{"id":2715,"date":"2016-05-07T07:00:07","date_gmt":"2016-05-07T07:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/?p=2715"},"modified":"2016-05-07T07:00:07","modified_gmt":"2016-05-07T07:00:07","slug":"blog-walking-into-the-light-darkness-in-light-in-galway-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/blog-walking-into-the-light-darkness-in-light-in-galway-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"Blog &#8211; Walking into the Light &#8211; Darkness In Light in Galway 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Dido - The Day Before The Day (Short Film)\" width=\"660\" height=\"371\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xfP9MFb12VI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>This has been a year where the loss of folk before their time has been all too common and public. I also this morning managed to finally do the Darkness into Light walk here in Galway.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2716\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2716\" style=\"width: 960px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Darkness-into-Light-walk-in-Galway-for-Pieta-House-this-morning.jpg\" alt=\"Walking towards the Claddagh from Salthill at the Darkness into Light walk for the prevention of suicide and in aid of Pieta House this morning.\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2716\" srcset=\"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Darkness-into-Light-walk-in-Galway-for-Pieta-House-this-morning.jpg 960w, https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Darkness-into-Light-walk-in-Galway-for-Pieta-House-this-morning-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Darkness-into-Light-walk-in-Galway-for-Pieta-House-this-morning-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Darkness-into-Light-walk-in-Galway-for-Pieta-House-this-morning-700x393.jpg 700w, https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Darkness-into-Light-walk-in-Galway-for-Pieta-House-this-morning-332x187.jpg 332w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2716\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Walking towards the Claddagh from Salthill at the Darkness into Light walk for the prevention of suicide and in aid of Pieta House this morning.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I lost a good friend last December, and only heard about it from another friend in Serbia in January. As I listened to the Dido song I thought of him, his wife and family. The signs were there for many many years, and there was very little could be done in his situation, similar to Lucy Stack, about whom I had written the verse <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/smiles-can-hide-a-million-tears\/\">&#8220;Smiles Can Hide a Million Tears&#8221;<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>While doing the walk today my mind was on this as I listened to snippets of conversation from the jovial crowd among whom I was walking. I was in somber mood myself and not very chatty. Its a fundraiser for Pieta House, an organisation similar to the Samaritans, and when posting about going to it in the small hours of this morning I mused that its ironic we campaign to get folk to open up about their feelings to avert suicide with great government support for the campaigns, only for the policies of the very same governments causing a lot of suicides.<\/p>\n<p>We have lost a few campaigners against austerity, and while reflecting on them I realized how horrific the throwaway remark Bertie Ahern made about naysayers as he called folk who warned of the impending crash when he said &#8220;Why dont you go and commit suicide&#8221; &#8211; too many have done that since. One such young man was <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/another-enemy-less-for-enda-trevor-murtagh-tribute-r-i-p\/\">Trevor Murtagh, on whose death I said Enda had one less enemy<\/a><\/strong>, the cruelest twist on that musing is that as we remember the death of Trevor and others like him Enda Kenny was re-elected Taoiseach.<\/p>\n<p><em>How many more names will be added to the list of 500 plus every year that we lose to suicide, twice the rate we lose in car accidents?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The river patrol in Galway is up and running and have averted quite a number of attempted suicides, but they cannot get to help everybody, and the sea takes its toll every year, what I mused on in <strong>&#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/catch-of-the-merrow\/\">Catch of the Merrow&#8221;<\/a><\/strong>. As I walk down from work to my home I pass a missing person poster for a young girl who was found in Merlin Woods, for whom I wrote the verse &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/birds-sing\/\">Birds Sing<\/a>&#8220;, and its only as I write this that I realise what a collection of verse I have on this macabre topic, showing how common it is, for of all the cases there is, its rare I write on it.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version=\"6\" style=\" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);\">\n<div style=\"padding:8px;\">\n<div style=\" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;\">\n<div style=\" background:url(data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAAGFBMVEUiIiI9PT0eHh4gIB4hIBkcHBwcHBwcHBydr+JQAAAACHRSTlMABA4YHyQsM5jtaMwAAADfSURBVDjL7ZVBEgMhCAQBAf\/\/42xcNbpAqakcM0ftUmFAAIBE81IqBJdS3lS6zs3bIpB9WED3YYXFPmHRfT8sgyrCP1x8uEUxLMzNWElFOYCV6mHWWwMzdPEKHlhLw7NWJqkHc4uIZphavDzA2JPzUDsBZziNae2S6owH8xPmX8G7zzgKEOPUoYHvGz1TBCxMkd3kwNVbU0gKHkx+iZILf77IofhrY1nYFnB\/lQPb79drWOyJVa\/DAvg9B\/rLB4cC+Nqgdz\/TvBbBnr6GBReqn\/nRmDgaQEej7WhonozjF+Y2I\/fZou\/qAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/BFF6RoXwxXt\/\" style=\" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;\" target=\"_blank\">The #dawn breaks in #salthill at #darknessintolight for #pietahouse<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;\">A video posted by Thomas Carty (@tomjcarty) on <time style=\" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;\" datetime=\"2016-05-07T04:18:38+00:00\">May 6, 2016 at 9:18pm PDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async defer src=\"\/\/platform.instagram.com\/en_US\/embeds.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>As the dawn breaks as we head west back to the Leisureland complex the sun rises at our backs, and I veer off to get my breakfast and head on in to do a twelve hour shift, I thought of the significance the title of the walk has to lodge members, and then thought of <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/veil-through-which-we-all-pass\/\">Victor, and member of 321 in Tullamore<\/a><\/strong> for a long time.<\/p>\n<p>They say there is an <a href=\"http:\/\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/at-the-age-for-this\/\">age when you find yourself all too often going to funerals<\/a> and you know you have reached middle age. I noticed this a few years back, life was becoming a series of funerals, but it was the generation ahead of me moving on to make room for me and mine to be the grouchy auld feckers for now it is our day such a role to fill&#8230; but its doubly tragic when the funerals come from suicide, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/phonecalls-never-made\/\">triply when you miss<\/a> them&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>But such is life. All we can do it be a shoulder to cry on for those who need it, and try to prevent the preventable ones such as those which have come about as a result of the property crash. If we refounded the Land Commission that was only wound up in the 1970&#8217;s and took the distressed mortgages off the banks the way they did off the landlords and sell them on new terms even over two generation to the homeowners that would save the homesteads, stabilise the banks books and make the government a profit, and possibly is the only way they will get the bail out money back from the banks. While Bank of Ireland paid back in full and AIB is making shapes about repaying, the Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Permanent money is gone for good. No such breaks for farmers who worked hard to make a go of their family holdings. A farm is not an enterprise like a pub or factory, its a homestead that exists to make a living from, built for the next generation, its a home, its a homestead.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>But capitalism does not care. And the tragedy as we campaign against suicide is to know that a good 10% or more are 100% preventable by a government who cries crocodile tears. In memory of those, and those for whom little could be done, I walked this morning&#8230;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This has been a year where the loss of folk before their time has been all too common and public. I also this morning managed to finally do the Darkness into Light walk here in Galway. I lost a good friend last December, and only heard about it from another &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[194,155],"tags":[2813,2812,2809,891,1438,2806,2807,2354,1001,2808,1806,391,2811,2814,313,2805,507,2810],"class_list":["post-2715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-death","tag-2016-election","tag-anti-eviction-taskforce","tag-bank-repossessions","tag-blog-2","tag-dail-eireann","tag-darkness-into-light","tag-darkness-into-light-walk-galway","tag-death","tag-enda-kenny","tag-farmer-suicides","tag-fine-gael","tag-galway","tag-ken-smollen","tag-new-governement-in-ireland","tag-obituary","tag-pieta-house","tag-suicide","tag-the-hub","column","twocol"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7EI4f-HN","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4880,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/hitting-the-stage-drama-in-galway-to-help-the-samaritans\/","url_meta":{"origin":2715,"position":0},"title":"Hitting the Stage &#8211; Drama in Galway to help the Samaritans","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"13th December 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"My first stageplay, \"Lapot\" hit the virtual stage with an online reading of an extract of it by \"Evas Echo\" Theatre here in Galway in aid of Samaritans The work that Samaritans do is well known, and is doubly critical in these times when standard HSE services are pared back\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3132,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/red-sky-at-dawn-in-ballybrit\/","url_meta":{"origin":2715,"position":1},"title":"Red Sky at Dawn in Ballybrit","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"3rd September 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Birds on the street eat litters breakfast buffet The crows and jackdaws take to the sky in fright Seagulls braver are tardy to flee Being more brazen so easy dont take fright. Darkness quick has fled to bed The waking sun paints a crimson sky - \"A Shepherds warning\" the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Environment&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Environment","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/environment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red Dawn - A crimson sky over Ballybrit heralds a rainy day according to folklore","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Red-Dawn-A-crimson-sky-over-Ballybrit-heralds-a-rainy-day-according-to-folklore.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Red-Dawn-A-crimson-sky-over-Ballybrit-heralds-a-rainy-day-according-to-folklore.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Red-Dawn-A-crimson-sky-over-Ballybrit-heralds-a-rainy-day-according-to-folklore.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Red-Dawn-A-crimson-sky-over-Ballybrit-heralds-a-rainy-day-according-to-folklore.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3658,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/stations-of-the-cross-while-walking-home-from-work-on-good-friday-morning\/","url_meta":{"origin":2715,"position":2},"title":"Stations of the Cross While Walking Home From Work on Good Friday Morning","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"14th April 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"A reflection on Good Friday, contrition, the death of Christ, the arrogance and sins of the church, the current hope of lasting reform, and for a church and faith stronger in future through being humble and honest, not a political powerhouse. Cold and calm, Good Friday morning Walking home from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Catholic Church Scandals&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Catholic Church Scandals","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/ireland\/catholic-church-scandals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Galway Cathederal seen from across the Corrib River at Terryland Forest","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Galway-Cathederal-seen-from-across-the-Corrib-River-at-Terryland-Forest.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Galway-Cathederal-seen-from-across-the-Corrib-River-at-Terryland-Forest.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Galway-Cathederal-seen-from-across-the-Corrib-River-at-Terryland-Forest.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Galway-Cathederal-seen-from-across-the-Corrib-River-at-Terryland-Forest.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Galway-Cathederal-seen-from-across-the-Corrib-River-at-Terryland-Forest.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3036,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/blinded-by-pokemon\/","url_meta":{"origin":2715,"position":3},"title":"Blinded By Pokemon","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"22nd July 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I went walking with the housemate who never walks a few mornings back... looking for Pokemon. She didnt see the cat running up a hedge until it was but gone - rare for an animal lover like her, nor did she notice much of the nature around her. This is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Funny Poems&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Funny Poems","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/funny-poems\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"What the Pokemon hunter missed: the serene view to Salthill from Ballyloughnane Beach across Galway Bay. I hunt images like this with my camera phone in different lights and weathers... got to catch them all!!!","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/20160719_085346-1024x576.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/20160719_085346-1024x576.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/20160719_085346-1024x576.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4155,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/columbus-in-galway\/","url_meta":{"origin":2715,"position":4},"title":"Columbus in Galway","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"10th November 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Long before the ocean blue he sailed In a journey history often has told Galways streets were walked by a Gonoan man As provisions he bought and good he sold. In those days Spain had a motto Non Plus Ultra, believing there was nothing more Now, having discovered America, Its\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;America&quot;","block_context":{"text":"America","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/america\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"St Nicholas Church in Galway - Columbus is said to have prayed here when in Galway in 1477","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/St-Nicholas-Church-in-Galway-Columbus-is-said-to-have-prayed-here-when-in-Galway-in-1477-169x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4627,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/future-english-king-on-galways-streets\/","url_meta":{"origin":2715,"position":5},"title":"Future English King on Galway&#8217;s Streets","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"7th March 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The royal visit to Galway brought mixed feelings - they are a nice couple, but is it too early to welcome British Royals where their forces killed our heroes?","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Current Affairs in Ireland&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Current Affairs in Ireland","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/ireland\/current-affairs-in-ireland\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Union-Jack-flies-over-the-streets-of-Galway-for-the-Royal-Visit.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Union-Jack-flies-over-the-streets-of-Galway-for-the-Royal-Visit.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Union-Jack-flies-over-the-streets-of-Galway-for-the-Royal-Visit.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Union-Jack-flies-over-the-streets-of-Galway-for-the-Royal-Visit.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2715"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2715\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2717,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2715\/revisions\/2717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}