Festival of World Cultures

Fun, sun and culture. What more could you want? Derek Brady summed it up: "God is obviously multicultural," a nice quote from Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council's Manager as he retires. Methinks he won't disappear quietly into the sunset. Whatever happened to that proposal for a super authority to keep an eye on all of Metropolitan Dublin? It would be no harm to have someone of Derek's calibre to keep an eye on Wicklow County Council to stop it granting permission for dumps upstream from our water supply at Poulaphuca Reservoir in Blessington...


But back to the festival. Fun ‘Da' Mental and the Mighty Zulu Nation were brilliant, and it was great to see them being presented in partnership with the British Council, the UK's cultural relations organisation. KÍLA & Oki from Japan had a great set in Monkstown Church on Friday Night. As a volunteer for the weekend I wore my white T-shirt, and whenever there were problems I could dutifully refer people to the Yellow T-shirts who were higher up in the pecking

White Bands in Edinburgh

And a great time was had, along with 225,000 others. Four hours queueing to join the March, and then an exhilerating walk through Edinburgh before doubling back to address a gathering of the Scottish Greens. Then back to Mark and Mary Catherine's house to watch Pink Floyd, The Who and Robbie Willliams belting it out in London, along with Jonathan Ross's commentry.

Death to Frontpage!

Welcome. I've just moved the blog over from Frontpage to Blogger. I try to cover Dún Laoghaire, Environmental and Justice issues. Feedback is always welcome, Ciarán

Constraining Progress

Under the 'Sustaining Progress' Affordable Housing Initiative the Government promised to deliver 10,000 affordable homes. Much fanfare from Junior Minister Noel Ahern. How much has been delivered to date? 30 units. Hmm. Here's a snapshot of Minister Dick Roche, Noel Ahern and his colleague Batt O'Keefe presiding over Environment Questions in a not so packed Dáil chamber