Sympathetic? or not surprised..

I am finding it quite hard to sympathise with Lisa Murphy (girlfriend of mega rich "soilicitor to the stars" Gerald Kean) after her recent robbery at home..
Although as a female of course I sympathise with the fear she felt throughout her ordeal. I was the victim of a break in once a few years ago. It was during the night and I actually heard him coming through the downstairs window and mooching around . We came face to face when he was halfway up my stairs but luckily he seemed more frightened than me ( the panda eyes? The Albert Einstein bed head? the steam iron in my right hand?) so off he ran , along with my neatly wrapped Christmas presents from under the tree, two nights before Christmas.                    

Lisa Murphy and Gerald Kean live a very luxurious life in full view of the Irish media. And they are not exactly known about the town for being thrifty. Now that doesn’t mean they deserve to have their home broken into ,of course it doesn’t. What it does mean however, is that they are putting themselves at a greater risk of being targeted for a crime of this nature. One could argue that
Why shouldn’t they enjoy the lavish lifestyle they have worked so hard to achieve? Why should they tone down their standard of living at the risk of some would- be criminal raiding their home? And while that may be true ,one must also consider the society we are living in today. The ever increasing number of kidnappings and tiger raids on those with access to money, the economic uncertainty, the unemployment levels, the decrease in Social Welfare payments, all factors that are greatly increasing the divide between the country’s  “haves” and “have not’s”. Sure you only have to look at an "at home with.." article about them and you could plan the robbery room by room.
So maybe subtley is the key here.  Maybe its not totally necessary to flaunt your designer shopping bags on a daily basis, or to wear a 50,000 euro diamond necklace to Shanahans On The Green for a 50 euro piece of  steak.  And it doesn’t just apply to the privileged. Sure I learned the hard way that even carrying a few Argos bags into my house, as an average earner, was a temptation to somebody. There are a lot of desperate people out there who will do anything for a few bob. So maybe we could all be a little more mindful.
Anyway -who knows what will become of all the magnificent jewellery that was stolen ..or who is in possession of it,, I cant help but wonder if there is some woman out there proudly wearing the jewels that were lavished upon Lisa Murphy by her would be suitors and laughing to herself that she didn’t have to sleep with Michael Flatley or Gerald Kean to get them. :P

Dublin-a shrine to mediocrity.

Right... First time to blog, ever.. Have so much to say about so many things i almost dont know where to start... So some random observations to get the ball rolling....here goes......
I was strolling through Dublins City Centre recently, along the main thoroughfare of O' Connell Street when it struck me how absolutely awful it is..when you consider that this is the site on which the GPO proudly stands you would think that the powers that be would make some sort of  effort in maintaining the area around this magnificent landmark but, no. Instead, what you have are cheap bag and camera shops in amongst the fast food chain outlets and bargain shoe shops.. This is one of our most historical streets in Dublin, where  Padraig Pearse shared the Proclamation Of  Independance  A building which suffered heavy and ceaseless attacks from the British. A pivotal point in Irelands fight against British rule and instead of giving this monumental building the attention and  credit it deserves, we treat it as an everyday post office, as do the beggars who reside their. Now i have never been to Pennsylvania where Abraham Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address but i do know of the memorial park dedicated to him and the history of the civil war built around where he stood and the pride the locals have for it...Nor have i been to the Lincoln Memorial where Martin Luther King gave his famous "i have a dream ".. speech..but when i visit i wont expect to find a budget shoe shop on one side and a Mcdonalds on the other side and a tired alcoholic havin a nap between cans of Druids. Its not my intention to come across as snobby here, its my intention to make people aware of the pride we should have for what this building represents. The Garden Of Remembrance claims to be a memorial for all those who lives were lost in the fight for a united Ireland yet bizarrely ,the main statue is of a mythical story about The Children of Lir..maybe because the idea of a United Ireland is about as mythical as children turning into swans. 
                                                                                                                               
Daniel O Connell , or "The Liberator" as he is known, once addressed a quarter of a million Irish people at the Hill Of Tara,the biggest of a series of "monster meetings"  to campaign for the re-creation of an independant Kingdom of Ireland to govern itself...This in itself should be a worthy reason to celebrate this other landmark but instead there is an ongoing battle with the Irish government who want to bulldoze through it for yet another motorway. It beggars belief.  It seems as if we live in a country which celebrates mediocrity and are willing to forget about the real heroes of Ireland. O' Connell once said Dublin had a "beggarly corporation" , a statement which was met with uproar from all officials at the time. He must be looking down on the city and the street that bares his name from his perch on O' Connell Street and thinking to himself-he was surely right.