Fine Gael Ard Fheis

Attended the Fine Gael Ard Fheis. Meet some very interesting people. A great night was had by all. Enda was in great form and was happy to see Bobby.

At The Ploughing

Despite the rain and some ferocious showers, the upbeat mood at The 2011 Ploughing Championships in Athy yesterday was not dampened one bit. It was my first time down at the Ploughing and it's a pretty amazing event. I meet loads of boggers with big wide smiley heads and wirey hair.

The whiff of dung and diesel would make you proud to be Irish. Plus it was great to see a brisk agri-business trade with many stalls attracting snaking queues. I believe that inter generational farming will be Ireland's strongest long term prospect on the road to recovery out of the recession caused by the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 resulting in a world wide calamitous banking crisis bringing with it never ending market unrest and dire economic instability resulting in the self perpetuation and self fulfilling nebulous doom cycle of fear, worry, stress, panic, fear. Still, the tractors on the day were very pretty.

All that aside, I got an absolutely stunning reception throughout the day. It's amazing how well known I am with the culchies. I was even allowed to shear a sheep. I'd love to have been able to do that to my ex wife.

Up rural things!

 

Walk For Nuclear

The brother in law dragged me along to one of his lefty meetings last night. It was great to meet people who are not like me. Some very interesting beards there.

The organiser's were looking at putting together a 'Walk for Nuclear.' (Surely it should be Walk Against Nuclear?). Not sure how useful these walks are. The brother in law made a good point, instead of a walk, we should do a sit down. People hate walking. You'd pull in way more people with a sit down. Any why stop at nuclear, bring in other issues, anti war, abortion, the rights of immigrants.

My attitude...leave them at it.

Liffey Valley Conservation

I attended a meeting in Blanchardstown Library chaired by Duncan Stewart on the preservation of the Liffey Valley. There was some very interesting points of view raised, most notable Catherine Bambury's theory on cross theo-termal bio forrestry multi plantation, currently used in southern Finland on a trail basis.

Personally, I was keen to stress Ireland's exposure to coastal erosion and subsidence. I know a fair bit about subsidence as my brother in laws house has pyrite. I also expressed my disgust at the presence of plastic cups at such an eco meeting. What ever about the soya bean eating tree hugging smelly eco heads, I expect way more from Duncan.

Did manage to shift about 25 bootlegged Al Gore films outside though. The few bob made it worthwhile.

A special thanks to Bobby for spending all day Saturday cutting me out an Ireland.

(Please turn your thermostat down 2 degrees)

Terry G and Michael D

I meet Michael D today. Lovely little man. Well worth considering.

James Connolly Commemoration at Arbour Hill Cemetery

I attended the Commemoration of the late great socialist leader, James Connolly at Arbour Hill Military Cemetery this morning. Thankfully, the rain staved off and spirits were high. It was a fitting and rousing ceremony which saw many people from far and wide in attendance, including members of the Connolly Clan.

An Táiniste, Eamon Gilmore, gave a fine and uplifting speech however he did warn of harsher measures to come down the line as part of Ireland's recovery. Wreaths were laid by Mr. Gilmore, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Leader of the Labour Party; by Patricia King, Vice President of SIPTU; and by a member of the Connolly family. The Labour Party Leader Eamon Gilmore and Patricia King gave the orations.

From a personal point of view, I think we need to reflect more on the days of yesteryear as a means of rebuilding Ireland back to the country it once was and still can be.

In the words of James himself, 'Our curse is our belief in our weakness...We are not weak, we are strong!'

Dia na hÉireann
TG

Over Flowing Liter Bins - Aghhhhhh!

My pet hate, overflowing litter bins. (Aggh!)

I counted 5 overflowing litter bins on my way to a public meeting in Blancharstown yesterday. I watched as Mrs. Mulratty tried to squeeze a empty Capri Sun into an already full bin only to dislodge  an Abrakebabra Burger Box loose.

I will be meeting with Dublin City Council on this matter in the coming weeks and will keep you posted. The  cutbacks within the council (namely my brother in laws recent redundancy) are having a knock on effect on our community.


On a positive note, I have been informed that the double yellow lines outside The Roselawn Inn) are to be removed after 4 long months petitioning. Persistence pays.

Ghusto's Gone International

Meet with a lovely French reporter at the weekend who did a write up on myself and Bobby. For those of you who are interested, here's the article below mes ami.

AFP Article on Terry and Bobby

Meet the People

I got to meet some very interesting people on the streets yesterday. Held a fish, cut some meat, juggled a few apples, but got pelted with a pepper :(

My thanks to Bobby for organising and managing a tight schedule.

Go Ghusto on the 27th!

TG

A Few Pointers from Tubs

I was lucky enough to meet with Ryan Tubridy recently. He was kind enough to give me a few pointers on how to handle the media and self publicise. I've been told there's a resemblance?

Public Meeting Tuesday 15th February 2011

Dear residents,

I will be holding a public meeting on Tuesday the 14th February in my living room in Griffith Close at 8pm. We will be discussing some of the local issues within the neighbourhood. The meeting is entitled 'Making Change'. All interested attendees should email me on the internet (terryghusto@gmail.com) and i will make sure you have a seat, a cup of tea or a can of Hackenberg. Hope to see you there!. TG

Student Fees Protest

Well, I finally got around to developing my photos from the day of the student protest. It was a fantastic day of demonstration. Thanks to all for coming out, especially at such short notice. I appreciate it.

To give you an update on my progress, I have been in touch with all the student unions including USI (Union of Students Ireland) and I will be making representations on their behalf to the next Minister of Finance in relation to the non implementation of student fees. Will keep you abreast of my progress.

* End to knife / violent crime

ISSUES TO BE TACKLED
*One needs only to open papers on a daily basis to witness the catastrophic effect knife / gun / gang and violent crime is having on our neighbourhoods. This is deeply felt amongst the good communities in Dublin West. I intend to address the issues in a real and grown-up manner. It is obvious we need assistance from abroad as we do not have the experience or expertise to deal with these types of crime on a daily basis in our communities. If elected I will pressure the leading political parties to bring in crime experts from England and the US to educate the people. I will also demand that a copy of the expert US TV series The Wire and The Sopranos is delivered to every house in the constituency.. 

Wonky pavements, no thanks!

ISSUES TO BE TACKLED
* Wonky pavements.
The age demographic in and around the Dublin West constituency has aged dramatically over the years. Issues such as broken and damaged pavements have come to the fore by becoming a dangerous hazard to citizens as well as being unsightly. I intend to fix this issue once and for all by assigning a Fingal County Council team to the task of eradicating broken paving. 

The unaccommodating and restrictive hours of parking that don’t facilitate the shift worker (which I am)

As mentioned before, I work shift. Depending on the Rota, I would  be working 1 full week of nights resulting in sleeping of my body between the house of 8 and 5. AM to PM mightened I add. As I’m sure your good selves are aware of, these are the very hours of parking fees in the Griffith Close area. It is of my our viewpoint, that these hours are restrictive and discriminatory on the part of the shift-worker. Why is it that my neighbour, Joe O’Mahony, doesn’t have to pay for parking and I do. Does that sound fair to you? The reason he doesn’t have to pay is because he is an accountant and he works between the aforementioned hours so his car isn’t there mine is. That’s the reason. So I put it to you this, because of my shift patterns, I believe it is incumberant of the council to issue a permit, which will allow all shirt works park their vans where ever they want whenever they are at home. I pledge to tackle this issue!

The constant and irritating flicker of the 34b streetlight located in front of 2 Griffith Close, Finglas East, D11, between the hours of 12 am and 5 am

Presently I work shift work. Now, a lot of my day, as you can imagine is spent in bed. I, like anyone else likes my sleep. Now, cos I work shift, my sleeping hours aren’t on par with the regular day of a regular everyday worker. The point I am making, is regarding the flicker, or ‘strobe effect’ of the afore mentioned street lamp. There’s a gable at the cuff of my driveway that goops out a bit. My issue isn’t with that gable, but it’s certainly a chore to reverse a car past that gable while there’s the equivalent of a rave going on above me. Because I work shifts, I feel I’m alone on this as, like I said, my sleeping hours wouldn’t congrew with that of the everyday man. All of the lights in Griffith Close bar one work perfectly, although there are some that seem a little dim and could warrant a replacement bulb, this however is another days battle. Why is it that the one light that doesn’t work is located directly outside my driveway.  This wouldn’t not be a big encumbrance if I wasn’t a shirt worker, but like I said, I am and it is. 
I pledge to tackle this issue!