10th January, 2002
The staff members of the Dublin based Irish
Chapter of Credit Unions certainly made the news this week. A
syndicate of them won £500,000 in the Lotto. So what did they do
when they discovered they had won? They lodged the winning ticket
in a Bank of Ireland branch!! Then when the Lottery office
reopened after the holidays they all went along there to be
greeted by Lottery officials, two of the winners left to collect
the winning ticket from the bank. But there the problems began,
The bank had misplaced the ticket (not lost, misplaced). Lost is
when you can’t find it, misplaced is when it’s not
really lost, it’s just that it can’t be found (is there
a difference?). The bank, being an honourable institution (Michael,
you must be looking for a loan!!) agreed to honour the ticket.
Not that the bank would actually give each winner a bag of money,
but if the winners provided the bank with a bank account number
the winnings would be transferred, or they could open an account
with the Bank of Ireland. One thing puzzles me, why did the
winners not put the winning ticket in their own safety vault?
Anyway, the good news for all concerned is the misplaced (not
lost) ticket has been found. It’s like a fairytale ending.
Speaking of fairytales what would you give Liam ‘Fairytale
of New York’ Lawlor for Christmas? I have been trying to
figure it out. What do you give a man who has 106 bank accounts?
A portable colour TV? An Eir(cell) phone? A shirt with a neck
size to fit his neck (size 32!!). If Jeffrey Archer had been a T.D.
instead of an M.P. he’d be writing a new novel now somewhere
in the bowels of his mansion. But poor Jeffrey was born in the
wrong country.
The publicans are under siege again. This time it seems the laws
has decided that children’s rights are being infringed upon,
due to the fact that they are not welcome in bars after a certain
hour. Is this a E.U. directive? Are they really serious when they
maintain that a customer can walk into a bar at 11.15pm with his/her
three year old and stay until closing, or bring your 6 year old
daughter into a bar to watch the male strippers. Have they gone
mad!! Publicans are going through a tough time with threat of
legal action if they refuse to serve people who they deem to be
potentially troublesome. I’ve always maintained that if
somebody causes a disturbance in a licenced premises the gardaí
and the publican should ensure that the culprits are brought to
court and hopefully bound to the peace and barred from that pub.
We hear of publicans having to pay £3,000 on the steps of the
courthouse. This sum is paid to people who were refused service
in the pub. Publicans also have a duty to all their customers to
ensure their comfort and safety and personally I have no problem
sitting next to any member of an ethnic group, any colour, race,
creed, as long as they obey the same rules of decency as the rest
of us. Come in, have a few drinks and then like the rest of us go
home. That’s not a lot to ask for, is it?
A reader telephoned us and left a message on our answering
service. The caller, a lady informed me that celebrating Women’s
Little Christmas is not exclusive to Cork and then last night up
in the snooker club in Donnybrook (George, this mention must be
worth a free cup of coffee!!) my friend Paddy McClelland told me
that Women’s Little Christmas is celebrated worldwide. When
I wrote the piece I meant that only in Cork do women go out for a
few drinks and dance the night away to people such as Dickie Rock
and Joe Dolan. I must compliment the women who do celebrate the
night. They really enjoy themselves and their behaviour is a
credit to them. I’ve been saying if for years. Women should
run the world. Who knows, it might be a happier place.
Another reader suggested that Douglas Gardaí might send in a
monthly piece to the Weekly. A very good suggestion. There’s
always room for a piece from our friends at Douglas Gardaí
Station.
Finally check out Douglas Village Shopping Centre for their great
£15,000 giveaway to the community, it’s nice to give
something back.
Bye for now,
Michael O'Hanlon
