Christmas Music in shops

Image Dcinno/Shutterstock

I love Christmas, having all my family around, meeting relations you haven't seen a while, and gorging on all the chocolate and fancy biscuits.
But even though I super love Christmas time, I too realise there is a time and place for it.

Thus I come to the crux of my latest blog post - Christmas Music in shops.



Yet again whilst walking around a shop mere day after Halloween I was greeted by the blaring tones of John Lennon telling war is over if we wanted it to be.
It got me worked up into a rage.
It was too early, WAY too early in my view to be playing such songs; It would have still been feasible to play "The Monster Mash" or "Thriller" as Halloween was still very much in our psyche, but Christmas songs on November 2nd? NO.



It is now November 27th, the first Advent Candle was lit by Father Larry yesterday in my local church, and I am spending many hours watching the "MTV XMAS" Channel, as it is now appropriate tom play such songs.

Image from BBC

So I would like to propose the following to put us out of our yearly misery.
We could start in Dublin, and if it works, expand it elsewhere in the country.
So one oif the groups, be it "Dublin Town" or the "City Centre Business Association" would put up a list on it's website, and also link it to their Social Media accounts.
On this list is the names of the companies who have signed a pledge agreeing to hold off on playing Christmas Music in their store(s) until, say November 25th at the earliest.
So we could then avoid the shops who wreck our heads every year by playing Christmas songs from November 2nd every year.
 

Image from Evening Herald

 So what do people think? 
Would ye make it your business to purposely shop in those shops that signed up to the pledge?

And last but not least - check out this brilliant Lego video of Chris De Burgh's Christmas Classic 

Re-open Rosslare-Waterford Line, and join routes in a loop

Image from: Newstalk

This week the Phoenix Park tunnel reopened, which now means trains that used to only be able to travel to Heuston Station, can now travel to Connolly Station and beyond.

Over the years I have oft taken the train to Rosslare, which starts at Connolly Station, and this got me thinking.
A few years ago the line that linked Rosslare Harbour Train Station to Plunkett Station Waterford was disgracefully closed.
With Iarnroid Eireann having to cut back even more due to a shamefully low subvention from the government (A mere fraction of what state train companies in Germany Holland etc get), so any area where efficiencies can be found, should of course be grasped.

Irish Rail Network Map Image from Irish Rail

With the re-opening of the tunnel, it has poppede one such efficiency measure into my mind.
 Why don't we combine the current Heuston-Kildare-Athy-Carlow-Bagenalstown-Kilkenny-Thomastown-Waterford line, with the Dublin Connolly/Tara Street/Pearse Street - Dun Laoghaire - Bray - Greystones - Wicklow - Rathdrum - Arkloow - Gorey - Enniscorthy - Wexford town - Rosslare lines?

For this to happen, as well as using the newly reopened Phoenix Park Tunnel, now closed stations in Wexford would have to be reopened.
These would be: Bridgetown, Wellingtonbridge, Ballycullane, and Campile stations.

So A train would leave Connolly, travel the existing route to Rosslare Harbour, but THEN travel the old Rosslare-Waterford line, whereupon it would continue on what is the current Heuston Waterford route, but instead it would turn off before Heuston, onto the Pheonix Park Tunnel and onto Connolly.
there would also be trains heading the other direction - Dublin(Connolly)-Kildare-Carlow-Waterford-Wexford-Wicklow-Dublin.

Plunkett Station Waterford Image from: Architecture Ireland

This will allow greater connectivity on the rail line. Though of course it would be a quite longer roundabout way of getting there by car, you would now be ablle to get from Wicklow town to Carlow by train without having to take two trains and a LUAS.
It will also mean greater capacity on both the exisiting routes, with twice as many train stopping at Wexford en route to Dublin than is now the case.
A lot of people in Wexford have to go to Waterford hospital for appointments, and this too will help them greatly.

Wexford Town level crossing Image from: Youtube

I know people will come straight back to me and say "Who's going to pay for it? It will lose Irish Rail more money as not enough will use it to make it viable!" etc.
The simple answer is NO efficiently run train service makes a profit, Deutsche Bahn in Germany, SNCB in Belgium are heavily subsidised by the state.
But this means goods and people can be transported efficiently from A to B, and overall leads to greater revenue for the country, as the positive spin off of more companies choosing to setup there because of the excellent rail links.

Wellingtonbridge Station Image from: Munster Express

Thus it is long past time that the government started properly funding our rail network, so we can have more and speedier trains running, which WILL see many more people ditching their cars, which can only be good for Ireland trying to meeting it's obligatory carbon emissions targets!

TO MY DA JIMMY

In 1945 as Europe was still in shock and war torn,
in Dublin a new Irish citizen was born,
in the maternity ward were cries of waaaa!
that wailing babby was my Da.

To the suburb of Dundrum he was ferried,
to the house his parents moved into when they got married,
soon to be wheeled through many lanes,
was their son they christened James.

An intellect in him the Christian Brothers did sow,
as he attended school in Westland Row,
by the time his schooling did end,
he had made many a life long friend.

Then one night all hail and hearty,
he headed along to a 21^st party,
little did he know as to the birthday girl the band did sing,
she’d be the one he’d buy an engagement ring.

In the glare of the September sun in 1971,
a right crowd to Saint Joseph’s East Wall had come,
Jimmy Heffernan’s eyes glistened with pride,
as down the aisle walked Doreen Slater his bride.

As Pope John Paul was was packing his cases for Dublin,
down the road from the suburb of Crumlin,
nurses hurried about in a hospital called the Coombe,
Keeping an eye on twins in the emergency room.

The twins eventually left hospital and arrived home,
to the warmest loveliest abode anyone could have ever known,
the greatest love and care was shown to all 4 children.
by a mammy and daddy who were/are one in a million.

My Da took us on many trips to Wexford, but my god was the traffic hell,
though it was soothed somewhat by the songs of Bagatelle,
how I long for those warm summer nights,
when my father would enthral me with tales as we witnessed the skies delights.

Though he was a man of high intellect,
his persona it did not affect,
as humble and ordinary as can be,
often coaxed to sing a song or three!

I will forever cherish his words of encouragement and wisdom,
which to this day enables me to meet life’s challenges wherever they come,
little did he know when chatting to all those years ago,
how far his words would enable me to go.

Then 18 years ago the unthinkable occurred,
My Da, Jimmy Heffernan, suddenly departed this world,
the man who everyone regarded as their best friend,
had sadly met his physical end.

Yes a long time may have past, but by god do the memories last,
there is not a single day that goes by, that I don’t think of you and form a tear in my eye,
your name now adorns a headstone in Bohernabreena,
thanks for everything you did for me, my one in a million Da.

Why do stupid people go on quiz shows??

Image from: Amazon

Image:  clipart.co

So yet again I am roaring in frustration at the television, my patience once again severely tested as another 'Catchphrase' contestant gets a blindingly obvious 'catchphrases' wrong.
 Why on earth did he apply to go on that show in the first place?

The same goes for people on 'Tipping Point'. 
Yet again I am roaring at the television when a person says the Capital of Austria is Berlin, or that it was Morrisey who sang "the Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth" with Bing Crosby.
Myself and my Mother were incredulous the other week when someone got a load of questions right, but got very little counters from the machine, yet someone who got just ONE question correct got 11 counters.

Image from: rocksoundtv

It has lead me to seriously question the vetting procedures for these shows.
Do they even check to see if the proposed contestant has a decent level of general knowledge?
Hy hunch is that they merely pick a person by where they live, and that's all that matters.
Yes I get it that it's important to have a equitable geographical spread of guests - Lord knows how vociferous my Auntie gets when no-one from Dublin is on an episode of Winning Streak!
They obviously assume the person must have a good knowledge level for to actually apply to these shows, but it seems that is not always the case.

Image from: The Star Newspaper

It is great to see when someone gets a 'Pointless; answer on the quiz show 'Pointless' (And 10 times  better if I also thought of that answer!), or someone gets 5 or more questions right in the rapid fire round on Tipping Point.
But people falling flat on their faces on TV, getting the most basic questions wrong and so forth is ruining my enjoyment of these shows, and I find myself turning off mid episode more and more frequently.

Image from: RTE Archives

So here is a plea to producers of Game Shows - Please test people before admitting them onto your show, so I can get back to enjoying quiz shows the way I used to; Oh and R.T.E any chance of bringing Where in the World back?  I swear 10 year old me loved it for more than the fact Theresa Lowe was the presenter!

Image From: RTE Archives

Proud to come from Tallaght

Ariel photo of Tallaght (c)
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056669235/2?

Aerial photo of Tallaght in 1997 © Jupiterkid via Boards.ie

In 1979, I was born, and thus my 37 years+ love affair with Tallaght began.
If anyone asks me where I am from, I happily tell them, Tallaght, and if they ask further, Dublin 24.
I can never get people who fake their address; People who live the far end of Templeogue, swear they live in Terenure, those who live the far end of Terenure swear they live in Rathgar, Rathgar folk swearing they live in Rathmines and so forth.

As far as I’m concerned, what matters is that you have good neighbours, the school nearby has a good educational ethos, and good transport links and shops are nearby.
If the area you live in has all of the above, does it really matter if it is Donnybrook or Donnycarney?

I think Dublin folk can be very pass remarkable, and have decided the chapter and verse of the type of person an individual is, simply by their accent.
I have worked with people who were born with very clipped ‘D4’ accents, who were the nicest kindest people you could meet.
And I’ve also met people who came from hard poor backgrounds, who now very annoyingly swan about the place in an over the top fixation at trying (and badly failing) to portray themselves as “Middle Class”.

(c) http://www.schooldays.ie/school/st-dominics-n-s-rollnumber-19950J

I have fond memories of attending Saint Dominic’s Primary School.
We had very little, and often in P.E. we would play uni hoc, or other sports using patched up equipment covered in masking tape, donated to us from some posh school somewhere.
Yes we didn’t have computers, or go on fancy outings like kids in the “better” schools did, but when you had great inspiring teachers, who’s ingenuity knew no bounds, it didn’t matter.

(c) http://www.rte.ie/archives/2015/1202/750693-president-hillerys-last-day/

Oh how disappointed and 8 year old I was, when President Hillary arrived at the school to plant a tree.
I had my hopes built of my being blown right back, as this fancy helicopter landed in the school yard, and a platoon of soldiers flanking him like it happened in The A-Team or McGyver.
Instead he just appeared out of nowhere (I found out later he had arrived in some big fancy car well out of eye shot of where I and my classmates had lined up)
I at the time though "I've endured Mrs Cotter’s forced imprisonment for hours on end in the school hall until we could all sing  Amhrán na Bhfiann, for this?"

(c) http://darraghdoyle.blogspot.ie/2007/01/day-i-met-boscos-mammy-for-coffee.html

 © RTE.IE and lambert Puppet Theatre

I had a happy childhood, and never wanted for anything (ok the expensive Bosco slippers sold in Nugents shop in Tallaght Village my Mother point blank refused to get me - despite my squealing - aside).
Many happy day trips were spent with my family, and myself and my friends would be out on the road for hours on end, playing chasing, football, and, usually around Wimbledon, we'd briefly re-ignite a desire to play tennis.
                                                      

I have very good neighbours on my road, and in other parts of my parish who would drop everything on the spot to give you a hand if you were in a spot of bother, be it a flat tyre, being locked out of the house, realising you've not got enough Bisto on Christmas morning etc.
How many people in Dublin 4 can say that?

I will admit straight out that everything was and is far from rosey in the garden regards Tallaght.
I can still remember the reverberations of shock when Packard Electric and later the Gallagher cigarette Factories closed in Tallaght, with hundreds of jobs lost.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/packard-plant-in-tallaght-to-close-with-the-loss-of-800-jobs-1.44286 © Irish Times Limited.
Quite a few of these people are still out of work, the Technological age, and the fact it's vital to be tech savvy to get a  job nowadays, passed these people by.
 

(c) http://www.echo.ie/news/article/amazon-re-submit-planning-application-for-old-jacobs-site

Jacobs Biscuit Factory - Another big employer who left the area
 

My Parish was also the area were sadly Garda Reynolds lost his life in 1982,and last year a man sadly lost his life in an attack beside the bridge to Tallaght Village, and there are a small number people who pop up quite a bit in the courts page in the Tallaght Echo.

But despite these few incidents of negativity, I invite you to pay a visit to Dominic's Community Centre, or the two Primary Schools in the area, and you will witness just a fraction of the goings on in my vibrant, united parish with a 'can do' attitude.

Ariel view of Dominic's Parish (c) https://www.google.ie/maps/@53.2836434,-6.3514138,931m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

ALL VIDEO CLIPS (C) YOUTUBE