It Occurs To Me: Jimmy’s winning…Rory’s expanding!

 As I wrote in this column last year, I watched the 2024 Ulster Final in Rory Gallagher’s The Irish Viking in Lanzarote.

One paragraph read: “The Viking is a most appropriate name, as the men and women from the North staged a mass invasion that Brian Boru himself could not have repelled! The craic had all started the night before when Rory performed non-stop for two hours, and when he launched into Jimmy’s Winning Matches, it nearly took the roof of the longboat. Rory launches into Las Vegas in the Hills of Donegal and the Vikings go stone mad. There are tears and laughter, roars and banter… Big Danny is beating the counter like Thor’s Hammer and an energetic and emotional woman ‘frae Manor’ takes me out for a jive.  After six or seven birls, I seek sanctuary on the high stool until Rory reprises Jimmy's Winning Matches, and the Northern invaders go clean mad again. God, it’s great to be from Donegal. Earlier, Rory wondered if there were any Kilcar people in… ‘I’m 50%” says I. ‘Ah, that’ll do!’ he laughed. “When Paddy McBrearty scores, we high five…I feel 100%.”

‘Rory G must definitely be part of Jimmy’s fitness regime too!’

Last Sunday, seeing Paddy lifting the Anglo-Celt Cup again rose the percentage an extra few noughts!

I wasn’t there this year but contacted him out of curiosity. Says he: ‘I hope narrowly beating Armagh in a heart attack-inducing frenzy becomes an annual event !’” 

In other words’ it was flying, and such is the ‘frenzy’ that he is opening a third venue called  Rory's Live Lounge  early next month, next door to his wee Rory's Corner Bar. As he explains: “In case you think we have completely lost the plot. There is method to our madness. The Irish Viking has a life of its own, with great crowds coming in for the sports and to watch our mighty 9.30pm acts. So what's been happening is, when I was gigging there, a lot of the time the front music bar was just getting too overcrowded and out of control, and a lot of people had to sit outside and watch my gig on our TV screens which led to a bit of disappointment in general.

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“I needed to find a nice big rectangular room which holds 150 people, and we have !...Right next door to Rory’s Corner Bar in Fariones Square. How handy is that? We will of course still have The Irish Viking going goodo... I will still be performing an All-Ages show there every Monday evening at 7pm , and you will of course catch me singing there in The Viking on a Sunday afternoon as well after a Donegal match!”

We’ve all been amazed at Michael Murphy’s return to football…Rory G must definitely be part of Jimmy’s fitness regime too! Long may the ‘frenzies’ continue!

                                     Remembering Micko

I asked a good friend from Dingle to get me a copy of the special Kerryman ‘Micko’ edition a few weeks ago and it’s been a great read. I especially loved Colm O’Rourke’s feature entitled, Micko was a lovable rogue who was consumed by his passion for football. He added: “In company Micko was a likeable rogue and great storyteller. One night he told us about his time selling cars to small farmers in south Kerry which must have been like throwing buns to an elephant, such was his status. Anyway the driving test came in and one farmer who had only ever driven a small tractor bought a car off Micko and was heading to Killarney for a driving test. Micko phoned the office to tell the driving tester that under no circumstances was this man to be asked to reverse. Of course he passed the driving test with flying colours, came home and promptly reversed into a wall at high speed at his own house. The car was a write-off. He collected the insurance and Micko sold him another car. He laughed heartily at this story. It might even have been true.”

Waterville GAA Chairman Niall Moran said: “What’s funny actually is that he used to drive up and down the village, and there’s a statue of him, and every time he used to pass his statue, he would wave to himself. That was his tradition. He thought it was hilarious that he had a statue while he was still alive.”

                                   The  ‘Grace’ report

Like many of you, I was shocked and disappointed by the final report of the Farrelly Commission into the ‘Grace’ foster home abuse. It’s hard to believe that Enda Kenny commissioned it in 2017, and 2000 words later, the reaction has been overwhelmingly negative. Inclusion Ireland, the National Association for People with an Intellectual Disability said: “We speak often of the re-traumatisation of survivors. ‘Grace’ is one such survivor. What she endured and experienced over many years is absolutely devastating, having her voice ignored has compounded that trauma unimaginably. The General Solicitor’s statement tells us clearly that ‘Grace’s’ voice has been silenced by the Commission. She was silenced for 20 years in foster care and now she has been silenced yet again by the very process that should have supported her to access some semblance of justice.” 

Originally, it was the Devine report in 2017 which revealed that ‘Grace’ was allowed to remain in the home in the south-east despite allegations of physical and sexual abuse. The name ‘Grace’ was given to this voiceless woman by the then CEO of Barnardos, Fergus Finlay. I listened to Fergus on Newstalk a few weeks ago and he wasn't holding back.

“She exhibited highly sexualised behaviour and she was not the only one,” he said. “There are at least three young women now who have been through that and… it’s not the case, in my honest opinion, and I hope I’m not defaming anybody that they’ve got no evidence. It’s the case that they chose not to believe or accept the evidence.  There is, in my opinion, as a non-lawyer, overwhelming evidence that at least a prima facie case has to be answered. And I can’t understand how they came to any other conclusion.”

He also said that it is well known among those who work with children that “neglect is a precursor to abuse”.

“When the neglect spreads over half a lifetime, abuse is almost inevitable. The least you can say about ‘Grace’ and about two other people whom I know, the least you can say about them is that they lived in the care of people who didn't care about them."

When Minister for Children Norma Foley asked the chairwoman of the investigation, Marjorie Farrelly SC, to write an executive summary but was told she was not in a position to do so! Also, the general solicitor for minors and wards of court, which is responsible for ‘Grace’s’ personal and legal affairs, issued a statement to say that submissions made on behalf of Grace were not “included nor referred to in any way in the report”. Where do we go from here? Another report? More can kicking? An Irish solution for an Irish problem!

                              Disgusting behaviour in Bundoran

The neck of the Irish People’s Party and others to go to Councillor Michael McMahon’s home in Bundoran last Saturday and behave like they did. As reported in the Democrat, “the group marched to his office - which is located in his family home - and stopped there, filling the street and using a loud hailer to call for him to come out. When members of his family came to the front door of their home to say he was not on the premises, they were greeted with chants of ‘traitor’  and ‘Sinn Féin are traitors’ from the crowd of around 100 to 150 demonstrators”.

What a bunch of amadans! Yes, there are people with genuinely held concerns about Ipas - International Protection Accommodation Services - and they must be heeded by government, but the fascists are taking advantage of this and infiltrating middle-of-the-road groups who just want answers from the powers-that-be. Let’s remind ourselves…Irish People party candidate, John Molloys was eliminated on the first local electoral count in June 2024 and Kim McMenamin who was eliminated in Buncrana in the November general election on the eighth count getting 621 votes.

Judging by the reaction in Buncrana to the tragic drownings of 16-year-old Emmanuel Familola and 18-year-old Matt Sibanda, and the subsequent turn out in St Mary’s Oratory, McMenamin and co have gauged the temperature very badly. 

As Willie Nelson put it (in reference to the appalling carry-on with the right in America)... “Your enemy is not the refugee. Your enemy is the one who made him a refugee.”