Pruning season at present. My new pole saw is doing good service getting rid of unwanted boughs and branches. We’re having a cold dry spell, barely three days of it so far, but it promises to go on for about a week if I’m lucky. There are plants to be uprooted, grass to be trimmed and two leaky sheds to be sealed. New lintel to go in a ten foot doorway and reinforcing of door pillars prior to fitting new doors. It all makes work for the working man to do etcetera.
Over here in the wilder west we’ve seen nothing of the rioting in Dublin, as the dependents on the state tend to gravitate to the big cities. Like the one who went on a slicing spree.
However, we never saw a whiff of trouble during our recent trip to Dublin. Christmas decorations going up, shoppers busily getting their gifts in before the rush, tourists paying a visit. Nothing I’d call out of the ordinary. Not a single broken window, at least in the tourist areas. Yet now people are kicking off?
Did overhear a few people bitching about newcomers filling up hotels etcetera, but we’ve had that since the whole Ukraine business kicked off. I could name a couple of places around Castlebar and Galway that were full of refugees last year. Maybe once the Ukrainians and Russkies finally bury the hatchet, then they can go home and begin to rebuild their lives.
Which is something many migrants seem unwilling to do. They get hooked on the welfare teat, and they don’t respect the cultural norms. Gript media have a point (See below), questioning the Social Welfare minister.
The public reaction was interesting; riots in the streets because the political class are simply refusing to listen to the demos they are supposed to represent, and I think we’re heading into a situation analogous to pre revolutionary France. But this time it’s all across the West.
All I have to say about the ‘hate speech’ laws being rolled out in Auld Oireland is that they don’t address the root of the problem. Dubbing someone ‘far right’ for voicing opposition might shut someone up online, but can never change the mind of those objecting. And denigrating people who object breeds a festering resentment, of which we’ve just seen a sniff. No one likes to be told to ‘shut up or else’. Especially not the native Irish. I wouldn’t do it. Nor would I accuse the average Irish person of having ‘privilege’. Too much of their history is bound up in repression and the desire to break free.
Here’s my prediction; all these repressive laws will do is wallpaper over the real issues until they fester and burst all over the public face like a plague of boils. Then the tumbrils will roll, and there won’t be enough Garda to stop it.
Me, I’m too old for this sierra hotel india tango. Besides, there’s land to manage, jobs to do, and works to complete before guests arrive for the festering season. No rest for the wicked.
The Bill Sticker Alternative 