What They Don't See.......

As Ireland stepped into the new year, the entire country, as usual, made promises. Promises to lead better lives, to help those in need and to start on a path that would invoke change within themselves and hopefully lead them to help change things for those around them. A positive attitude and new perspective was placed highly on the list of resolutions, all the way from Malin Head to Mizen Head. After the gloom-heavy year that was 2012, Irish people are longing for a change. A change of attitude in government. A change in job opportunities. A change in personal health. A change in....well, just a change. I am entirely on board with that. But is it possible in today's Ireland?

I sat down with my wife after the dust of Christmas and New Year had settled and found myself watching the RTE News at Six. The first and biggest story of the evening was the 'United States Fiscal Cliff.' I still don't really know what that term refers to and I doubt the majority of people watching that same news broadcast did either. After being bombarded with finance jargon and political speak for more than ten minutes I turned to my wife and asked, 'How relevant do you think that news story is to the average family in this country?' She said, 'None.' That was that.

Everyday we watch as our politicians go through what seems like a cross between Yes Prime Minister and Fawlty Towers. There is no integrity left in Irish politics, none. It's become a pissing contest mixed with a shouting match topped off with a double dose of point scoring and personal grudges. But still the vast majority of Irish citizens wait in hope for the wax figures in Louis Copeland suits to provide answers to the financial tragedy that Ireland has become. A half finished game of Monoply that all players would gladly abandon if it weren't for the wily spectators who are waiting to pounce on a wrong move. But then again, why would they abandon it? Every one of them passes GO, collects €200 and not one of them will ever go to jail.

Phil Hogan has claimed that %70 of Irish homeowners have paid the ludicrous Household Charge. A charge for having a home. One wonders how much NAMA have forked out, given that they are in possession of the vast majority of the ghost estates that litter Ireland. I would hazard a guess and go with zero. As for the supposed %70 who have supposedly paid this charge? Yeah, right Mr Hogan. Sure while you're at it I'll take those magic beans off your hands and you can have my last cow.

I am of the opinion that our government is so far behind the rest of world that they still think they can feed us information and we will buy it. That the people of Ireland will follow whatever line they are fed. Sure didn't it work for Fianna Fáil.

We live under a government that is out of touch with what is happening in the streets. A government whose agenda is to appease the big bad money men of Europe in an attempt to be seen as some sort of financial matyr. 'We will force our people to suffer, just don't take away our expenses and we will give you all the gold fillings we can pull.'

What they want us to see and what is actually happening are becoming so extremely opposite that at times you would be forgiven for thinking we actually do live in The Matrix and someone forgot to install Norton Antivirus.

What they see and what you see are becoming night and day. They are blind, and they chose to be.


What they don't see are the unpaid bills and empty pockets of people who but 3 years ago were living comfortably.

What they don't see is the well kept young girl eating a cold stale hamburger for breakfast as there is no bread or cereal in the cupboards.

What they don't see is the man who works at the Social Welfare Office telling all who walk in that the start of this year has been worse than the end of last year.

What they don't see are families packing up any old clothes and weighing them to exchange for cash.

What they don't see is the average family rummaging through charity shops for Christmas presents and clothes.

What they don't see is the unemployed father struggling to pay for medication to stave off depression.

What they don't see our the 2 to 3 weeks of cold suffered by young families due to huge fuel costs.

What they don't see the break up of numerous marriages, brought on by the pressures of living just above the poverty. A line that falls lower everyday.

What they don't see is the St Vincent DePaul Christmas parcel that contains only three toys because the demand for help is so big.

What they don't see our the stressed parents deciding whether to eat or keep the lights on.

What they don't see is the banks sending threatening letters to households on the verge of collapse. Banks that were saved with public money. 

What they don't see are the scores of families bidding goodbye to their youngest at the airport, never knowing if they will meet again.

What they don't see is the lack of Youth Services in areas where young people have been forgotten.

What they don't see are those young people falling into drugs because they see no future for themselves and all they want to do is escape the dreary social landscape.

What they don't see is right in front of them.

What they don't see does not bother them.

What they don't see is Ireland, as it stands right now. Real Ireland, the one that's lost in a political maze.

What they do see is a big paycheck, no accountability and a nice pension.

What they see is what they want to see. And that's no use to anyone.

The Rebirth!

Okay, so I'll hold my hands up and admit that I haven't bee the most frequent blogger on the internet.  You've probably gathered that since I started this blog 3 years ago and have a minimum amount of posts. But all of that is set to change, I hope.

Originally this blog was place for me to keep my coursework while I worked my way through a journalism and fiction course. A course I passed with flying colours. Although I don't know what 'flying colours' is actually a reference to, I still did it. How's that for determination?

After completing my course I found myself working as a community journalist with NewsFour, a community newspaper based in Dublin 4. I had no idea what to expect, little experience and just my initiative to work from. Thankfully it turned out to be one of the best employment experiences I've had. The task of going into the community, sourcing stories, meeting people and researching was just the challenge I was looking for and I would like to think that I did myself proud and satisfied the expectations of the people I wrote about. But now that that is done I am cut adrift in the wilderness of freelance journalism. A lonesome voice upon a sea of ink, crashing headlong into the treacherous rocks of popular grammar.

I'm out of a job basically.

So I return to this blog with some experience under my belt and a gut hanging over my belt.

To read back over some of the early stuff I have written on here can make me cringe. Some of the grammar is off, some of the spelling is bad and some of the viewpoints make me come across as a hardline nut job. But in the end it's all down to experience and I'll be damned if I'm going to remove any of those articles, plus I don't know how. So that's that taken care of.

I would hope you see this a reintroduction to the blog and if I put as much effort into this as I put into my news articles then hopefully all will be fine.

I will vent, I will probably swear, I most likely make numerous mistakes and bang my head against the wall several times in frustration. But I will maintain at least one blog post a week, minimum. That I can promise.

So without further ado I would like to welcome one and all (probably more like one but when you say 'one and all' it sounds so grand, doesn't it?) to the return of 'Where Do I Start?'

Now, where do I start?

:)