Amiens Street -- In quieter times.

Seeing as how most of my fellow students would cross Amiens Street to get to the IFSC, I thought they might like to see the photograph below of Amiens Street (in the early 80's) BEFORE the IFSC was built. Look at your man with his briefcase on the bicycle rack how cool was that?
Even the traffic waiting to turn up Talbot Street was light, I know it might sound a bit melancholy but they were in some ways better times than the present. Greed and over-development whilst waiting in the wings had yet to take hold...
I had some great times in Dublin back in the 80's and I wouldn't change them for the world, why don't some of you post me some of your best memories of your earlier years in Dublin? I would be very interested in reading some of them. By the way I do not know the origin of this picture, if you know who has the copyright for this image please let me know. I would prefer to have their permission to use it.

Traffic heading out of town was terrible!!!

A visit to Omaha Beach in France

On our way back to Cherbourg on one of our trips through France we took the opportunity to visit Omaha Beach, the scene of so many casualties during the D-Day landings. The beach was very quiet when we passed through, no doubt due to the Autumnal chill which was beginning to take hold. It was a very sobering experience to see all of the war graves that lined the routes on the way to the beach. We experienced something similar when we passed through Ypres (scene of very high casualties during WW1) on a previous trip. When driving through France it is not difficult to see the remnants of both world wars and the scars inflicted on the country, none are more obvious than the amount of bridges that were destroyed during world war two.

An old Sherman tank on Omaha Beach

We stood beside it to give an idea of the size of the thing!

The memorial on Omaha Beach

One of the German artillery posts...seriously thick walls.

Typical Teutonic Accuracy - neat and precise

A rangefinder in the upper chamber

Zhivago's Nightclub.

Ahh Zhivago's...Where love stories began.

I used to go to this club and I loved the place.

The atmosphere was alway's good...don't think I ever saw any trouble and we could always slope off to Barbarella's when it closed.

Look at the gear on them....the height of cool back then.

Do you remember this club?

I used to frequent this place.

My sincerest thanks to Brian at "Brand New Retro" for allowing me to use some of the images from his site, you should check his site out. It is packed with articles and images from the past, some of the material will definitely have you strolling down memory lane as it did for me. It is a brilliant site and I know you will not be disappointed if you visit it.

Again, thanks Brian. Keep up the good work.

Some images from the Northwest 200 -- Michael Rutters 202mph year

Parking the bikes before heading to the races.

From Left - Ursula, Peter Jr, Peter Snr and John

A rider in the 600cc Class Race

The rest of the pack.

I wished I had a decent camera with me.

Just sittin' on the hedges watching the bikes go by!

The crowd were fighting for seats...

The Dancing Skeleton Puppet

This puppet video is doing the rounds on Facebook, I can see why...he is very good.
I think the puppeteer is in Barcelona.

Sorry Bud!....I made a slight mistake there, I left you €3.6billion short.

You couldn't write it, could you?
They misplaced (in long numbers....for effect!) €3600,000,0000......all them noughts, who could miss them, only a myopic Department of Finance civil servant that's who.
It is apparent that these so called mandarins in the civil services are exactly that mandarins! Of the orange variety! The place is run by fruits (more likely vegetables) with little or no real life experience, most of them being political appointees or family. The system needs to be changed so that senior ranking roles can only be filled by people that have clearly demonstrated an ability in their field of expertise, a good accountant would be a decent start.

Ireland's debt €3.6bn lower than thought

19:22The Department of Finance has confirmed that an accounting error means Ireland's debt is €3.6bn lower than previously thought.
(Image and text borrowed from RTE.ie)

The new President...Micheal D Higgins.

It has just been announced that Micheal D Higgins is to be the next President of Ireland. I am happy with the result because I did not think any of the other candidates exhibited any real integrity.  Sean Gallagher was caught blatantly lying during the last debate on RTE's "Frontline" programme and he was visibly irritated by the constant questioning surrounding his involvement in fundraising for the Fianna Fail party.  He must have known that he was going to be outed at some stage, fundraising for Brian Cowen a failed Taoiseach leading a failed party. The people were not buying his pitiful explanation and they spoke with their vote.  There are lessons in this event for Enda Kenny et al.  The wilderness in Irish politics should beckon for any party found to renege on their election promises.  All we need now is more political parties with the right kind of people...something the Irish electorate have not had much of a choice of in the past.

The Irish Hero????

I was reading the paper the other day and I came across a full page advertisement hailing Brian Lenihan an Irish hero. Is this the same Brian Lenihan that has left the ordinary people of this country in dire straits, people that have had no hand, act or part in the financial crisis that has engulfed this nation. He may not have intended to do it but he held the office, took the pay and made the decisions so he is responsible in my book. Don't get me wrong I genuinely sympathise with his family for his untimely passing and I know his family have had more than their fair share of tragedy, but to label the man as a national hero is pushing the limits of incredulity.  The decisions he made has caused rising suicide numbers, increased unemployment, increased poverty, greater disparity between the rich and poor, increased emigration, a get out for the bankers and a country that is getting battered by the EU because they want their gamblers to get their money back (agreed by Mr Lenihan). To my knowledge not one person has had to face criminal prosecution for their obviously criminal actions, not one bank has had a total clear out of senior officials that were in office during the crisis and now we are informed that some of the developers are being paid up to €200,000 a year to run insolvent businesses.
I write this whilst seeing advertisements for Mr Lenihans old buddy Bertie Aherne giving an interview to Mike Murphy, there might be some serious business for TV repair men after that programme. By the way, why is Mike Murphy back on our screens? If I am right he used to live in America and got involved in "Property Development", he must have called in a favour from his old buddies in Montrose to get his old job back. Funny, there are younger more talented people looking for similar work, probably cheaper, but RTE has to resurrect a dinosaur. Roll on the banana republic.....

Marco Simoncelli - A wonderful sportsman sadly taken away

I have just seen the news about the unfortunate accident involving Marco Simoncelli, Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards. Sadly Marco did not recover from his injuries and the sport has lost a wonderful character with an amazing skill.  I watched his recent races and was sure that he was the next big thing in MotoGP because he was not in awe of anyone, he rode his own race in his own style which was always guaranteed to provide excitement and thrills.  MotoGP will be a lesser sport without Marco. I am sure everyone will extend their sincerest condolences to his family and friends on such a sombre occasion.
 May he rest in peace.