Riot Photos Photoshopped

After 3 days of serious posts about the riot I think its time for a bit of humor, even if it is still about the riot.

Visit this site for a set of edited riot photos posted on Creative Ireland. They are good for a bit of a laugh.

Update: Someone called "r1g2b3" has done a brilliant job on one of my pictures.


Very funny, especially since I'm a fan of Newstalk 106 whose adverts this is based on and it's much more relevant to Dublin than many of the other photos on the list.

[via GUBU]

Our dirty family secret.

Two days after the events of Saturday I find that the attitude of most people towards the riot is like a family who has kept a secret for years only to see it leak out and find that no one really cares. Everyone knew that we had a serious thug problem and that it was starting to assert itself more violently each year, but we choose not to mention it. Like a crazy uncle, an alcoholic aunt or a relative in prison we choose to not mention them, to hide them away and hope they wouldn't call around when we had guests. We kept our little family secret and stood in judgment of our neighbors, tut tutting at the riots in Paris or the racial tensions in Burnley and lets not even mention the carry-on of the family whose house is at the end of our back garden. Now suddenly our little secret is out. We are not the perfect angelic family we liked to portray ourselves as. We have our own problems just like everyone else.

Unfortunately I can't help but feel that we are about to bury our heads in the sand again. So far the media has focused on the impact of the riots on tourism, on the Northern Ireland peace process, on what the Unionists think and even hoping are they the ones to blame, hey its not our fault at all its just Northern Ireland. What we should do is face up to our own problems. What we need to do to is punish the offenders, deter those inspired by the events, rehabilitate those carried along in the emotion of the event and ensure there cannot be a repeat of the event.

Finally, one more thing needs to be considered in any solution. Earlier I compared the looters on Saturday to the looters of 1916 but there is a world of difference. The looters of 1916, and this isn't meant to defend their actions, came from slums, areas of true poverty and complete social exclusion. The looters of 2006 were dressed in the newest white fashion tracksuits, €100 runners, branded baseball caps and soccer supporters scarves. They walked around texting and talking to each other on their new mobile phones and they donned the uniform of the day, €80 soccer jerseys. They are not the starving and huddled masses. They were not standing up to imperial oppressors or absentee landlords. They did not steal valuables or food. They stole more runners, more tracksuits, more scarves and more t-shirts.

Bloggers and the Riot

Irish Bloggers and amateur photographers were out in force over the weekend. While rioters were attacking traditional media like RTE's Charlie Bird they seemed to have missed the internet revolution where anyone can be reporter. Ok I'm not comparing bloggers to professional reporters but they do give a new source of information and comment on the events of Saturday.

Especially interesting are the photographs that have found their way onto flickr. There are currently over 400 photos on flickr.

Dublin Riot Thoughts

I've spent the evening trying to decide what to say about the riot in Dublin today. It's been a long day and I'm tired so excuse me if this posting is even stranger and more confused than usual. Earlier I posted some photos first while trying to gather my thoughts, I may post some more later when I've gone through them properly. Part of this confusion is because I find myself very puzzled, not because of what happened, but because everyone is so shocked.

Last night I met some friends and everyone was in agreement that there would be trouble. If we could see what was going to happen why didnt the authorities? The Republicans have little respect for the rule of law in either the 6 or 26 counties so they would think nothing of violently challenging the forces of authority. Secondly the Love Ulster march was obviously meant to provoke an outcry in the Republic and to cause trouble. The more trouble the better for them as the Unionists can now point to the riot as an example of the hostility they face from Republicans on a daily basis in the North. The fact that they provoked the confrontation will not matter to them.

The only thing that surprised me is that it was allowed to get so compeltely out of control. At one stage there seemed to be fighting going on in 4 different areas of the city. From the day the route of the Love Ulster march was announced it was clear that they would be lucky to even get as far as O'Connell Street. The area they were starting in is a rough area of Dublin where the more aggressive Celtic fans like to congregate for Old Firm derby matches. As I walked around that area today people were standing outside some pubs jeering the police and cheering the rioters. To them having Unionists marching past their pubs was akin to an act of war. Once Republican Sinn Fein announced a counter protest the stage was set for trouble.

I think the police were caught of guard with the number of non-republicans who joined in. Like a sick remake of the 1916 Rising, once the fighting started the looters arrived intent on profiting from the situation. The bizarre thing was that of all the shops on O'Connell Street they decided to target Foot Locker. Are shoes that important to these muppets? Once the looters arrived in Dublin the situation moved from being a violent protest to one where trouble could erupt in any area of the city where shops could be looted, the Jervis center being a prime example. It also appears that the Gardai were fortunate that the looters targeted the Jervis Center since once they were inside they were trapped. Had they remained on the streets it would have proved much more difficult to pin them down.

Another puzzle is why any march or protest was allowed onto O'Connell Street while the street is being renovated. The street was a building site with flimsy metal grills between any potential rioter and an almost infinite supply of weapons and missiles. Who gave the go ahead for the route? Did they have any security experience at all? Was any attempt made to tidy away the building materials? Lets not even ask why O'Connell Street is still a building site years after it was supposed to be finished.

Finally it is a sinister development that members of the media were so clearly targeted. Normally people making a political statement want press coverage. They want film of police battoning rioters. They want photographs of people covered in blood. They want to be interviewed. Today the media were the enemy. This was yob violence designed solely to cause damage and injury. The riot was the goal more so than any political statement.

The Irish people now face a harsh reality. It is clear that there are groups with the goal of destabalising the Irish State. They feel that they haven't gotten their share of the Celtic Tiger and they will take what others have with force. Violence is more common today, a certain section of Irish society has learned that they can inflict violence and harm on others and they will not face any serious punishment. The rioters I saw today were predominately from a group know unaffectionately as skangers. They provide the expendable and unquestioning foot-soldiers for militant republicanism. Like the Nazi Brown shirts their only interest in politics is limited to the level of school yard bullies intent on ruling through force.

Severe penalites must now be imposed on those involved in todays riots. The Gardai must make every possible effort to identify those involved from CCTV and photographs. They city is full of cameras, use them. They must then prosecute all the rioters they can locate, or they will face them again in street battles.

Dublin Riot Photos

I was in Dublin city center today when the riots happened. I had my camera and took some photos. They are uploaded at this site on flickr. I started at the top of O'Connell Street and walked down to O'Connell Bridge and then on the Nassau Street.

This was a shameful day in Dublin. I will post my thoughts on the whole thing later as soon as I collect them.

Update: I've added a few more photos.

Jury Duty Finished

I finished my jury duty this morning. I don't suppose you could really call it a "duty" since I was not picked for a case and all I had to do was spend an hour or so in the Four Courts for the last 3 mornings and then get sent home by the judge.

There was a jury panel of about 50 people. Note to anyone else who gets called, there are not enough seats, show up 30 minutes early or stand! The panel really was a cross section of the state with male and female, old and young, well-to-do and not so well-to-do. By Tuesday we were all talking and joking in the hallway while waiting to be let into the court room so it wasn't so bad.

On Tuesday and Wednesday there was a delay in all the scheduled cases so the panel got sent home. This morning there was just 1 case left on the schedule but that one did need a jury. The clerk picked the names of jury members out of a wooden box containing all our names. A few people were not there and a few who had been selected were challenged by the solicitors. The challenge process is strange since no explanation is given, the barrister just says they challenge the juror and that's it. The juror is not asked any questions, they don't get to defend their place in the jury, not that they wanted to, all they do is stand aside and wait like the rest of us. The judge does explained that being challenged is not an insult. It seems to be down to just the instinct of the solicitor and who they want or do not want on the jury. Finally they got their 12 jurors selected and those of us who didn't get drawn out were told we could go home. Since there was no case scheduled for tomorrow we were not needed and that ended my duty. I was a little surprised that they did not select substitute jurors, but I guess they know what was needed for the case.

People complain about having to do jury duty and many people try to get out of it when they get called. In fact when the roll was taken on Tuesday about 20 people were not present, and even this morning 5 or 6 names drawn out or the box were not present. Our judge explained to us that as citizens we all have constitutional rights but we also have constitutional responsibilities. Those who skipped their duty now probably face a fine or some other punishment, and I hope none of them ever use the phrase "I know my rights" because they certainly do not know their responsibilities. Personally I did not mind having to do jury duty. I was in the High Court so the cases were not going to be gruesome, boring maybe, but nothing disturbing like what is seen in the Criminal Court from time to time. It did not interfere with my life to any great extend, it just meant I had to catch a bus into town and made me a little late for work. I am actually a little disappointed at not having been selected for a jury.

I do have a couple of observations about the court itself. Firstly the court room was small. Somehow in my mind the "High Court" always seemed like a very grand place where important matters were discussed in historic surroundings. In reality the court room was very modern and was about the size of a small classroom. The 50 members of the jury panel filled it, with people standing. Secondly the building itself is old but well maintained and warm, in fact it was a little too warm. The walls looked like big old blocks of stone but in reality they were plaster board. I guess we did do alot of damage to the Four Courts during the Irish Civil War so the plaster board may be needed in places.

Iraq shrine blown up

It's a real shame when a historic site becomes the victim of a military strike, terrorist attack, or just plain sectarian vandalism.

Today one of the holiest sites to Shia Islam was destroyed by a bomb in an attack that can have just one aim, to start a civil war in Iraq. The unfortunate thing is once one side in a conflict sets the precedent for this type of attack then the other side tends to retaliate in kind and soon the situation spins out of control.

Look at this picture on the BBC website to get a clear idea of the damage caused.

This is just one in a sequence of historical and religious sites damaged or used as pawns of war in recent years, here are 3 I can think of

• Buddhist statues destroyed by the Taleban in Afghanistan

• Remains of Babylon damaged by the American army.

• Israelis besiege the Church of the Nativity when Palestinians hid there.

It's a shame that humanity has not progressed to a point where we can respect each others heritage and history regardless of our current conflicts.

PPAI Awards Show

I went to the opening of the PPAI (Press Photographers Association of Ireland) Awards Show in The Gallery of Photography in Temple Bar tonight. It is an exhibit of the best press photos taken by Irish photographers over the last year.

I think the type of photography someone likes is a matter of personal taste just like ones taste in art and music. For me I prefer press photography to some of the artistic or landscape type of photos. Photographs with people in them interest me far more than photographs with just trees and sunsets. Press photos are the best of this genre, capturing events and people at important moments. These days they often do not get the recognition or the respect they deserve. Their pictures accompany the writings of far more famous journalists adding life and color to black and white letters. They are not paparazzi, they are hardworking photographers capturing valuable moments of current affairs for posterity, not sticking their lenses up mini-skirts or photographing C-list celebrities drunk outside bars.

The exhibit runs from today until the 3rd of March after which it goes on tour to different AIB bank branches around the country. It is worth going to if you like photography and the news. My personal favorites were not actually the photos that won. If you do go look out for the photograph by Bryan O'Brien of the child on her fathers shoulders during the Irish Ferries protest, the "Eyes on the Ball" photo by Brendan Moran and the picture of Charlie Haughey by Christopher Doyle. If I can find a website with the awards photos on it I'll post the link here later.

David Irving V's Muhammad Cartoon

The British Historian David Irving has been jailed for 3 years in Austria for denying that the Holocaust ever took place. Denying the Holocaust is obviously a stupid thing for any historian to do, even Irving has since admitted that he was wrong. However jailing him is a little embarassing for Europe after the recent furror in the media over the Muhammad cartoon protests.

It seemed every commentator and journalist was quick to jump to the defense of freedom of speech and to condemn the muslim world for protesting. Now they have to consider a situation where someone has been jailed for saying something many of them probably found offensive and 6 months ago most of them would probably have agreed with the jailing. We should now ask why does a cartoonist in Denmark have more rights to express his opinions than David Irving? Freedom of speech is rarely the black and white issue we would like it to be. Irving was an idiot, the Danish cartoonist was also an idiot, but both of them have the right to be idiots, just as we have the right to ignore them.

In a similar manner to the way the protests against the cartoons raised their profile internationally, would many people have even heard of Irving had he not faced a trial and now jail for what he said? Sometimes we should just ignore the radicals and let them wither away when denied the light of publicity.

Liverpools Lucky Draw

Liverpool have drawn Birmingham in the quarter finals of the FA cup. At initial glance that seemed like a good draw when you consider Chelsea, Newcastle, Charlton, Middlesbrough, Aston Villa, Manchester City, Bolton and West Ham are all still in the competition and are ahead of Birmingham in the Premership today.

However to add a little spice to the tie it should be noted that

Rafael Benitez's Liverpool side have not beaten Birmingham in four attempts since the Spaniard arrived at Anfield in 2004.

But since Liverpool had not beaten Manchester United in the FA Cup for 85 years prior to Saturdays victory this should be a good time to break such silly records.

The draw for the quarter finals is:

Charlton v Middlesbrough

Aston Villa or Manchester City v Bolton or West Ham

Chelsea v Newcastle United

Birmingham v Liverpool