Nothing Is Sweeter Than The Sound Of Children’s Laughter

at

Apart from the ‘ker-ching‘ sound you hear during a bubble.

This morning.

Ailesbury Lawn, Dundrum/Ballinteer, Dublin 16.

Good times.

Via Miriam Fitzpatrick

Thanks Neil Curran (him off the telly!) and Dhod

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49 thoughts on “Nothing Is Sweeter Than The Sound Of Children’s Laughter

  1. The Lorax

    Dublin 16: Dundrum/Ballinteer – grew up there, amazing place for kids then, quiet roads and lots of gardens and open space to run around…freedom..

    1. Col

      If it’s a posh area there would be little or no young families that could afford to live there anyway!!

  2. postmanpat

    I grew up near the area. And worked a while in the Dundrum branch of a company that had 3 other showrooms in Finglas, Walkinstown and City Centre. And the most scabby miserable customers were the ones from D16, claiming they were good friends of the owners of the company and looking for discounts all the time ,SUV drivng, equity rich ,cash strapped and mentally ill , it was all about appearances with them. Needless to say, sales were low and the branch didn’t last too long.

    1. shortforBob

      If children were making a racket after 9pm on a weeknight this letter might seem less like generalised curmudgeonly moaning.

      At least the chisslers are getting some exercise and instead of quietly enjoying childhood obesity indoors. It’s a bit annoying with the weather at the moment that you need to have windows open to get some a breeze in the house and every noise is that much more noticeable, but if isn’t children it’s construction or traffic or something else.

      Hump the begrudgers.

    2. Dr.Fart MD

      even with the part about ‘not a working class area’ and the thing about taking the man out of the bog? because that’s just straight up bigotry.

    1. realPolithicks

      That sort of thing is only for the “working class” apparently. Fiachra and Fionn can only get together for “play dates” and always supervised by mummy.

      1. Lilly

        Not really, realP. Plenty of middle class areas at the moment are swarming with children out enjoying the weather. This sour puss letter writer must have grown up in the zoo, fantasizing about faraway post codes and the sound of silence.

      2. Daisy Chainsaw

        Surely all their little dorlings are supposed to be shipped of to the Gaeltacht or summer schools, rather than letting them play free range on the street like common guttersnipes.

        1. Lilly

          Most of them are doing summer camps but roam free in the evenings. Gaeltacht is only for a couple of weeks. Rejoice that they’re not stuck inside playing Fortnite.

    1. Giggidygoo

      Hah. Dublin is made up mostly of descendants of country folk. Sure we have to send up tough men and women to populate the Gardai there so that the jackeens don’t get out of hand.

  3. Emah

    Letter writer clearly looks down on working class people and people from the bog – what a beaut! Response should be “our revenge will be the laughter of our children” (and no doubt they hate republicans to, so that will rub it in nicely!).

    1. JustSayin

      It’s not even Dundrum…. It’s Ballinteer. It was pretty working class last time I viewed a house there

  4. mildred st meadowlark

    If you’re gonna be a male wobbly bit about kids playing on the street, and be an bottomhole about people’s background then at least have the stones to put your own name to it.

    1. Lilly

      My thoughts exactly. What a pathetic, miserable person. He or she should stop fannying about the house and make themselves useful somewhere; volunteer at a SVP shop or something.

  5. Lilly

    The author of this letter is one of those pillocks who puts traffic cones in front of their house to stop people parking there.

  6. Boomskidaboom

    I shall be loading the car up on Saturday at 9 am with my three young ‘uns and I will be spending the day parked on Ailesbury Lawn, letting the nippers run wild and free.

  7. Gerry’s dentist

    If ever somewhere deserved to get it’s own Bobby Sands mural it’s this notions cult de sac in the “town of the free” Baile an tSaor!
    Can we crowdfund a nice Bobby mural (complete with full planning permission of course) for them?
    https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-our-revenge-will-be-the-laughter-of-our-children-belfast-falls-rd-128792699.html?pv=1&stamp=2&imageid=9888A9A2-B547-48DD-8153-81E6D8CEC0AF&p=154282&n=0&orientation=0&pn=1&searchtype=0&IsFromSearch=1&srch=foo%3dbar%26st%3d0%26pn%3d1%26ps%3d100%26sortby%3d2%26resultview%3dsortbyPopular%26npgs%3d0%26qt%3dmural%2520of%2520bobby%2520sands%26qt_raw%3dmural%2520of%2520bobby%2520sands%26lic%3d3%26mr%3d0%26pr%3d0%26ot%3d0%26creative%3d%26ag%3d0%26hc%3d0%26pc%3d%26blackwhite%3d%26cutout%3d%26tbar%3d1%26et%3d0x000000000000000000000%26vp%3d0%26loc%3d0%26imgt%3d0%26dtfr%3d%26dtto%3d%26size%3d0xFF%26archive%3d1%26groupid%3d%26pseudoid%3d%26a%3d%26cdid%3d%26cdsrt%3d%26name%3d%26qn%3d%26apalib%3d%26apalic%3d%26lightbox%3d%26gname%3d%26gtype%3d%26xstx%3d0%26simid%3d%26saveQry%3d%26editorial%3d1%26nu%3d%26t%3d%26edoptin%3d%26customgeoip%3d%26cap%3d1%26cbstore%3d1%26vd%3d0%26lb%3d%26fi%3d2%26edrf%3d%26ispremium%3d1%26flip%3d0

  8. Fair Dues

    It’s not terrible difficult to track down the type of snark who writes this hide of filth and picks on kids.

    Bring it up on the Joe Duffy Live Line and a the Resident’s Association.

    Those creeps will always rat themselves out, fundamentally because they’re looking for notice.

    It’s a threat against kids so send it to the cops too.

  9. SOQ

    Whoever wrote this is clearly has bad communication skills but there is a valid point behind it. Some people’s children are near feral and do whatever the hell they want. You see it in restaurants all the time and it is all dismissed as ‘ah sure it’s just children’ but it’s not, it’s just your manner-less spoilt brats because others are perfectly well behaved.

    I know someone who has a hearing issue and high pitched screeching sounds will leave her in bed with migraines for days. So she asks to be moved table and all of a sudden she’s selfish and discriminating. People with hearing aids usually also have issues around loud screaming children too.

    Perhaps there is something similar going on this person? Very rarely are things so black and white as this appears.

    1. mildred st meadowlark

      Because in my experience it’s the curtain twitching entitled twats like my neighbours who are the ones with issues with kids playing in the street. They have no valid reason for it, other than the fact that they’re finished rearing their own children and consider everyone else’s a loud inconvenience.

      It may well be something as you suggest and I’m being harsh, but if you have a valid reason surely you can say your piece, give your reasons and put your name to it, instead of passive aggressive notes and hiding behind the ‘Disgruntled Resident’ nonsense.

      1. SOQ

        I think that is an old person who just wants a bit of peace and quiet, maybe with hearing issues with is causing discomfort.

        But, the owners sorry parents of these ferals are usually not the most amicable either. They are exactly the types who won’t hear a bad word about their precious and become abusive double quick .

        1. The Old Boy

          So the tactic is to start with a shot across the boughs in the form of an anonymous and vaguely abusive letter? If you feared the the response you outlined, it’s hardly likely to be productive anyway (although perhaps cathartic.)

          The letter doesn’t outline why the behaviour is anti-social over and above that it is the normal hubbub of children at play in summer. Children should and will play on the streets in suburban areas, within reason. While some parents are as you described, I think it speaks volumes that you have decided that the children are “ferals” from such a note.

          Besides, from experience, older people tend not to be so concerned about the effect children playing will have on property prices. That’s a line from the aspirant middle class playbook written by someone looking to move on to the lofty gentility of Rathfarnham.

          1. Pip

            I love the way you change ‘shot across the bows’ from a naval to a tree-lined suburban expression, OB.

          2. SOQ

            But we don’t know if this is a starting point though do we? It is highly unlikely that this is the first time this person has complained. Maybe it is their last resort out of desperation?

            And yes some people’s children are so wild, feral is a reasonable term. Old people living in fear of not only them but probably their parents too is just plain wrong.

        2. The Old Boy

          All possible, SOQ. As ever, context is everything. Like most people, I have dealt with the sorts of parents you describe, and other classes of unpleasant and inconsiderate neighbours. Luckily I have never been in a position of living in fear and would readily concede that I may act very differently if I did. I think it is the style and tone of the note that sets me against the writer; after all, we can only speculate on the facts.

    2. mildred st meadowlark

      That said, you’re right about some people letting their kids run wild and that is not on either.

      1. SOQ

        Was there not a case recently where a guy was prosecuted for terrorising a pensioner couple because they complained about the behaviour of his children?

        You wouldn’t have to look far to see where they got their attitude from.

  10. Dr.Fart MD

    i think the writer has had a fall from grace or something, and has ended up having to live here, and thinks everyone around them should adjust to suit their sensibilities. If i was a parent there I wouldnt rest til i found out who it was, you never know, they might hurt one of the children even if in a small outburst, could still happen, theres a lot of rage there. they need to be given a fright.

  11. Lilly

    This reminded me of the Mystery series of Enid Blyton books, where Fatty always solved the mystery before Mr Goon, the local dim witted PC. There was almost always a poison pen letter involved. Leave it to Fatty to find out who wrote it. Good times!

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