On my Soapbox

I havent been blogging recently friends because I havent had the time. Or the spare time I do have I have taken to the outdoors. Sometimes with a camera, other times with a tent, hiking, varnishing a memorial seat or spending quality time with Jen.

In the past few weekends I have been to Liverpool, driven to Roscommon, had interesting encounters with Russians while taking night photos in Ringsend while during the week I have been looking forward to new training and work in a new department.

On my memory key I have hundreds of photos I need to organise and place up onto the site. During the cleanup of the Dawson house I found some documentaries I was involved in that I must add to the main page.

Some week I must create 2 websites which have been placed on the long finger. Time is my biggest enemy. They are 2 projects Ive been meaning to start for some time although chasing companies in New York with the poorest sales team possible did not help matters!

I spent the past few nights catching up on old friends while doing a lot of work with Scouting Radio our busiest time of the year with the World Scout Jamboree in progress.

Keep listening at www.ScoutingRadio.com and watching my facebook page for updates of the latest videos and photos to the Xtreme Media site.

Blogs to come: – I’ll probably get on my soapbox about the News of the World and the Sun Newspaper and Thatchers files on Hillsborough finally being released to the BBC under the Freedom of Information Act. That will be a long rant!

Doing some tidying in Casa Dawson and this nearly made the skip until I was talked into keeping it, it might be valuable. The Oric 1 micro computer.

Move over iPad 2 this has a massive 16K Ram which can be pushed to 48K Ram if your lucky!

This is the real “ergonomic” keyboard where the keys can be “moved”, I guess they mean pressed? I wasnt able to move any keys!

Manuals are still inside the box, with a printer port. I do plan to hook this up to my modern HD tv soon and see just how retro this piece of kit is.

My Dad said my Mum bought it for him when it first came out at a price of £200, a lot of money at the time. Havent been able to find a year on the manual yet.

Since I can carry this keyboard around, does this make it a laptop?

Jen and I went along to the Street Performance World Championships on Saturday and to take part in the Guinness Book of Records challenge of “Most amount of people dressed as Wally from the book Where’s Wally”.

The Republic of Cork currently hold the record set last week. On Saturday we smashed the record with over 3,500 people and I’m still waiting to here how Dublin did this evening.

Very enjoyable walk around Merrion Square in Dublin, with several acts. Myself and Jen both enjoyed Mr Spin and his interaction with the audience. I was unable to get my hands on a voting card but my vote would have been for him.

The second act was pathetic of a magician mixed with balloon animals juggling a chain saw. He didn’t win over the crowd, and the volunteers he picked from the audience included an 11 year old who took off his balloon hat and fired it on the ground, much to the shock and bemusement of the audience. Following that he pulled an adult from the audience who didn’t want to take part. Whoops!

At 6 bells the Outlaws, yes outlaws if you remember your Where’s Wally books called us together to take part in the first of 2 World Record Attempts in Dublin. The atmosphere was electric, Wally’s to the front, back, right and left.

And the camera, for the geeky type like me (wasn’t Wally a geek?) a camera that could take a photo of 10TB! I know what I want for Christmas!

It was absolutely hilarious when this song came on the PA. The MC before playing the tune said – kids, this is a song your parents will go mad to, and you will have no idea what they are dancing for.

Oh how the memories flowed back. 1990 World Cup. Jack Charlton’s Army. I was 7 years of age. Packie Bonner was my hero, despite me not able to kick a ball straight, but I could make a good keeper!

Forget the Celtic Tiger, this is when Ireland came together as one. The dancing on the streets, the drunken parties where even the police didn’t care. Then the homecoming. Dame Street full of Irish supporters as Jack took the microphone. I was on the top floor of Goodbodies Stockbrokers, holding my Mums hand with my knees shaking and vertigo of 7 years of age as I hoped to get a glimpse of Packie. I wasn’t lucky. I did meet him several years later as a teenager. In a bank of all places. As they always say, never meet your childhood hero.

Amazing how one song that you haven’t heard in years can take you back with so many memories, beat on the street sponsored by 7up and 2FM….

and the catchphrase – coming at ya!

Ah… good times.

Apologies to all my blog readers who must have thought I have given up writing on my blog. I have been busy with other projects, getting the camera out, taking more photos, working on Graduation DVDs, websites and finding out if this park bench is really made of chocolate and where I can buy one!

Took a trip to Newgrange recently with Jen. Really enjoyed it and photos will be up on the site shortly. There are so many great attractions in Ireland which I do hope to visit this summer. Short cost affordable breaks are going to keep money in the wallet while also doing some work on website in my spare time. I sometimes need to get away from the computer. Staring at them for 8 hours a day Monday to Friday and then coming home and doing some more, all work and no play makes Justy a dull boy!

Tuesday nights is soon to become Photography night and more and more photos will become available to view or “purchase” from the Xtreme Media site (shameless plug!). Thanks to all who have commented and bought photos, you keep me doing what I enjoy!

Scouting Radio is getting ready for a busy summer with the World Jamboree in Sweeden. Following this we hope to do some broadcasts from Brownsea Island and Gilwell. Watch this space.

This weekend if you are doing nothing its worthwhile heading down to Merrion Square to view some bizarre acts, some gruesome and freaky at the Street Performance World Championships. There is also a World Record attempt for how many Where’s Wally’s can be in one street.

I hope it doesn’t end up with a phone call to Jen – “where are you?  I can’t find you, you’re at which stand? I can’t hear you, no I can’t see you waving everybody is dressed the same!”

Incredible. Thanks to a friend for bringing this documentary to my attention, it ties in nicely with a project that I am working on which is top secret with Xtreme Media.

Mosney Holiday camp was the “Irish Butlins” of holiday camps. Only an hour outside of Dublin. I only ever visited it twice but as a child thought it was fantastic. My first time on go karts, the massive pool, the mushroom water features and the Coca Cola slide.

There was loads of attractions to keep you busy throughout the day.

Mosney opened their doors in 1948. Occupying some 200 acres of a former country estate, the camp was located on the east coast of Ireland, about 25 miles north of Dublin and adjacent to the main railway line to Belfast. Although occupying a large site, the area covered by the buildings was relatively small when compared to it’s British counterparts.

At it’s peak the site could accommodate some 2800 campers and 4000 day visitors. It became a major destination for generations of Irish families, especially those from Dublin. It is said that 8 out of 10 Irish families have had some kind of contact with the camp over the years.

Every year more than 6,000 children from around the country traveled to Mosney to take part in the Community Games. Remember this? They used to have some of the coverage on the Den on RTÉ.

This hugely popular event had been held here for 25 years – Mosney was the only location in Ireland which had the required 2,500 beds. And each June the Lions Club took over the centre and provided much needed holidays for 1200 local people.

Dwindling visitor numbers and problems finding staff for the short 12-week season eventually led to the camps downfall.  In December 2000 a controversial 5-year £15 million deal was signed with the government to turn the camp into a home for asylum seekers. The site owner said that he had opted for the deal in loyalty to the 170 staff who worked there. A local auctioneer estimated that the land could be worth between £30 and £40 million. The mayor of nearby Drogheda was reported to be “incensed” and the local council feared it would become a “ghetto”.

The site is now home to several hundred asylum seekers from over 20 different countries. Most of the old attractions have been mothballed, but recreation facilities still include an indoor football arena, table tennis and a supervised play area. One of the current residents described it as “a luxury prison”.

The long term future for Mosney is undecided. However, as the last Butlins camp with so many of it’s original features still intact it does create considerable interest.

The video from a 2010 documentary shows the pool still in good condition, and the dance hall, the kitchens which are more than likely regularly used and arcades. For a moment I thought the arcades were taken from a different location at a different time.

I guess the closest thing you would get to Mosney now is Funtasia waterpark in Drogheda or a weeks holiday in parts of Waterford.

Would there be still an interest in an “Irish Butlins”

I wanted to see how far I could go through Obama’s speech in Ireland without him saying something positive in every sentence. I believe you can go through the full transcript. I dont think he said anything negative in any sentence.

Then he goes over to England and only meets the politicians…. makes you think doesnt it.

5:55 P.M. IST

     THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you!  (Applause.)  Hello, Dublin!  (Applause.)  Hello, Ireland!  (Applause.)  My name is Barack Obama – (applause — of the Moneygall Obamas.  (Applause.)  And I’ve come home to find the apostrophe that we lost somewhere along the way.  (Laughter and applause.)

     AUDIENCE MEMBER:  I’ve got it here!

     THE PRESIDENT:  Is that where it is?  (Laughter.)

     Some wise Irish man or woman once said that broken Irish is better than clever English.  (Applause.)  So here goes:  Tá áthas orm bheith in Éirinn — I am happy to be in Ireland!  (Applause.) I’m happy to be with so many á cairde.  (Applause.) 

     I want to thank my extraordinary hosts — first of all, Taoiseach Kenny — (applause) — his lovely wife, Fionnuala — (applause) — President McAleese and her husband, Martin — (applause) — for welcoming me earlier today.  Thank you, Lord Mayor Gerry Breen and the Gardai for allowing me to crash this celebration.  (Applause.) 

     Let me also express my condolences on the recent passing of former Taoiseach Garrett Fitzgerald — (applause) — someone who believed in the power of education, someone who believed in the potential of youth, most of all, someone who believed in the potential of peace and who lived to see that peace realized.

     And most of all, thank you to the citizens of Dublin and the people of Ireland for the warm and generous hospitality you’ve shown me and Michelle.  (Applause.)  It certainly feels like 100,000 welcomes.  (Applause.)  We feel very much at home.  I feel even more at home after that pint that I had.  (Laughter.)  Feel even warmer.  (Laughter.) 

     In return let me offer the hearty greetings of tens of millions of Irish Americans who proudly trace their heritage to this small island.  (Applause.)  They say hello. 

     Now, I knew that I had some roots across the Atlantic, but until recently I could not unequivocally claim that I was one of those Irish Americans.  But now if you believe the Corrigan Brothers, there’s no one more Irish than me.  (Laughter and applause.) 

     So I want to thank the genealogists who traced my family tree.

     AUDIENCE MEMBER:  — right here!

     THE PRESIDENT:  Right here?  Thank you.  (Applause.)  It turns out that people take a lot of interest in you when you’re running for President.  (Laughter.)  They look into your past.  They check out your place of birth.  (Laughter.)  Things like that.  (Laughter.)  Now, I do wish somebody had provided me all this evidence earlier because it would have come in handy back when I was first running in my hometown of Chicago — (applause) — because Chicago is the Irish capital of the Midwest.  (Applause.)  A city where it was once said you could stand on 79th Street and hear the brogue of every county in Ireland.  (Applause.) 

     So naturally a politician like me craved a slot in the St. Patrick’s Day parade.  The problem was not many people knew me or could even pronounce my name.  I told them it was a Gaelic name. They didn’t believe me.  (Laughter.)

     So one year a few volunteers and I did make it into the parade, but we were literally the last marchers.  After two hours, finally it was our turn.  And while we rode the route and we smiled and we waved, the city workers were right behind us cleaning up the garbage.  (Laughter.)  It was a little depressing.  But I’ll bet those parade organizers are watching TV today and feeling kind of bad — (applause) — because this is a pretty good parade right here.  (Applause.) 

     AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Go Bulls!

     PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Go Bulls — I like that.  (Laughter.)  We got some Bulls fans here. 

     Now, of course, an American doesn’t really require Irish blood to understand that ours is a proud, enduring, centuries-old relationship; that we are bound by history and friendship and shared values.  And that’s why I’ve come here today, as an American President, to reaffirm those bonds of affection.  (Applause.) 

     Earlier today Michelle and I visited Moneygall where we saw my ancestral home and dropped by the local pub.  (Applause.)  And we received a very warm welcome from all the people there, including my long-lost eighth cousin, Henry.  (Laughter.)  Henry now is affectionately known as Henry VIII.  (Laughter.)  And it was remarkable to see the small town where a young shoemaker named Falmouth Kearney, my great-great-great grandfather, my grandfather’s grandfather, lived his early life.  And I was the shown the records from the parish recording his birth.  And we saw the home where he lived. 

     And he left during the Great Hunger, as so many Irish did, to seek a new life in the New World.  He traveled by ship to New York, where he entered himself into the records as a laborer.  He married an American girl from Ohio.  They settled in the Midwest. They started a family. 

     It’s a familiar story because it’s one lived and cherished by Americans of all backgrounds.  It’s integral to our national identity.  It’s who we are, a nation of immigrants from all around the world.

     But standing there in Moneygall, I couldn’t help but think how heartbreaking it must have been for that great-great-great grandfather of mine, and so many others, to part.  To watch Donegal coasts and Dingle cliffs recede.  To leave behind all they knew in hopes that something better lay over the horizon.

     When people like Falmouth boarded those ships, they often did so with no family, no friends, no money, nothing to sustain their journey but faith — faith in the Almighty; faith in the idea of America; faith that it was a place where you could be prosperous, you could be free, you could think and talk and worship as you pleased, a place where you could make it if you tried.

The moment a mother has an arguement with her 19 year old daughter. Her daughter gets out of the car but is knocked down by her mother. The incident occured outside a Walmart in Ohio.

After the woman knocks her daughter to the ground, she seems to get out of the car to continue the arguement. Bad parenting or a moment of madness?

The mothers excuse – she was trying to lean out the window to smack her daughters head. As if physical violence towards your daughter is any better!



Finally finished work for the day and its to the match I go.

Dublin city is buzzing and I don’t mean police sirens on every corner that Her Majesty decides to travel, every corner I have turned walking towards the O2 I have been met by Braga Supporters! They take one look at my Liverpool Top and cheer followed by – “You from Liverpool?” and after a few broken words about football it always ends up “We loved Liverpool, we love the supporters, you cheer for Braga”

As a proper supporter there is no hatred, I put my hand on my heart believing Liverpool Supporters are the best in the World, I could be a bit biased. I dont believe Liverpool deserved to win against Braga, our team didnt turn up on the day.

Even if Liverpool were in the Final, and I was out for the day drinking with fellow Irish Kopite’s I would behave in the same manner as I have done going to every match. Its match day, Im a Liverpool supporter. More importantly today is a European final day, and its in Dublin.

Throughout the years Liverpool supporters have always drank with their opposition after football games. There is no hostility. Today even though we’re not in the final, I do have a ticket for the match, I do plan to enjoy myself and have a drink. I do hope to make friends with some supporters as has always been the Liverpool Way.

Thats proper football isn’t it?

Oh the memories, and look at AC Milan Supporters with Liverpool Supporters!

Coutesy of the BBC website, photos of a minority group of Republicans who want to cause problems.

Cleared up in minutes, one rioter is enjoying his packet of Denny in a cell. The irony of one rioter wearing a Man United top, isnt that a British team?