Fiddling at Longford

As if Nero, as the city is destroyed
Consumed by economic storm
Fiddle is played – how good we are
Come, listen to us perform…
“Forget all of your troubles
Playing music makes me forget mine…”
Fiddling in times of trouble
By leaders is the biggest crime.

Shops shutting, factories long vacant,
Pubs bust, bankrupt each hotel….
But there’s a new bypass, there’s art for that
A big fiddle, and all is well.
They found a violin during excavation,
So they thought a big one there as art should go…
The poet ponders what else could have been found there…
Good thing it wasn’t a …fiddle dil di de do!

So alls well that all is wrong in Longford
The fiddle is standing there proud,
It should symbolise all the cute hoorisms thats wrong in the world
All the smarmyism that should not be allowed.
Those who got in on the utterances for the commonest ear,
Who fault the Polish for taking all the jobs,
Then fault gypsies and travelers for not working…
Other suchlike drivel dribbles from their gob.

When their kind are voted into power
Good men of character at the ballot cast aside
We see the weakness of democracy
When all fairness and merit has died.
It will be a long time again until good times come to Longford
The fiddle stands, is played, he who has cash calls the music they play
For progressive Ireland, take the bypass by the fiddle
Towards Dublin rapid make your way!

Frustration is building in Longford at the decline in the town,with long established businesses hitting the wall, and a lack of progres in the town. Added to this, the new instillation of the Fiddle sculpture meant to represent Longford’s “Rich Musical Heritageâ€ by Cork artist Alex Pentek – based on the fact that the workmen uncovered a fiddle when excavating the hillside during the construction of the bypass – has rankled locals. The “”Percent for Arts”” scheme in times like this is seen as extravagant, especially in an area which has an arts heritage where the artist works for free and earns their living at regular work.

 

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