5th July, 2001
I’ll start this week with a joke. You all
remember last year when Dick Spring told the Country that he had
not bought shares in Eircom because he had no cash at the time,
and we all believed Dick, didn’t we? Just when we think
something like that couldn’t happen again, another
politician comes up with an incredible story.
Every week in the Sunday Indo they do an article called, “My
Favourite Share”. In this article a well known person writes
about his/her investment in the world of stocks and shares. Last
week it was the leader of the Seanad Senator Donie Cassidy. Donie
tells us property is his game and I quote Donie’s words,
“I paid £1.65 million for Groomes Hotel and we spent £6.4
million on it. My sons and I have three Sky Music shops in Dublin
Airport, we also own the Celtic Note music shop in Nassau Street.
I have a major share in the Belvedere Hotel on Gardiner Row. I
built a bungalow for £5,000 in 1972, and last week I refused £150,000
for it!”
Then Donie tells us, “Luckily, I never touched Eircom
shares, as I had no spare cash in 1999!!” Donie, get a new
accountant immediately, or get a chip van, it’s money on the
counter!
I need a break. I know I need a break because this week when I
got out of the shower on Monday morning I put shampoo on my
toothbrush!! Right Michael, I said to myself (that’s another
sign), the next step will be washing hair with toothpaste. After
that the men in the white coats make a house call looking for
‘yours truly. So next week I’m off around Ireland. I
prefer to go on holidays in September, there’s something
nice about Autumn, the hotel prices are cheaper!! But I know, I
won’t last until September. I’ll bring my notebook with
me and I’ll let you know how I get on (I’ll skip Doolin
this year, after the one teabag (second hand, I swear!!) in the
teapot for two last year. My wife loves Clare, Galway and
Westport in Mayo. I might check out Killarney, where a reader who
stayed in accommodation there was charged £12 for two 1 minutes
phone calls to Cork!!
I drove down to Carrigaline with my wife last Saturday morning to
show her the new Co-Op Superstore. I always take the back road up
through Donnybrook, just past Scart Cross, at about 11.45am. A
small silver car with a young male driver came around the corner
about 70 miles an hour. He was going so fast I couldn’t make
out his reg. number or model or car, but if he hit us, we were
dead. If those crazy bastards want to kill themselves, that’s
their choice, but we don’t want to go with you. When God
decides when my time is up, I’m sure he doesn’t need
any help to send me on my way. Does anyone know where I can rent
a Sherman tank for my trip around Ireland?
Today, Tuesday, at exactly 12.50pm, I was driving through Douglas
West on my way home for lunch. The bus was stopped outside
Douglas Cycles for passengers to get on and off. A woman in her
thirties was passing on the footpath, when suddenly she tripped,
stumbled, tried to control her fall, and only her quick thinking
made her put her hands down to protect her face from crashing on
to the worst piece on an excuse for a footpath in Douglas. If
this had been an elderly woman, or a pregnant woman, the
consequences could have been horrific. For God’s sake, would
somebody in authority do something to fix the piece of horror (which
does not deserve to be called a footpath) soon. It’s
criminal!!
Another icon of people music passed away last Sunday. The great
Chet Atkins, who has done more to popularise country music than
anybody else. The man who got rid of the ‘twangy guitars’,
told Jim Reeves he was singing an octave too high (listen to
Bimbo, the old Jim Reeves style), then listen to “Distant
Drums, He’ll have a Go”, when Jim dropped an octave.,
Chet added strings, backing singers and one of the most romantic
singers of all time was reborn. The next time you hear Perry Como
singing, “And I Love You So”, or, “For The Good
Times”, think of the man who produced the fantastic sound.
Chet Atkins, what more can I say, except, “Angels put your
harps aside, the guitar man is on the way”. Thanks for the
wonderful music, Chet.
I watched the golf on the television last weekend and it was a
joy to behold. Congratulations to Murphy’s and to everybody
involved in making it such a tremendous success. I drove down to
Midleton on Sunday and the traffic was flowing freely, thanks to
Grada traffic corps, and the weather? Well, it proves what I’ve
been saying for years, God has Cork connections!!
Bye for now,
Michael O’Hanlon.
