I could only cringe... yes it was those Roses again
BEING showered with roses is supposed to be a good thing, but having watched some of Tuesday’s night’s ‘Lovely Girls competition’ on RTÉ, I have my doubts.
The Rose of Tralee is termed by its defenders as being ‘an institution’. Well, we’ve had our share of those over the years, from ‘Magdalene laundries’ to the Catholic Church, so that’s not necessarily a good thing.
I have to admit I didn’t watch the entire show – it was difficult to do so, given that my hands were clasped over my eyes for much of the programme. However, I did catch some of what must be ‘classic’ Rose of Tralee moments… from the woman doing a 100kg deadlift on stage, while dressed in her ball gown, to the contestant uncorking a wine bottle by lodging it into a boot and repeatedly whacking it off a table. Has she never heard of a corkscrew?
It is these moments that are supposed to form the ‘magic dust’ that falls upon the annual festival and makes it so popular. That dust only succeeded in getting up my nose, unfortunately.
What does it all mean, this strange pageant? Does anybody know? It’s not entertaining; but it is mawkish, embarrassing and bewildering in equal measure.
I’m glad that there are 12 blessed months before it will cross my path again. Congratulations are in order for the winner, Limerick Rose Sinéad Flanagan… and commiserations to many of the State’s TV licence payers.
D POWER, Stoneybatter, Dulbin 7.
Not so tweet smelling
CONGRATULATIONS to Sinéad Flanagan on winning the ‘Lovely Girls competition’. How do I know she won it? I heard it on the news this morning (Tuesday).
In recent years what has made the Rose of Tralee Final tolerable for me was following the hilarious tweets and comments on boards. And I quite happily added to the fun myself.
I intended doing the same this year. However, after watching the first hour of the programme on Monday night, I couldn’t take any more. I wondered if having a ‘sob story’ in your biography was a prerequisite for entry.
I questioned the sanity of watching a programme on TV when the majority of tweets about it are disparaging. Even the RTÉ DJ who monitors the Twitter machine, admitted the majority of tweets weren’t suitable to be read out. The only positive tweets I could see came from people who knew the contestants or had some connection with the event.
I heard host Dáithí Ó Sé say he couldn’t explain what type of competition it was in the hour that I watched the programme. At least he was honest.
It seems everyone, including the public at home, know the whole thing is a farce, yet, either through tradition or exhaustion at the end of the summer, play along.
T RODDY, Salthill, Galway
Boris’ banana republic
I SUPPOSE the great advantage of having no written constitution is the ability to interpret it as you see fit. Boris Johnson appears to have done just that with his action in suspending parliamentary democracy in the so-called ‘mother of all parliaments’.
By his deeds he has surely reduced the politics of the UK to a level more suited to his talents as prime Minister of a banana republic. D. MOORE, By email
Sites for sore eyes
IT’S time for school children to hit the books but not all of them will, because these days a growing number of schools boast about the benefits of using iPads instead of printed books as the best way to learn. Having watched my son for two years using an iPad in school, I have to question the wisdom of that idea.
Some argue that an iPad will mean no more textbooks, they say, think of all the trees that will be saved as a result.
Well, that’s a complete load of nonsense for starters. My son has just as many textbooks as I did when I went to school – the only difference is I used to read mine.
That’s no reflection on my son’s academic ability – he’s far ahead of me on that score – it’s just that the books are not used. Incredibly, when you sign up for a school iPad and the accompanying software, you are not waving goodbye to hard copy books – parents are still required to buy them as part of the software package.
The thing is, though, that they are hardly ever used.
Of the 15 textbooks that my son has, he ha d for last year, he opened just four of them in the course of the year, and only one on more than a few occasions.
Why are these books needed? They are never used in class, not even as an accompaniment to the iPad. If they are there in the event of the iPad failing to work, well why not just keep a supply in the school library for such eventualities – why must these books be purchased, year on year, by hardpressed parents, only for them never to be used?
My wife and I want to raise our children with as little access to computers as possible. The irony is that it’s the school that’s encouraging them to be glued to a screen all day, not us.
I asked my son why he has all those school books, and he couldn’t tell me. What he could tell me was that sometimes his eyes feel funny from looking at a screen all day. That can’t be right.
M. PAGE, Dublin 1