24 March 2011
382
R. Linda:
In looking over some recent newsworthy stories in Ireland, I found one that caught my eye. I have said I hate when we Irish are the last to know, the last to realise, etc., as we are so often finger-pointed at by the Brits, but in this case, it seems to be so.
A publican in County Monaghan found out he was looking at nick time in the face, by reading about himself in a newspaper. Yes, he did. I will keep Mr. Finnegan's name out of this; oh, oops! Well, it's too late to go back and delete it, mostly because I be too lazy. So here we go; as the owner of Shenanigans Bar in Castleblayney, our publican read in the paper he be facing 3 months in jail for something he didn't even know about!
He broke the no-smoking law and has the fame of being the very first pub owner in all of Old Erin to be sentenced to the nick for it. He must have been scratching his head on this and checking the calendar to make sure it wasn't April 1st. But no, it was not near April Fools Day. Hum! He took a good look at the news story. It seems some people dressed in school uniforms were seen smoking on his property LAST YEAR. I know what ya be thinking; why did they wait until NOW? I dunno, but everything be slow in Ireland!. Ye can't get a telephone landline for at least six months in some places, and hooking up the telly, well, forget about it, read Yeats instead. By the time you finish all his works, ye may see the telly installation truck coming down the old road. Then again . . .
So back to our publican. He didn't attend his hearing because he didn't know about it. Sheesh, you'd think since this happened LAST YEAR, they'd tell him by now. But it was written up in the newspaper so he could catch himself up on the proceedings the NEXT day. What took place is this: There was on Wednesday, the day before our pub owner found out he was going to jail, that a hearing was held at the Carrickmacross District Court and that Judge Sean McBride (I wonder if that be one of me relatives), said our publican was 'totally lawless' and I be sure his not showing up (but he didn't know, so anyway), Judge McBride didn't know that Finnegan didn't know to show, but it didn't help matters so he fined Finnegan €2,000 and imposed the jail time.
Horrified by all this, Finnegan got himself a lawyer to make an appeal to the court and to let Judge McBride know he, Finnegan, be the separated Da of two kiddos and there be no way he can do the time for the crime.
In an interview with the Irish Independent news service, he said, "I can't do that. My mother and father are sick, and I can't leave them. I can't close my business down either."
It seems the man thinks he is being singled out because he happened to win a big lottery, and the locals are upset with him. Hum, would they dress up in school uniforms to make Finnegan look bad? Can you imagine the hairy legs, ill-fitting shorts, caps, and faces with beard growth? And that's just the women! After thinking further, Finnegan remarked, "At dinnertime, all the kids congregate in the alley beside me here, and they're smoking in the alley around the door of the pub and eating chips and doing what kids do when they're 17 or 18, but even if the pub is closed, they'd be there. It's an awful way to be; all my taxes are paid, I have my tax-clearance cert here in the pub for anyone to see, the rent's paid, as are the water rates -- everything's paid. This pub is a lovely wee tidy place. There's three old women here now drinking tea, there's two old boys drinking Guinness, and there's one fella 65 years of age with one leg -- so, if that's lawless, I don't know what is."
Well, saints preserve us! He has a point he does. It sounds more like a tea room than a pub! But it got worse it did. It seems our publican was cited for 2 other convictions for breaking the no-smoking law. An officer with the local health board saw people smoking on the property when he visited the place last DECEMBER (talk about slow), some of whom were dressed in school uniforms. What the other 2 citations are, it didn't say.
Now, R. Linda, I ask ya, is this fair? I don't think so, and I side with Finnegan even if the Judge be a distant relative (or not). A little notice would have been in order; they had a year to give it for begorrah's sake, and well, really, school kids? What can be done with them? Nothing. We know they don't listen, and all they do is blow smoke at ya, curse yer arse if ye have anything to say about moving off the property of which they are putting YOU in a bad situation. Me sissy used to do things like this; yes, she did. She'd be down by the chippy shop with her friends, all decked out in their school uniforms, gossiping, smoking, eating chips and generally congregating where they shouldn't be. It was a hangout for them, much like Shenanigans had become for the unnamed school kids or truants. Where was the truant officer? I wanna know. I bet most of them had cut classes, and let me tell you one of me sissy's fav things about the chippy shop was it was near McDonagh's Pub, and she felt like people passing by would think she was old enough to frequent the pub because her smoking on a cigarette made her feel cool and older. Yes, it did, but unlike Finnegan, Jarod McDonagh was a big man who didn't like teenagers. One shout from him, and they'd fly off down the street, all their "coolness" gone, with him promising all kinds of physical retribution should he catch one of them. I know now he'd not have harmed a hair on their heads, but he was an intimidating sort and an ex-prize fighter. Maybe that's what Finnegan needs: a Mickey Ward or someone down there ready to bounce those school uniforms into the arms of a truant officer.
I know I am being unkind, but I was never one of those boyos hanging out and causing trouble. I was, as you well know by now, a law-abiding young citizen of Ulster County. Hooliganism was me sister's bible. Yes, it was.
Gabe
Copyright © 2011 All rights reserved
R. Linda:
In looking over some recent newsworthy stories in Ireland, I found one that caught my eye. I have said I hate when we Irish are the last to know, the last to realise, etc., as we are so often finger-pointed at by the Brits, but in this case, it seems to be so.
A publican in County Monaghan found out he was looking at nick time in the face, by reading about himself in a newspaper. Yes, he did. I will keep Mr. Finnegan's name out of this; oh, oops! Well, it's too late to go back and delete it, mostly because I be too lazy. So here we go; as the owner of Shenanigans Bar in Castleblayney, our publican read in the paper he be facing 3 months in jail for something he didn't even know about!
He broke the no-smoking law and has the fame of being the very first pub owner in all of Old Erin to be sentenced to the nick for it. He must have been scratching his head on this and checking the calendar to make sure it wasn't April 1st. But no, it was not near April Fools Day. Hum! He took a good look at the news story. It seems some people dressed in school uniforms were seen smoking on his property LAST YEAR. I know what ya be thinking; why did they wait until NOW? I dunno, but everything be slow in Ireland!. Ye can't get a telephone landline for at least six months in some places, and hooking up the telly, well, forget about it, read Yeats instead. By the time you finish all his works, ye may see the telly installation truck coming down the old road. Then again . . .
So back to our publican. He didn't attend his hearing because he didn't know about it. Sheesh, you'd think since this happened LAST YEAR, they'd tell him by now. But it was written up in the newspaper so he could catch himself up on the proceedings the NEXT day. What took place is this: There was on Wednesday, the day before our pub owner found out he was going to jail, that a hearing was held at the Carrickmacross District Court and that Judge Sean McBride (I wonder if that be one of me relatives), said our publican was 'totally lawless' and I be sure his not showing up (but he didn't know, so anyway), Judge McBride didn't know that Finnegan didn't know to show, but it didn't help matters so he fined Finnegan €2,000 and imposed the jail time.
Horrified by all this, Finnegan got himself a lawyer to make an appeal to the court and to let Judge McBride know he, Finnegan, be the separated Da of two kiddos and there be no way he can do the time for the crime.
In an interview with the Irish Independent news service, he said, "I can't do that. My mother and father are sick, and I can't leave them. I can't close my business down either."
It seems the man thinks he is being singled out because he happened to win a big lottery, and the locals are upset with him. Hum, would they dress up in school uniforms to make Finnegan look bad? Can you imagine the hairy legs, ill-fitting shorts, caps, and faces with beard growth? And that's just the women! After thinking further, Finnegan remarked, "At dinnertime, all the kids congregate in the alley beside me here, and they're smoking in the alley around the door of the pub and eating chips and doing what kids do when they're 17 or 18, but even if the pub is closed, they'd be there. It's an awful way to be; all my taxes are paid, I have my tax-clearance cert here in the pub for anyone to see, the rent's paid, as are the water rates -- everything's paid. This pub is a lovely wee tidy place. There's three old women here now drinking tea, there's two old boys drinking Guinness, and there's one fella 65 years of age with one leg -- so, if that's lawless, I don't know what is."
Well, saints preserve us! He has a point he does. It sounds more like a tea room than a pub! But it got worse it did. It seems our publican was cited for 2 other convictions for breaking the no-smoking law. An officer with the local health board saw people smoking on the property when he visited the place last DECEMBER (talk about slow), some of whom were dressed in school uniforms. What the other 2 citations are, it didn't say.
Now, R. Linda, I ask ya, is this fair? I don't think so, and I side with Finnegan even if the Judge be a distant relative (or not). A little notice would have been in order; they had a year to give it for begorrah's sake, and well, really, school kids? What can be done with them? Nothing. We know they don't listen, and all they do is blow smoke at ya, curse yer arse if ye have anything to say about moving off the property of which they are putting YOU in a bad situation. Me sissy used to do things like this; yes, she did. She'd be down by the chippy shop with her friends, all decked out in their school uniforms, gossiping, smoking, eating chips and generally congregating where they shouldn't be. It was a hangout for them, much like Shenanigans had become for the unnamed school kids or truants. Where was the truant officer? I wanna know. I bet most of them had cut classes, and let me tell you one of me sissy's fav things about the chippy shop was it was near McDonagh's Pub, and she felt like people passing by would think she was old enough to frequent the pub because her smoking on a cigarette made her feel cool and older. Yes, it did, but unlike Finnegan, Jarod McDonagh was a big man who didn't like teenagers. One shout from him, and they'd fly off down the street, all their "coolness" gone, with him promising all kinds of physical retribution should he catch one of them. I know now he'd not have harmed a hair on their heads, but he was an intimidating sort and an ex-prize fighter. Maybe that's what Finnegan needs: a Mickey Ward or someone down there ready to bounce those school uniforms into the arms of a truant officer.
I know I am being unkind, but I was never one of those boyos hanging out and causing trouble. I was, as you well know by now, a law-abiding young citizen of Ulster County. Hooliganism was me sister's bible. Yes, it was.
Gabe
Copyright © 2011 All rights reserved
