AND ANOTHER THING:

It would seem that my prayers are about to be answered and, truth to tell, I never thought I would see the day that I would be thanking a Government Minister for it. But if the health Minister Michael Martin has his way, he will be shortly introducing a bill that will bar smoking in public places, such as pubs and restaurants. This is indeed good news for the 70% of people in this country who don’t smoke but have been dictated to in a very selfish way by the 30% who do. I know that there are some people who will say ‘ah sure, there he goes again, same oul story’.

But look at the figures - 7,000 people die in this country each year from smoking related diseases and no one bats an eye. It’s roughly 2000 more than were killed in America on September 11th and look at the shock that caused. I went to see a neighbour in a Dublin hospital recently and was shocked to see a number of people sitting in an open building out in the grounds smoking for all they were worth. A wreath of smoke billowed out all round as they puffed and stared into space. Very few spoke, such was their intent in getting as much of this stuff into their lungs as possible. It really was a frightening sight and has stayed with me since. To think that people were so hooked on this dreadful drug that they allowed themselves almost to be put in place, not unlike a leper colony, was beyond belief but indeed there it was.

AND ANOTHER THING:

With relentless determination, the march of time brings us even closer to the Euro. This is going to be a very big change for everyone and even though I have been assured by experts that our pocket will not suffer, I find it hard to believe. We have been assured of much in the past but not all of it came to pass and with little or no explanation when it didn’t either. I can see, for example, that something which costs one punt now should in theory cost 1.27 in new money. What is the betting that this will not be rounded up to 1.30 at least. You mark my words, it will not be rounded down the way for our good. My advice is to watch the small change very closely in every transaction because it’s that small charge that will count in the end.

AND ANOTHER THING:

I never cease to be amazed at some of the expressions of our politicians. It seems that, from time to time, they talk the talk of the foolish in their attempt to throw the rest of us of our guard. Take for example some time ago someone coined the phrase ‘Window of Opportunity’. This mythical window was opened and closed for months on end and it appeared for a time that no politician could do anything if it wasn’t done through ‘the window’.

Then another great phrase arrived. It was known as ‘Copper fasten’. In your minds eye you could almost see politicians finishing off a deal complete with bits of copper piping, a hammer and some rivets. This was, of course, not the case.

Then quite recently another one arrived. This one was ‘Bench marking’. To be quite honest I haven’t figured this one out yet. Maybe some smart alec out there could put me right. Finally, now, at this time, there is another new one. Apparently if you want to get anything done you have to become ‘Focused’ and here was me all these years thinking that the only thing you could focus was your camera. Poor foolish me!

AND ANOTHER THING:

The crusade continues, regardless of the letters written to this newspaper regarding the price of food in our cafes and restaurants. Not all think that we are getting good value. I hear of people being charged £1.75 for a portion of beans in a certain eating house. Four tins of beans can be bought in some shops for 99p. Surely a huge mark up here. Then there were others who, on buying a portion of tart, were astounded to realise that had they bought the whole tart it would have cost in excess of £13. The people who would think that this represents good value must have more money that what is good for them. I said it before and I’ll say it again, it’s shafting on a grand scale and I don’t care who hears me saying it. So there, put that in your tae bag and smoke it.

AND ANOTHER THING:

More good news - R.T.E. is in big bother. It should come as no surprise to anyone. The salaries that some people were getting in that place would make your eyes water, but sure wasn’t it coming off a broad back. Yes - yours and mine. At least the legendary bandit Ned Kelly had the decency to wear some sort of mask as he requested your money, but these boys, through the Government, demanded your money bare-faced. In fact, there was wholesale threatening if you didn’t pay your licence fee. And for what in return? I picked a television guide at random. It happened to be Thursday 1st November. Apart from the news which, by the way, is very well presented, most of the rest of the viewing on both channel one and two was, to my mind, complete rubbish. Why we are being subjected to watching American, English and Australian rubbish is beyond me?

The odd time that they show any Irish music, it’s so far back it relates to DeValera’s comely maidens dancing at the crossroads. Is there no one to tell these prigs that there are young people now playing the best of modern Irish traditional music? If you want to hear that kind of music you must tune into local radio who have no fear of playing it and don’t demand a ransom for it either. The sooner R.T.E. and Aer Lingus and all the other lame ducks that have sucked this country dry get the boot, the better. They have been around long enough!