Bins of Bray #1

Harmony was restored to the animal kingdom earlier this week as the drumbeat of change rang out from Pride Rock/Bray Head [insert choice analogous Lion King metaphor here]. It has been almost 5 years since the town council, in one of it’s regular sage-like moments, decided to remove the basket drum bins that had lined the full spread of the seafront and protected it from the day tripping litterati since the Pale’rs of the 1300s. The full glory of that decisiveness  was captured and on this blog back in 2009.

But fear not. Scroll on:

To mark and celebrate the long awaited return of Bray’s iconic hardest working bins we are commissioning a regular feature called Bins of Bray. Feel free to sit back, relax and bask in that iconic black plastic bag bobbing in the baskety breeze with the rugged well trodden Bray Head swallowing up the skyline to your hearts content.

Enjoy.

Feel free to send us your champion bins of Bray shots and we will post them up as part of this on going feature to celebrate Bray’s hardest workers to the.vicarofbray@gmail.com or else link them from your own blog in the comments section below.

Would you have preferred dirty laundry in public?

Town council meetings are, as we know, always rammed in October in the lead up to the deciding which lucky sod will be bestowed with turning on the Christmas lights in December. I was as surprised and impressed as you were to learn that the Councillors were compelled to break off from the planned agenda in the middle of a meeting to discuss an emergency issue in James Everett Park (minute of the meeting available here):

“There is a tenant hanging their clothes out of the front window. The residents here have sufficient back gardens. Can the council write to the landlord asking for this to be rectified?”

Following the administrative officer’s assurances that she would contact the landlord regarding this wildly belligerent tenant it appears that this matter has fallen off of the scope of the council’s interests in recent months.

What happened? Was the council successful in demanding the removal of the clothes from the front window? Did the tenant stage a dirty protest?

***Link/send in pictures of the James Everett Park standoff if you are passing by – and feel free to take pictures of your own freshly cleaned clothes in your own front window, send them in and we will post them on the blog.

Solidarity with smooth, huggable clean nonbio fabrics with a gentle fragrance in James Everett Park!

Something to look forward to – Bray means marketing posters using MS Word

Following a long stint of meditation, collecting abandoned kites and engaging in some much needed thought and observation up by the Wicklow gap you will be delighted, I’m sure, to read that I have returned and it is an incontrovertible truth : the Wicklow mountains are alive with the sound of music. Which is mostly acid house. Mostly.

As we scan over the last couple of months and look to the future there is plenty to talk about, but for the moment I shall leave you with this doozy : Bray retailer’s “new” shop local poster as part of their shop local campaign, designed in June 2009 and only now getting to see the light of day. Let’s take a look.

Feel free to turn away and down a couple of Rennies, for those with weak stomachs.

Is this actually meant to be inspirational? Who is responsible for butchering the copy-editor and presenting this industrial decree that makes commands rather than informs readers?

While the question ‘but how so?’ hangs on every line of this ten point capitalist manifesto, these can be easily overlooked for the excruciatingly bland visual representation of six ‘members of the local community’ that are delightfully wielding over-priced shopping bags (hello manifesto point no.6 – does really communicate reducing the carbon footprint of the town by reusing shopping bags for instance?) and held together at the center by Chad, or Rick, or whatever that chargrilled hunk is called. AND no jackets or jumpers!

Seriously? Bray? I can’t say that I have ever guffawed in any comparable way as this enthusiastic bunch when picking up longjohns on sale from Dunnes or over that head bangingly reluctant emergency shirt buy from Alans.

The saddest part of this charade has to be toneless, flat, all white shoppers that the poster carries as reflecting the town. It shows no signs of the diversity or brilliantly multicultural community that Bray has become. Instead, we are left with 6 white mid-twenty year-old-so-and-so’s that are on loan for the summer direct from istockphoto.com (that’s a hard left turn on the road to Roscommon when passing through Longford, for all you geographers). Probably.

Who’s to say that a photo of people visiting the town wouldn’t have worked any better or had more of an impact? A collage of these maybe?

A statement from the Bray Town Council newsfeed clears matters up for us:

The Bray Retailers are currently preparing a campaign which will run in conjunction with the posters. This campaign will consist of a voucher book which will be distributed to 14,000 homes in Bray and will be launched shortly. Any retailers interested in getting involved in the campaign or getting a poster please contact Bray Chamber at 01-282848.

Oh well.

For those not familiar with Bray I suggest you completely ignore this poster and bring a packed lunch and some disappointment if you are visiting. The coffee and icecream are alright I suppose, but that’s about it.

Vicar is back. Now swallow this.

It has been a short, albeit unplanned, hiatus and Lord knows we have had some fantastic fun in the last two months in the town! Lots of digging up done, more to dig dug. Speaking of which:

Will the  audit (unpublicized and quitened down), recently conducted on incoming newly elected councilors this year, going to be made public?

For instance, some may wonder if having a long history of winning bids for various public events in the town, year after year, say for example,  summer festival and cultural festival sound engineering projects (without a transparent competitive bidding process) and whether they have had any link to a council seat? Would this kind of back-stroking add up for the final number crunch tallies at the council’s books?

How far should an audit go when financial wizardry can cast smoke and mirrors on political business deep dishing? If you were Neo and you were stuck in the Braytrix would you take the red pill, it answering the question “what is the Braytrix?” (by removing you from it) or would you take the blue pill,  simply to let life to carry on as before?

In the meantime…

if you are looking for mustard for your custard have a read of Donald Clark’s squeamishly boring tirade of drab adjectives that he reluctantly weaves through for the upcoming Bray-based film Sensations on violent and sexual debauchery [it DOESN'T, however, include any of the real shocks from any of our own home grown sexual brutes du jour that have yet to make cultural stage.  See the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse Final Report for a nonHollywooding pageturner that is more prone to 20th Century realism and cruelty, Irish style, than for that kind of biscuit].

Infro more hot air from the Glynn camp?

Fine Gael hopeful Dj Mick Glynn sent fellow Bray Burger competitors twirling on their tweets last week when he revealed a startling new front in the Glynn camp, [political] weather permitting (or not).  Glynn boldly presented  the throw down:

Will the rain stop?

he asked. Only to add that readers should

Check out www.mickglynn.com for campaign infromation and videos

This radical new gesture has so far gone unnoticed by our beloved Bray People and has yet to blow through the political winds that might garner fresh seeds of hope for a change in local politics that one Novara Avenue pedestrian recently described earnestly:

It culminates in another bitter harvest to chew for five more years.

Glynn’s Pathway to Progress policy promises displayed on his homepage don’t seem to reflect this surprising warm front in the campaign which indeed suggest that by force of nature Glynn will affect the town’s weather system, specifically when it comes to stopping rain (with regular videos and infromation reports [‘Infromation’? Is this a cunning new campaign device  never seen before? Is it akin to malk? Ed.).

How this will be managed and to what kind of a time frame have yet to be revealed. Perhaps a formidable biodome construction project (and it’s positive knock-on effects for job opportunity ventures in Bray) is in the works. No mention of this (or any other town all-weather shield) was included in the recent draft Bray Town Development Plan 2011-2017 preparation document: perhaps Glynn will include it in his submission before the  July 3rd deadline?

Surely this couldn’t be simply hot air coming from Glynn, could it? To assist this audacious effort any submissions of what a town weather-shield/biodome might look like are welcome and will be posted on this blog to assist in the bold new greening of Glynn’s town policy.

‘Out and About’ and nepotism with Fianna Fáil and the Bray People

Whos out and whos about on the campaign trail in the lead up to the June elections? For those interested in a pictorial scoop of campaigning events may look no further than the ‘in pictures’ top slot on the Bray People’s homepage, which coincidentally contained no mention of the political parties or people it followed. If it was a general spread across the various campaigns then that point is fair enough – but who is represented in the gallery and what are they doing? This, after all, will be the savoured flavour left in the mouths of voters when they glean who was ‘out and about’ and what they did before shedding scalps in June. So out of 15 pictures, what happened? Here is the list:

1. Cllr David Grant FF – incumbent councilor – ‘Warren McDonald speaking to Cllr David Grant’
2. Cllr Pat Fitzgerald FF – incumbent councilor – ‘Cllr Pat Fitzgerald FF gets a warm welcome from Angela Doyle in Abbeyville, Arklow.’
3. Cllr David Grant FF – incumbent councilor – ‘Francis Murphy greets Cllr Grant at his gate.’
4. Cllr David Grant FF – incumbent councilor – ‘Francis Murphy listening to Cllr Grant.’
5. Cllr David Grant FF – incumbent councilor – ‘Cllr David Grant, with Emlyn Grant with James Scanlon.’
6. Cllr David Grant FF – incumbent councilor – ‘Cllr David Grant on the canvassing trail in Little Bray. Here he is pictured with Eabha Maloney and Mrs Maloney.’
7. Cllr Pat Fitzgerald FF – incumbent councilor ‘ He needn’t have worried as he recieves another warm welcome from Mary Forde, St Bridget’s Tce, Arklow.’
8. Cllr Pat Fitzgerald FF – incumbent councilor – ‘Joe Kelly, Abbeyville with Cllr Pat Fitzgerald FF.’
9. Cllr Pat Casey FF – incumbent – ‘Cllr Pat Casey FF launches his election campaign at the Glendalough hotel.’
10. Eamon Gilmore and Nicky Kelly Labour – ‘ Dressed to impress, Eamon Gilmore fixes Nicky Kelly’s Chain before going on a walkabout. Mr Gilmore started the local and European elections campaigns in the south east visiting Arklow to open Mayor Cllr Nicky Kelly’s election office before moving on to Wexford.’
11. Liz McManus, Eamon Gilmore and Nessa Childers with local Labour Party candidates.
12. Gale Dunne FF – candidate – knocking on doors -’Gale Dunne knocks on a door looking for support in the upcoming Local Elections.’
13. Gale Dunne FF candidate – ‘Gale Dunne with Teddy Dunne, calls to Treasa Dunne seeking support.’
14. FF election launch – candidates Cllr Elenor Roche and Ciaran Hayden with support from Dick Roche
15. Ciaran Hayden FF candidate – ‘Candidate Ciaran Hayden with Vincent Brennan, Rian Hayden and Alan Monahan’
16. ‘Greystones Fianna Fail Canvas: One of the hazards of canvasing.’ – dog barking

Is there something innocuous about how representative these photos are of the ‘campaign trail’ so far when 13 out of 16 of them follow Fianna Fáil candidates only? [make that 14 if you count the barking dog].

What about how these candidates are perceived across parties when the only shots of Labour include Gilmore fixing Nicky Kelly’s chainmail and Labour candidates walking with other Labour party candidates or members? Labour are not in touch with the public and smile with glee nepotistically. This is interesting, considering that transitions from pictures 12-15 cannot be described in any other way other than belligerent and unashamed nepotism as readers pan from Gale Dunne visiting the Dunnes, to Dick Roche supporting Cllr Elenor Roche and Ciaran Hayden (who finishes out the FF photoshoot). What about the Bray People’s love-in with Cllr Grant, taking up 30% (5 pictures) of the gallery and 4 pictures dedicated to two  new FF candidates (one sharing the limelight with Dick Roche, the other with what appears to be from all the same family?)

Should we be surprised by this reinvigorated, renewed and much changed party? What about the Bray People’s responsibility in all of this and how it has been used as a blatant marketing tool by FF hacks and hawks? Is this just an overreaction on my part or did the other parties just sleep in when the early birds were out getting their worms. Hmmm..

Vote

Strategic voting, first preference choice and spoiling your poll card (last time Bray proudly dirtied 2.24% in total -that’s 228 votes – can we better than that as we were only second in the Spoilers list behind Wicklow town in 2004?) are all welcome – silence is simply consent!

Did you get on the register of electors on time or call in to see Mick the Book before Febraury 14? Check to see if you are going to the polls over there, or not.

European Parliament – What’s at stake?

The European Elections scheduled to take place on the same day as the local elections in our fair town isn’t being totted as a particularly high issue to worry about on the local radar these days – are local MEP candidates and Dick Roche doing enough to inform and challenge the town on the key issues at stake, including updates on the Lisbon II referendum?

The European Parliament’s office in Ireland has created a website to inform voters – in a nice and neutral fashion – of ‘what’s at stake’ in the European elections in June, should you want a detailed analysis of the issues. These contain in total how the EP have cut mobile roaming costs across member states and a bare bones history of the Services Directive passed three years ago.

Is that all lads? No other issues? How weak! Have party-political allegiances taken over so as to save your political skins over the collective united fronts in clarifying, supporting and informing on the other issues at stake?

More to come from the Vicar in the weeks ahead.. in the meantime take a look at Open Europe’s briefing paper on the workings of political animals at the EP

A Reply: The Curious incident of the post on Mick Glynn’s youtube wonderspot

Curious and frustrating as it is, posting onto youtube videos encourages user engagement with the medium like any blog or forum whether you agree with people’s point of view or not. Unsurprising that a light moderators hand is a necessity in maintaining civility- but what about budding councilors who use it as a career platform and seek to silence objective objectors?

My recent post onto Mick Glynn’s youtube spot has received scant updating to his glossy public threads, prompting me to carry it here and, as such, you can rest your laurels on debating the propaganda machines of local elections right here and uncensored to political censorship! ‘Real Thug Life’ from our Mick ” the discoing aristocrat” Glynn is posted below, and my reply below it. What’s yours?

A Reply to Mick Glynn’s ‘Real Life’:

Bray really is beautiful without Mick in it, isn’t it? Good thing the video didn’t include any glossy images showing your many years of complicity by sustaining a culture of alcoholism on Bray’s younger generations during the boom years where Mick Glynn MD of Planet Sound made his mint as seafront surfing DJ.

You pressed play to the same music every night in the Backbar, the same music in the Koo and you used to sing along to all of the songs other people wrote and recorded!

Why didn’t you ever mix your own music – in all your years of playing to the crowd – perhaps exhibiting some original flair or say challenging the music scene by organising a music festival proper? You played other people’s music, sang their songs and never revealed an ounce of creative fibre or originality in all your years. What makes you so sure you will ‘Make Bray Better’ now?

Maybe a campaign founded on summer festival and St Patricks Day carnivals holds some merit but have they really MBB as you are ramming at us? Your legacy screams of maintaining the status quo while piping and singing along to other peoples tunes. MBB? Sounds like an extended track trap you want us to line dance all the way to the polls to. Oh, and your MBB survey is closed presuming you didn’t actually want to hear what people had to say of course. Of course.

VB