Irish drivers (or how getting behind the wheel of the car in this country sometimes makes me want to drown kittens).

Posted on November 4, 2010 by leothegeek

Where did I put that tire iron?

There I was, cruising along the brand spanking new M6 Motorway from Galway to Dublin at the speed limit of 120kph when an astonishing sight struck me. Something that I would never see on a UK motorway, or a French autoroute, or certainly a German autobahn; something that initially didn’t strike me as that odd, or out of place for Ireland. It was only when I thought about it for a second that it dawned on me how jaw-droppingly stupid, amazing illegal, and astonishingly hazardous that which I was staring at was.

It was a tractor. A tractor pulling a trailer. Travelling at about 20kph. On a motorway.

In Ireland, being an agricultural society, we are used to farm machinery clogging up national routes and local routes and so it did not immediately strike me as odd when I saw the outline of a  tractor grow larger in the view from my windshield; but when I began to consider it, my mind began to boggle. This is a vehicle that has a maximum speed that is below the minimum speed demanded on a motorway. To make matters worse, this tractor was cabless and had a child seated on the mudguard of one of the rear wheels, a practice that would be considered dangerous in the top field of the farm, but which on a motorway must be regarded as criminally insane. Cars, vans and trucks were rushing past this vehicle at 120kph, a difference of 100kph.

Anyone unaware of the danger that vehicles sharing a road with such a difference of speeds should read a little about the causes of the infamous Le Mans crash of 1955 that claimed the lives of 84 people and injured 120 more. This was caused when the Mercedes 300 SLR of Pierre Levegh travelling at about 150mph slammed into the much slower Austin Healey 100 of Lance Macklin causing the Mercedes to launch itself into the crowd taking the life of Levegh and 83 spectators. It was after this crash that Le Mans banned vehicles of vastly differing speeds occupying the same track together.

This got me thinking about how drivers in Ireland regularly flaunt the rules of the road and in a display of ‘little Hitlerism’ that our friend Margaret would be proud of I decided that for the duration of my journey back home to Dublin, I would record every ‘transgression’ I encountered.

A couple of miles later, I came up behind a car who was sitting in the fast lane, travelling at about 100kph. There was no car on the inside that this driver was overtaking, they just seemed happier in the outside lane and as I moved into the passing lane and came up behind them and slowed to their speed, they seemed to make no effort to move to the left lane to allow me to pass. I gave a quick (I thought friendly) flash with my headlights to request that they move over. No response. Another quick flash (this one it must be said a little longer). Still no response. This driver either did not notice me in their mirror, or was displaying a significant disregard for the rights of other people to use the motorway safely. After a third flash and a little toot on the horn it dawned on me that this driver was not going to pull over, and despite my internal rule book screaming at me how illegal and dangerous it is to ‘undertake’ or pass on the inside, I realised that this was going to be the only way that I was going to be able to pass. So checking mirrors and ensuring that there was no other vehicle on the inside, I pulled into the left lane and pulled ahead of the blocking car. A quick glance across to the driver was met with a raised middle finger, and what I can only imagine was a stream of well chosen colloqialisms. I pulled past the car and accelerated back to 120kph.

30 miles later almost the exact same incident was repeated with a different driver.

A couple of miles later, yes you guessed it, the same thing again.

Is it possible that so many Irish people are unversed with a) the rules and b) the protocol of motorway driving? Do people not realise that the outside lane of the highway should only be used for overtaking, and that a driver, no matter what speed they are doing should pull back in left as soon as they can in order to let whoever wishes to exceed their speed, pass them? We have had motorways in this country for quite a few years at this stage, is it so much to ask that people learn and follow the rules?

When I returned to Dublin, I got stuck in the rush hour traffic. In a distance of about 2 kilometers, I counted 7 cars that moved into a yellow box before the exit was clear, and thus when the lights in the opposite direction turned green, blocked the intersection.

A personal favourite, Taxi drivers who have no fare, speeding up the bus lane thus jumping a line of traffic and cutting in at the top was recorded 8 times between the M50 intersection and my home in the city centre. This one drives me absolutely mental. Public transport they may be, but when they have no fare, they are required to follow the laws of the bus lane just like the rest of us. 3 of these drivers passed a stationary Garda Car on the Inchicore bypass who looked as though he was there to halt drivers using the bus lane, but who paid no attention to the Taxis.

Finally, as I was almost home, I got stuck behind a queue of traffic where the traffic normally flows freely. after 10 minutes of inching slowly forward, I reached the cause of the delay. A driver who had double parked in the road while they ran into the local shop. They had at least put on their hazard lights, I suppose for that I should be grateful.

When I reread the previous paragraphs, I realise how utterly mental I must sound. A raving loony fulminating at the world over little things that we all do now and then. But you see I have been to other countries, where people have more respect for fellow drivers, and I know how it’s the little things like blocking intersections, jumping queues, parking in the middle of the road blocking circulation that cause little delays, that result in bigger delays that eventually result in traffic chaos. Urban planners design intersections and traffic lights so that a certain number of cars get through in a cycle, clearing space for the same number of cars behind them to occupy that space. If just one cycle of the lights is interrupted by someone blocking the intersection, or nipping into the shop, or skipping the queue and pulling in at the last minute, the whole system is affected. Traffic gets backed up and a domino effect causes delays for everyone.

If we could just show a little bit of respect for each other and try to be a little less selfish when we get behind the wheel of the car, we could all get home earlier.

Or maybe I am just being a little Hitler.

Posted in Ireland, Travel, Uncategorized | 10 Comments

Twitter… the media killer?

Posted on November 3, 2010 by leothegeek

Today I regrettably found myself in Galway when probably the most exciting thing to happen in Dublin in quite a while kicked off when students apparently fuelled by Vodka and Gin decided that the time for peaceful protest had passed, and that chucking empty vodka bottles at mounted Gardaí was the best way to have their concerns addressed. It is not within the scope of this post to argue for or against this strategy, but rather to praise the medium of twitter for publicising this event worldwide, long before any of the major news outlets in Ireland had picked up on it. As far as I can tell, the protest march started to turn nasty at roughly 2.45 when a group of students occupied the lobby of the Department of Finance on Merrion Row, and Gardaí moved in to forcibly remove them. The first tweet to this effect appeared in my Twitter timeline, (not from a person I follow, but retweeted by a person I follow) at roughly 2.47 and tweets outlining the events almost in real time followed for the next 45 minutes. It took until 15.35, almost an hour after the first event before The Irish Times published any information on the events, and 15:36 before Radio Telefís Eireann had any information on their website. Traditional media was resoundly beaten to the prize by citizen reporting on the ground via the new medium of Twitter. Does this sound the death knell for traditional media? Probably not, there is no doubt still a need for comment and analysis that these forms of media can provide that Twitter thanks to its 140 character limit cannot, but it seems that for breaking news, the best place you can be is on (as @Madam_editor would say) The Twitter.

Another reason why I am a convert.

Posted in Ireland, Social Networking, Twitter, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

What a load of Bankers…

Posted on November 2, 2010 by leothegeek

We are all only too painfully aware of the damage that the Banks have collectively caused to the reputation and sovereign wealth of Ireland, as well as to our own personal wealth. It therefore is extremely annoying to find that despite the debt that the banks owe each and everyone of us for bailing them out of the situation that they have through mis-management and greed found themselves, these very same banks are still thumbing their nose at each and every one of us, by continuing the same practices after the bust, that we accepted from them before the bust.

A friend recently received a payment from a client by cheque, a cheque unfortunately that was drawn on a different bank and branch from where my friend has their own company account. As a result my friend was informed that the cheque (from a large reputable Irish company) would take at least 7 working days to clear. 7 working days, or in the case of this particular cheque which was lodged on the thursday of a bank holiday weekend, 11 real days before it would hit the account of my friend. It seems pretty ridiculous in today’s world of telephones, fax machines, email and electronic funds transfer that it would take that long for a branch of one bank to contact the branch of another bank and enquire as to whether funds exist to meet the cheque, and then to transfer those funds through the inter-bank system to my friends account, however this is what he was quoted and due to the fact that we are dependent on the banks to honour cheques, this is what he had to accept.

Today I received a cheque for a life policy that I was recently forced to encash, the reason for which may be apparent from my most recent post. Despite that it had taken 10 days from the receipt of the encashment letter to the Life Assurance company, for this company to cut me a cheque, I was most pleased to see that by some fortuitous chance, the cheque was drawn on the very bank, and unbelievably the very branch that I hold my own account. I was therefore confident that the process of transferring MY money from the account of the Life Assurance company to my own account would be painless and swift. I rushed across town to my branch and presented myself with a cheque, bankcard and a smile to the window of the cashier.

LtheG:  ”Hi, I would like to lodge this cheque which is drawn on this branch to my account, and I would like to use the funds to make a payment into my credit card which is also issued by this bank”.

Cashier: “I can’t do that. That cheque will take 3 working days to clear”.

LtheG: “But why? It is drawn on this branch”.

Cashier: “It will take 3 working days to clear”.

I stared incredulously at the cashier. I kind of understood why there might be some delay in transferring funds from another bank, or even from another branch within the same bank, but from an account held within the same branch of the same bank seemed ridiculous. (I should also point out that this Life Assurance company is OWNED by the bank in question, so the issue of whether there were funds in the account to meet the cheque would appear to me somewhat moot).

At this point I should declare that due to a year working for this very bank, the year after I left school and before I attended university, I have something of an understanding of the machinations of the process of cheque handling. I know for example that for favoured clients, people of the type that we are seeing splashed across the front pages of the papers every day, these clearing rules for inter-branch cheques are routinely ignored and funds are made immediately available. For inter-bank cheques, funds are made available in an overdraft format until the funds have been recieved from the issuing bank, although interest on this ‘overdraft’ is very rarely charged. For you and I though, those of us who don’t live on Shrewsbury road, and don’t owe the banks huge amounts of money, a more strict interpretation of the rules is enforced.

So why does it take so long? Well, when you lodge a cheque that is drawn on the same bank, the funds are almost immediately debited from the issuing account. The funds are then transferred into a clearing account, which is a large account owned by (and this is the important bit) the clearing bank. The funds are essentially taken out of a client account, and put in banking limbo. You can gain no use from these monies while they are in the clearing account, however the bank may lodge this money with another bank to receive interest, lend this money through the inter-bank market to receive interest, or use this money to service it’s everyday needs to avoid paying interest. As a result, the money is essentially taken from the Payer, but not immediately credited to the Payee. For the period of time, that it take the bank to “clear” the cheque, the monies are essentially given to the bank for their use, free of charge. They take your money, and use it to make more money, but as it is in the “clearing” process, they are not required to pay you anything for the use of this cash. Now think for a moment about the amounts of money we are talking about here. Every day people lodge cheques, for anything from small amounts, to very large amounts. This money is immediately taken out of the system and lodged to the banks own clearing accounts. I know from experience that in individual branches, the clearing accounts can have millions of euros in them at any one time. Multiply that by the amount of branches the banks have, and you can quickly see that we are not talking about pocket change here. It all adds up, and it adds up very quickly.

As banks will charge you for issuing a cheque, lodging a cheque, cashing a cheque and many other “services” that a bank may provide, is it fair that they also get to essentially set the period of time that they may take your money and use it for their own benefit? In today’s electronic world, we know because we have all used ATM’s and internet banking, that each bank can electronically enquire as to the balance of an account held  by another bank, and if required, electronically debit that account in order to provide us with lovely €50 notes so that we can go and drink ourselves silly to forget the horrible situation the banks have left us in (despite the recession I note that €50 are still the currency of the ATM in Ireland, but that is the subject of a whole different post). Why then do we accept that in the archaic world of cheque clearing, the banks are essentially still operating as they were in the 1800′s, with the Payee’s bank required to send a hand written letter to the Payers bank to enquire whether funds exist etc. This is absolutely ridiculous. The banks are essentially taking each and every one of us for a ride here.

Why we continue to accept it, is beyond me.

Posted in Banks, Business, Ireland, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Department of Social and Family Affairs

Posted on October 29, 2010 by leothegeek

Since 1995 I have been gainfully employed and diligently paid my tax and my PRSI. I have never asked the state for anything, but rather have paid significant amounts of tax into the system. Since 2001, as a self-employed business owner, I have paid a different type of PRSI, but I have still paid PRSI, and have paid an even greater amount of tax due to being extremely fortunate to have constantly managed to increase my salary. This year, as is the case for many people, my economic circumstances have drastically changed, and I find myself in the unenviable position of having to turn to the state for assistance. Due to a misplaced sense of pride, and a belief that something was just around the corner and that I should not make an application as there were probably people in a lot worse position that I was, I put off applying to the state for 6 months, until I had eaten up all my savings and things had become so dire that there really was no choice.

So nearly 3 months ago, I reluctantly headed off to my local Department of Social and Family Affairs office on Thomas Street, quite possibly one of the most desperate and despairing places I have ever been required to visit. Strengthened security glass and bars everywhere are no doubt necessary, but have the unfortunate effect of making you feel as though you are in a prison, and alas, on the wrong side of the glass. I made an application, and was duly told that as I did not have enough of the “right type of stamp”, which has something to do with me paying the “wrong type of PRSI” as a self-employed person, I would not be entitled to Unemployment Benefit, but rather might be entitled to Back to Work Allowance, something for which I would need to be means tested. I was told that I would need to report back later in the week for an interview with an inspector.

Later that week, I returned and sat for an hour outside an interview room until my name was called. When eventually it was, I entered the room and found I was in a small glass cubicle facing an unsmiling woman who we shall call Margaret, who not looking up from her documents indicated that I should take a seat. Several minutes passed, me sitting awkwardly fidgeting on the “wrong side” of the security glass, before eventually Margaret looked up from the papers she had in front of her and the “interview”, although I use that term because the word that I would actually use to describe what was to follow has no place in a blog post, unless of course you are Martin Cullen, began.

Whilst I accept that as a supplicant to the state and due to the nature of fraud that is committed against this particular department, it is absolutely necessary that every due diligence is complied with to ensure that all applicants for Social Welfare are entitled to assistance, the sense of indignation and outrage that I felt after that “interview” was unparalleled in all my prior dealings with the state and its agencies. There was no aspect of my life or my financial affairs over the past 15 years that was left untouched, and frankly Margaret conducted the interview with all the bedside manner of a warden from a Victorian poorhouse. I attempted to volunteer information regarding the properties in my name and mortgages associated with them and was abruptly told to answer questions WHEN I was asked about them and not until then. It wasn’t long into the ‘interview’ before I realised that this was not a friendly chat, but rather an interrogation to attempt to find how and why I was attempting to defraud the state. I left the interview 45 minutes later feeling deflated, downcast, desperate and beaten. I also left with a list of documentation that would be required to be presented for inspection before any adjudication could be made on my case.

Included in that list was my bank statements for the last 12 years, details of a mortgage that was taken out in 1998, including all documentation, statements associated with it, Company accounts for 2009, 2008 and 2007. Valuations of the property in my name. Documentation that was not that easy to find, in particular the 12 year old statement, but eventually I managed to dig them out and duly dropped them into the DoSFA office for the attention of Margaret.

8 weeks passed, and I had heard nothing new from Margaret regarding the claim, so last monday I called the office to see what progress had been made. I was told that the claim was still with the inspector and that they would send me a letter telling me of their decision when they had arrived at one. Two days later a letter came in the post asking to present myself at the office to sign a document confirming that my circumstances had not changed and that I was still seeking to make a claim. I presented myself at the pre-arranged time and signed a piece of paper.

Yesterday I received a phone call from Margaret asking me to come in for another ‘interview’ and complaining that she still had not received documentation for the company accounts for 2009. I assured her that the documents in question had been supplied 8 weeks ago, there was a rustling of paper on the other end of the phone, and then a curt, “just be here tomorrow at 2pm” before the phone rang off.

So today, I took myself down to the office, and sat for 30 minutes waiting for Margaret to arrive. When she did, it was apparent from her demeanor that my application had certain “problems”. Margaret couldn’t understand how I was supporting myself. By my own admission I had earned nothing since March. “you can’t live on air, how are you supporting yourself” I informed her that I had been living on savings, a loan from the bank, my now maxed out credit card, and from infrequent charitable donations from my parents. “Fine, I will need a letter from your parents confirming this, the amounts that they have paid, and the status of these payments. Obviously as you did not tell me about these payments when you made the claim initially you have given me FALSE information the whole way through this claim, which is tantamount to DEFRAUDING this department! Your claim will now go to the bottom of the pile and will have to be fully inspected again.”

My humiliation is now complete, I have had my life pored over by this woman who I have never met, and who I am sure is a perfectly nice person should you meet her in a social context, but who in this environment might as well have introduced herself to me while donning a rubber glove and indicating that I should bend over. I have waited 3 months for a payment that I needed 3 months ago, and which it now appears I will need to wait an additional 3 months for, if indeed my claim is even approved. If finding myself unemployed after a uninterrupted 15 years of employment was not bad enough, now I find that my attempt to get some assistance from the social fund which I have been diligently paying into for 15 years is met with contempt and suspicion.

I am lucky enough to have parents who can afford to chuck me the odd €50 to pay for food, and I am extremely thankful for this good fortune, because without them my situation would be significantly worse however I despair for those in my predicament who do not have this luxury. The system is obviously designed in this manner to ensure that fraud is minimised, but from my experiences it appears as though they are using a nuclear warhead to kill a couple of flies. I read today in the paper about a man who for the last 6 years managed to defraud the DoSFA out of €250,000 by making claims in the names of 9 fictitious people. This is obviously something that the department needs to ensure doesn’t happen, after all this is our money we are paying out, money that we have paid into the system in taxes and pay related social insurance, but when a claim is valid, when someone has clearly paid their share for 15 years, when someone has put off claiming anything from the state until it becomes absolutely unavoidable, is it really necessary to subject them to the kind of interrogation that would make a GeStaPo agent proud? Is it necessary to treat any applicant as a sponger? Is it necessary to treat any applicant with no respect, and like a small child sent to the principal for bad behaviour. It is especially galling from people who work in a sector that has been largely protected from the current economic downturn, because as far as I am aware, there have been no layoffs from the civil service in the last 2 years. No-one in that sector has had to accept reduced pay or hours, and thanks to employment conditions that are the envy of the world, no-one in that sector probably will.

If Margaret had ever found herself on the wrong side of the glass, maybe she might conduct her “interviews” with a little more humanity and respect. Whilst in the eyes of the law, one is ‘innocent until proven guilty’ it appears that this is not the case in all dealings with the state.

Posted in Everything is shit, Ireland, Social Welfare, Uncategorized | 16 Comments

Twitter

Posted on August 5, 2010 by leothegeek

Twitter is amazing. I cannot express how unbelievable a marketing, networking and business tool that a well versed entrepreneur could make Twitter as as online marketing and information dissemination tool.

This was only brought home to me tonight. I was aware that people were trying to monetise Twitter, and I have been the victim of  a number of spam bots who crudely tried to sell their makers product to me. I routinely block or unfollow such bots. It’s a ridiculous way to try and sell your product, somewhat akin to the banner ad. Some people will click, but after the first time, the chances that you will click again are significantly reduced.

However, as a forum for sharing ideas between like minded individuals, and contacting people who normally you wouldn’t be able to make contact past their secretary, a well phrased tweet can pique interest that is worth €100,000 of advertising from an old-school advertising agency.

Such a thing happened to me tonight. Obviously at this early stage I cannot talk about it as our project is a little information sensitive, but suffice to say , that the right tweet at the right time has secured us a pitch opportunity with a very well respected, stratospherically successful possible investor, Now considering that he may or may not invest, and that all that we have managed to gain is a couple of moments of his valuable time, obviously Twitter is not everything, but it offers a significant leg-up to the wannabe entrepreneur who uses Twitter correctly. Everything is possible is this age of information. Use it. And more importantly use it correctly.

Posted in Business, Social Networking, Twitter | Leave a comment

La bella Italia

Posted on July 10, 2010 by leothegeek

I’ll share a secret. I am somewhat of an Italophile.

I love all things Italy. The food, the drink, the insanity of their drivers, the incorruptibility of the family unit, and the way that the most important person in Italian mens lives is, was and will always be la Mamma.

I love the ways that the Italians express themselves. I love the language and the way that they can communicate whole sentences by a single hand gesture. Someone once said that a picture paints a thousand words, well a single gesture in Italy can communicate the entire range of human emotion.

I love their political system, this unimaginably corrupt, yet strangely functional system which the Irish have aspired to (somewhat successfully, somewhat unsuccessfully) for years. I can almost see Bertie or Biffo marveling as Berlusconi gets away with it all again, a man so crooked (paraphrasing Dylan Moran) that he sleeps on a spiral staircase. The Italians complain incessantly, however they keep electing him. I suspect that despite their complaints, they too are somewhat proud of the crookedest man alive.

I first visited Italy when I was 12 years of age. My parents were lucky enough to have a good friend who worked in Rome but lived in a small seaside town about 90kms south of Rome, Formia. Not very well known outside of Italy, Formia or Formiae as it was under the Romans has been an important regional centre and transport hub for the south of Italy for over 2 thousand years, the famed Via Appia passes through the town as it wends its way from Rome to Naples. The Roman poet Cicero lived in the town and in 43BC he was brutally murdered on his way to Rome just outside the town. A large tomb still stands today on the site.

Unfortunately, Formia was a major transport hub and as such a significant target for the Allies in their Italian Peninsula campaign of WWII and so the town was almost entirely levelled in bombing raids in the early 1940′s and little remains of the 2000+ years of history. Which is a pity because if the nearby towns of Gaeta and Sperlonga are anything to go by, the place would have been stunning. But unfortunately the Germans dug themselves in, and like the nearby town of Monte Cassino, Formia consisted of part of the Nazi’s Bernhardt line, a defensive line that the Germans threw up to attempt to halt the Allies advance from Salerno. As a result, almost every town and fortified position along this line was completely destroyed and today has been rebuilt using much less aesthetically pleasing post war architecture.

That said however, I would rather spend a couple of weeks in Formia than I would in most places in Tuscany, the unrivalled leader in the Italian tourism market. Picture postcard pretty, Tuscany really is as advertised, rolling hills dotted with poplar plantations and medieval hill towns and with astonishing centres of rennaisance art and architecture such as Florence, Siena and Lucca. But in my humble opinion these attractions have been the downfall of Tuscany, as unfortunately it has now become such a hot destination for holidaying Irish, German and English people that during the summer, you would be hard pushed to find a local. The locals in fact fully decamp to the seaside during the month of August, and their houses and villas can be found rented to the Smiths from Doncaster, the Cahills from Howth and the Brauns from Dusseldorf. Whilst I have nothing against the Smiths, Cahills or Brauns, when I go to Italy, I like to hang out with the Orlandis, the Monticellos and the Mastrantuonos. You wont find them in Tuscany, you will however find them in Formia and its surrounds. This is because for the Italians, Summer or l’estate means the beach. They decamp en masse, a trickle in June, a few more in July, but overwhelmingly in August.

The first time I went to Italy, I remember being warned by my parents Italian friend that one should never get sick in Italy in August. The reason? Because all the Doctors were on holiday of course. In August, the entire country goes swimming. They flock in droves to the sea trying to escape the stifling heat of the cities and the interior, to the relative cool of the coast, and for me that is the real Italian summer. Until you have spent an entire hour in a traffic jam, with an Italian family and all their kids stuffed into a FIAT Panda without A/C on the way to the beach, you have not lived. You might think that sounds a bit like a nightmare, but to me it is the definition of a summer holiday. I love it.

The south of Italy is on average about 50% cheaper for accommodation and eating out than its famous cousin Tuscany. You can eat like a king in Formia for the equivalent of €20 each, including as much wine as you can drink.  There is no pretension to southern Italian food, it can be as simple as fresh tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and lashings of olive oil and the most delicious sourdough bread known to man, or as complex as rich seafood pasta sauces, but always cheap and of the highest quality. A little known fact, is that the Southern Italians laugh at their Northern neighbours attempts at Pizza. Universally accepted is the fact that the best Pizza in Italy, nay the world comes from Napoli and its surroundings. A Neapolitan would never order pizza north of Rome. They just don’t know how to get it right.

I love southern Italy. You should too. Next time you are considering a break in Italy you should consider the south, whether Campania, Calabria or Sicilia. It may not be as developed for tourists as Tuscany, but you are much more likely to see the real Italy. Warts and all..

Posted in Food, Nostalgia, Summer | Leave a comment

Festival Fever

Posted on July 6, 2010 by leothegeek

So, it is safe to say that we like our festivals. Four Glastonbury’s in six years, and every Electric Picnic since the first has afforded me a certain wisdom (some would say cynicism) regarding tents, wellies and square meat pies eaten out of your hand. There is something about a music festival that transcends the usual concert experience. I’m not sure if it is the shared discomfort of waking up every morning in a roasting tent dying for a wee, but knowing the big bucket that masquerades as toilet is a 15 minute walk away (not including the amount of time that it will take you to get into your clothing and wellies). Or perhaps the availability of so many acts in one place that means the festival literally has something for everyone, or maybe it is simply the enjoyment one gets from partying till the sun rises in a woodland copse to hard house with a couple of thousand other smelly maroutavits. Whatever it is, anyone who has been to one of the better music festivals such as Glastonbury, InMusic, Roskilde, Burning Man or the Electric Picnic knows that when it’s good, there is nothing better.

This is why this year, it came as a complete shock when one of my BFF’s (Best Festival Friends), Jennie (pictured) a stalwart of the Glastonbury and Electric Picnic scenes, let drop that she had organised her wedding for the same weekend as Electric Picnic.

As we had already plumped to eschew Glastonbury this year, in favour of the EP, this left us with the horrifying realisation that this summer, for the first summer in nearly eight years, we would not be attending a music festival.

That is until I came across Milk Festival 2010, Europe’s very first LGBT Music festival. Run by Proud Productions, this one day festival with camping kicks off on August 14th in the grounds of Ballinlough Castle, a 15th Century pile and established concert site located 4 miles from Athboy in Co. Meath.

Featuring a confirmed DJ set (and rumoured live performance) from the absolutely brilliant Roisin Murphy; live performances from Sophie Ellis Bextor, Bananarama, Alexandra Burke, Sam Fox (yes THAT Sam Fox), Right Said Fred and hundreds others; DJ Sets from over 20 DJ’s including Seb Fontaine & Paddy Sheridan, and comedy from amongst others, Panti MC, Katherine Lynch and drag queen extraordinaire Veda, the festival certainly is not short on acts to keep you occupied during the day. Camping is allowed the night of the festival proper, and is included in the price of your ticket. Tickets are priced reasonably enough at €99.99 ea. but unfortunately come with a hefty €7.37 booking fee and are only available from the website Milk2010.

Thankfully it appears as though the annual summer tradition of getting dirty in a field looks set to continue in 2010.

Posted in Festivals, Ireland, Music, Summer | Leave a comment

Hello world!

Posted on July 6, 2010 by leoie

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

The rose-tinted spectacles of summers past.

Posted on June 25, 2010 by leothegeek

Ummmmm... Straaaaaaaawberry.

I took a trip down memory lane today and thanks to a requirement to be in Wexford early this morning anyway, invited (bullied) my friend Fiona and her two little fella’s Max (6) and Felix (2) to join me in visiting Enniscorthy’s Strawberry Fair.

My Mam is from North Wexford, and as kids in the 1980′s we were routinely packed off for months on end to cousins in Enniscorthy during the summer months, to bale and collect hay, pick strawberries, and my personal all time favourite “pick stones” (which to you city dwellers is the process of removing small rocks from a drained bog before it can be tilled). Despite the back breaking work, those long seemingly endless summer days in the gently rolling hills of the sunny south east bring back warm fuzzy memories of a time long since passed in Ireland.

This was only too apparent when visiting the Strawberry Fair in Enniscorthy today. This used to be the highlight of the social calendar in Enniscorthy, and I remember it being a huge street carnival with Ceilidhs, Street Theatre, events for kids and a large funfair down by the river Slaney, all mixed with eating your own body weight in strawberries and cream. Unfortunately it appears as though those days have gone. Whether a casualty of the Celtic Tiger, or the recession that has followed, the Strawberry Fair of today consists of a ‘market’ selling what appeared to be in the most part Hi Vis vests, a burger van, a strawberry van and an ‘oul fella with a microphone entreating the assembled kids of the town to dance to the birdie song in the main square. A small punnet of strawberries and cream was a little steep at €3.50 although at least the quality of strawberries from that part of the country remains undiminished.

When did we lose the ability to throw a good community festival?

The festival in my father’s home town of Kilfinane Co. Limerick was just as entertaining yet has (as far as I am aware) not been celebrated since the early 1990′s.

I well remember exploring the dark dusty recesses of my grandfathers pub and finding as testimony to its 100 years as a combined pub, bicycle shop and forge  pinned to the walls programmes of every festival since the early 1900′s.

Still vivid in my mind are spectacular shows and concerts, treasure hunts, a fairground with 2 penny one-arm bandits and bumper cars and the all important fancy dress parade of which incidentally, I am the proud recipient of 1983′s Best Costume (12 yrs or younger) when I wowed the crowd dressed as a pantomime cow with a handrawn sign identifying me as “SHERGAR”, which we all seem to forget was a huge joke in the country at the time.

These festivals don’t seem to exist any more whether through lack of interest or community spirit and it’s a huge pity I think.

I enjoyed those times, but who knows, maybe they were crap then too and it is in fact me that has got jaded. All I know is that when Max (the 6 year old) was asked by his father on our return whether he enjoyed the fair he gave a one syllable reply.

“Meh”

Posted in Everything is shit, Ireland, Nostalgia, Summer | Leave a comment

Dublin Pride

Posted on June 24, 2010 by leothegeek

So… this weekend is the culmination of Gay Christmas in Dublin. I have always thought that the gays were very clever in choosing to have their Christmas in the middle of the summer (such as it is in Dublin) instead of freezing their cute little asses off in the middle of December. Whilst Sue Sylvester might call us Sneaky Gays, I prefer to call us Clever Gays.

The Dublin Pride committee and organisation have organised a smorgasbord of events for the weekend including the all important parade which starts at the Garden of Remembrance on Parnell Square @ 2pm on Saturday 26th and will feature a gaggle of gays (what IS the collective noun for gays I wonder?) marching to the Dublin City Council Civic Offices at Wood Quay where Ireland’s premier Drag Empress, Panti Bliss will be entertaining the masses. If you are looking for a colourful and entertaining day out this coming Saturday, then you could do worse than come out to support the local gay community.

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