I am calling on Republican Sinn Fein to cancel their planned protest at this Sunday's rugby international at Croke Park.
This weekend's game is a historic sporting event and one which is greatly anticipated in the local area. The attempts by some elements to politicise the occasion is unwelcome and is adding unwanted tension to an match which should be a celebration of sporting endeavour.
The English team are due the same respect as all visiting sides to Dublin and all outdated cries of protest only serve to drag us back to a narrow-minded insular past which is unrepresentative of our modern nation'
I am calling on Republican Sinn Fein to abandon their plans to protest as the potential for the march to be hijacked by undesirable elements is quite high, if last years Love Ulster parade is anything to go by.
I am delighted to welcome the English team and its supporters to Dublin and to my own area of the North Inner City and I hope all Dubliners will do the same in the true spirit of Croke Park and the history of sport in Ireland.
The details of the protest seen below are posted on the Republican Sinn Fein website
‘RSF Croke Park protest
Republican Sinn Féin has confirmed that it will be holding a protest at the England-Ireland rugby international on February 24 next.
Those wishing to protest at the playing of God Save the Queen (English national anthem) and the flying of the English flag in Croke Park whilst England continues to occupy part of Ireland should assemble at the junction of North Circular Road and Summerhill Parade near the Sunset House pub on Saturday, February 24 at 3.30pm.
Monday, February 19, 2007
APPEARANCE ON RTE ONE'S 'REALLY USEFUL GUIDE'
I was delighted to appear on RTE One's 'The Really Useful Guide' programme last Sunday to discuss the 'Right to Read' campaign. Please see the link below.
http://www.rte.ie/tv/thereallyusefulguide/episode18.html
http://www.rte.ie/tv/thereallyusefulguide/episode18.html
LATEST ARTICLE FOR METRO EIREANN
Valentines Day should be banned and legislation is needed immediately to criminalise it. The proposal for the outlawing of Valentine’s Day celebrations is a campaign waiting to be launched and it will undoubtedly get mass public support. I am calling to arms all those like-minded citizens who are frustrated, lovesick or financially insolvent as a result of this unwanted feast day. Think of all the thousands upon thousands of soft middle ground votes that would be drawn to such a stance if some clever politician ran with the idea! Forget pronouncements on transport, crime, taxation, education and health. Lets talk direct to the nation on an issue where there is widespread support and lets put an end to this annual day of unbridled insanity.
Does anyone disagree with me? Lets face it, for single people (of which I am not one) every February 14th is filled with lonesome thoughts of what could have been, what was and not what isn’t, or what mightn’t ever happen. For non-single people, Valentines Day is a massive hassle which leads men to making an annual bags of it by underestimating the significance of the event, and leads women to getting the hump and whimpering down the phone to each other with sobs along the lines of ‘if he can’t make the effort on the one day of the year well then I just don’t know anymore….’, etc etc.
A gay friend of mine who has been known to don a pair of pink tights on pride marches and attach inflated condoms to his head, is now at the stage of wearing sackcloth and ashes on Valentines Day because it has sucked all the fun, joy, spontaneity and romance out of his relationship on a yearly basis. So just who benefits from this madness? Teddy bear and confectionary companies, card manufacturers and a heap of overpriced restaurants with tacky heart-shaped balloons. Does anybody genuinely look forward to the event? How many times have you leapt out of your bed on a Valentines morning, skipped down the stairs like an excited puppy in anticipation of a large red envelope landing on your door mat only to be crushed by the sledgehammer realisation that nobody, yes nobody, would bother their backside to send you a card. Wouldn’t you be happier without that stark reminder of your undeniable unattractiveness?
I once was the recipient of an anonymous Valentines Card which I have to admit did cheer me up on a particularly dreary February day in the mid 1990s when I trudged home from college through the crowds of seemingly endless muppets weighed down with flowers and chocolates. On arriving home, a red envelope was waiting for me with a typically cryptic message inside that implied it was from someone that had shared that journey home with me on occasion. Having innocently quizzed various fellow female (and male) passengers over the course of a few months and having gotten a succession of raised eyebrows and raised fists in reply, I gave up my search. It now transpires, all of ten years later, that it was actually sent by my little sister as a prank! This all came out while shopping for a card with her last week. The only secret admirer I ever had was my little sister, egged on by my mother, who held back tears of laughter as she penned the supposedly forlorn lovesick verses of a distant fan. Needless to say I laughed it off when she chuckled as she told me the real story behind the card, but something inside me wanted to poke her in the eye with a rose and run over her with a postal van.
Last week my sister was actually searching in vain for a Valentines card that said something along the lines of ‘Its Valentines Day and I know you love me and I think you are nice in a have-a-cup-of-tea-with-now-and-again-in-a-very-public-place sort of way’. She of course is someone whose annual task is to break somebody’s heart, generally someone who likes her a whole lot more than she likes them. However most of us circle February 14th in our diaries and write ‘Get heart danced on’. It is the most contrived and unnecessary event of the year and it needs to go. It actually outranks St Patricks Day because at least our patron saint’s day has retained a small element of religious and spiritual observance. Valentines Day hasn’t as much as retained the word ‘saint’ in its title! And by the way – how many people genuinely expect an engagement ring to be produced on the day but are disappointed year after year after year? In an amendment to my proposal, the word ‘ring’ should also be banned in the month of February.
Either way I’m sure that most people got through the festivities relatively unscathed, apart from the casualties of an empty wallet or a punctured heart. And remember it’s a good twelve months away now so you can relax in the knowledge that we have an entire year to exact our revenge and make Ireland a Valentine-free zone. If we don’t succeed then we can simply boycott the event and pretend that it doesn’t exist. However the weaker ones amongst us will still send prank cards or wait impatiently with rolling pins in hand to inquire of their partners of the whereabouts of the big red heart-shaped folding thing that all of your friends in work got! I suppose all of us deep inside still weep a little when we have yet another cardless mid-February morn – it doesn’t have to be that way you know. What about a ‘Make Valentine History’ campaign? It has a certain ring to it.
Did someone mention a ring?
Does anyone disagree with me? Lets face it, for single people (of which I am not one) every February 14th is filled with lonesome thoughts of what could have been, what was and not what isn’t, or what mightn’t ever happen. For non-single people, Valentines Day is a massive hassle which leads men to making an annual bags of it by underestimating the significance of the event, and leads women to getting the hump and whimpering down the phone to each other with sobs along the lines of ‘if he can’t make the effort on the one day of the year well then I just don’t know anymore….’, etc etc.
A gay friend of mine who has been known to don a pair of pink tights on pride marches and attach inflated condoms to his head, is now at the stage of wearing sackcloth and ashes on Valentines Day because it has sucked all the fun, joy, spontaneity and romance out of his relationship on a yearly basis. So just who benefits from this madness? Teddy bear and confectionary companies, card manufacturers and a heap of overpriced restaurants with tacky heart-shaped balloons. Does anybody genuinely look forward to the event? How many times have you leapt out of your bed on a Valentines morning, skipped down the stairs like an excited puppy in anticipation of a large red envelope landing on your door mat only to be crushed by the sledgehammer realisation that nobody, yes nobody, would bother their backside to send you a card. Wouldn’t you be happier without that stark reminder of your undeniable unattractiveness?
I once was the recipient of an anonymous Valentines Card which I have to admit did cheer me up on a particularly dreary February day in the mid 1990s when I trudged home from college through the crowds of seemingly endless muppets weighed down with flowers and chocolates. On arriving home, a red envelope was waiting for me with a typically cryptic message inside that implied it was from someone that had shared that journey home with me on occasion. Having innocently quizzed various fellow female (and male) passengers over the course of a few months and having gotten a succession of raised eyebrows and raised fists in reply, I gave up my search. It now transpires, all of ten years later, that it was actually sent by my little sister as a prank! This all came out while shopping for a card with her last week. The only secret admirer I ever had was my little sister, egged on by my mother, who held back tears of laughter as she penned the supposedly forlorn lovesick verses of a distant fan. Needless to say I laughed it off when she chuckled as she told me the real story behind the card, but something inside me wanted to poke her in the eye with a rose and run over her with a postal van.
Last week my sister was actually searching in vain for a Valentines card that said something along the lines of ‘Its Valentines Day and I know you love me and I think you are nice in a have-a-cup-of-tea-with-now-and-again-in-a-very-public-place sort of way’. She of course is someone whose annual task is to break somebody’s heart, generally someone who likes her a whole lot more than she likes them. However most of us circle February 14th in our diaries and write ‘Get heart danced on’. It is the most contrived and unnecessary event of the year and it needs to go. It actually outranks St Patricks Day because at least our patron saint’s day has retained a small element of religious and spiritual observance. Valentines Day hasn’t as much as retained the word ‘saint’ in its title! And by the way – how many people genuinely expect an engagement ring to be produced on the day but are disappointed year after year after year? In an amendment to my proposal, the word ‘ring’ should also be banned in the month of February.
Either way I’m sure that most people got through the festivities relatively unscathed, apart from the casualties of an empty wallet or a punctured heart. And remember it’s a good twelve months away now so you can relax in the knowledge that we have an entire year to exact our revenge and make Ireland a Valentine-free zone. If we don’t succeed then we can simply boycott the event and pretend that it doesn’t exist. However the weaker ones amongst us will still send prank cards or wait impatiently with rolling pins in hand to inquire of their partners of the whereabouts of the big red heart-shaped folding thing that all of your friends in work got! I suppose all of us deep inside still weep a little when we have yet another cardless mid-February morn – it doesn’t have to be that way you know. What about a ‘Make Valentine History’ campaign? It has a certain ring to it.
Did someone mention a ring?
Monday, January 22, 2007
PROUD SHERIFF STREET COMMUNITY DESERVES BETTER THAN SHODDY JOURNALISM
The depiction of the Sheriff Street area as 'notorious' and as a 'ghetto' in some of this Sundays newspapers are unworthy descriptions of a proud community that I am proud to serve as a teacher and as a public representative.Stigmatising the area of Sheriff Street is all too easy and disregards the huge efforts being made by youth and community workers to push this community towards a better future.
There are dozens of positive projects ongoing in the area which often go unreported because they aren't considered newsworthy.Activities such as the After Schools Clubs, local soccer, boxing and GAA clubs, disco dancing clubs, Peace Corps, Club 4U teenage discos and the North Wall Women’s Centre prove that this is a community to be proud of.
It is true that the Sheriff Street area has been dogged with social problems through the generations, however the community are facing those problems and are facing the future with confidence.
Labelling our community with negative stereotypes only serves to undermine the good work that is ongoing. It also affects the self-confidence of our young people that we are trying to encourage to be proud of where they are from.
There are dozens of positive projects ongoing in the area which often go unreported because they aren't considered newsworthy.Activities such as the After Schools Clubs, local soccer, boxing and GAA clubs, disco dancing clubs, Peace Corps, Club 4U teenage discos and the North Wall Women’s Centre prove that this is a community to be proud of.
It is true that the Sheriff Street area has been dogged with social problems through the generations, however the community are facing those problems and are facing the future with confidence.
Labelling our community with negative stereotypes only serves to undermine the good work that is ongoing. It also affects the self-confidence of our young people that we are trying to encourage to be proud of where they are from.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
NEW SHERIFF STREET LADIES SOCCER TEAM
Last Friday was one of those rare occasions when you get a tingle of excitement and anticipation about something you have worked hard on coming to fruition. Last Friday a group of young womwn assembed in Sheriff Street Community Hall for the first training session of the new adult ladies soccer team for the area.
Having started up a Gaelic football and soccer team in St Laurence O' Toole's Girls School seven years ago, I am proud to think that I have played a role in the formation of this team. Many of the girls who I introduced to football as schoolgirls are now of an age to represent their area, through the local Sheriff YC Club, on an adult womens team.
The lack of facilites in our school is well documented and indeed was subject of the Documentary on One Radio programme entitled: 'Playiing with Pride' which can be accsed by clicking on my previous post.
Football gives vital expression to the pride that young people havr in their community. Football fosters positive ethics of teamwork, solidarity, mutual respect and learning together. Football is also Sheriff Street's game and many local people have represented Ireland at various levels. Players like Keith Treacy, Trevor Molloy and Olivia O'Toole are still cary the flag for this community Local poeple are rightfully proud of their achievements ans children view them as role models that they wish to emulate. Hopefully our new ladies football team can do the same.
Having started up a Gaelic football and soccer team in St Laurence O' Toole's Girls School seven years ago, I am proud to think that I have played a role in the formation of this team. Many of the girls who I introduced to football as schoolgirls are now of an age to represent their area, through the local Sheriff YC Club, on an adult womens team.
The lack of facilites in our school is well documented and indeed was subject of the Documentary on One Radio programme entitled: 'Playiing with Pride' which can be accsed by clicking on my previous post.
Football gives vital expression to the pride that young people havr in their community. Football fosters positive ethics of teamwork, solidarity, mutual respect and learning together. Football is also Sheriff Street's game and many local people have represented Ireland at various levels. Players like Keith Treacy, Trevor Molloy and Olivia O'Toole are still cary the flag for this community Local poeple are rightfully proud of their achievements ans children view them as role models that they wish to emulate. Hopefully our new ladies football team can do the same.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Documentary on One: 'Playing With Pride'
Listen to Rte's Documentary Programme on Aodhán's Sheriff Street Girls Gaelic Football Team called 'Playing With Pride' http://www.rte.ie/radio1/doconone/rams/12january.smil
MORNING IRELAND'S REPORT ON 'RIGHT TO READ' CAMPAIGN
Listen to Cian MacCormaic's report on the Deputy Lord Mayor's Right to Read Campaign on Morning Ireland by clicking on http://www.rte.ie/news/2006/1115/morningireland.html
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