Ireland’s shame, Bagatelle and Dan’s favourite actor FROM THE SPORTS VAULTS
WEDNESDAY: JANUARY 13
WHILE we are all aware of how cruel Ireland was – and still is – the publication of the final report of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation has reminded us of just how intolerant this country, when the Church and State worked together in an unholy alliance, with societal attitudes adding to the coercion, actually was. There are bad people everywhere. And the Church can’t be blamed for every evil perpetrated. Still, it seems that the various Church orders, chiefly nuns, who ‘looked after’ expectant mothers and their children had an unusually higher proportion of bad folk.
Would the Jesus or God prayed to by nuns and clergy of these times have condoned the mistreatment of mothers and babies? Where is the justice for these victims? Another frustrating aspect of this era of shame is how hard survivors had to work to get to the truth of their stories.
On a much lighter note, a friend of this diary spotted a sign in a Sligo town takeaway. The sign read: “Fresh Cod Hand Battered” (no commas or full stops). So that is where fish fingers come from – a cod’s hand.
THURSDAY: JANUARY 14
THE Irish Mirror (online format) tells me that Ryan Tubridy, also known as Mother Ireland, is demanding clearer answers from Taoiseach Micheál Martin regarding Martin’s comments that, come June, we’ll have a type of normality back. Join the queue, Ryan, we all wants answers. I spot Sligo woman Louise Heraghty on the telly, giving an update on the day’s weather. I played on sevena-side soccer teams with the RTÉ One weather presenter’s brothers, John and Brian, and their cousin, Stephen. Brian was, to use a west Sligo term, a very ‘skilly’ player, an attacking midfielder full of jinks and turns, while John proved a dependable full-back. Stephen, although predominantly an excellent goalkeeper, scored a winning headed goal at a Manor Rangers tournament in the 1990s. Our team at the time represented McLaughlin’s on High Street (when the great troubadour Seamus ran the pub). Other teammates included Jim Sheridan Jnr, Nicky Elliott, John Gill, Dave Healy and Austin O’Callaghan.
In other – near tragic – news, this week I learned (thanks to thejournal. ie) that batches of four types of Monster Energy drinks are being withdrawn from sale due to high levels of propylene glycol.
While propylene glycol sounds like something that could only do good, it is actually a synthetic food additive that belongs to the same chemical class as alcohol. Long live Monster Energy drinks – closing deadlines since April 2002.
FRIDAY: JANUARY 15
IT has been almost two weeks since Liam Reilly, the frontman of Bagatelle,
I caught some of the game between Kansas City Chiefs and Cleveland Browns and then part of the fixture involving Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New Orleans Saints.
Tom Brady – a name one would associate with a proud, seafaring resident of Innishmurray Island, off north Sligo’s coast – is still doing it as a quarterback.
MONDAY: JANUARY 18
I TELL a work colleague, Dan, that only sensitive people get heartburn. I delve into further analysis of yesterday’s scoreless draw between United and Liverpool – again, a recurring theme is near sadness at what players Liverpool are missing (due to longterm and short-term injuries) and also the fact that they aren’t sparking as usual.
Ah well. United, who’ve plenty of room to improve, just have to keep clocking up positive results, starting with Fulham on Wednesday night. Sensitive Dan, meanwhile, puts aside his heartburn queries to talk about Rosie Alice Huntington-Whiteley, a Hollywood actor and model. He chats about her as if they swapped stories over pina coladas at Mahony’s Bar in west Sligo in 2019.
An item on The Irish Times website reassures me that this country isn’t changing a jot – Dublin’s Coombe maternity hospital gave Covid-19 vaccines to 16 family members of staff. Lovely. I would worry if this type of thing didn’t happen. Finally, I hurry home before the rain comes.
TUESDAY: JANUARY 19
TODAY was the kind of rainy day that I wanted to remain in a darkened room, eating cold bowls of Pot Noodles and listening to the same Smashing Pumpkins song over and over. Record in haste, repent at leisure. This alludes to my sticking of a film on the Sky planner, thinking it would be a good one. Instead, The Legend of the Lone Ranger is probably one of the worse films I’ve ever watched. But too proud to admit it – and so quit the painful viewing and delete it – I plough on through until the bitter end. I do the same with meals that I end up abhorring – I will clean the plate no matter what (although it does help to have two canines who are ready and willing to make the unwanted scraps disappear).
Herself wants to watch the latest episodes of The Terror but I opt to watch them when the week is post-deadline. The fact that David Quinn, Director of the Iona Institute, has professed his liking for The Terror (in a tweet posted earlier this month), has slightly taken the gloss of this drama.
To wrap things up, this is a quote I recently overheard from a person describing Covid-19: “This virus is blatant.” Just how quickly is Ireland’s vaccine rollout (sounds like a vaccine against Ireland) going to take? When the nation gets jabbed I figure we’ll party – to borrow a word or two from 50 Cent – like it is someone’s birthday.