Task three: Rant about anything: Reaction to the Queen's visit

Oh this task is a very well timed task.

I am really in the mood to rant.

What you may ask could be annoying me to the extent that I need to vent?

I will tell you.

I am REALLY irritated by people's reaction to the Queen of England's visit to Ireland.

Apparently outside the GPO in Dublin some group staged a beheading of the queen.

I have seen countless acts of graffiti comprised of the most ignorant comments.

and why?

Because the head of another state is coming to visit.
Yes she is coming from the England
But it is time to realise that that conflict is our history

Yes Northern Ireland is still part of the United Kingdom.

But that conflict has evolved into something different to what it was when the partition happened in the 1920's.

Ireland and England are more tightly related than most young people care to remember.

How many of us have a parent or a relative who went to England to work when there was no work in Ireland?

I'm not only talking about the 1950's-1980's,

I'm talking about the last two years.

Granted it wasn't always the smoothest of times but the point is many people were trained in their trade in England and still are being trained over there.

Ireland has just received a bailout from the EU.

A necessary bailout.

The UK supplied a lot of those funds.

And they have problems of their own too that those funds could have been put towards.

Like a struggling health service.

Increasing unemployment.

We were willing to take their jobs and their money, but heaven forbid we show kindness to their queen, the ambassador of their state

I would hate to hear what would be said if such actions were taken against our ambassador of state, our President.

The Dalai Lama was here last week, there were no public riots.

Prince Albert of Monaco was here two weeks ago, no public riots

A member of the Muslim council was here three weeks ago, no public riots.

Barack Obama is coming the week after the Queen of England, we are painting a whole town in his honour.

Yet people are complaining about the costs.

The royal visit will bring some good publicity to Ireland as will Obama's

If these visits generate even a small amount of tourism it will put much needed money back into our economy.

We need the visitors.

Our hotels need the visitors

Our restaurants need the visitors

Our tourist regions need the visitors.

So what if we spend money on her visit,

it is far less than some of the banker's bonus' revealed today

and the idea of asking her to foot the bill?

would we ask any other country's ambassador to do that? doubtful.

This historic visit will show the people of Britain that we are not ungrateful spoiled children who are only friendly when we need pocket money from their taxpayers but that we are a maturing nation willing to let our histories remain our histories for a better, more stable future.

Comments

Ah November. You have returned.

I woke up this morning with a dullness in my heart that I normally don't have in the morning.
On my mornings allocated to sleep in I resemble a sloth blissfully unaware of life in a cocoon, but on a normal morning I wake up with a bit of a bounce. I start my day with a bit of shower time karaoke. I dance around the bedroom as I get dressed for the day. I have a great time. ( Jeez, as I write this I suddenly appreciate Stuart's morning patience a little bit more! Ha!) Anyway, the point being, despite a very early bed time last night I woke up a wee bit deflated.

Then I remembered that my old nemesis November has returned.
I did a quick calculation. Marguerite would be 32 next week.
32! Being 32 was one of my favourite times.
Another quick calculation, Marguerite will be gone 15 years this month. 15 years. 2 more years and she will be gone as long as she was with us.
Every November is a little bit easier than the last. Of course it is. Time is a wonderful healer.
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I think that is a new record for my procrastination.
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I want to put it in a box, and seal it away forever.

There were some fabulous moments. Of course there were! I got engaged to the most wonderful man I have ever known. I witnessed the weddings of some of my best friends. Babies were born. There was an abundance of soft play, cuddles and karaoke.

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On this day, 14 years ago, the world lost a little bit of its magic, when at 11pm, my little sister took her final breath and life changed as we all knew it. She was only 17 years old. 17 years and 19 days to be exact. As I sat here today reading all the lovely messages written about her, my heart soared with pride in the fact that in her short time with us, she managed to have such a big impact on so many people. Marguerite Mary O'Dwyer, an ambassador for mischief, mockery and for having a marvellous time. I miss her so much.

It is funny how every year there is something different that I focus on for the anniversary. I never choose my train of thought, I think the year since the last anniversary chooses it for me. Last night, I got fairly plastered on wine and when my other half went to his bed, I sat and sang along to every sad song I could think of. I had a wee chat with Mags before I went to bed and woke up this morning well rested and ready to seize the day.
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Life of Lu

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