The GAA stands for the Gaelic Athletic Association.
It was invented to stop Irish people playing English games like Cricket or Soccer. They would ban you from playing GAA sports if you played soccar as well. But its not so very strict now. Hurling after ice hockey and shooting is the fastest sport around. I Had an Italian man in the taxi once who had been to a hurling match, he was almost passing out with excitement. Click here for a taste of GAA
Today Dublin will meet Kerry in the all Ireland football final.
This year has been a fantastic year for Dublin, for myself. Lets hope for victory.
Good luck to you all, we need something like this to take our minds off the news of the day which is all doom and gloom at present.
This weekend onSaturday the tango festival de la luna is taking place in the pillar room of the Rouunda. Among the stars taking part will be the following.
You will have to go here to book and places are limited
Tango De La Luna
The Tango Festival Ball is a huge celebration of the Tango Legend , our wonderful teacher the late ,
Esther Pugliese. The Tango Festival Ball The Pillar Room, Parnell Square 8.30pm -late Only €25
The evening will a spectacular display of Music and Dance performances
2 10 minute Tango Shows from
The Amazing Miriam Larici and Leonardo Barrionuevo
check out the rave reviews that they received from Negracha Tango, London
Negracha Tango London posted in London Tango. Sleeping off last night's lovely Milonga.... Negracha Tango London 11:15am Sep 10 Sleeping off last night's lovely Milonga. Miriam and Leonardo were absolutely incredible and El Farabute played beautifully. Looking forward to next Friday's milonga!
Musical Performances from Argentinian Cultural Ambassador Sebastian Pecznik
And Sensational Gypsy Musicians Oleg Ponomorev and Drazen Derek,
Plus
Our Surprise Musical Guest Star,
We will also have the fantasic Argentian Cafe
Cafe Bondiola,
who will be serving authentic Argentian cuisine and wine.
All Proceed from the entire Festival go to Mingo Pugliese to help him deal with the huge costs of bringing Esther back to Argentina.
The workshops are almost full, (very very limited availability:) We have people booking from Greece, Uk, The US , South Africa and all over the globe. So there will be a fantastic international atmosphere at the event.
We are looking forward to seeing you all again, Thank You All For Your Support,Happy Dancing, Lots of Love,
Have a look at the stop the. traffic links and the anti prostitution sites which I supported for many years on the side of the blog
Polish 'slaves' found at UK camp
Police in Bedfordshire, central England, are questioning five people after a raid on an Irish 'gypsy' camp revealed some two dozen 'slave labourers', three of whom appear to be Poles.
Two hundred officers were involved in yesterday's raid, which took place at a long-established travellers' camp in the town of Leighton Buzzard.
Police have revealed that at least one of the captives had been held for fifteen years, while others had arrived only weeks ago.
The prisoners were found to be living in appalling conditions, with some living in horse-boxes and dog kennels, others in old sheds.
It is understood that captives were lured with the promise of paid work and board. Invariably, the victims were picked up at soup kitchens, benefit offices and hostels for the homeless.
Of the 24 captives, three are said to to be Poles, two are Romanians, a further two are Russians, while the rest are British nationals.
The liberated workers were taken straight to a medical centre for examination.
"The men we found at the site were in a poor state of physical health and the conditions they were living in were shockingly filthy and cramped,” said Detective Chief Superintendent Sean O' Neil, in an interview with the BBC.
"They're recruited and told if you come here we'll pay you £80 a day, we'll look after you give you board and lodgings,” he said.
"But when they get here, their hair is cut off them, they're kept in in some cases [in] horseboxes, dog kennels and old caravans, made to work for no money, given very, very small amounts of food.”
Police have admitted that 28 people have made accusations against the travellers since 2008, and questions are already being asked why action was not taken quicker on the matter.
The Police knew this was going on since 2008 !
For myself any time I suspected anything was going on I came up against a brick wall of bureaucracy, I hope things are changing.
Thousands of innocent people killed and maimed for eternity.
It was strange then to understand this utter madness of the event, even now I struggle to comprehend what madness will turn what must have once been rational people at one time into such mass hateful cold blooded killers. What those actions could achieve in this world or the next by doing such vengeful act defies any logic. Blowing up a missile base or attacking an army would be more logical. But killing unarmed innocent civilians is horrific in the highest degree.
To all the bereaved I offer my condolences, to the people still hurting I hope that time will has allowed you to see the period before 9/11 as a happy treasured moment, and that every day the healing process works to give you peace.
God bless you all and may your many Gods walk with you always.
A bathroom showroom in Davies. Made me feel so much in the halpney place
Up the Dubs Forever !
A tennant moved out and the corperation did not secure the house. So it was vandalised.
Leaving Dublin Port.
James Connelly, Labor leader who fought and died for Irish freedom.
Landsdowne Hotel !
Well I think I will have to buy the smallest violin for that person who commented last week. "I have no sympathy for taxi drivers". Well the old brigade are mostly retired and are sitting in their villas in Spain and Thailand. The guys and the girls who took their redundancy and bought new cars and taxi plates are the ones in trouble today. The system was wrong that they didn't increase the numbers by degrees, not open the floodgates and we finish up with a situation where Dublin has more taxis than New York, a city with a population of more than 19.5 million people. You would have to understand that what we are saying is that the business is not being policed. Think of this the next time you get into a taxi and the driver has not got one clue where he is going. Then he tells you he has only been in Ireland 2 weeks! Thank your lucky stars that you don't crash because you might find you have an uninsured driver at the wheel. There are a few stories going around about drivers doing a runner after an accident. Not much good for the victims that. Think of anyone getting into a taxi with a driver whose past has never been checked out. When I first started driving it took 6 months for my past to be checked out and I had lived in Ireland and England up to that point, only then could I apply to sit the test and I was asked to produce my P45 to show I had no other job.
Though perhaps things are starting to change. My local community garda told me she confiscated 2 taxis a few weeks ago. They had a road block and a back up one to stop the ones who turned around before reaching the checkpoint.
ON THE OTHER HAND. 575 people lost their jobs in "Talk Talk" down in Waterford, without any notice the carpet was pulled from under them. The reason is simple they can get people in the Philippians to work for €80 a day less ! Oh yes and it is great to get cheap clothes when you have child workers working for €3 a day. Here is another example of how to get it cheap.
Everywhere the Yellow Pack worker is here to stay. Wages and standards are falling fast.
Politicians do nothing apart from doing what they do best, draw big fat salaries and build massive expense bills and we the biggest mugs of all elect them time after time.
I approached a guy on Grafton St. the other day, he is one of the most famous people who frequents the street, providing a distraction for for the passer by. I asked him how things were going for him and he opened up like a burst dam. His partner had left him after 15 years and 2 kids and she was now using the children as pawns in the bitter seperation /divorce battle. You know Love is such a strong force that when it turns bad it becomes the most devious and vicous thing. Each person knows the others strengths and weaknesses and both sides go for the jugular. This is not a gentle parting of the ways. I listned and bought him coffee, what can you do? I suppos in a few weeks it might be better but for now it is really bad. "I lined up the tablets 26 should do the trick," Then the phone rang It is really that bad for him and I am sure if his partner stood back she would not want him dead either.
I know I work so hard and am at home so seldom that my own wife would divorce me if she could remember what I looked like. Taking that point a bit further I worked with a Dan O'Connell years ago, he used to work every moment he could. One night he went home late when everyone was in bed and the dog bit him on the leg ! You couldn't put it in a comedy script !
I am not fuly back at the taxi yet, but I am surviving, but some are not.
I got a text today to urge all taxi drivers
Sept 7th is world suicide day.
All taxi drivers are asked to assemble at the garden of remembrance at 12 noon. Then we will drive to the dept. of transport to hand in letters.
It is so sad that so many taxi drivers are so desperate to have their voices herd that they have taken their own lives, this is no solution at all. What have we become of us all that we elect people to represent us whose only purpose is to gouge out massive pay cheques for themselves and never give a thought to why they were elected for in the first instance?.
Lads don't even consider killing yourselves. Think of your great kids and how they will miss you. Give yourself a good kick on the arse and work it out. It can be done. Start with MABS. God bless you all.
Do you know who is the Patron saint of Taxi drivers?
Well we had the annual Liffey swim at the weekend and the GAA Hurling final.
On this Thursday the racing on the strand at Julianstown takes place.
Here is your racing card,I wish you good luck.
The summer school teacher taxi driver are going back, and business starts to lift.
Today we drove up to Northern Ireland to visit my son near Lough Neigh. The roads are great now, journey times are more than halved what they were 20 years ago.
The border posts and army checkpoints are gone as well. A lot of good things have happened since the bad old days of the hunger strikes and the H blocks.
30 years ago 1981 !
I hope and pray that we never decend into that time of terror again.
Taxi times seem to be improving a bit.
The dawning of a very violent chapter is about to unfold in England when something like 800 Irish travellers are about to be evicted from an "illegal" settlement.
People are travelling from all over Europe (not to support the travelers) for a big fight.
There is a lot of unease in society and something like a mass eviction draws the ringleadrs of the ultra left into play like a big magnet.
They say that they are ready with bulldozers to flatten the place. But many travellers have guns as well as bulldozers. There is tough as they come and tougher than anything.
As they say watch this space.
Just a small taxi story before I let you go.
The first taxi on the rank says to the second guy. "I have a job coming out in 15 minutes, I only need a short job if one comes out. OK?"
The reason for this is that if a short job comes out he will pass it back to car 2.
So as luck would have it the first customer comes out going to the airport.
The driver asked the passinger if he had booked the taxi?
"Why no" came the reply.
"Thats grand so get into my taxi he has made a booking"
No matter how much huffing and puffing the first car driver made it was useless,
he had shot himself in the foot. As they say.
