Lines, Life, Laura.

At the moment in Orlando Florida a trial is taking place that has as the media would say “gripped America”. Indeed. Hundreds of reporters, fights among the public over seats in the public gallery and lawyers behaving badly. Now the State of Florida is no stranger to sensational murder trials. Nor it is any stranger to the death penalty being one of those Southern states which truly believes in sending the guilty to death row. So much so that Florida has not one but two death row’s for male prisoners.

However leaving aside the death house, the trial in the State of Florida V Casey Athony is one in which I find myself diskling the media coverage of this trial more and more each day. Why? Because they have all seemed to have forgotten one little girl in this case, one little victim, one child who will never grow up. Failed by the person or people who killed her my hope is she is not failed by the justice system. I am rooting for justice for Caylee.

Rep. Anthony Weiner, we all know he took the social in social networking a tad too far and as of today has paid the political price as Democrat leaders showed him the door. I am going to stick my neck out and say that it is a real shame because as far as good Liberals go Anthony Weiner was one. He took the GOP to task on the floor of the house with a passion and if you go out into New York’s 9th District you may just find the people who put Rep. Weiner into office think he was a good representative for their district. So I find myself wondering if it should be the Democratic leaders or the people of the 9th District of New York who should be deciding on the future of the man who could have been a true star in the liberal stables.

So someone decided to throw some eggs today at a Bank of Ireland meeting, good for that man I say. While I do not condone the throwing of eggs at people, I can understand the frustration of the people who saved for their pension. Sure we all know the little line at the end of Ads “The value of shares can fall sa well as rise”. However those running Irish banks have not helped themselves one little bit, massive pay, bonus, perks and a total disregard for the public mood. Now that they have millions in taxpayers money, brought the IMF into the country and inflected pain on millions of people they really need to start behaving in the national intrest and showing the people who are paying their wages and bills some major respect. Or it won’t just be egg they will have on their faces.

The joys of being in a city you love even just for a few days can not be underestimated,
especially not on a glorious June day.
                                                                                                                                                                                       The great city of Dublin is no expect ion to that rule. On a sun filled June afternoon Dublin lives up to all her promise. She is up there with the London’s, the Milan’s and the Big Apples of this world. Her Georgian beauty and her historical self is to me a marvel. I walked in St. Stephens Green and enjoyed it like I always do. The Green is ever present in the heart of the City sitting as it does on it’s commercial, political and social life. Surrounded by Colleges for surgeons, seats of learning,  Government buildings, historic sites, shops and pubs. Her trees give to the city shade, greenery and a place to clear heads when needed.  Dublin is like any other city the world over she has her good her bad and her ugly. She also has a unique feel, a city of wit and an old lady of Dublin said this to me today in St. Stephens Green in conversation ” God love Brian Lenihan if he had have held on till the summer for an election all would have been forgiven it’s that fellow from Drumcondra who would meet the top of me umbrella but sure he was let away with it.   She folds her copy of the Irish Times, Looks up and down the path and winks. With her goes old Dublin full of wit, character, courage and dignity peppered with a sense of duty served. 

Ireland has had her up and downs over the last few weeks visits of Monarchs, 90 year old Dukes, charismatic American Presidents and their clever,smart wife. The death of an elder  statesman and an ongoing battle with misbehaving banks. She has been seen at her best and her worst over the past few months but today she was dealt a huge blow with the death of Brian Lenihan. Party politics aside, a giant of an intellect, a fine barrister, lawmaker and a politician who truly believed in public service. Yes sure he was lucky he was well educated had all the chances but he never I think took anything as a given and he used both his brain and his education to serve the state. His strength, his sense of duty, his loyalty and the mark of the man was shown over the last eighteen months when he fought a horrible form of a horrible decease and the greatest financial crisis the state faced. How hard it must have been to deal with chemotherapy, tests, lines,  bloods, meds and then go into work and dealt with a massive crisis, a country at the mercy of the money markets and an angry population. He never looked for sympathy, he tried to talk his country up, he remained loyal to his party and he was rightly returned to the Dail after the last General Election. The people of Dublin West remained loyal to him just as he remained loyal to them. His ability to be seen as the guy in Fianna Fail we all trusted was well earned. He was untouched by the shady deals of his party and in his election as the only FF TD in Dublin showed this. He of course made mistakes and the bank guarantee was one. Perhaps if he had have been brought into the Cabinet earlier we may have had a different ballgame. The tributes are fitting the loss is great to family, party and country, let’s hope that for him we will soon turn that corner.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.