Tom Waits for Christmas No. 1!

Tired of the usual boyband, Christmas-pop, Cliff Richard bile that usually gets to number 1 in the music charts for Christmas? Well, do something about it this year! Get Tom Waits' classic Christmas song, Christmas card from a hooker in Minneapolis to number 1. in the Irish charts!

See here, for more information! Give Ireland the gift of Tom Waits for Christmas, God knows, with all the recent redundancies, we'll need it!

RTÉ Cock-Up Katy French Report.

Disgusting, and completely insensitive.

Sap Gets Fleeced at the Pumps

Driver shocked at €95 cost of filling tank

By Aideen Sheehan

Friday November 09 2007

FILLING up has just got an awful lot dearer with one petrol station in the capital now charging a staggering €179.9 a litre.

The Statoil filling station on Dublin's Usher Quay (pictured above) -- long notorious for its high prices -- has now increased them to this jaw-dropping new rate.

One driver, Helen Donaghy, was staggered to be charged €95 to fill her Peugeot Convertible there, even though it normally costs her a maximum of €55 elsewhere.

"I simply could not believe it.

"I did not see a sign from the road with the price, or it may have been very small, but they should not be allowed charge prices like this," she said.

Consumers Association of Ireland Chief Dermott Jewell last night slated the price hike. "Nobody in their right mind should use this petrol station," said Mr Jewell.

However, the bad news for drivers is that petrol prices are rising across the board and are expected to hit €1.18 on
average this month.

Maxol is the first to raise prices by 3c a litre this week.

Topaz Energy which supplies Texaco, Fareplay and Statoil garages is also set to raise prices.

- Aideen Sheehan

You have to love the Indo's style of sensationalism here. I'm familiar with the petrol station on Usher's Quay and now full-well that the price of the petrol is displayed prominently on the sign fronting the garage; and on the petrol pumps themselves.

19th/May/2008 - Update : Apparently this gaff has been closed!

Richard Delevan, Fired For Citing a Blog.

Newspaper journo, blogger and all-round nice guy, Richard Delevan was fired from his position in the Tribune today for discussing auctioneer Ken McDonald's inability to sell his house. The article is still online here.

In a previous interview, Richard was asked if he regrets anything that he writes, I bet he'll think long and hard about this one.

Fianna Fáil Making up the Budget Deficit.

Drivingtest.ie Collapses Under Huge Strain

25th of October 2007: The Irish government announces a clamp-down on provisional drivers who driver unaccompanied. Other tough new measures are introduced in order to reduce the 400,000 provisional that are on Ireland's roads.

26th of October 2007: http://www.drivingtest.ie/, the website for booking driving tests in order to qualify for your full licence collapses under the strain of worried provisional drivers booking their tests.

Women's Magazines - Vacuous Claptrap

I noticed these two magazines lying on the table in my living room. Now Carrigaliner isn't as quick as he used to be, but the glaring contradiction between the two boxed items on the magazine covers hitted me like a bag of cinder blocks.




If I replaced my girlfriends Closer magazine with the much more excellent Happy_Woman magazine, would the magazine content be any more ludicrous?

De Backlan's

Magners or Bulmers?

Took this piccy while in Tesco's. Interesting to see that U.K. branded Magners has found it's way to Ireland. Either we Irish can't get enough of the stuff, or the Brits aren't swallowing the multi-million Euro advertising campaign that has been unleashed accross the water.

Interesting to note what C&C would make of Tesco damaging the brand awareness of Bulmers cider by introducing a copy. Perhaps they couldn't give a toss as they hope to flog the company anyway.

Amusement Machine Licence Duty

While on a trip to a fast food joint, I noticed this little sticker afixed to the amusement machines. Doing some research, I learned that it's a statutory requirement for all amusement machines to be licensed at the cost of €125 per year, per machine.



Further inspection of the snap I took yields the information that this particular licencee is not up to date (as of 22nd of September 2007) with the licence!



I wonder how long Joe Public would last if they decided not to pay Motor Tax or the T.V. Licence fee?

More information on the Amusement Machine Licence Duty peice of legislation can be found here.

Eddie Hobbs - Me and your Money

Quick! Remortgage the house so you can take advantage of this unique opportunity to invest in Eddie's retirement fund, oops, I mean Pan-European Property Fund! Now with extra gearing!

Toilet Humour

Back after temporary hiatus!

I snapped this tricky treasure in the toilets in the basement of the Kane building in UCC. Devoted to my favourite, worst movie ever, Troll 2.

Moronic Cork City Councillors

Taken from Inside Cork, 26th of April 2007.

"Flats should be banned" - councillor



Fianna Fáil city councillor Dave McCarthy has once again called for his motion banning high rise development in suburban areas to be honoured following a planning application made to develop student accommodation on College Road in buildings ranging from three to five storeys in height.

Cllr McCarthy said, "I am now calling on the planning department of Cork City Council to respect the wishes of democratically elected memers on relation to this, and any further applications for
high-rise flats in the suburbs of Cork. I am objecting to this proporsal as I believe that flats can never work in a modern city.

"One third of the flats built in the past four years are vacant. We should have learnt from past mistakes when we knocked the Togher and Ballymun flats. This type of housing unit only promotes anti-social behaviour and should never be allowed".

To anyone, living in an apartment in Cork; how do you feel being told that your dwelling should never have been allowed and that by living in it, you're encouraging anti-social behaviour?

Councillor McCarthys remarks remind me of comments made by our Minister of Community, Rural and Gaelteacht Affairs, Eamonn Ó' Cuív on planning.

"We are a unique people and an ancient race with long-established traditions and settlement patterns. Why should we be forced to live by imported models, designed to suit people who live in totally different countries with totally different cultures?"

Free Guinness For Carrigaliners!

Cheers Cllr Michael McGrath!

For many of us in modern Ireland, the St. Patrick's Weekend remains one of the most important hoidays for Irish people. For some; it's religious reasons that the weekend signifies, but for most it's the chance to take a breather and spend some quality time with our families and friends. My favourite memories of St. Patrick's Day; are those I spent with my family, curled on the couch with Guinness in hand, catching the parade on televison (we're always too bloated from our traditional turkey turn to even consider making the trek into Cork city).

Invariably though, with the progress this country has made, product prices go up. Fortunately this St. Patrick's Weekend, I happened to hear Michael McGrath on the radio_today, unearthing a bargain to take some of the financial pressure off of the holiday. Michael informed Cork that Tesco were running a special promotion whereby you get a 24-can slab of Guinness or Budweiser at half price! I'm glad Michael was there to inform us of this fantastic deal, because I would never have known otherwise as I tend to ignore all advertisments.

Three cheers to you Michael!


(Cllr Michael McGrath, ready to go for St. Patrick's Day!)

Ireland - A False Economy

We're constantly subjected to a PR barrage from the media/government about how we're "moving up the job value-chain" and "becoming a knowledge-based economy". When little nuggets like the following comes out, our tenuous position as a hub of multinational investment is exposed. SanDisk, who recently established an office here in Dublin reported revenue of $955 million, nearly half of SanDisk's global revenue of $2,300 million. Since the company employs 1,083 people worldwide, you'd expect that since the Irish operation would contribute a significant figure (hundreds of workers at least) to that workforce.

Infact, SanDisk only employ 4 people in Ireland.

9/10 Nigerian Scammers Love Carrigaline.

Mattie Kiely's - Closed

I only found out about this from reading yesterday's Irish Examiner. Incase you're wondering what I'm on about, Mattie Kiely's is a delightfully grotty little chipper on Maylor Street, across the road from Smyth's Toy Shop. Given the dubiously dirty surroundings and menu consisting of only beef burgers, fish and chips, you'd have expected the place to have gone to the wall years ago. Not so. Not only that, but in an age of political correctness, Mattie Kiely was all too happy to taunt and jibe his customers. I'll always remember the first time going into Kiely's and asking for a chicken burger only to be told that if I wanted that sort of luxury, perhaps I'd be better off at the Victoria Hotel! Despite his waspish sense of humour, you never felt like a stranger whenever you stopped by. After being away from Cork for a year and returning for a lunch time feed, Kiely made mention of my absence, suggesting that a coronary from his chips was responsible as he prepared my usual order without needing to ask.

Enjoy the retirement Mattie, Cork will miss you sorely.

The Bodega: Going, going, well not yet.

I haven't seen this reported online yet, so for those of you that don't know, The Bodega has received yet another reprieve. According to todays Irish Examiner, the owners of The Roundy will be leasing The Bodega for five months until TK Maxx move in. This was confirmed by the new owner of the premesis, Owen O' Callaghan.

So now you all get to enjoy "one more night" of The Bodega for the third time.

Cork Anti-War Demonstrations Against British Navy Juggernaut

From page 2 of todays Evening Echo, I've put the interesting bits in bold.

"As Croke Park prepared to welcome the English rugby team on Saturday, the Union Jack was already flying in Cork today as HMS Severn (pictured below) sailed into the city on a courtesy visit.



The patrol vessel, which is skippered by Lieutenant Commander Rex J. Cox, arrived this morning with 32 crew members. The ship, which was built in Woolston Docks, Southampton, and is based at HM Naval Base Portsmouth, is part of the Fishery Protection Squadron on the Royal Navy. It will depart on Thursday."

According to the Irish Examiner and IndyMedia, Anti-War Ireland are protesting this visit of this British "war machine" (words used by one anti-war type). Fearsome stuff indeed, sounds like a veritable deathmongerer! In the interests of fairness though, let's get a bit more details on this machine. This site tells gives us a bit more detail on this fishery protection vessel. The formidable weapons compliment consists of . .

1x20mm BMARC KAA gun, 2 GPMGs

Yep, that's right, three machine guns.

House Prices Falling In Carrigaline.

Buying a house in Carrigaline or the surrounding area? Well buyer beware, because prices in the area have stalled and in many cases, have fallen. Not only that, but the inventory of properties on myhome.ie has increased almost two fold, a similar trend is being repeated at local auctioneers such as Dennehy, Daly and McNamee. With even more developments to come online on Castle Heights and a 100 acre site at Shannon Park being earmarked for development, the property boom in Carrigaline may very well be coming to an end. With job losses in nearby Pfizer and speculation about the removal of Stamp Duty for first time buyers, I think there's scope for further price drops. However, if you must buy right now, don't be afraid to play hardball with auctioneers. I recently viewed a property in the area that was on the market for €400,000, the auctioneer was quite open about accepting an offer as low as €381,000 (the stamp duty threshold).

12 Carrig Avenue, Carrig Na Curra, DOWN €10,000.

€350,000

€340,000

19 Dun Eoin, Ballinrea Road, DOWN €42,500 (price dropped twice!!)

€360,000

€350,000

€317,500

29 Highfield, Ballinrea Road, DOWN €40,000

€340,000

€320,000

€310,000

€300,000 (Sale Agreed)

9 The Close, Waterpark, DOWN €50,000

€350,000

€300,000

30 Waterpark Green, DOWN €20,000

€400,000

€380,000

90 Mount Rivers, DOWN €20,000

€300,000

€280,000

Archella, Ballinrea Road, DOWN €120,000

€720,000

€600,000

6 The Brambles, Heron's Wood, DOWN €30,000

€330,000

€327,000

44 Silverhill, Heron's Wood, DOWN €5,000

€345,000

€340,000

7 Weston Heights, Ballinrea Road, DOWN €5,000

€600,000

€595,000

12 Spring Lane, DOWN €35,000 (price dropped twice!!)

€415,000

€395,000

€380,000

New price drops as of 8th of March!

No. 1 Shrewsbury Park, Fernhill Road DOWN €25,000

€800,000

€775,000

73 Wrenville, Kilmoney Road DOWN €15,000

€360,000

€345,000

14 Kinalea, Nohoval DOWN €2,500

€317,500

€315,000

33 Highfields, Ballea Road DOWN €10,000

€325,000

€315,000

58 Glen Rua DOWN €10,000

€340,000

€330,000

106 Spruce Drive, Ballea Road DOWN €3,000

€298,000

€295,000

Ballea, Forrest Road, DOWN €30,000

€425,000

€395,000

37 Rockboro Heights, Waterpark, DOWN €10,000

€325,000

€315,000

42 Liosbourne, Upper Kilmoney, DOWN €40,000

€415,000

€410,000

€400,000

€375,000

1 The Grove, Herons Wood, DOWN €20,000 (price dropped twice!!)

€325,000

€315,000

€305,000

New price drops as of 8th of March!

30 Dun Eoin Meadow, DOWN €10,000

€350,000

€340,000

27 Kilmoney Heights, DOWN €11,000

€370,000

€359,000

34 Elm Drive, Westwood, DOWN €15,000

€355,000

€340,000

36 The Green, Herons Wood, DOWN €10,000

€335,000

€325,000

It's also interesting to note there are now 10 pages of entries for Carrigaline on daft. Many of the properties that have been listed above are still on the market despite a price fall.

Make what you will of that.

Dick Roche - Delivering on Affordable Housing.

In a fresh initiative to combat spiralling house prices, Dublin citizens who have been priced out on the market are now being given a chance of home ownership. The affordable housing scheme; applies to impovrished persons earning between €45,000 and €58,000 per annum who are unable to afford homes at market price. One hopeful applicant, sucessful strategic manager Geordan Sheehy-Skeffington (pictured below with BMW 7 Series and two wifes), spoke to us about the scheme.



"Roysh goys, I'm rawther miffed here. Loike, how in Gawd's name will I be able to face the goys in the Rugby club knowing I live in Loo-cun, ugh", "I suppose one must make do, afterall, one must keep his family in Prada handbags and Manlo shoes, roysh girls?" he said guffawing.

Later, in the press conference launching the inititave, Minister Dick Roche (pictured below) brushed off suggestions about those earning less than €45,000 a year who didn't qualify for the housing scheme as "inconsequential" and "pointless".



(inset, Dick Roche pouring milk into a political opponents petrol tank)

Podge and Rodge - Saturation Point

Not content with presenting music award shows and presenting their own talk show several times a week, we now get these greasy Podge and Rodge delights.



What started with as a refreshingly different, ten minute show on Network 2 every week has now exploded in an attempt to milk the Podge and Rodge concept dry. I thought the scripted short story format suited Podge and Rodge well. The transition to improv however hasn't suited the talk show well. Too much recycling of clapped out gags and awful Z-list guests promoting their latest bit of unwanted tat. Who would have thought that the original pilot (DVD-rip by the way) would have spawned all this?



Keep flogging the crisps, bed clothes and dolls lads, it won't take long for people to get their fill.

Media Frenzy Descends on Carrigaline

In scenes not witnessed since Kevin Kennedy's visit (aka, Norman "Curly" Watts from TV's Cornation Street), Carrigaline greeted Irish country music sensation, Richie Kavanagh (pictured below in Barry Collins').



In a world exclusive, carrigaline.blogspot photographers fought through throngs of paparazzi to snap the elusive musician. Kavanagh, who has had No.1 chart-smashing hits with "Aon Focail Eile" and "Dick On Her Mind" declined interviews merely grunting "Bebo" before hurridly making his way to his Toyota Hi-Ace van.



Dedicated to RK.

Valentine's Day Job Vacancy

I wonder how they test for flexibility in an interview.

IrishFest, Milwaukee.

Another oldie but goldie, I snapped this shot at the worlds largest Irish Festival in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Sinn Féin Attack Harney on Suicide Strategy

Irish Examiner - Wednesday 31st 2007 - Suicide Strategy

"Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams has described Health Minister Mary Harney's approach to tackling the issue of suicide as "disgraceful and indefensible".
His criticism comes after the minister's office announced the provision of €1.85 million a year for suicide prevention.
Yesterday Mr. Adams said Ireland has the second highest incidence of suicide in Europe."

I for one applaud Gerry Adams on his uncompromising stance to accept our current status. Let's put Ireland in our rightful position as number one!

That Wonderful Organisation, the BBC.

In what must have been a rare coup for BBC Sport, viewers were treated to Chelsea V. Nottingham Forest, live! However, between pompous nonsense about "giant-killing" and "the magic of the FA Cup", the BBC Sport team came out with a classic line about Chelsea's Lasanna Diarra, who was deputizing in the holding midfield role for Claude Makelelé.

about Diarra . . . "he's like a little Makelelé"

Now, from the official Chelsea FC website.

Claude Makelelé, height: 170cm, weight: 66Kg.
Lasanna Diarra, height: 172cm, weight: 73Kg.

I'm glad I don't pay their licence fee.

An Oldie, But a Goodie!

Bored at work :)

New Sinn Féin Product?

Following the notorious "Sniper At Work" t-shirts being pulled from the Sinn Féin online store, perhaps they'll consider my product to make up the deficit in lost revenue?

The Honeydew II Trawler Disaster and Uninformed Opinion.

It's a tragedy when two men lose their lives while trying to earn a living for themselves and their families. I'm sure the relatives of Ger Bohan and Tomasz Jagla are grieving much at the loss of these two men. However, reading through the Irish Examiner on Tuesday the 23rd, I was aghast at the comments of a certain John O'Mahony, friend of one of the deceased fishermen. He claimed that the Navy search effort was "terrible" and derided the decision of the Navy not to send in divers (in bad weather) to aid the search effort claiming "A sports diver could go down in that".

Mr. O'Mahony must have a very short memory. It was only last year that in a similar search for a sunken vessel, Navy divers called off a dive citing dangerous weather conditions. Disregarding this, a "sports diver" as O'Mahony eloquently put it went into the water to try and retrieve the bodies. The episode ended in tragically, with the diver being pulled from the water and later dying.

I can understand Mr. O'Mahony's urgency to get the bodies out of the water. What I can't understand however is The Irish Examiner allowed his negative and uninformed comments about the Navy being published. Lazy journalism I suppose.

Purgatory Nightclub Outting

Weary of the typical club and late bar scene of Cork City, a friend and I decided to give the alternative club in the Cruiscin Lan a try! Good almosphere (if you're into band t-shirts, long hair and jackboots), reasonable pints (served in plastic glasses though, boo!) and friendly enough folk (expect to be picked up if you take a tumble while moshing). One quibble was that the smoke machine had been set to ape-shit mode, giving an ominous Gorrilla's in the Mist ambiance if you were half-cut like I was.

I snapped this bare chested young go-getter in the process of trying to rip the railings from around the stage.



In the interests of bias, I sought an opinion from another Purgatory regular. I received a resounding, thumbs up! So there you have it!

Inflation Busting 6.4% Increase For Carrigaline Bus Eireann Commuters.

Average Irish Rail Fare Increase - 2.75%

Dublin Bus Fare Increase - 5-10 cent

Ok, ok, maybe I exaggerate slightly with the headline but in comparison to Dublin Bus and Irish Rail; the recent 30 cent increase of a return fare from Carrigaline to Cork City Centre is absolutely scandalous. I understand inflation is a fact of life, but if Bus Eireann are going demand above that, then I expect at least some improvement in service. An extra bus or two on during peak times, buses not departing from the Bridge in Carrigaline before they're due. Heck, would it even be too much if they could clean out the buses so as to remove the smell of dust/mould/mildew/sweat/urine/shit (yes, believe it or not, I was once confronted with a charming pile of steaming brown poo on the 222 to Carrigaline)?