(Chris Lee with Brenda Donohue in Skerries, Co Dublin today).
He’s selling potatoes like ice cream to the Irish.
But who is Chris Lee, the musical potato van man?
“I come from a big city in [Northern China] without sea, my wife (Lisa) is from a big city in the south of China, also without sea. So I decided to take her to Skerries – which I heard is quite nice. Skerries is a tidy town and friendly, with a beautful beach – and it looks like, romantic.
So I take Lisa to Skerries and after we spent two hours on the beach, I brought her to a restaurant – that day was Skerries Music Festival and people were very, very nice and said oh you are foreigner, maybe you stay here and listen to the the music. So we thought Skerries is so nice why not stay and open a business here? And Lisa started looking for premises and finally we found this location here [Fresh Kitchen in Skerries] – and both of us were happy about the location.
“I thought now that it’s getting cold, people need more spuds. Then the ice-cream man came in with the music – and I think that’s a good idea – and it brings people’s attention.
“So I decide I’ll get the music horn from Ebay, then I put twenty or thirty bags of potatoes in my van and I open the door and people hear the music and people can see ah, that guy is – the spuds – then I think that’s not enough. So I pay money to get big posters to stick on my van and people can see that I am selling potatoes. They can listen while I play music, that’s how it works.”
Speaking to Brenda Donohue on RTE R1’s Mooney Goes Wild this afternoon..
Luke Ming Flanagan re-introduced his Cannabis Bill in to the Dail today with this plain talking plea for common sensei.
“Thank you Ceann Comhairle. I’m seeking leave to introduce ‘The Cannabis Bill 2013’ – while I don’t expect – I could be wrong – this House to support it – in the short term, I do believe in the long term that this will be seen as very progressive legislation. In the same way that people in this chamber have stood up in the past and spoke in favour of legalising contraception and divorce – and many people stayed quiet about it, I think in the future this issue will be looked at in the same way – and I believe we will see a time where the proposals that I am making and the bill that I am putting forward will make it. And one of the main reasons I believe this is, is because policy around the World is moving in this direction.
And while it is unfortunate that we are going to be the puppy dog that follows the master, I think that we should go ahead and think for ourselves. It is something that will happen – it is happening around Europe, it is happening in the United States of America, it is happening in Central America and South America.
The situation is, one million people in this country have admitted to using cannabis – that includes two cabinet ministers who have publicly admitted to it – openly, no problem about it. And I would be shocked if it wasn’t the case that there were more there.
Over a million people have decided that, well, this law – it shouldn’t be there. 150,000 people regularly flout this law. 100,000 people have now received a criminal record – now that’s an estimate from the Department of Justice, when I asked them to furnish me with the figure for the number of people with a criminal record for the possession of cannabis – I was told that they didn’t have the resources to do it, and it really wasn’t worth their while.
But from putting together the figures that I had available to me – over 100,000 people have a criminal record for the possession of cannabis. And if, if my Bill was passed and turned into law – this would mean these 100,000 people could get back, actively involved in areas such as working in education and working in areas where they are currently de-barred from.
And even if their economic activity was to rise by one thousand euros a year – that would be worth one hundred million euros to the Irish economy. There is also the potential tax dividend from legalising it, there is also the savings to the Criminal Justice System, which arrests and brings over 8,000 people every year to court over this – that money would be saved.
One of the big benefits of actually passing this Bill would be that otherwise law-abiding citizens, young people, many of them young males would then have no reason, or would see no reason why they should be in conflict with An Garda Siochana. And on other issues of crime – it would leave them more open to cooperation with An Garda Siochana – there would be many benefits in it.
Now I intend, before the year is out, to bring this for debate and to get it discussed – because two weeks ago I brought this issue to the floor of the Dail, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with the input of many of the Government’s deputies. And over the next year I hope that through NORML, an organisation that has been set up to drive this issue – to try and convince more people that operate out of this chamber that it’s the right thing to do.
And that is to invite in two doctors Cathal O Suilleabhain and Gareth McGovern from NORML to come to the Health Committee and discuss this issue. And also for doctors who are against what I propose – to come and discuss and debate this issue.
I’m also proposing that the Health Committee write to Dr. Donald Tashkin from the University of California in Los Angeles, the foremost expert on lung capacity after cannabis use.
We need to get this man in to get the facts. I’m also suggesting, and I will be writing to the Justice Committee asking them to invite the former Head of Cambridgeshire Police Force Tom Lloyd to come in and talk to them – to inform them from a criminal justice perspective why he thinks that this should be done. So that’s all I’ve got to say on this, I will be returning to it on numerous occasions over the next year.
According to a report in today’s Trinity News a woman suffering from Motor Neurone Disease has been asked to send the HSE a letter requesting the return of documents from the HSE, so she can submit the same documents back to to the HSE, otherwise she loses her medical card.
Yes.
The woman was granted a temporary medical card in May on foot of an application by her GP seeking immediate access to services and equipment.
She submitted the relevant information detailing her personal finances in July and received a letter from the HSE a month later requesting the submission of the same financial information, and the same form filled out again.
“Unfortunately if you don’t fill it out again, your card will be suspended, so that is your own decision,” she was told helpfully.
Ireland’s wheelchair rugby team’s odyssey in the inaugral wheelchair rugby six nations in France during the summer tenderly documented TONIGHT on The Underdogs on RTE Two at 9.55pm.
Junior (left) and Jade have had enough couch surfing.
They are seeking a permanent place to lurch.
Dublin-based Dogs Aid writes:
Junior and Jade are 4 months old fantastic Lurcher puppies. We have them in foster right now but both are ready for their forever homes straight away. Please email one of our volunteers marti@littlebigdog.ie if you would like to adopt one [or both] of these dotes…
That hopes by “changing the vocabulary” we can elim-inate the negative.
JB writes:
This arrived with my paper version of the Irish Times this morning. We need A.C.E to improve the ‘consolidation’? You have to hand to Gay, in fairness. He never lost it.
(Chris Lee with Brenda Donohue in Skerries, Co Dublin today).
