'Communities United Against Cuts' Protest

At last, those working with communities are starting to unite and fight back against proposed government cuts that will devastate neighbourhoods and led to ghettoisation and a social meltdown that will undermine all the good work done over the last decade by organisations such as Galway City Partnership.
Why should the innocents particularly the disadvantaged be forced to suffer and to pay for the sins of the coterie of selfish 'me fein' property speculators, bankers, planners, top civil servants and certain politicians that got us into the recession that Ireland is now facing?
Galway city recently saw a fantastic colourful crowd of over 1,000 community activists of all ages protest against the threatened state cuts to the community sector. It will be the first of many such rallies over the coming months.
See my previous article entitled Economic Meltdown Could lead to Social Meltdown

Horse-Drawn Cart on a Busy City Road!

On Sunday afternoon, I was pleasantly surprised to see a man standing up on an open cart steering its horse through a Kirwan Roundabout populated by speeding cars driven by aggressive drivers.
I just had to take this brave man's (& horse's) photo! So I flagged him down & got talking to him.
A true gentleman, his name is Michael Cunniss & he has worked with horses all his life.
Only a few decades ago, a sight of a horse-drawn cart would have been a common everyday occurrence in Irish towns. Now, our modern roads are just too dangerous not only for horses, but for pedestrians & cyclists. So much for progress!!

Arrogance of the Ceann Comhairle John O'Donoghue defies belief!

(Click on picture for larger version)

It is not surprising that John O'Donoghue and his government defenders can use in his defense that he abided by parliamentary rules thereby breaking no laws in the huge expenses that he accumulated over the last few years that was paid for by the ordinary tax-payers of Ireland.
But hasn't the ruling establishment since time immemorial written the laws to protect their own selfish interests? Morality and ethics sadly does not figure high on their agenda.
Yet even still his behaviour goes way beyond these low political standards.
For what can you say about a servant of the state that reclaimed a miserly stg£1 donation that he made to Unicef while on a visit to Scotland? Or who stayed at a 5 Star hotel and spent 65,000Euro of taxpayers monies with other TDs while attending a Conference in South Africa on Combating Poverty?!
Due solely to public anger at these unethical abuses, he has been forced to announce his resignation, the first time that this has happened to a person in such high political office since the foundation of the state?
A honourable act on his behalf? Not bleeding likely? For he has postponed his resignation until next week knowing that the Green Party at their convention over the weekend may decide to pull the plug on the government leading to the dissolving of Dail Éireann and the announcement of a general election. Clever man that John is, he knows that, as he will be still hold the office of Ceann Comhairle, he will automatically be given a seat in the next parliament hereby avoiding the anger of the people.
Selfish interest comes before civic duty.
What is the morality and sense of patriotic duty in this Green-Fianna Fáil Government. Let all true civic-minded people in both parties stand up and be counted. Demand an immediate end to politicians and top civil servants filling their pockets at our expense and a return of integrity and honesty to Irish politics.