Trump criticises 'elite', has no one spotted how elite he is?

This week’s Independent News & Media Irish regional newspapers' column.

Michael Commane

The US far-right Patriot Radio played excerpts of a speech President Trump gave in Pennsylvania on Tuesday December 10.

The following morning, I found the talk on Trump’s Twitter account. It was over 70 minutes long and I have managed to listen to most of it over the last few days.

I have written columns in criticism of Trump on previous occasions but this talk in the Giant Center at Hershey, Pennsylvania is frightening from a number of perspectives.

Watching the behaviour and antics of the packed stadium was scary. Trump could do no wrong. The more he screamed, the more shouts and insults that came from the man’s mouth, the more the crowd roared in adulation.

When the President of the United States of America calls someone scum, it’s time to get worried. He insulted and belittled many of his political opponents. At one stage he screamed ‘get her out of here’. 

Obviously someone in the crowd was objecting to something he said. The way he screamed and how he demeaned the person was frightening beyond belief. Indeed, maybe it was all planned and choreographed. But one way or other, the crowd was ecstatic. The man is the total demagogue.

What is it about the human psyche that seems to enjoy people roaring and screaming, condemning and belittling other people? But whatever it is, this man’s rally in Pennsylvania on December 10 reminded me of many of the Hitler rallies that I have seen on television over the years.

While Trump rambled on for over 70 minutes, apart from telling the people about the state of the economy he continually repeated himself about keeping America great.

From start to finish the people were loving it.

It set me thinking about the sermons of old, when some priests preached hellfire and damnation. Was that akin to the screaming and roaring of Trump? Is it that the mob mentality simply loves blood and guts and it really does not matter what form it takes? Interesting.

Trump is clever. His audience are always the patriots, the great people, the people who are making America great again. And he always manages to praise the military, assuring the crowd that he has rebuilt the army, air force and navy. The enemy is ‘the other’, the peddlers of fake news, the Democrats, the whistle blowers, ‘the elite’. Has no one spotted just how ‘elite’ Trump is? With the priests of old, who preached fire and brimstone, their audiences were the vile ones.

I am also scared when I hear of how many Irish people who are now ardent Trump supporters. 

A friend, who is in the United States many years, keeps talking about all that Trump has done for America but he never specifically explains to me how America has improved or how his life has improved. 

In the past he voted for the Democrats and played a leading role in the trade-union movement. 

He talks these days about how America has reclaimed its sense of pride in the world. True, unemployment has fallen. Maybe that’s Trump’s secret: ‘the economy, stupid’.

US Catholic bishops are no great friends of Trump. And no doubt they are playing a clever game with him. I’m wondering has any US bishop objected to Trump calling a person ‘scum’?

And then the so-called patriotic music that is played at his rallies. 

That too reminds me of the music that was played at Hitler rallies.

And guess what, Trump will win next November’s US presidential election.

David Norris on his faith

 In an interview with Miriam O’Callghan yesterday on RTE Radio 1 David Norris spoke about his Christian belief.

It made for interesting radio.

He criticised fanatics in all religions and spoke about his faith and ‘understanding’ of God.

He had a good one-liner. He said: ‘The body is like nail clippings.’

Joyce appears in book form in the United States

James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man was first published as a book by American publishing house BW Huebschis on December 29, 1916.

It had earlier been serialised in The Egoist between 1914 and '15.

Medical problems not exclusive to Ireland

The first item on the main ARD German news last evening was the story about the problems with the new German medical smart card, due to come into service in 2021.

It seems the card is easy game for hackers.

The second item on the news was the shortage of doctors and nurses in German hospitals.

It seems we all experience similar problems. Ireland is no exception.

Jesuit priest Greg Boyle

US Jesuit priest Greg Boyle, founder and director of Homeboy Industries, the world's largest gang intervention and rehabilitation programme gave an interview to Krista Tippett.
 A few thoughts:

It's good to be with the demonising so that the demonising will stop.

Fr Boyle sees Jesus standing in the lowly places.

When asked why he joined the Jesuits, Fr Boyle replied: The reasons I joined are not the reasons why I stayed.

That is so true, real and makes great sense.

Tupolev supersonic aircraft

On December 26, 1975 TU-144, the first commercial supersonic aircraft, went into service, taking off from Moscow, flying mail from the Soviet capital to Alma-Ata. 

It bagan passenger service in November 1977.

A year later it was withdrawn as a passenger aircraft, retired as a commercial enterprise in 1983 and stopped flying in 1999.

Christmas greetings

Christmas greetings to all readers.

It's better to light a candle than curse the darkness.

Hello Santa

This week's Independent News & Media Irish regional newspapers' column.

Michael commane

Dear Santa,

I’ve been thinking about you these last days and confusion is swirling inside my head.

I’m 70, fortunately still in paid employment, doing a job I like. I live on my own and happen to be a Catholic priest. Was ordained a priest the day the German football team beat the Dutch in the World Cup in Munich on July 7, 1974.

I’m an Irish Dominican. Joined the Dominicans straight after school. Over the years I have met a number of extraordinary Dominicans.

These days I’m working as a hospital chaplain and live on my own, within a ten-minute walk of the hospital. It’s customary for Dominicans to live in community. Just a few of the men Dominicans live on their own, while a number of Dominican Sisters live outside convents.

But in these days before Christmas. of course I’m thinking of you and all the fun and excitement you brought me when I was a child.

It was the one time in the year that my father stoked over the fire so that it would be lighting when we got up the next morning. It’s something I still do on occasion, and looking at it before heading off to bed, I think of him and my mother. 

Dad’s father was born in West Kerry, went working in the creamery in Ballybofey in Donegal, where my father was born in 1909. Dad left Donegal at six but still had a Donegal accent at 95. 

My mother was born near Thurles in Tipperary. She left the county in her late teens but I never detected a Tipperary accent and certainly when she died at 78 there was not a single Tipperary vowel sound in her speech. Then again, the Donegal accent seems to stick with people as does no other, maybe with the exception of the Kerry accent. In my job as hospital chaplain I take great delight in spotting Donegal, Kerry and Tipperary accents.

Santa, aren’t we all steeped in our ancestry? 

Watching the Christmas hyper these days I’m scratching my head and wondering what it’s all about.

The whole purpose of Christmas is to celebrate and recall the birth of Jesus Christ. He’s the man, whom Christians believe and say is God. An extraordinary thing to say and yet it’s been on the lips of people for over 2,000 years.

In the last 20, 30 years or so, more and more people in Ireland and the western world have waved bye bye to the story of Jesus. Though, I can vividly recall my mother in the 1950s forecasting the demise of the Catholic Church in Ireland. 

Wasn’t it former Labour government minister Ruairi Quinn at a venue in the US, who spoke about a post Catholic Ireland? 

Santa, many things perplex me but right now I simply am awestruck by the furore that Christmas is causing. City traffic is at a standstill, every radio programme is advising how to cook the turkey. 

Every media outlet is recommending books to read, food to eat, wine to drink.

Santa, I know you’ll find all the homeless families and their children this Christmas and bring them gifts in the midst of a world obsessed with in-your-face consumerism. 

And then I find a gem. I read about the newly appointed Austrian bishop in Klagenfurt-Gurk, who opposes compulsory celibacy. He says: ‘It is extremely difficult to lead a dignified life in old age without a family’. 

Santa, Bishop Josef Marketz is talking sense this Christmas.

Thank you.

Tara Street Rail Station is not bicycle friendly

Tara Street Rail Station is one of the busiest stations on the DART line.

It has an elevator and an ascending escalator. But it has no descending escalator.

Nor does it have a ramp that would allow passengers with bicycles to wheel them down with ease.

At busy times, and that's most occasions when a DART arrives, it is not feasible to take a bicycle in the lift as it is filled with walking passengers.

It means a passenger with a bicycle has to lift it down a long stairway, too long.

It all adds up to say that Tara Street Station is not bicycle friendly.

Sometimes those kept newspapers make a great read

We all know people who keep old newspapers. Many of us put newspapers aside with the intention of reading some article at a later date.

Most times we never do. 

The papers pile high and cause clutter and a nuisance.

But on those few occasions it proves magic to keep them.

I kept The Irish Times of last Saturday, December 14, and by accident found in it a week later two most interesting articles.

An informative article on the current relationship between the Catholic Church and China. The page-long piece by Peter Goff makes for a great read.

The other piece, taken from the New York Times, is about two people who fell in love in Auschwitz, survived, parted during the forced marches as the Red Army approached, and met again in their 90s in New York.

The woman, Spitzer/MsTichauer said she despised the concept of the Holocaust as a business.

And, unfortunately, so much of it is at present.

The two Popes

The Two Popes is now showing on Netflix.

Jonathan Pryce is Pope Francis and Anthony Hokins plays Pope Benedict.

The film is mainly a conversation between the two men. 

Bergoglio books a flight to Rome with the intention of resigning as archbishop of Buenos Aires but in the meantime is called to the Vatican to meet Pope Benedict.

Benedict has his eye on him to be his successor.

The different styles of the two men is at times cleverly done. The film charts the various stages of Bergoglio's life as a Jesuit. As provincial he was opposed to the young idealistic Jesuits who were working with the people and were opposed to the dictatorship.

There is an interesting scene where he tells a worker Jesuit that he wants to protect him. But the young hard-working man replies that Bergoglio is interested in protecting the Jesuits.

Bergoglio undergoes a metamorphosis, a change that plays a significant role in his future career. And he is partly reconciled to the young Jesuit worker-priests. He also learns to see the world through new lenses.

The film is kind to Benedict but there are some silly features, the talking watch and the white umbrella. 

The opening and closing scenes with Bergoglio attempting to book a flight using the phone are funny. 

A clever enough gag.

The young worker-priests in Argentina are inspirational men, doing the work of good genuine priests. We need more of them.

The Boris suspension bridge

An excerpt from John Crace's article in yesterday's Guardian.

Then came Boris. The prime minister has been instructed to be on his best behaviour and not to gloat but he just can’t do it. After a brief attempt at “unite the nation” rhetoric – the “trust me” line has never gone down well in any of Boris’s relationships – Johnson quickly lapsed into charmless insincerity. It was so charming the way Corbyn believed the silly things he did, he exclaimed. Pity can be crueller than mockery.

Johnson then just went into full-on lying mode. Forty hospitals. Tick. Fifty-thousand nurses. Tick. Get Brexit Done. Tick. The bigger the lie, the more the Tories loved him. He wanted to restore public trust in politics. Said the man who has built his whole career and campaign style on destroying it. “If you can’t trust the Daily Telegraph, who can you trust?” he asked. How about a paper the prime minister hasn’t lied in.

Eventually Boris got so carried away that he went for the biggest lie he could think of. He would build the bridge between Northern Ireland and Scotland that every civil engineer had said was technically impossible. The Tory benches went moist in a collective orgasm.

This is the new present. It’s also the future. Boris Uncontained. Until it all inevitably goes hideously wrong. And then he’ll just walk away. Untouched. Untouchable. As the SNP’s Ian Blackford got up to reply, Boris merely pulled out his phone and started playing online CandyCrush with Classic Dom. This One Nation stuff was never meant to include the Scots.

Samuel Beckett's letters tell a tale

Letters of Samuel Beckett featured in 'An Irishman's Diary' in The Irish Times yesterday.

He was an avid letter-writer, writing kind and helpful letters to friends, colleagues and relatives. Always supportive.

But in later years the mood changed.

In 1983 he wrote: "Nothing of interest to tell. Writing at an end. Tired of it all."

He wonders why he didn't do as his father suggested and take up a job in Guinness's.

Amazing.

A majority of liars

From a piece in today's Guardian.

At the first cabinet meeting, Boris had openly taunted his ministers by getting them to repeat his own lies on camera. A lie shared is a lie not just halved but twisted into truth. 

“How many hospitals are we going to build?” he bellowed. “40,” they all yelled back, knowing they were lying through their teeth. Well, all but needy Matt Hancock, who squeaked “41”. Or maybe even 42. Toadying is Matt’s Meaning of Life.

Remembering Willy Brandt

On this day, December 18, 1918 Willy Brandt was born in Lübeck in northern Germany.

He was the fourth chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany and the first member of Germany's oldest political party, the SPD to hold the post.

He was born Herbert Ernst Frahm but changed his name so as to avoid the Nazis. He left Germany and first went to Norway and then to Sweden.

He was chancellor between 1969 and 1974 when he had to resign when one of his closest aides, Günter Guillaume was exposed as a Stasi operative.

Brandt played a pivotal role in restoring good relations between Poland and Germany and was a central figure in strengthening European integration.

He was a Nobel Prize laureate.

Willy Brandt died in  1992.

The writer of this blog met Willy Brandt in 1975 near Bonn. An inspirational man.

During his time as chancellor and as foreign minister it was not uncommon for conservative Germans to criticise him for leaving Germany during the Hitler years.

He came on the world scene during his time as mayor of West Berlin, 1957 to 1966.

Whether to fold-up or not on the bus

This week's Independent News & Media Irish regional newspapers' column.

Michael Commane

The foldup bicycle is the way to go. Or is it? I would have said an emphatic yes until last week when I had a most embarrassing experience.

It’s sometime after 8pm and I’m cycling home with approximately five kilometres to go. It had been a busy day and I am tired, so decide to stop at the next bus stop, fold up the bicycle and take it on the bus. It’s something I’ve been doing for the last five years without ever a bother or issue.

The bus pulls into the stop. I have the bike under my arm when I hear the driver say that bikes are for cycling, which they are. But I feel a tone in his voice that he does not want my bicycle on his bus. He says that it is not permitted to take a bike on a bus. 

But I continue to place it in the rack inside the door. I gently and politely say to him that this is the first time anyone has ever said that to me. He allows me leave it there but goes on to say that Dublin Bus does not allow bicycles on buses. I point out that it’s a foldup and fits in the luggage area.

We drive off. I quickly google the topic on my smart phone and right enough, it tells me that Dublin Bus does allow foldups. I tell this to the driver. He replies that the company must have updated the rules.

I now get the impression that his voice is rising a decibel or two. I’m standing behind the white line but he is not happy with that and shouts at me to stand further back. I do. And then he tells me to turn the light off on my head torch. He says it is impairing his driving. I turn it off immediately.

It comes to my stop, I take the bike off the luggage rack, say thank you and get off the bus.

That hadn’t been a pleasant experience.  I was glad I never raised my voice, got abusive or used a word of bad language during the confrontation.

On arriving home, I phone the garage from which the bus operates. I tell my story to an inspector. He could not have been nicer. I ask him if Dublin Bus permits foldup bicycles. Yes, they do, provided there is room. I then explain that I don’t want the driver to be disciplined for his behaviour and we both agree it’s the season of good will and end of story.

The inspector was friendly, kind and indeed, funny.

The next morning, I phone the depot again. This time to thank Dublin Bus for the reception I had received the previous evening. I tell the story again. The inspector sounds at first somewhat grumpy.

We get chatting and yes, laughing too.  He tells me that all drivers receive instruction in customer care and then quips: ‘But you know, you can’t teach people manners’.

Brilliant and what philosophy. But can you teach a person manners? Interesting question. The Greek philosopher Aristotle said that knowledge does little or nothing for virtue.

What wisdom and all because a grumpy or smart-aleck bus driver was unpleasant to me.

I have to stress I have the highest praise for Dublin Bus drivers.

A great group of people, who do an excellent job under difficult conditions.

Provided there is space available, foldup bicycles are taken for free on all public transport.

Obituary of Ignatius Candon OP

Jim Candon was born on June 26, 1927. His father managed the Post Office in Crumlin.

Jim joined the Dominicans in September 1946, making profession the following year. On reception of the Dominican habit he was given the name Ignatius. He was ordained a priest in 1952.

In the Order he was known as Ignatius, Iggy and Jim.

Early in his ministry he taught Logic to Dominican students in Pope's Quay, Cork.

Tipperary-born priest Fr Gerry Maher, who was working in the 1950s in Trinidad, asked the Irish Dominicans if they would contribute to the running a school in Arima.

Ignatius Candon was the first principal of the school and he was assisted by fellow Dominican, the late Francis McNamara. 

The first classes took place in a shed-style building. Jim named the school Holy Cross College. There followed some controversy about the name the school was given but it made perfect sense considering the location where the site was situated.

Two years later in 1959 Fr Ned Foley succeeded Ignatius as school principal.

Today there are approximately 500 students in Holy Cross College, Arima. 

Jim was for a short time in 1970 in the Irish Dominican community in St Abraham's, Avenue Jamalzadeh, Tehran.

Ignatius Candon spent a number of years in the Dominican Priory in Pope's Quay, where he worked closely with the L'Arche Community. 

L'Arche has over 130 communities around the world where people with and  without intellectual disabilities share life together in community.

In his 60s Ignatius accepted an invitation from Dominican bishop Robert Rivas to work on the island of St Vincent.

A former Dominican provincial said of Ignatius Candon that he was always most willing to do what he was asked. Even in his 90s when he was frail and stooped he accepted invitations to celebrate Mass in homes and nursing  homes. He was also always ready to help in household chores in the communities where he lived.

He spent many years, especially during his time in Cork, volunteering with the Samaritans, who offer guidance and help to people with suicidal ideation. Ignatius spent many hours, day and night, staffing the Samaritan telephone and helping fragile people who phoned seeking help and support.

Iggy had been a member of the Dominican community in Athy until the closure of the priory and he moved to St Mary's Priory Tallaght in 2015.

In spite of his frequent poor health and debilitating arthritis, Ignatius was an extremely active and hard-working person. He was a dedicated priest.

He had an unusual way in celebrating Mass. To many it was extremely pious and reverent, to others it could be infuriating and annoying.

Ignatius Candon died in St Mary's Priory, Tallaght on Saturday afternoon. 

He received dedicated care and support from the caring staff in the priory and from the prior of the community, Donal Roche.

The funeral Mass takes place in St Mary's Priory, Tallaght on Wednesday, December 18 at 11am.

May he rest in peace.

Ignatius Candon OP, RIP

Dominican priest Ignatius Candon died in St Mary's Priory, Tallaght yesterday.

He was born in 1927.

Obituary to follow.

Metz on Küng's infallibility

Priest theologian, John Baptist Metz, who died in early December, was one of Germany's best known and respected theologians.

He was a leader of Christian-Marxist dialogue. It is said that Metz's ideas can be found in the teachings of Pope Francis.

He once said of Hans Küng that he sometimes behaved like another magisterium and Metz said that one magisterium was more than enough for him.

'A fool of finite jest'

A comment made on the evening of the UK election on British cabinet minister Michael Gove:

A fool of finite jest. He even talked about the left behind northern towns as if he had any intention of doing anything but leave them even further behind.

Who to blame? Managers or political bosses?

Anyone who walks, cycles, drives or uses public transport these days in Dublin knows that chaos reigns.

The infrastructure is breaking down.

Who is responsible for what is happening? Managers or their political bosses?

On Wednesday a spokesman for Irish Water said on RTE's Morning Ireland that we need to use our water sparingly. He went on to explain that our water reserves are on a knife-edge.

Who is responsible for this?

Every day we hear of bed shortages across HSE hospitals. We hear of the millions that are paid out in the courts.

In the first nine months of this year €265 million has been paid out to cover the cost of medical neglicence cases.

Who is to blame? Managers or their political bosses? Or we, the people?

But in all cases, managers and their political bosses receive remuneration, which is disproportionate to what the majority of citizens earn.

Something is amiss. And that's clear to anyone who had eyes to see.

Three random dates

On Decembet 12, 1905 Vasily Grossman was born in Berdychiv in Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire.

Among Grossman's great works are 'Life and Fate' and 'Stalingrad'. He is considered by many writers to be the 20th century version of Leo Tolstoy.

On December 12 1991 the Russian Federation withdrew from The Treaty of the Creation of the USSR.

On December 12, 2019 a new government is elected in the United Kingdom.

The bookies are giving 33/1 for a Labour government.

A worthwhile bet?

Johnson will take revenge

Well worth a read.


https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/10/boris-johnson-revenge-bbc-channel-4-manifesto?CMP=share_btn_link

Done properly first day no need for apology

This week's Independent News & Media Irish regional newspapers' column.

Michael Commane

Leader of the UK Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn is in the news every day as are indeed most British politicians in the lead-in to the UK election this Thursday.

Last month Corbyn was interviewed by Andrew Neil on a BBC programme. Neil asked him four times to apologise for anti-Semitic views within the Labour Party. On all four occasions he refused to apologise.

He did say that all forms of racism are a poison in society.

The fact that he did not apologise created a furore in British media. The following day the headline on ‘The Daily Telegraph’ ran: ‘Corbyn refuses to apologise to Jews’.

However last Tuesday in an ITV interview Jeremy did apologise.

People who personally know Jeremy Corbyn say he is not anti-Semitic. Indeed, a friend of mine, who is no fan of Corbyn met him some months ago and was struck by his kindness and genuine concern. Corbyn has a long history of being on the side of the poor and marginalised. He’s a conviction politician. 

But this column is not about Corbyn, the UK election, anti-Semitism or any form of racism. It’s about the use or more accurately the over-use of that word ‘apology’.

I’ve vague memories of a comment my late mother once made about how people make apologies. 

Not wanting to do my mother an injustice, but if I recall correctly, she once said to me that I should only apologise if in the first instance I could have avoided doing that for which I subsequently apologised. Maybe it was, that she felt I was far too quick in apologising. In other words, I should spend less time doing the wrong thing, rather than easily tripping off my tongue: ‘I’m sorry Mammy’.

These days every time I hear that word ‘apology’ I am back thinking of my mother’s advice.

Of course there are special moments in history when an apology plays a profound role.

On a cold grey December day in Warsaw in 1970 German Chancellor Willy Brandt spontaneously went down on his knees at a monument to those who lost their lives at the hands of the Germans in Polish ghettos. He stayed there close to a minute. The gesture has since been referred to as ‘The Genuflection at Warsaw’. It was not planned, nothing to do with choreography, nor a PR stunt. It was a genuine act of penance, apology, recognition of the savagery and barbarity unleashed on the Polish people by the Germans.

In 2010 Prime Minister David Cameron on the publication of the Saville Inquiry apologised in the House of Commons for the wrong done by the British Army in Derry in 1972. Again, the apology was a significant moment and helped heal wounds.

People might argue that it was easy for Brandt and Cameron to apologise for events in which they played no part. Nevertheless, as statesmen, their words were important and greatly significant.

But these days I am finding it tedious listening and reading about people apologising for what they have said or written in the past.

Before the Friday, November 30 by-elections we were bombarded with politicians apologising for previous words they said. A day seldom passes without hearing State agencies apologising for some misdemeanour or other.

It’s easy to lose track of all the apologies. Also, it becomes difficult to take them seriously.

I’m back thinking of my mother’s words; why not spend more time on doing the right thing first and avoid all the apologies and the cost too.

.  

Mary Kenny is a big fan of the Windsors

Columnist Mary Kenny writes in the current issue of The Irish Catholic on the Prince Andrew story.

The incidental words we use so often tell far more than we ever intend. Or do they?

Mary Kenny is a right-wing writer, who regularly sings the praises of The House of Windsor.

In this piece she talks of 'allegations' against Prince Andrew but the 'claims' being made by Virginia Roberts.

There is a difference in tone between allegations and claims.

Kenny makes reference to Virginia 'using' her married   name, while making no reference to the many names of Prince Andrew.

She then goes on to talk about how young girls are encouraged by a sexualised culture to participate in full sexual activities when parents, guardians and society should be protecting them.

Indeed, Prince Andrew also used that word 'activity' when talking about sexual relationships but he used it in a most unusual maybe sleazy way.

Not a word from Kenny on the television perfomance of the prince.

Mary Kenny's column is unhelpful, indeed, nasty.

The Gospels tell the stories of Jesus and his care 
and sympathy for the marginalised and weak.

Delaney and his likes

Why all the surprise about the FAI and the disappointment with John Delaney?

For over 20 years there have been rumours and 'nudges' about the 'goings-on' at the FAI and particularly and specifically about John Delaney.

But the FAI is no exception. All organisations need constant attention and gad-flies who will ask the bold and awkward questions.

The Civil Service, private industry, NGOs, the churches.

The number of bullies and incompetent ones, who manage to get senior jobs is surely one of Murphy's most important laws.

The perks, the money, the travel, the 'status', and the hoi polloi who allow it all to happen.

The contradiction of Christmas time

The 'Thinking Anew' column in The Irish Times today.

Michael Commane
While I was cycling on a dark wet November morning, I spotted a large bin truck decorated with Christmas lighting. The fairy lights caught my attention. Just one week earlier I noticed another bin truck, this time a different company. On this occasion the driver of the large vehicle, was using his mobile phone in his hand while driving.

Three days after that, while cycling, I was forced on to the footpath by a passing car. The driver had inadvertently veered to the left. Easy to see why. She was using her mobile phone. I hope my subsequent reaction gave her a sufficient fright never again to use her phone while driving.

And then last Saturday Iarnród Éireann showed a photograph on their Twitter account of a car crash through an automatic level cross barrier at Minish near Killarney in Co. Kerry.

The juxtaposition of the Christmas lights on the large bin truck and the traffic infringements set me thinking of the lead-up to Christmas that is now in full swing. Indeed, from mid-November, aspects of the impending “ding dong merrily on high” cacophony have been evident. The shops and the roads are significantly busier. And every year at this time we shake our heads and complain about the traffic, the shops, and all the commercialisation. 

Does the idea of Advent being a time of preparation for Christmas ever strike us?

It is all some sort of in-your-face dialectic. On the one hand it’s been blared from the rooftops that we should enjoy the Christmas cheer. It’s as if we are being ordered to enjoy the ‘Season of Goodwill’ and yet on the other hand some people, are hell-bent in making Christmas a misery by their selfish behaviour.

But isn’t that the story of life? In many ways Christmas is some sort of paradigm of our lives, our constant search for pleasure or transient gratification, a state of permanent unease.

We seem to live in times of extraordinary contradictions. On the one hand we live in violent times, we hurl insults at each other on social media, and on the other hand we have become political correctness zealots. Write or say the wrong word and you stand condemned. The two extremes often go hand-in-hand. 

Take all the current razzmatazz concerning General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). On the one hand we have to go through extraordinary security hoops when we require information on anything. Yet  never before in the history of mankind has there been such mechanisms of surveillance on us that allows the likes of Facebook and Google, large agencies and states, to know, and to make use of, so much information about us.

In tomorrow’s Gospel (Matthew 3: 1-12) John the Baptist quotes from Isaiah:
“A voice cries in the wilderness:/Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight.”
And then, in the response to the psalm, we read: “In his days justice shall flourish/and peace till the moon fails.” (Psalm 71)

It’s easy to say that we have lost our way with our preparation for Christmas. It’s the ideal topic for a good rant. But does it not seem that what we do with exaggerated Christmas preparation is more or less what we do with all aspects of our lives, an element of talking out of both sides of our mouths at the same time?

John the Baptist said it as it was. He points the way towards Christ. Of course, our world is never going to be a paradise, but it seems at times we run riot with double-speak. And every organisation, every state, every religious tradition is prone to such behaviour. It requires the prophet, the wise person to stand back and question the culture of the day. Because we are all caught up in a prevalent or fashionable tide does not mean it’s what’s best for us.

Of course, Christmas, our preparations for it, have great aspects to it. But it’s too easy to lose all sense of what we are actually celebrating and recalling.

These are days of waiting, days of wonder. Remember the lines of Patrick Kavanagh: “We have tested and tasted too much, lover –/Through a chink too wide there comes in no wonder.”

Kavanagh's words might  well help us to stop and think for a second as we await our recalling and celebration of the birth of Christ.

Pope Francis on nuclear weaponry

It is not just wrong for countries to use nuclear weapons, but the possession of them is itself immoral.

- Pope Francis

John Bell wins UCD award

Dr John Bell, director of of Healthy Planet, DG Research & Innovation, European Commission has received the 2019 University College Dublin alumni award in research, innovation and impact.

John, a past pupil of CBS Synge Street, obtained a D.Phil in Oxford. His thesis was on Seamus Heaney on cultural nationalism.

John spent a number of years with the Dominican Order in the early 1980s.

Violence on track and road

Between January and October this year Irish Rail recorded 971 anti-social incidents on the rail network, including seven assaults on staff members.

From January to September the rail operator spent €4.6 on security.

Bus Éireann driver William Begg says he has never come across the level of abuse they're getting at present.

A driver on the 220 service in Cork was threatened with assault and rape by a group of youths when she challenged them over their failure to pay fares on Haloween night.

GDPR is manna from heaven for little bureaucrats

This week's Independent News & Media Irish regional newspapers' column.

Michael Commane

We have had torrential rain over the last few weeks, at least where I’m living. I imagine the rain has been nationwide.

On one of those many rainy days I was cycling back to work after lunch when I spotted on the ground near my workplace a plastic card. I stopped, got off the bike. 

It was a permanent tsb debit card. It looked new, the expiry date was 2023. And what struck me about it was that it was bone-dry, not a drop of water on it and no sign that it had been long on the ground as it was raining heavily when I saw it.

I put it in my pocket. Checked with HR where I work if we had anyone by that name. No. 

Had it not been raining I would have cycled to the nearest permanent tsb bank, which is approximately a kilometre away. But the torrential rain put that idea out of my head.

I went back to my office, checked the bank website, but could find no phone number. Eventually I found a number in an old telephone book and phoned. 

After listening to reams of advertising nonsense I cancel the call. Then I decide to phone the branch, which is one kilometre away, hoping to speak to someone in the bank. Nothing of the sort. More reams of nonsense but this time I persevere until I hear a human voice. I’m ecstatic, great, talking to someone. I explain the situation and ask him to connect me with the local branch. 

Now, just to get matters clear, all I wanted was to speak to a member of staff at the branch near me. 

Wait for it, guess what happens next? He explains, in order to put me through to the branch, he would have to ask me a number of security questions, including my date of birth. Up to that stage, while I was frustrated and a little annoyed, I was playing along and going through all the nonsensical hoops. 

But this is the final straw and I explain to the man that this is madness.

Imagine, in order to speak to an employee in a bank I am asked my date of birth.

I am told it’s all to do with security and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

This GDPR. I appreciate the importance of protecting our privacy. I’m aware of the importance of ensuring that data on us be properly secured and minded. Indeed, I’d bet my bottom dollar that so much of our data is not at all being properly protected.

But it seems to me that GDPR is manna from heaven for little bureaucrats to lord it over others. It’s a new tool they have found to give them an importance over ‘lesser mortals’.

I experience GDP madness everywhere, at work, in the church, in voluntary organisations. Ask a question, look for advice, make a criticism and all that you have to be told to be closed down is those magic letters, GDPR.

GDPR is now out of control. And as I have already said, it’s all something of a con job because never in the history of mankind has there been such eavesdropping on the ordinary person

.

I found a bank card, attempted to do what I thought was something simple.  

Eventually, I did get through to the branch, gave the number and the card was cancelled. But what a nightmare it was. The time it took. And those frayed nerves. Why bother?