This & That 𐃉 Take 9

The Betty Boo Room

It is heartening to see that sometimes memory is stronger than forgetting. Marian Price does not figure prominently in the minds of all her former colleagues from the heady days of armed struggle. They seem to think subversive republicanism is infectious and if they don’t quarantine their memories from it, they might just catch it. Not recommended for those who want to sit suited and booted at Stormont with their new found right honourable friends.

Still, as has been demonstrated by recent campaigning and letter writing some of those who went through Armagh Gaol as republican political prisoners have memories which are not just as short. They have no interest in managing Britain’s affairs in Ireland and have been to the fore in raising the profile of their fellow former prisoner, interned because the British rule the roost and can do pretty much as they like.

At Christmas I was very fortunate to get a copy of a book on the experience of the redoubtable women of Armagh Gaol, its’ title In The Footsteps of Anne. When I arrived in Belfast on Christmas Eve it was given to me in the home of one of the former prisoners currently campaigning on behalf of Marian Price. Marie Flynn and her husband Marty made myself and my two children very welcome and Marie put on the best fry I have had in years. There were times in jail when I could have been enticed away from the blanket protest by a fry just like that.

Shortly I hope to read and review the book. By all accounts it is a great read. Yet, the highlight of the visit was having my photo taken in the Betty Boo room. Others like to have clips from the Eiffel Tower or the cathedrals of Zaragoza but for me the BB room is the one to cherish. And in that house BB does not stand for Believing Bollix.

Oh What Big Teeth You Have

Big Percy Pompous was on TV last Sunday giving forth on the merits of tooth fairy economics. Eamon Gilmore heaped scorn on the notion that a tooth fairy is going to come and pay a king’s ransom for Percy’s big teeth. Not that we should have any more faith in the leader of the Irish Labour Party, just that unfortunately he presents the case for austerity better than Percy does for rejecting it.

In, what my wife described as, the heated exchange between two Sticks, the most plausible proposal was somehow overlooked. The way to get more money into this country is through investment. According to Percy’s man, Aengus O’Snodaigh who has carried out extensive research in the field, the coast of Ireland is ideally located for inkwell drilling. If a lower tax band is offered for inkwell companies offshore drilling for ink can begin in the near future. A profit sharing deal with the multinational companies can be reached which does not let them take all the money out of the economy; a significant portion would have to be reinvested in the exploration and development of other viable inkwells.

And there is a market for ink given the depletion of stocks caused by Aengus who wrote to everybody in Ireland and to those in the Diaspora as well. A bit of entrepreneurship from the party of business.

Burn the Fornicators

There must be something in the water of Mayo. I tended to feel it was good for fishing but seemingly it can mess with your head. Last month a Fine Gael genius Michelle Mulherin, that Mayo people actually elected to the Dail, informed us that ‘fornication, I would say, is probably the single most likely cause of unwanted pregnancies in this country.’ She should try it some time. It works for all sorts of pregnancies, wanted and unwanted. There is not a lot in the way of alternatives if a woman wants to get pregnant and certainly nothing that religious maniacs would approve.

At least the 31st Dail is not lacking in colourful characters, one of whom made a bit of an eegit out of the anti-fornicator. Luke "Ming" Flanagan told her party that ‘Archbishop McQuaid's crozier is firmly still around your necks.’ While true of Mulherin it certainly cannot be said of Enda Kenny who last year after more revelations about the hierarchy covering up for rapist priests, firmly stuck the crozier up the Vatican’s fundament and told it where to get off.

Mulherin’s ‘honest and scriptural view’ might have its place in a theocracy but we live in a secular society. We are not ruled by scripture and are under no obligation to abide by it. God doesn’t rule here. People do.

Mulherin must think we are idiots ready to buy into any old nonsense: ‘the grace of God is so liberating and provides so many options to get the best out of life despite our fallen nature, and we all have that.’ This also includes our children who need a priest and magic water straight from the rivers of Mayo to free them from the effects of the Fall. No matter how fallen we may be we are not about to fall for that.