Happy New Year - just to be original...

THE Young Wan is on a bribe to lift the last of the debris around my room for the princely sum of 20 euro. A wee while ago she came in laughing with a gold pure silk she had pulled out of the wardrobe a dress I bought about 10 years ago saying ‘who owns the granny dress?”. Well me actually and a Happy New Year to you too.

I have had the most peaceful Christmas in the world, days lounging in lounge pants (pyjamas to the rest of us), sleeping and chilling for Ireland, walking in the Phoenix Park, drinking wine, laughing, and I so needed it at this time and spending much needed time with my honey bunches, the Young Wan.

But back to the granny dress, it is not a granny dress, it is actually a dress, plain I’ll grant you but so. It is made for an extremely tall woman, taller than my 5ft6, but made of beautiful golden silk. I have never worn it or actually adapted it yet but I have always intended to.


Actual size...

And that brings me to what partly inspired me to post this which was the moment the Young Wan decided to try out some of her shiny cream stuff that she received as part of her Christmas pressies and came in looking like an extra from Goldfinger, well not the extra the main lead really…

You’ve been festively tangoed wasn’t in it…

There will be a moment in my life when I will use that silk dress, by either adapting and wearing it or making it into something else, and maybe this year. Isn’t that one of the best things about New Year, new life?

Anyhow I am so hoping that 2006 will be a year of breakthroughs in a wild range of areas of my life including the lives of all those I love and you if you are reading this, if you aren’t go and shite... (he he)

Happy New Year everyone. XxX

Technorati tags: redmum Irishblogs Happy New Year New Year gold silk

Happy Christmas one and all

SEASONS Greetings everybody and unlike many others who have probably wisely decided to give the auld blogging a break I will post sporadically here over the festive season.

We are having a lovely day here and we are still to have dinner. Unlike many other families we like having the Christmas dinner late.

So we seem to have done things in reverse from others, we spent the afternoon walking around the Phoenix Park which was really nice and I managed to get some pictures of eejits having a swing on a tree swing at one of the ponds in the park. However everyone else did look like they were walking off a hearty meal, not us.



(I love this picture)







The walk took place after the present-opening part of the day.

The Young Wan was allowed to open her presents once we were all up but she spent the whole time feeling all her parcels trying to find the MP3 player that was her main present but she didn’t know that I also got her a CD player to replace the TWO that she has broken in the house over the last six months. So that was the big surprise for her and she’s delighted.

However I left her MP3 player to wrap until last and up until noon I could not find at all where I’d hidden it. The idea being that I would have her open all her other presents, give her the MP3 and THEN the CD player. It didn’t go according to plan… Well what does?

The trouble began on Wednesday when I came in after finishing up in work (involving a long lunch and drinks as well as the fact that it was my birthday) and she found it in my bag which was a b*llox.

But the secret was out and she spent all morning and last night trying to guess which present was the MP3 player and I kept stumm as I knew it wasn’t yet under the tree until I realised that being the merrier side of merry on Wednesday I could not remember where I put it.

We finally found it at about 3.30pm. Thank God!

And for the regular visitors here as she has been a bold girl a LOT over the year I was sooooo tempted to give her a bag of ashes… But sure it’s Christmas and at the end of day she's my wee baby.

Happy Christmas everyone XxX

Technorati tags: Redmum Christmas Irishblogs Dublin Ireland Phoenix Park Christmas Day December 25

Five weird habits…

COURTESY of Fi at Trixibell.

The first player of this game starts with the topic “five weird habits of yourself,” and people who get tagged need to write an entry about their five weird habits as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next five people to be tagged and link to their web journals. Don’t forget to leave a comment in their blog or journal that says “You are tagged” (assuming they take comments) and tell them to read yours.

1. For as long as I remember I eat my Saturday breakfast fry up methodically and probably in the same way each time I have one. The goal is to work towards the perfect last bite which has a little sample of everything. So just as I finish there will be a little bit of sausage, a little bit of bacon, a little bit of egg, soda bread (its an Ulster fry or nothing) and mushroom all waiting on the plate – you get the picture.

2. I absolutely loathe being told something that is absolutely apparent, mostly in relation to something you are about to do and some bright spark starts to tell you what you should be doing.

3. I like to tidy up while blasting Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours album and I hate being disturbed. So poor Nanny who is staying at the moment has to remain in bed while I work away. I have been like this since I was a teenager and would tidy the whole house on a Saturday, I would get wildly p*ssed off if someone came home early.

4. While you might not realise it to know me or my life I thrive on routines. My mornings work in the same way each day otherwise it all falls apart. I need to be in the bathroom at a certain time, I cannot start the day without a cup of tea. I put on my ipod as I leave the house and I already have the change for the bus in my pocket. That’s just a taster.

5. I love medical dramas, ER, Holby City, Casualty. I have been known to get visitors during these times and I try to quietly set the video so I can watch it later and I am always caught. ‘Are you recording Casualty?’ ‘Ehhhm yes!’. No one else I know gets it, but I love them.

Like most memes I have been reading this all over the Irish blogging world and beyond, so I don’t know if there is anyone else to tag. So if you haven’t done it yet, consider yourself tagged, go on and tell us your deepest darkest secrets.

Technorati tags: Redmum Irishblogs Meme

Oasis gig, Point depot, Dec 22

I WAS at the Oasis gig earlier this evening in the Point Depot and after having a birthday yesterday where I received a card from the Young Wan calling me a wrinkly I now know I am, utterly.

I am sitting here now two hours after getting home, I have just downloaded some pics, with more to follow but my feet are still throbbing.

The Point Depot as a venue can be a complete bollox, the walk home is just uuugggghhh. And don't talk to me about trying to find a pub with open doors (thanks McGraths of the Quays which shut its doors).

So by the time we did get to a pub, Mulligans - fantastic by the way, all I could think of was my slippers so I am a fecking wrinkly and I am depressed.

But these pics reassure me that I am cooler than my feet would suggest.

(Oh and I just realised that I have just moaned throughout this post and not even mentioned that it was a great evening. Good music, great craic with lots of singing along. I am a wrinkly, bollox!)









Technorati tags: Redmum Irishblogs Oasis Dublin

Shopping in Dundrum SC

I MUST be the only woman in Dublin who until yesterday had not been to the new Dundrum Shopping Centre.

For those of you not in Dublin who are wondering what the big deal is it’s a new shopping centre with all sorts of Brit shops that we didn’t have before, including H&M and Harvey Nicks (however that’s spelt) and House of Fraser.

I am one of those types who does not really enjoy shopping and at this time of year I absolutely loathe the crowds, the hassle, the queues, everything.

So the grand opening of Dundrum shopping centre passed me by, I missed the stampede for Stella McCartney’s clothing line (*yawwwwnnnn*), I missed the full Luas trams packed with shoppers eager to sample even more shops.

Until yesterday, that is. I was working in Dundrum and decided to stop by primarily to go to H&M to pick up stocking fillers for the Young Wan.

I’d recommend H&M, not only did I fulfil my objective of pressies, I bought the first one for Nanny and a lovely new bag for me. I love bags.

Whilst out and about in Dundrum I took this shot of plastics in a recycling bin and a view of one of Dublin Bay’s landmarks, the two chimneys.





Oh and I have been memed by Fi at Trixibell, following shortly.

Technorati tags: Technorati tags: Irishblogs Redmum Dundrum Dublin Ireland Flickr

A glut of Crunchies and Fry’s Chocolate Cream

THE previous post and the opportunism of passers-by who put all their eggs into one basket so to speak and grabbed a couple of birds of a feather, okay I’ll stop now, but that story put me in a mind of a moment like that when I was a young wan.

I would have been 11 and was out on a day trip with my mum and nanny. Somewhere outside Newry we noticed a couple of Crunchies and Fry’s Chocolate Creams lying on the ground.





For those of you who know the road, to this day it is winding and quite dangerous, so 20-odd years ago it was more so and more country road-ish despite being the main route between Dublin and Belfast.

Anyway we turned another corner and while there were about 40 to 50 bars lying on the road earlier, now there was 100s.

What could you do other then get out of the car and grab what you could. And we did.

Around the next corner about 10 cars and their occupants were doing the same, only this time there were boxes full of chocolate, half-full boxes and thousands of bars lying everywhere.

It was like a feeding frenzy, people were running too and fro to all the piles of sweeties and walking back with their arms absolutely full of boxes.

We missed the boxes having wasted time picking up the few stray ones which had obviously fallen out of the back of a delivery truck.

My Mum instructed me to go over to one man who had a tall tower of boxes and say ‘Ach mister you’ve got loads of boxes, can we have one? We didn’t get any boxes at all and everyone has’. So I did, I was a good child and did what I was told.

He absolutely glowered at me before silently walking off to replace his reclaimed stock back into the truck.

I never even liked bloody Fry’s Chocolate Creams.

Technorati tags: Irishblogs Redmum crunchie Chocolate Ireland Newry

Chicken Run – What a Yoke! - More from our feathered friends

Hope you didn’t miss the funny story on the news yesterday and in the papers today about the 6,500 chickens who got loose after the vehicle in which they were travelling overturned giving their lives a reprieve as they were on their way to a slaughter house.



Here’s the headlines, story, pictures and puns as detailed in today’s edition of The Star.


Battery Hen





The Irish Independent wrote: “Locals rushed out to help - and to rehome some of the chickens which had been on their way to a slaughterhouse. At 74 weeks old, the hens were deemed to have reached the end of their egg-producing life.

But eyewitnesses described a field full of eggs. One opportunistic local woman was seen with a bag of eggs in one hand and a chicken under her other arm, while another man thrust two chickens into his car boot.”

Don’t you just love it…

Technorati tags: Irishblogs Redmum Chicken Irish news Ireland Chicken Run

Feathered friends...

DOING a little bit of blogging-up (catching up on regular stop-offs which have been a little neglected due to general busyness) I came across this lovely post and picture from Just Hanging with Michele about birds, winter feeding and Hitchcock (well the comments flow into the Hitchcock theme).

I just love this picture she took of the little bird tracks, it makes you want to go ‘accchhhhhhhh’. I just love the little bit where the bird has done a complete circle, too cute for words.

And it brought to mind the birds outside the house where I grew up. We would feed them most mornings and on a Saturday when we were lazing about watching telly, they would frequently fly and crash into the window as if they knew we were up but hadn’t yet come out to feed them.

I loved frosty mornings as a child. At one stage there was a plank in our garden, I don’t actually know if this ever had a purpose or was just tossed there by one of us, but on frosty mornings, you would see a bird-track with a little slide and then another bird track. I used to love seeing that, and would love to get a picture of that…

But here is a little bad graphic I composed earlier in the meantime to put you in the picture.



I remember also sitting gazing out my brothers’ room to the trees out the back where the branches had wound themselves in a circle. There were many occasions where I would see starlings sitting on that circle facing each other like an feathered King Arthur’s court all chirping away to each other. I’d imagine they were discussing wildly important things like all the stray cats in the area and where the best food was, you know yourself!

I’ve looked at the trees as an adult and the circle has long grown out but for what seemed like a long time I just loved that view.

One time when my daughter was about three years old and sick when we were staying there and she was lying in the room formerly known as the brothers’ room.

She used to love Martin Stephenson, well I did and she did by proxy and I was telling her the story of the circular court of birds when Martin (warning this pic makes him look like a boy band guy but while gorgeous he certainly wasn't and isn't) crooned out one of my favourites ‘Matthew and me’ which starts off with the words ‘sing little bird sing sing’.

She looked up at me all pale, frail and drained-looking saying ‘he’s asking the birds to sing for me’.

‘He surely is darling.’

Irishblogs Redmum birds Martin Stephenson Belfast

Red Mum column December 15

I HAVE no willpower, none at all. Here's the next column as contained in today's edition of The Echo on the topic of dirty dishes. Yeah yeah, I said last week that I would be posting on this on the following Monday, but I have NO willpower. Next week definitely, really, without a doubt.

So far those of you who pop in and out of here will recognise the majority of each column. They have been originally posted here but I have had a wordcount to stick to and some posts have been combined and jiggled (nearly) beyond recognition. However next week's column is all new and so it really starts.



It's not dirty if you can't find it, right?

Now that the Young Wan is growing up a bit the dishes have become one of her household chores. The others include keeping her room tidy (impossible), tending to the doggie (done mostly by me), general gopher duties (go for this, go for that) as well as lifting up after herself (never ever done).

When the dishes first became her domain, oh they sparkled and shone, she took massive pride in her work and they were wonderful. Oven and casserole dishes were the cleanest they have been since being bought; however, you should see the salmonella and disease-ridden dishes and glasses now.

Prior to dishing out dinner when you find food hardened on plates or cutlery (yeuck) it has become normal practice for me to start giving out (understatement of the year) about the state of the dishes and that's a good day cos at least the dishes are done.

Then there are the days the dishes aren't done… Bear in mind, generally the dishes are only what has been used that day, so there are normally not that many.

We live in a small flat, one of those where the kitchen (what a big description for such a small place) is in the living room. So it is important that the dishes are done and put away otherwise the room looks messier than what it normally is.

The main problem is that when they come home from school, they think they have all the time in the world to mess about.

At some point on my way home from work I'll phone home to her know, it is our five minute warning type thing. At this point I know panic has descended in our house and the Young Wan is running around like a mad thing trying to get everything done.

I believe in those instances washing the dishes involves dipping them into water before wiping with a tea-towel as if I won't notice.

Once I came home to a seemingly tidy living room and the dishes appeared done. I went to get a spoon to make a cup of tea only to discover not one piece of cutlery in the drawer, where on earth were they? Then I noticed a pot was gone as were plates, cups and glasses. In fact there wasn't one glass left in the cupboard.

Cue one harassed shout to the Young Wan 'where's all my crockery?' who comes in with the obligatory shrug and 'dunno'.

So one trip into the bastion of filth that is her bedroom and I spot the badly-hidden treasure hoard of dishes discovered in a storage box…

What kind of foolish, stupid and not to mention loony behaviour is that? And why was my child doing it?

I am clueless as to the answers but that was about a year and a half ago and thankfully after about four episodes of 'hide the dishes'; the young wan quickly (once again ha) learnt this wasn't the way to go.

I have compromised, very rarely is there a shed load of dishes to be done, I will generally try to do that before going to bed, or after dinner itself, so the young wan only has to keep the sink free from their own washing. Unfortunately I seem to have lost out big time in that deal.

I suppose with teenagers you learn to choose your battles.

Technorati tags: Irishblogs Redmum Redmum column Dublin Ireland The Echo teenagers"

Hemel Hempstead fire pictures taken by Flickrers

BROWSING through Flickr as you do, it’s very easy to get lost in there, but browsing around I came across this pic of the fire in Hemel Hempstead taken by a Flickrer Gridlock.



It is some pic, isn’t it? Fantastic!

Or check out this one or this one. Or you could check out the most interesting pictures tagged with Hemel here. Bear in mind some auld so-and-sos put a Hemel tag on their non-Hemel pictures cynically knowing that people searching the database for that tag will instead see pix of their cat. Okay slight exageration in this instance just bear in mind that some flickrers do do that.

Technorati tags: Irishblogs Red Mum Hemel Hempstead flickr

Being poor...

I CAME across an amazing and poignant piece here on John Scalzi's blog entitled Whatever Poor a few months ago and it struck me a lot.

We know of the poverty around us and I thought I would try to come up with my own Irish-angled list during this festive season which is an awful time of year for those who are living in poverty. I hope I do the original justice.

If you feel strongly enough about these issues, send Bertie Ahern an e-card as part of the ongoing Make Poverty History campaign or go one better and also take part in Barnardos’ gift appeal. Buy a toy and leave it at any AIB branch before December 16. One in seven Irish children live in poverty, why not make their Christmas.

Oh and check out the Barnardos Blog, is this the first blog of this type?

Being poor is…

when you are dependent on the Social Welfare’s €14 weekly Fuel Allowance to heat your home and it doesn’t last two days.

when pay day or social welfare payment day comes and you separate your money into piles leaving a small pile which leaves you overwhelmed at the prospect of making it stretch until you next get money.

when Budget Day comes with a minimal increase in Social Welfare payments and the increase is automatically deducted from your rent allowance payments, leaving you no better off at all.

when you know another mother on social welfare and you wonder enviously how she manages to clothe herself and child/ren so well.

when you dread bank holidays because all they mean to you is that you watch everyone else in the world going off to have fun, or so it feels.

when you cannot move from your flat even though there is no heating, no hot water and you share your flat with rodents, because you cannot even afford to live there really never mind move somewhere better.

when you keep your milk and butter on your windowsill because it stays fresher there than in the awful excuse for a fridge that your landlord has provided you with.

when it feels like the end of the world when your landlord increases your rent.

when you manage to stretch a pot of stew over five days, though you cannot face another stew dinner.

when you feel the financial aftermath for months of your first night out in ages.

when you wonder should you treat yourself to that half-price lipstick in a bargain bucket in your local chemist.

when you cannot even afford the bus fare to go shopping.

when friends do not understand that even ‘just get here and do not worry about money’ does not mean that you will be able to in anyway.

when your winter coat is also your summer coat.

when you ask the dentist to extract a painful tooth rather than fill it because the cost difference is enormous.

when you cannot go to a friends wedding because

a) you have nothing to wear and cannot afford an outfit
b) you cannot afford a day out like that anyway
c) you cannot afford a babysitter
d) you cannot afford a present for the happy couple


when you see a mother and child begging in the street and you wonder will you ever find yourself in that position.

when cost not quality is your priority.

when the €40 visit to the doctor means you decide the cough will clear up on its own soon.

when the cough gets so bad that when you do reluctantly go to the doctor and you think ‘not bloody likely’ when he says ‘come back in a couple of days if that doesn’t clear up’.

when the average cost of sending a child to secondary school is more than a thousand euro and it might as well be a million.

when you do not know whether to laugh or cry at the Government grant of €250 which is supposed to go someway to cover the more than a grand cost of going to secondary school.

when the thought of Christmas fills you with absolute dread and not seasonal cheer.

when you want to cry because your child’s Christmas list reflects your child knowledge that there isn’t much money about.

I’d be interested to hear what your additions to the being poor is list.

Technorati tags: Irishblogs Redmum Make Poverty History poverty Ireland Being poor

The fascination of strange searches #2

SINCE installing Google Analytics I have discovered the wealth of phrases and words that have brought people here.

I wrote about this a couple of weeks ago here and since the superiority of google analytics I realise that I have missed out on this bit of fun up to now by depending on the keyword analysis as provided by the otherwise pretty good statcounter site.

By far the two most searched for phrases have been related to ‘Georgie Best’ or the ‘Leinster Ladies rugby calendar’.

‘Glenda Gilson’ has figured more than once and ‘Glenda Gilson eyebrows’ has also figured, which made me laugh heartily, so I am definitely not the only one to notice their staticness or maybe someone likes them and wants them!, the mind googles, sorry boogles, boggles.

Aside from the ‘Leinster Ladies rugby’, searches have been made for ‘Sunday Tribune womens’ rugby’, ‘Dundalk women calendar’, ‘female rugby players’, ‘women rugby calendars’. Someone wanted ‘Leinster rugby womens’ calendar free pics’ – buy it you cheapo, someone else wanted ‘sexy womens rugby players’ and my favourite ‘lovely female rugby’ as opposed to not nice male rugby, that searcher looked for ‘french male rugby male calendar’.

The calendar theme is followed on by someone looking for ‘flickr.com Dundalk calendar’ then we get those who are looking for the more lets say aromatic side of blogging with ‘blogs with sexy pictures’ – ah gee thanks.

‘Ladies arses pictures’ or ‘pictures of ladies arses’ or ‘pics of women with big arses’ and ‘arses’ in general has featured, while someone, you know who you are, has looked for ‘suggs porn’!!!! Oh the eloquence of it all.

A couple of people have looked for various versions of minipops while someone else wanted to read and see ‘mini women’, I haven’t a ‘baldy notion’ as per the search of one visitor. I bet they were disappointed with what they found.

The ‘Spanking blogs’ visitor must have been wildly disappointed with their search while I may feel like a wannabe ‘sexy young mum’ I can’t help but feel that searcher must have felt a little let down with Red Mum’s contents.

There have been a couple of people looking for ‘body piercings’ or someone who is more on a power with me looking for ‘ouch body piercings’.

Someone wants to ‘get google earth Turkey’ while someone else (know anything about this JL Pagino?) searched for ‘google earth sunbathing’.

One person wanted to see a ‘pic of an untidy room’ which as some of you might know that while the Young Wan’s room is an ongoing saga I still cannot bring myself to shame myself with a pic of her room, and someone else was content with just the ‘description of an untidy room’ oh you will get it here darling!

The strangest search award has to go to ‘bono childbirth’, Jaysus I can’t bring myself to even contemplate what’s being that one.

Over the last couple of months I have noticed a number of people coming here via an images search and by far the most popular is the dark pictures I took at the Harry Potter book launch back in the summer.

Once in work on Monday if I have time I will have a fiddle with them and I will repost them they way I would have liked them to look in the first case.

Last Thursday at 2.20pm someone in Colarado, USA came here looking for my U2 pic, then 10 minutes someone in Thailand looked for the same pic.



Oh and to hell with the person who came here after searching with the phrase ‘I went to U2’ oh great rub it in, as this post will testify.

This cartoon is an ongoing popular favourite and it still makes me laugh…





My google earth findings have proved to be a popular pic while my other pic taken from during a lazy summer day’s shopping of a woman feeding pigeons.







If I wasn’t a lazy so-and-so I would link you to the posts these searches found themselves but Jaysus that would take forever.

Technorati tags: redmum Irishblogs google flickr fascinating searches

Pick us up, our feet are killing us...

I’ll post more of the pics from the last week’s National Demo in the next couple of days, but here’s just a quick taster. It was pointed out to me and it is a great pic of two elderly people surrounded by shopping and surrounded by the thousands and thousands of people attending the demo. Wish I could post it here bigger I love it.



Technorati tags: redmum Irishblogs Irish ferries

Red Mum column December 9

HERE is the latest Redmum column from The Echo concering morning times in our household.

The paper hits the streets on a Thursday and while I said here previously that I would post the article on a Monday, I just cannot contain myself. But from next week youse will all have to wait...



Morning battles never get any easier

Some of the worst moments in our house take place in the morning as we are both running around like crazy things trying to get to work/school on time.

This is not a time for the faint-hearted because it is when the cheek, the rolling-up to heaven of the eyes, the slamming of doors, stomping of feet – and that’s just me! (Only jokingish) I do at times feel sorry for those poor unfortunates who live in the flat underneath us.

I suppose I am really lucky, I never suffered toddler tantrums, I just wouldn’t allow it and thankfully she wasn’t the type. She has never screamed at me, shouted or roared the way some other teen monsters do. I suppose now I am getting my payback.

So for those parents out there whose toddler/child was a nightmare, an absolute brat, there is hope. Maybe your payoff will be a well-behaved, eloquent and pleasant to be around teen.

But I should be clear on the point that if there is a screamer, shouter or roarer in our house, it’s me and not herself. I should also point out that I wasn’t always like that. The Young Wan doesn’t shout or scream, she just silently and defiantly says nothing, nothing at all.

Generally this happens when the morning rush has reached the stage when we are both nearly running late and I am being treated/looked at/barked at like I have asked her to kill her granny when what I have actually asked ‘have you brushed your teeth?’

Or there is the other bastion of appalling parenthood guaranteed to bring forth a wealth of huffs, puffs and banging of doors is when I ask if she has either a) made a sandwich for lunch or b) remembered to take the sandwich I have already prepared for her.

What an awful mother I am to try to make sure she has sustenance during the school day; oh and do not get me started on ensuring she has breakfast.

On the subject of ‘have you seen my (fill in as appropriate)?’ I have to say I have reached the point where many other parents before me have evolved too where it is a case of ‘where did you put it last?’, which never goes down well.

And I do realise my response is probably not that helpful, but I have spent a lifetime keeping together jigsaws, toys that come in a million pieces, lego, you know yourself and now I am of the belief that the Young Wan should now start to take care of her own stuff.

One of the other morning troubles in our house is the nonsensical lying; made all the more nonsensical when the young wan should know by now that I double-check these things, having learnt enough through previous mishaps (I am being very generous there)

Take for example the simple question of ‘have you made a sandwich?’. Big sigh from the young wan ‘yessss’. To which I reply ‘show me then’.

Some fumbling later she will then admit that she didn’t make one at all. Sorry did I say admit, I should have said forced to own up to lying about something so stupid.

Despite the fact this is not new practise on my part, I regularly check, she will still persist in trying to fool me.

Aye great move! Go to school and starve all day, that’s really showing me. HA!

Technorati tags: Technorati tags: Irishblogs Redmum RedMum Column The Echo Ireland column Dec9

Callely - the plot thickens

MMHHh the plot thickens, the news headlines at 10am said Ivor Callely had resigned and he is now on Pat Kenny saying that he has not resigned...

He said he didn't get a bill so he didn't pay it. I have a rake of bills unopened, so I haven't seen them yet, does that mean I do not have to pay?

Arrgghh he just spoke about himself in the third person, I hate that, pompous arse. He said "The Ivor Callely fight..." Eejit.

One word springs to mind - madness.

Technorati tags: Technorati tags: Irishblogs Redmum Ivor Callely politics Ireland Fianna Fail

Movie of my life is...

MY life is a black comedy, sounds about bloody right! While everything falls in around me, and as it says at least I can have a good laugh on the way to the asylum.

Check out the wealth of silly, fun quizes here at blogthings.com.

The Movie Of Your Life Is A Black Comedy

In your life, things are so twisted that you just have to laugh. You may end up insane, but you'll have fun on the way to the asylum. Your best movie matches: Being John Malkovich, The Royal Tenenbaums, American Psycho

If Your Life Was a Movie, What Genre Would It Be?

Dead man walking

JUST watching Leaders’ Questions on RTE and the Taoiseach’s ‘not impressed’ comments on the scandalous news that one of Ireland’s largest building firms paid for painting work on the home of the self-promoting ‘Minister’ Ivor Callely.



It is somewhat embarassing that the Taoiseach has been unable to contact Callely last night or this morning, I feel a great Gift Grub sketch coming up.

Mmmhhhh dead man walking as one of my colleagues put. He’ll be gone before the end of business maybe even lunchtime. The only question is will he resign or will he be sacked?

Technorati tags: Technorati tags: Irishblogs Redmum Ivor Callely DailEireann Ireland

World School Photos

Forget Friends Reunited, this site is amazing! It claims to have pictures of schools from all over the world; I found mine…



All you do is follow the instructions, submitting your location, name of school, your name or your friends and 10 seconds later you should be able to see your school and maybe pix of yourself and friends.

Technorati tags: Technorati tags: Irishblogs Redmum Friends Reunited photos Ireland bit of fun joke

Mourning two Belfast boys

I JUST had the strangest and most heartbreaking weekend following the untimely and tragic death of a young family member.

I do not wish to intrude on my family’s grief by posting about it here except to tell you about the moments when my family’s grief crossed over Belfast’s mourning of Georgie Best.





My family member was a big Manchester United fan so there was some catharsis that his funeral and Georgie’s was being held on the same day. The florist where we ordered our wreath also prepared the floral tributes from Manchester United, Georgie Best’s family flowers, Tony Blair and the British Government as well as the Duke of York. That’s a bit of a big deal for a florist off the Falls Road.

While up home I stayed with a friend over in the Rosetta area of Belfast which is right beside Cregagh where Georgie grew up. At one stage on Friday evening we drove along the top of the street where his family home is and saw the crowd of people standing outside the house.

I am including some pics of the funeral cortege as it passed by Cregagh Road taken by my pal, the rest are my own shots.

I had to be up at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning to get over across town to where our funeral was happening and I did not wish to get caught up in the crowds expected to line the street for Georgie Best.

The funeral was organised early because it had to be finished early so the gravediggers could make it over to Roselawn Cemetery. It was all a bit surreal.

Then on Sunday before heading back to Dublin, we called up to Roselawn cemetery where Georgie was buried on Saturday to find hoards of people all coming to pay their last respects.

The cemetery laid out all the floral tributes so people could see them before calling to the grave. Among the floral tributes I photographed are ones from the IFA, Susan George, The Duke of York, Elton John and many football clubs. You can see all the pictures I have taken here and see some of the most interesting pictures in Flickr with the George Best tag here.

RIP to you both, you will be sadly missed and fondly remembered.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam



































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