At the Mansion House the Freedom of the City was given to two great men. Live Aid man, Bob Geldof and Olympian runner Ronnie Delaney.

This is just an honour but what an honour, it’s a mark of thanks, well done and recognition of being a Dubliner amongst Dubliners. And you can graze your sheep for free on St. Stephen’s green!

It was a nice honour, a family day and great to see the Olympic medal winner and the man who saved the world, humbled and thankful that their families where there to share their honour. Bob Geldof was there with his Dad, partner and children. Ronnie Delaney spoke warmly about the joy of sharing this honour with his family. It was touching, low key and honourable.

Many years ago, Geldof penned the vitriolic, brillant song Banana Republic about Ireland when he was denied playing at Lepordstown race course and only one hotel, Blooms, was brave enough to give them a room. Hard to believe but that song seemed annoy the delicate heart of Dublin City Council, who constantly denied him this well deserved honour. Thankfully, that bitterness has passed, and along with Ronnie Delaney who had to exile himself to train to become an Olympic winner, on a bright spring day, their city gave them their highest honour – Freedom of their hometown, Dublin. A bit like this article, better late than never, lads.

Hell, we have a three mile straight run there and sort of the city centre and only the President and the American Ambassador to bother who will probably get more gardai presence then herself. Oh, the animals in the zoo, they will need protection.

The Love Ulster parade want’s to go ahead and so they should but let them march to the President’s Aris (umm, residence of course) – but not be alone marching.

We could have the Orangemen in full regalia, the Garda band, the Army No.1 band, An IRA fife and drum band (but a chill right through ya) the Artane Boys band, the Hari Krishna’s complete with temple, the Tallagh band, the Tulla ceili band (that might raise an intelligent eyebrow or two in the US embassy), The Salvation Army Band, Big bands, little bands, a rubber bands, marriage bands, any American band that wants to turn up with cheerleaders, Dixieland Bands, Showbands>Joe Dolan, Big Tom and the Mainliners (don’t mention the Miami showband?), U2, Boybands galore supplied by Louie Walsh, the French Foreign Legion band (great in one year’s in the Paddy’s parade), the boys of the NYPD complete with wooly berets (tradition, it’s all about tradition) playing any damn tune they want, ’cause they’re great….anymore band suggesting?

They should all march down the park. Play a few tunes in front of the Pope’s cross. That should get the Lambeg drums going and sure everyone will have a great day. Oh, and the Garda headquarters are right there to keep an eye on everything too.

And the Catholic church can give awards to the ones best at the rhythm method. And for the rest of us, we can enjoy a quite day down town.

While I am at it, well done the lads last night, I think things are going to go well for young Steve Staunton, best of luck. Great game, the players really seemed to be having fun for once.

Tuberculosis has a long and sad root in Irish folk memory. For my parents and grandparents generations, it was scourge of life. The one great equaliser. And one of the major indicators of a modern Ireland was it’s eradication under the dedicated Minister for Health Noel Browne

The depth of Noel Browe’s legendary contribution to Irish society was eloquently put by Senator David Norris.

So, what’s up with that, now we seem to be going backwards, it that progress?

Should we worry?

Bush that is, for 20 minutes so that he could rally US Marines in Shannon. Their plane had refulled in Shannon and left a half and hour before Bush’s plane landed for refulling. However, the US troops plane was turned back due to a technicial hitch (yeah, right), and so they were treated to a rally by their President….on Irish soil.

We are not in NATO, why can’t he stop off in England? No, he is brazen enough to address his troops, dressed according to the Herald in the new digital camouflage battledress (is there some protocol where troops are not supposed to wear uniforms in neutral territory?).

And for this the Irish Tax-payer covered the costs of 600 gardai and an air corps helicopters ( but the one? gardai helicopter was down on Saturday).

Are we taken that for granted? Or maybe should we take that for granted?

Alfie, always the gentleman, declined her offer by saying he couldn’t because ‘was Lent. Not one to be daunted, Mae just looked at him and purred, well when you get it back, come up and see me sometime.

Such is the urban folklore in Dublin. And maybe it was true but Lent is usually the time for giving up stuff and I am going to attempt to give up drink for forty days and forty nights. Well that’s not quite true because St Patrick’s day fall in between much to the rescue of Irish all over the world. That day we feel free to break out in honour of our patron saint of course, no other reason.

Now I wish well to all to the people of New Orleans, good to hear you are keeping your spirits up and your city alive. I hope to get there some day soon. Until I do, I am going to have a big old Pina Colada, party on down with John Kelly on the radio and leave you all with one more silly joke about Lent in Ireland.

Soccer violence has had small flash points before in Dublin. Take the Bohs/Rovers clash of 2004. Or there recent one 2006 clash

But nothing on the scale of last Saturday’s riot.

There on O’Connell street, the historical birthplace of so many trends in Irish society, senseless soccer hooliganism showed its nasty face.

Look at the signs. Young men fired up. Tracksuit wearing, not because their into fitness but rather sporting clanship. The main stores that get looted are the sportswear shops, selling expensive trainers, track suits. The rioters singing Ole, Ole, Ole, the great swaggering song of the 1990′s football era. Or the chanting of Fields of Anthrey outside the GPO in the middle of the mayhem.

I am sure the garda paid great money to their informers in the Continuity IRA and the like but was that the real root of the riot? It was street lead violence. Nothing political only hooliganism for the sake of it on a Saturday afternoon.

Jeffery Donaldson said that the riot showed that Sinn Fein leadership was not in control of these people, which must beg the question who was?

McDowell worries about a tuggish fascist fringe,(how easy those words trip off his lips) Maybe they should look to the Irish business men who have been busy over the last two decades making big profits from turning a football game into an money making, alcohol fueled racket.

The tensions were building. The Scottish Celtic, versus Rangers sectarian rivalry has come home to roost in Ireland. It was okey to whip it up overseas, but now we have seem its effects here. I am a work colleague who was worried about his young son who has become a mad Celtic support and has embraced the sectarianism as part of the package. He had wanted to bring his son into Dublin to see the Orangemen march and to show them that they have a different culture and it must be respected. I hope he didn’t because this was not a pleasant sight and I figured would have fired up any young man’s blood.

Maybe we should look at the real cause of this, football hooligans have become the new patriots, with no great love of county but rather the love of riots and violence. It is as smile as that and it was no wonder Bertie Ahern was able to say that on Friday night he got rumour of there going to be trouble. He hangs with the soccer crowd, this is where the Gardai should have been looking, the young guns that fuel any riot. Let’s hope they get it right for the next time, and there will be a next time. Meanwhile we all should look at the build up of sectarianism at home in our leafy suburbs as the kids kick footballs wearing the Keano, number 16 (16, think about it?), Celtic jearsey.

I headed up to O’Connell street to buy my papers. There was the usual Saturday buzz of every nationality but given an extra twist at the Welsh rugby crowd where in town for the six nations rugby game . There was one big, big Scots man, strolling past Clearys wearing his kilt, knee high socks, white leather shoes with Scots flags on them, and a red blow-up plastic cowboy hat. And if that wasn’t enough, a black shirt carrying the words, “Brains”. Okey, and two old dears just giggled at him as they pushed their trollies. It was a just so silly, one of those daft days in Dublin. The Welsh, my favourite of the rugby crowd, they are the only people I know who when drunk, sing hymns and in harmony. Big, friendly people with yellow daffadoils . A colourful day. And I wanted a photo of a staunch Orangeman, waving a lilly outside the GPO so I took up my place at 12.30, when the parade was due to begin.

I leaned against one bus stop and chatted with a Indian lady who has come to be a psychiatric nurse. She likes it here as she thinks it’s quite but Dublin is very expensive. Tell me about it. Down the street, it became obvious there was trouble. I was trying to explain to the nurse the cause of the problem and she said, “Oh, like India and Pakistan”. Guess so. A English couple passed by saying they were up by the Parnell monument and the crowd was getting nasty. Black garbed, masked people shouting Real IRA and contuinity IRA slogans, line the side street, bangers and flares were being thrown into the crowd. Like most people, we had wanted to see the parade. Get the photo and boy, what photos,where on offer that day. Like most people we wanted to parade to pass quickly and quietly. Ignore them, just be another weird and wonderful day in Dublin. Well I guess it was.

By two o’clock, I was still at the GPO. Garda vans started to arrive, and a plane started to circle, taking pictures? Where was the Garda helicopter. No Garda on the roofs of the buildings, all on the ground, in the mill of the chaos. You could hear the clash of the riot squads shields and every now and then a rush of the crowd up the street. By this stage my arse was frozen from being press up against Jim Larkin.

Finally the crowd, rioters and Garda got the the base of the The Spire There road works barriers where thrown across the street, loose stones were flying through the air. I stood my ground. The the charge came. First the rush of track-suited young fellas, having a laugh at the fired up garda. Then the adults, some one mobile phones, others shouting across at each other, this was organised in part. Some came and sat down on the middle street, this was going to be their peaceful protest. A sit-in. Then the wave of black garbed riot squad. Each eyeing a target in the rushing wave of people. They swept both sides of the Jim Larkin statue and just beyond. Clearys had long shuttered their doors. Well, I guess they were burnt out during the Rising so knew better than most. The rioters took up a stand beside Pennys who scrambled to down their shutters. All along O’Connell street people were being locked into shops and restaurants. One check out girl in Dunnes of North Earl street said that during the main chaos they stayed open. Just off O’Connell street, by the Spire, the check-out girls sit with their backs to plate glass windows, that doesn’t even have shutters. Yet, they stayed there because God forbid, Dunnes would loose a few Euros, never mind the workers.

Back at the Jim Larkin statue, I sheltered along with the press core from the rocks, iron bars, bottles and even wheelbarrow being thrown. I was a determined blogger and this was like a 101 in journalism as we all huddled together wondering where this was going. A peaceful protest had turned into a riot. The Orangemen were on the buses and on their way home. So it was just a riot for the sake of a riot. I asked one journalist how does this end? He said usually with a water cannon. However, we don’t have one, that’s up North. At this stage it got ridiculous. We even cracked two jokes. One, “how many does it take to change a light bulb during the Dublin Riot?” Don’t know? Then you weren’t there!”. Okey, it was a surreal moment. Then a head Garda comes and tells ups to move for paramedics to hid there. Okey, I had seen enough and walked back towards the Spire and Henry street. One land was still sitting down all along in protest, on his mobile phone. There was lots of mobile phones in the air that day, a great day for the photo camera.

I walked down Henry street. Still had the normal Saturday buzz. The Gardai were nervous and excitable. One old man was protesting at not being let walk on his own streets and shouted at the Gardai, “which side are you on”. One older garda who should have know better, yelled “behind the barrier” but he look shaken and aggressive. The mood was bad.

Down Henry street, there were two tables set up by the Socialists. One where you so could sign for Rights for immigrant workers another to protest against Bush and the Americans using Shannon as a stop off for military flights. One you Socialist should for people to come and sign, and his female comrade laughed and said, “you sound just like street seller from Moore street “. This was a Socialist. It was one of those odd ball days in Dublin. A riot up the street and the political activists blissfully unaware, they had mush more serious issues than local politics. No wonder Jim Larkin throws up his hands, facing the rioters who were rioting against nothing at that stage. Just stone throwing for the heck of it.

Later, I heard about the burning of the cars in Leinster house. Now it doesn’t take a genius to guess that the hot spots were going to be be beside the GPO and near Lenister House. I said so in by earlier Love Ulster blog that these would be interesting for the historical juxtapositioning of it all. for the But the Garda were taken totally by surprise and undermanned these spots.

I stopped for a few pints. People came in and told their stories, shared their photos. As one guy said, “what do you expect when you start an Orange Order march within a stones throw (literally) of the Sinn Fein’s office on Parnell square. And then march them through a building site, past the GPO.” What were the Gardai thinking? What was their Minister, McDowell up to? How could he be so politically naive? Oh that’s right, he has feck all experience, this is his first time in the Dail and is only there because he’s a PD. The three seater party who holds the Government in power.

One Belfast guy was shaken, it brought back memories. He had come South to forget it all and now there was a riot in Dublin. He muttered only in Ireland could a peaceful march for victims turn into a riot. Well maybe, he was shaken. Then there was a rush of gardai past the door chasing a group of young track-suited teenage boys who ran like whippets laughing joyfully, enjoying the chase. The gardai stopped. They were once again, two or three out on their own. They returned and regrouped at Capel street bridge. And did a shielded march across the bridge, past shoppers and auld ones and then stopped. What were they marching on? The kids had dispersed. It was over. Arrests were made of looters of a shoe shop on O’Connell street. Not the high end Clarkes shop but the Foot Locker, they were after trainers. And two of the pople charged were non-nationals who had no interest in the politics of the suitation, they just wanting free shoes. A day of contadictions. Just another day in Dublin with all sorts of cultures coming together in their own weird way.

Now the clean up begins. I will listen to politician bliter on the radio, tying to coverup this great cock-up. The ruby match is on at 3pm, so that will be a bit of craic. Yesterday, the Welsh were wondering was all the police for them. No we said, the riot was just to intimidate you, we’ll beat the crap out of you in the game. They laughed. We laughed, it’s just another day in dull old dirty Dublin.

P.S. Ireland just won 31 to Wales 5.

As for Bertie saying he defends the democratic right, does that mean it’s okey to throw stones? This march took place as I say down a building site. Choose your weapon lads, please? A stone, a barricade. a piece of iron? And as for the riot squad, they just hit out at everything that got in their way. Slap, bang, wallop policing belongs to the dark ages.

Remember back to the Mayday preparations during the EU enlargement. The garda had done their workshops in Seattle. Ready for rioters, anarchists. Helicopters in the air, police everywhere, water canons brought down from Northern Ireland to drown a few hoddied protesters. And today? Three garda standing outside the GPO. No helicopter, no monitoring. Riot squads flying in from far away. No blocking off the streets. No garda lining the route. For feck’s sake, did they not think this home grown political rally was going to cause trouble. Feck Seattle, get real men, what sort of time zone are you living in? Do you not remember the IRA, the UVA. The garda looked just liked they did when the English “fans” rioted at Landsdown, open mouthed and amateur. Is this what we get for our money? Gobshites, bullying, hysterical gobshites and that is only the police.

Why didn’t they line the route with the new yellow packer police and see how they could stand up to real pressure. Bet they would run. Everything was after the fact. I saw one police van driven by a female garda, shoot up O’Connell street past the GPO and into the crowd only to back up, YES back up, though the crowd and keeping backing up several yards down the street and across the centre aisle. She could have killed someone.

If the gardai and the politicians hype up on this, don’t believe them, this was a disgrace. And enough said on it for the moment. McDowell must be thinking he was right all along on this one but the truth of the matter was it was a giant cock-up by his Department and the Gardai HQ. Totally out of touch, rough shod and very, very badly handled. Heads should roll on this at they should start at the top. Afer all Bertie was looking for a gap at ministeral level, now you should have one. McDowell was totally out of touch as usual on this one.

Now, I’ve never heard a Lambeg drum but I sure would like to hear that amazing sound. This Orangeman and Loyalist parade of Ulster Scots is historical for Dublin. Twenty bands wanted to parade but permission was given for only six. It is organized by William Frazer of the South Armagh Protestant victims’ group (not victims of Protestants) – Families of the Innocent (FAIR). The Orange Order Lodge has asked them not to wear their collerettes and instead they will carry orange lilies. However, Ian Paisley’s independent Orange order (always a breakaway man, aye!) will be wearing their collerettes.

Well it should be different and hopefully it will all go well. There will end with a rally at Leinster House where Jeffrey Donaldson and Danny Kennedy will give a speech. Interesting, never heard a full blown Orangeman speech either.

I guess there will be auld guys muttering at them and I hear that the Sinn Feiners are planning a counter demonstration. Hey, they can have their day at Easter. Oh well, just let them march I say. I guess I have been calling for more protest and here are the protestants or Presbyterians or whatever. Let them think they are coming down here to intimidate us. I think people will just see them (both sides) as the dinosaurs they are it this changing Ireland. There are so many different cultures and religions making up the country now. It reminds me of the old joke when Belfast born Chaim Herzog became President of Israel and the question was, is he a Catholic or Protestant Jew?

I’ll be there anyway, sure why not, it should be interesting and that’s for sure. Fingers crossed it wil be peaceful too. After all, Edward Carson was for Dublin and the Orange Order was founded here. So hey, guess they are just coming home? Oh, and for those intersted in other things, it was Carson who was the proscutor in the Oscar Wilde case. Both had been in Trinity College together.

t was because they had been students together and Oscar thought Carson a bit dull, that he relaxed and gave too much up in his defence. So methinks that dear old Oscar would be amused at the sight of these staunch men, marching and waving orange lilies in resolute protest. History has a funny way of working this out, huh?