth less than others' even though you have done the same if not more work - must be very frustrating. The extra teaching support given to dyslexic pupils in 1999/2000 (two and a half hours per week with a support teacher) was removed from them in 2003!!!! Now they have no designated support time, they are lumped in with pupils of average ability who might need short-term support. That is totally insufficient, dyslexic pupils need organized, intensive and expert interventions, and they need this support for at least 30-40 minutes every day.

I agree with Bock that we should be raging, but not about the system getting a shake, which is what happened today. We should be shouting about the lack of facilities, lack of teachers, lack of support for dyslexic pupils - if they had that, they might be able to read and write for their Leaving Cert.!!

Langerland.com

2006-11-16T23:40:00.000Z

"Langer" is a fairly well-known Cork word. It is used as a slang word for a certain part of the male anatomy. Mostly though, it is used to describe a right eejit. "Go 'way ya langer" is a common one. Anyway, I found this site www.langerland.com recently, and I haven't laughed so much in ages. Take a look if you haven't already. There are a few in-jokes, that only the Irish will get, but mostly it's just funny, but very, very black.

Look at - top ten what have the Brits done for us.
http://www.langerland.com/content/view/37/59/

Enjoy!

Being True to Yourself.

2006-11-13T19:58:00.000Z

I stumbled on a blog by a Limerickonian over the weekend. She has relocated to Washington DC and is undergoing transgender treatment (male to female). Her name is Devin. Her blog is really fascinating. (http://hangarqueen.blogspot.com)
She described how, as a male,

"Every day of my life that I can remember I'd wake up in the morning and dread the existence I was faced with...It was a massive effort to put on my 'Man' suit of armour and sally forth into the misery of daily life".

That got me thinking that many humans feel like that, for example the homosexual, the depressed, the obese, the infertile, the abused, the raped... Why? Is it part of the human condition to turn in on oneself like that, to virtually hate oneself??? even though it is not our fault. Why do we feel like that?

By sheer coincidence, I was talking to a friend of mine last week about the seemingly increased incidence of depression in the modern world. He is a counsellor, and claims that we are more depressed today, because we seem to have "lost" ourselves. He described almost the same feelings as Devin has above. He put it down to people not being able to "be" themselves, be true to themselves. He said that this puts an enormous strain on the person, which eventually becomes an overwhelming burden.

This quotation from Frederick Douglass, American Abolitionist (1817-1895), puts it very well -

“I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence”.

What a motto to have!

Roy Keane sticks up for Referees!!

2006-11-10T20:55:00.000Z

Roy Keane is never predictable, that's for sure!
To-day he had his say about "diving" in the Premiership, and he sticks up for referees! I know some people will be giving out about him, once again, but he's not afraid to say what he believes. I admire him greatly for that, there isn't much of it about! I know some people will be outraged that he claims those famous veins were superimposed on him to make him look more crazy - as he chased poor ol' Ref. Andy D' Urso in 2000. C'mon would ye - he's only joking!

I found the following article to-day, and thought you might like to share it? Up the Rebels!

<<<< Keane the crusader defends men in black
By COLIN YOUNG

Last updated at 07:46am on 10th November 2006

Sympathiser: Keane a scourge of referees in his days as a player, can now see things from the man in black's point of view

In an astonishing admission, the former Manchester United captain insisted he was pleased to have hung up his boots because he is fed up with cheats in the game.

Keane said: "Referees get scrutinised left and right and players aren't helping them. I was probably the world's worst and I'm on my high horse because I kicked a lot of players, but there are a lot out there who are trying to put one over the referee by diving.

"Players are conning each other and I'm glad I'm not playing anymore, especially in the Premiership. There's a lot of sneaky stuff going on that makes it hard for referees.

"I can't get my head round a player who rolls round then he's up 30 seconds later. If I was his manager, I'd be embarrassed. That's cheating, trying to get another player in trouble. Managers have to take responsibility and I'm trying to do that with my players.

"When they go down it must be genuine. Players know Paul Scholes and Steven Gerrard won't go down rolling around but there's plenty who are doing that and it must be hard for referees. If they don't do anything about a player on the ground and he is badly injured, then they're in the height of trouble.

"We all know the high-profile players but I wouldn't give them the time of day and that's why I'm glad I'm not playing. I'd be pulling my hair out. There are lads playing for England, Scotland and Ireland who do it. It's not just a foreign thing. Lads I played with dive and it drives me crazy. They go down like they've been shot and it's crazy.

"If I'd gone down faking injury I would have had to go and see my family and they would disown me if I was trying to get another player in trouble. I know people said I kicked a lot of people, but forget about that, I'm on about the diving business."

Keane says that he is continuing to educate his players at Championship strugglers Sunderland and the former Republic of Ireland skipper insists he will try to eradicate the problem of dissent to referees.

He added: "I'm not going to criticise or abuse referees or chase them down the tunnel. I've done that enough as a player. The standard of refereeing is down but they've got one hell of a hard job.

"I don't want our players at any level abusing refs. I've come up against managers who appeal every decision and there's abuse from the bench but, in the latter years of my career, I found out that if you are a touch nicer to referees it helps you. It's just commonsense.

"Having said that, there's such a sway towards home teams that decisions generally go against away teams. Whether they are influenced by a nice cup of tea and a sandwich before the game, it's human nature.

"If you're getting looked after and you've a dodgy decision to make, you might think 'they gave me a really nice sandwich before the game, I've got to get out of this ground, but am I safe if they lose? We'll make sure that Saturday's referee gets a nice sandwich.

"There is more pressure on referees. Every decision is highlighted. The incident with Wenger and Pardew was no big issue but the media makes it a bigger issue, a bigger deal and it adds pressure on everybody and the referees even more so.

"I'm pretty sure that they're human beings underneath that front that they put on and if they just spoke after games and did a five-minute press conference, that might help.

"I mean, what's wrong with them doing it? I have to. Players and managers make mistakes and then we have to face the music, so why not referees? Maybe they think they have to justify every decision after the game but just think of the supporters who are driving back scratching their heads on a seven-hour coach journey. It's not a case of them answering to the media - supporters pay a lot of money and need explanations."

Keane even takes an interesting view on his infamous bust-up with referee Andy D'Urso at Old Trafford in February, 2000, when he led the United protests after the official awarded Middlesbrough a penalty.

Keane was inches from the official, veins bulging in his neck, and was fined by United boss Sir Alex Ferguson for his actions. Keane said: 'I wouldn't say that picture embarrasses me, it was a learning curve for me. I have to defend myself a little bit here.

"It's hard to make excuses, but it was completely wrong and I got in trouble with the manager the next morning and he wasn't happy. People think that I had a licence to do that, but far from it and I was fined.

"At the time I didn't think it was that bad because I hadn't seen it, but then Sir Alex showed me the video clip. But I still think whoever took the picture super-imposed the veins and it was camera trickery. I didn't get that close to him.

"I still reckon that if he hadn't run, we wouldn't have chased him. But he kept running over to the far side so we were going to chase him. I saw him last week when he was the middle man between Wenger and Pardew and my heart went out to him. It's always him."
>>>>>>>

Irish Primary Schools to go Bankrupt?

2006-11-07T19:39:00.000Z

The Irish National Teachers' Organization (INTO) have made a pre-budget submission to the Minister for Finance, Mr. Brian Cowen TD, and are demanding a massive hike in school funding in the forthcoming budget. Without an extensive increase, the union claims that primary schools will not be able to pay essential bills for heating, cleaning, water and waste charges and basic hygiene costs. All of these costs have increased substantially over the last few years, not to mention insurance costs which seem to have risen very significantly also.

John Carr, General Secretary, states, "If schools were businesses many would be bankrupt. Others are being kept afloat by parent contributions and fundraising activities."

Irish education spending is one of the lowest in the developed world. Within that budget, the primary sector is 'the poor relation'. Despite the fact that nearly half of all students in Ireland (46%) are in primary schools, the Government spends a third (33%) of the education budget in this sector. 33% of students attend second level schools, and these students attract a third of education spending. Only 17% of all students attend third level institutions, but the Government spends nearly a third (29%) of the entire education budget at this level.

Irish spending at primary level is among the worst of all OECD countries. While Denmark, France, Germany and Spain provide at least 10% of their education budget to early childhood education, Ireland spends less than 1%.

Here is a snip from today's INTO Press Release:

<<<<<"Primary schools are funded on the number of pupils in the school. The Department of Education and Science pays €145.58 per pupil. This money is for the essential running costs of the schools such as cleaning materials and wages, heat and light and office expenses. Second level schools get €298.00 per student to meet exactly the same running costs. The union is seeking a commitment in the budget to end the disparity in funding between primary and second level schools.

"Many parents often raise questions when asked for voluntary contributions or being asked to attend fundraising events. They expect the state to provide for free primary education. What they often fail to realize that schools are not raising money to get additional extras. They are fundraising for the bare necessities," he said. He described this as an unfair and unjust local education tax.

John Carr said that increases in energy, waste and water charges were depriving children of classroom resources. Higher fuel bills mean fewer books in schools. Higher waste charges mean fewer classroom materials for infants. Higher water charges mean vital computer equipment cannot be repaired and replaced.

"I have principals telling me that they spend almost as much time on fundraising as they do on leading teaching and learning," said John Carr. "This is a total waste of time and something that principals never signed up for. Principals also deeply resent having to ask parents for a voluntary contribution to pay school bills. They are the ones who have to explain to parents."

"Education is not a charity," he said, "and this budget must put an end to local education taxes once and for all.">>>>>

Do parents (aka voters!!) realize that this is going on in their child's school?

Does your employer pay your wages?

2006-11-03T20:21:00.000Z

Gene Kerrigan wrote a very interesting piece about Louise O' Keeffe's case in last Sunday's Independent (29/10/06). Louise was abused as an 8 year old child by her school principal (Leo Hickey). The abuse is not denied, it is admitted and acknowledged.

Louise was unable to claim any compensation from the redress board (http://www.rirb.ie/), because she attended her local primary school (Dunderrow N.S.), not a residential school. The redress board excludes "day" pupils. Louise took a case about this, and argued that the State should pay compensation to her because she HAD to go to school, the State paid grants to her school, approved her abuser, inspected him over many years and paid his salary. Louise lost her case and was ordered to pay the costs (approximately half a million euro). The State won the case because they argued that they were not Leo Hickey's employers, the Board of Management of the school were his employers, they claimed. The Judge (Mr. Justice de Valera) agreed, citing legal precedent.

I don't know Louise O' Keeffe, but I do know that the State deny being the employer of teachers, and have argued this quite a few times. I can't understand the logic behind it. If I work for X, then X pays my wages right? Not in this case, according to the State, no.
X (the State) pays the teacher's wages, but
Y (the Board of Management) is the teacher's employer.......

Does this make sense to you?

How is the State involved in Irish primary schools?
The State:
pays teacher wages.
pays secretary, caretaker etc... wages.
pays grants to the school
inspects the teaching and learning periodically
compiles and distributes Circulars outlining regulations to be implemented in all schools
sanctions the appointment of teachers
decides how many teachers a school may employ
sets out requirements for teacher qualifications
sanctions building projects
allocates funding to education in the annual budget
dictates the curriculum to be followed
manages in-service surrounding the curriculum
contributes to teachers' pensions
manages teachers' pensions
regulates employment and retirement
publishes school reports on the internet
published the "Rules for National Schools"

How is the Board of Management involved in Irish primary schools?
The Board:
is answerable to the Minister
is responsible for the day-to-day running of the school
interviews candidates for teaching positions in the school, but must seek sanction from the State and from the Patron (Bishop) before the post can be offered to the teacher
is responsible for implementing the State's directives

These lists are not exhaustive, but they will give you the general idea. So, who do you think is the employer of teachers - the State or the Board of Management? I am genuinely confused.

Population Boom in Ireland.

2006-11-02T21:52:00.000Z

I heard on the news today that Ireland is set to have the fastest growing population in Europe - of under 15s. Brian Cowen (Minister for Finance) was interviewed briefly. He said it was very helpful to get this information now, because it would help the Government to plan for the future, especially as regards schools. Anyone involved with Irish schools will tell you that the Government record on planning for schools has been pretty poor (I'm being kind). We really, really need a much better and broader programme of school building, extension and refurbishment. Children are coming out of modern homes and going into less than modern schools. Classes are too large in Ireland, classrooms are too small and too old - built for a different way of teaching children. We need bright, airy, warm classrooms where pupils have room to be taught as per the Revised Primary Curriculum - active learning, group learning. Our children need space to particiapte in art, drama, PE.
I hope that Brian Cowen acts on today's information (fore-warning) about the future in Ireland.
Do you think he will?

Parental Involvement in Irish Primary Schools

2006-10-30T17:19:00.000Z

As part of a research study into learning-support provision in Irish primary schools, I looked at the extent of parental involvement. The literature points to the importance of involving parents, because reading, Maths, science and motivation all improve when parents are involved. However, my research indicated very low levels of parental involvement. For the most part, parents appear to be involved in their child's school through fund-raising and helping with homework, but are seldom involved in any real sense. For example, parents do not seem to share any decision making about their child's learning. It appears that the school gate is still a barrier between home and school. This was no real surprise to me, having worked as a primary teacher for over 20 years, but the lack of involvement was still very stark.

The ideal school involves parents to a high degree, but this is no simple matter. Parents and teachers sometimes have a power struggle. Teachers fear that if they involve parents, then they will open the floodgates and be unable to close them again. Parental involvement remains undefined in Ireland, and its' role needs further debate and exploration. However, I believe that schools, pupils, teachers and parents would all benefit from closer parental involvement in our schools.
Do you have a suggestion for enhancing parental involvement in Irish primary schools?

Welcome to My Blog

2006-10-29T17:27:00.000Z

My name is Mairéad .
I live and work in Ireland.
This is my first blog, so I'm on a steep learning curve.