Here are a few “facts” about me. I go to work every day, I pay taxes (lots of them), I don’t drive around in a brand new car or van, with no visible means of making a living. I don’t fight, I don’t steal stuff, I respect people and I have a huge regard for animals. I pay to have my refuse collected, I live in a house and I do my best to contribute to society. I obey the law, I’m not known to the Gardaí, except for the few people in the force that I know in person. I pay my bills, I don’t get handouts and if I get my hands on something nice, it’s because I earned it. I don’t expect people to wait on me, I expect them to respect me and I ensure that I earn that respect.
My “culture” is all the above, I don’t have any spokespeople to represent me and there are no focus groups to help me when things go against me. I get up off my arse, I do my best and if today stinks, hopefully tomorrow will be better. There are no excuses made if I make a mistake, nobody to hold my hand. If I am wrong, I consider myself a man, meaning I will own up and take the rap. If I deserve a bollocking, so be it, I take it on the chin like a man and as I said, I don’t do excuses. I’m no saint, I have my skeletons and they can stay well locked in the closet, where they belong.
Seldom in my life have I been as annoyed as I was today. Our news feeds filled with the most sickening images I have ever seen. The phone lines were jammed with people, outraged with what had happened, all demanding action. There are images that are too disgusting to be broadcast, people witnessed harrowing scenes today and there is much more to this than people can imagine.
Innocent animals, starved to death, that’s right in 2017, defenceless ponies, mothers with their little foals by their sides, starved to death. The photographs are etched in my mind all day and it’s heartbreaking. All of this happened within a few miles of the biggest inland town in Ireland. There won’t be a Primetime Investigates programme made to highlight the dreadful deaths that these creatures endured.
It’s not the first time this has happened and guess what, it won’t be the last. It’s happening all over the country and people are becoming immune to it. Politicians will stand up in Dáil Éireann talking about how terrible it all is, but playing it safe in case they upset somebody. There are no votes to be gained by saying it as it is, or calling people out and making them solely accountable for their actions.
Our legislators will sit on their arses as this tragedy will unfold all around them. They will sit on their arses, afraid to enforce legislation, in case they upset certain groups. This lot feel marginalised, discriminated against, the rest of us don’t respect them and they feel unwanted. I could add a few more comments as well, to help out, just in case they are running out of excuses. However, I’d probably end up in trouble and it’s not worth the hassle. I would probably be called a racist or some other type of derogatory term, by some PC brigade person that has never met me. That’s why I put the facts about me in at the start.
A lady sent me a message last week, saying that she had tears in her eyes after reading my “Christmas Puppy” story. I explained that it was not the purpose of the story, to make people cry, it was to highlight something, as animals cannot speak for themselves.
I cried today as I saw the images in the newsroom. Those defenceless ponies and their little foals died in agony, unable to speak, with nobody to hear their cries.
I sincerely hope that if there is such a thing as a day of reckoning. I hope that the people responsible for what I witnessed today will be made to answer for their actions.