Hail Mary

I was at Mass Sunday. Yes! Some of us Dinosaurs still attend: despite all.

The priest was introducing the Advent season and he started to talk about Mary and said when the angel visited her and announced she was to be the mother of Christ she said Do it to me or words to that effect. It says it better in the Angelus Prayer: “Be it done unto me according to your Word.”

Once again in relation to the Catholic Church I found something sticking in my craw.

Here they tell us a woman, in their opinion, said or would say words like that.

Is it not more reasonable that she would say, we will do this, I will carry the baby and give him a life, and nourish him and nurture him.

It would be more reasonable if she had said Listen Birdman! Hop It. Find another stooge!

I would have said. If God is all powerful, why not beam the baby down here now and leave me out of it.

And then I realised what I was thinking; Christ is not the beginning: Mary is!

Who is Fingal County Council trying to fool.

Well I'm amused. Last week I got a long curious email apparently from Greater Dublin Drainage that was so confusing I decided to reply to it and ask for clarification: the email address given bounced back as “Undeliverable”. I checked: the return address is info@greaterdubindrainage.ie. Where the Hell has the "L" gone to.

But it gets worse when you access GreaterDublinDrainage at the web address given and look at the Stakeholders Submissions in Appendix H. They seem to be about the Donabate and Portrane issue and the submissions made back then.

Then the Fingal Independent ran a story the says FCC don't have the money currently to carry out or complete existing projects.

Then I get a posted letter from FCC that has my address incorrect, but gets to me, that essentially is trying to say GreaterDublinDrainage has not gone away, "we will be making a decision in the Spring": just like they told us this time last year  before Christmas 2011.

Finally if you send a message to the correct GreaterDublin Drainage email address, you will not get the usual acknowledgement message, just silence.

I wonder are FCC so broke that they can't pay the consultants their fee and are trying to hobble along with the project being run by having the Reserve Team on the pitch. If so it won't work, we are all Premier Players out here in Fingal. Some of us even have International experience.

Let's go fly a kite...Rubbish Statements.

I'm sick and tired of the rubbish I hear on the TV and Radio these days.

One big "Bend the Truth" statement is that The Irish Revenue can collect the Household charge. It can't.

Taxes are collectible by Revenue on earned and unearned revenue and duty (which includes VAT) : that's all.

We would require changes to the tax laws to have the Taxman collect Household or other charges. But watch the Government try to sneak in the rules to collect the charges, hidden deep within the sub-texts of the next budget.

I also hear that a 25% Pension Levy is being proposed.  Also mooted is that pension funds will pass the charge on to existing pension holders. Wow! Another levy that will take away 25% of your occupational pension payments.

Meanwhile the TD's and Ministers and back bench squatters, - all of them want us to pay retired ministers and office holders a Great Big Whack of our money to Ex members who lost their seats. I can't remember any TD retiring unless he/she saw the writing on the wall in an up-coming election contest.

Ah look, this auld place is banjaxed even to the extent that you need a current TV Licence for a TV you have that is now blank because you can't receive Digital but did receive Analogue. Blooming Nora a Licence  is now required for having a Blank TV Screen in your house.

'Tis no wonder that the French think they can get us to increase our Corporation Tax so that we have money to give to Bond Holders who probably invest in French Pension Funds. Then the French worker will be looking forward to being able to retire at age 60 and the Irish will have to work on to 68 to qualify for a small pension.  (I would say SACRE BLUE!, if I knew how to spell it, or what it meant.)

Aren't we a right shower of Eegits to allow this Government to sell us down the river while they feather their own nests : ON OUR MONEY. Earned by us by hard work while they want to avail of  money they don't earn by making us pay more tax on fuel, housing, even Sh-one-T collectors in our gardens, cigarettes, drink, air (Carbon Tax):  even the food we can't afford to put in our children's mouths anymore.

Tell the Troica to stuff their Means Tests

We Irish, the people that is, not the Muppets in so called government, need to tell the Troica to stuff their “slash and grab from the needy and vulnerable” ideas up their jerseys.

You see it's my belief that the so called demands are not their own ideas, it's because our Muppet Master and his sidekick The Minister for Smoke and Mirrors nodded at the wrong time and at the wrong meeting with the Chopper and His Hole in the Wall Gang.

Our lot were just nodding off for a snooze after a nice lunch of whatever Europe is currently feeding them for lunch: as distinct from what Europe are currently feeding all of us in B-Sh-one-T, and slept through the next hour or so and then woke up and attempted to say “I'm OK!” in embarrassment and now The Troica think they have permission for some really silly ideas.

Look lads and lassies I have some money saving ideas. Our Ex Ministers have a pension fund that pays them collectively €8.86 Million yearly. Chop that Chopper.

The taxpayer will have to foot the bill for T D’s and Senators expenses this year to the tune of a massive €40 million. Chop that Chopper.

The members of the Oireachtas are entitled to claim expenses under ten separate headings.

Dual Abode Allowance- A Minister or a Minister of State, may claim for a second residence. The allowance is confined to office holders who represent constituencies outside Dublin. (Dublin City or Dublin County?) The dual abode allowance may be claimed on owned, rented or hotel accommodation (How many stars? Won't be a Hostel anyhow.) and covers mortgage and interest repayments, (What Limit?) auctioneers and solicitors fees and all maintenance costs (Pizza Deliveries?) including light, heating, repairs and insurance. Chop that Chopper.

Constituency Office Grant- This grant is paid on a once off basis when a Deputy is first elected to establish and equip a Constituency Office. The allowance is claimed on the basis of a declaration of expenses incurred by way of a signed form. (Jays-us! Do they surrender the office when we turf them out? No they operate their business from it - allegedly) Chop that Chopper.

Constituency Office Maintenance Allowance- This is an annual allowance which is claimed by Deputies who have constituency offices. This allowance is paid to cover rent, rates, ( Do we get Rates Refunds?) light heat etc. in constituency offices. Payment is made twice yearly in January and July on production of a signed declaration that the Deputy is incurring expenses (Pizza Deliveries?) in maintaining a constituency office. Chop that Chopper.

Telephone Allowance- an Annual Allowance is paid to Deputies from the date of their election to the Houses of the Oireachtas. The payment to Senators is also paid. This allowance is to cover all telephone costs (Whisper, whisper – even calls to Debbie does...?) incurred by a Member. The allowance is unvouched. Chop that Chopper.

Miscellaneous Expense- Annual allowance unvouched allowance is paid to Deputies and Senators. This allowance is unvouched and paid with the Member’s salary from the date of election to the Houses of the Oireachtas. Chop that Chopper.

Constituency Travel Allowance- There are three constituency bands of travel allowance based on the size of the constituency from which a Deputy is elected. This allowance is unvouched and is paid with the Deputy’s salary from the date of election to the Dáil. Chop that Chopper.

Mobile Phone Allowances are claimed on production of an original receipt from the service provider. Members purchase the mobile phone and are refunded the amount every 18 months. Chop that Chopper

Travel The Travel Allowance is recouped through a one-way-journey allocation, permitting Members living at locations greater than 24.135 kilometres (15 miles) from the Houses to recoup up to a given amount of one-way-journeys in 1 week. The number of one-way-journeys permitted is based on the distance between the Member’s home and the Houses of the Oireachtas and ranges from 10 trips for those below 40km to 3 trips for those over 272km. These trips can be claimed without the need for any verification. Chop that Chopper.

Elected Councillors in Ireland can fire the County Manager

Heard there was a great turn out in Swords Fingal, North County Dublin, Saturday last for a big, noisy, march to try and convince Fingal Council that a Monster Sewage Plant in the heartland of Fingal is a no no.

I wish the marchers well, but in my view the march was on the wrong building: County Hall.  A more appropriate venue would have been the Department of the Environment building.

Phil Hogan is the big boss of all Council Managers. That’s the man the marchers need to convince that a big nasty, smelly, sewage plant, based in one scenic area, is not required in this day and age.

It's time for another decentralisation plan, this time for sewage treatment systems.

I would imagine three or four smaller well operated and designed plants would serve the population of the Greater Dublin Region very well. Cheaper to build and operate too - and friendlier to the environment and human health when operated to proper International standards.

I will end as Con H. does when ending one or other of his interesting pieces: with some "Information".

Fogra: 

By the way did anyone know that the elected councillors can fire the County Manager. I Didn't, but I do now.

County or City Managers in Ireland are recruited through a competitive recruitment process organised by the Public Appointments Service: a Government body set up in 2004.
Once appointed, the County or City Manager will remain in office for a term of 7 years (although this can also be extended by an additional three years). The retirement age for County or City Managers is 65.

If a Council wishes to suspend or remove a County or City Manager, a resolution must be passed by the Council. At least two-thirds of the Councillors must vote for the resolution after 7 days notice. The Minister then sanctions the removal of the County or City Manager.

Well well that bates Banagher!

Irelands Blue Flag Beaches turned to Brown Flag Beaches.

We Irish are a crowd of Clowns when it come to environmental safety and health. We are! Honest.

Today the “Twelve Angry Men in One”, Phil Hogan, in a Portmarnock Hotel and Golf Club, saluted areas on the east coast that were awarded Blue Flags on this the 25Th Anniversary of the inception of the Blue Flag Awards.

But the same Mr. Minister, for the Environment, is proposing to also shortly unveil plans for a Massive Sewage Half-Treatment Plant that will discharge sewage water out into the sea off the east coast beaches, that will then quickly turn our Blue Flag Beaches into Brown Flag Beaches.

You would want some joined up thinking here Aire. Scrap the plan for Fingal County Council to bring sewage from Wicklow, Kildare and Meath and pump it into a great big septic tank in the vegetable heartland of Ireland where 60% of all the Irish Produce comes from - and then send it on a two-week return-trip holiday into Dublin bay.

Bet you didn't tell the attendance today that you were also planning to charge us for water supplies because it was becoming a valuable chargeable scarce necessity for living, while at the same time trying to pump a seven months supply of Dublins precious fresh water daily into Fingal to cover the sewage in the tanks there with 325,851 gallons of water, to cover each acre of sewage to try and hide the smell.

A million gallons of water a day pumped in and out of a €2.3 Billion big smelly Brown Elephant.

Well soon the reservoirs will be at minimum level, the land and vegetable in Fingal will be under leaking sewage and the beaches will be scattered with Poo, Paper and worse.

Where will the Blue Flags be then?

I know: with the other Fine Gael Blue Flags probably dumped in an EU Protected Bog Hole in Mayo.

You can't slow down this Bank Holiday Weekend

Over the Bank Holiday Weekend you will see the signs: "Slow Down This Bank Holiday Weekend".

Well in the past I tried, and tried, underneath such a sign: concentrating deeply, jumping up and down, on one leg - then the other,  then crouching in deep thought, muttering "Slow down, bloody slow down".

 I tried, and tried, hard, very hard to slow down the bank holiday weekend, but it still "Tick Tocked" its way to Tuesday.