Our man Frank on the stupidity and recklessness displayed by some people during stormy weather; memories of playing conkers (nervously)… prompted by controversy at the World Conker Championships… and more musings on ‘Internet dangers’…
It’s Monday morning as I write, and Storm Ashley appears to have come and gone, but as I wake up in the Mayo town of Castlebar, where I spent the night with my daughter Lisa, her husband Brian and their children, I am baffled by the stupidity and recklessness of some people.
As a result of all the pre-storm warnings that we had, I took the decision not to drive back to Creggs on Sunday evening – a call that was a complete no-brainer – so imagine my surprise this Monday morning when I read that some fellow (idiot) had to be rescued from the top of Croagh Patrick on Sunday afternoon, when the winds were at 100km an hour.
Seventeen people were called out to take part in a very hazardous rescue, so as well as putting his own life at risk the stupid climber also put the lives of all those rescuers at some risk as well.
Now I know he probably started his climb in reasonable weather conditions, but there is no possible way that he didn’t know what was coming, so there are no mitigating circumstances regarding the stupidity and recklessness of his actions.
I have no idea if there is any financial penalty for having to call out the rescue services, but there should be in cases like this, and the fellow who displayed such foolishness should at least have to pay for his actions.
Funny enough, as I watched a news report from Salthill on Sunday afternoon, as the reporter was being blown and battered by the very strong winds I spotted a pair of walkers passing him by, with their dogs, heading down the steps towards the sea – again I wondered at the stupidity of some people.
It all reminded me of Teresa Mannion’s famous broadcast from the same place, and it seems that no matter what there will always be someone prepared to ignore warnings and put themselves, and maybe others, in danger.
Conkers then and now: musings on an old chestnut…
As a child, one of my pet hates was the game of conkers. The truth is that, even though I would take part in the games in the national school yard, I was always terrified that the chestnut would miss the target and hit my poor little hand.
Some of the chestnuts, especially the winning ones, were as hard as iron, and many is the time I would be holding back the tears after getting a good slap from one.
Anyway, I would have thought that conkers were a thing of the past, and that nobody bothered any more – but obviously that’s where I was wrong. Apparently there is an annual World Conker Championships held in Northamptonshire, England, and thousands of spectators turn up every year to watch 400 players battle it out for the title of King Conker.
The chestnuts are carefully handpicked for the competition. They all have to be the same size and competitors have the option of rejecting up to three chestnuts before they head into combat. Over the years nearly half a million pounds has been raised for charities supporting the visually impaired.
Anyway, I would never have thought about conkers or chestnuts or any type of competition involving them if there wasn’t a bit of controversy surrounding this year’s championships. The winner, David Jakins, who claimed the title for the first time having competed every year since 1977, was accused by his defeated final opponent of cheating, after his (the loser’s) conker broke in “suspicious circumstances”.
Organisers searched the champion’s pockets and found a replica steel chestnut in them. However, after a thorough investigation (including examining video evidence) the 82-year-old was found to be innocent of any wrongdoing, and his 23-year-old opponent was accused of being a sore loser.
As there were also 14 judges watching the competition there was a feeling that he simply couldn’t have swapped the steel one for the real one and so the result stood. After trying to win it for 47 years I think it was only right that the new ‘King Conker’ kept his crown.
We have a couple of chestnut trees near the house so maybe next year I will be off to Northampton and I may yet get to be the new King Conker.
Catfishing… and a double tragedy
I have to admit that I had no idea of the word ‘catfish’ or what it meant until I read about the activities of one 26-year-old Alexander McCartney, who posed as a young girl on the Internet and tricked at least 70 actual young girls to send intimate pictures of themselves to him.
McCartney proceeded to threaten to expose them to friends and family unless they carried out “degrading and humiliating” acts, and his blackmailing tactics forced a 12-year-old girl to take her own life. The girl’s father was so distraught that he also took his own life, because he blamed himself for leaving his gun (used by his daughter) in a place where she could find it.
Now we all read about the dangers of the Internet, and how steps are being taken to minimise this type of abuse, but surely not enough is being done when the actions of one abuser can result in two deaths and in effectively destroying the lives of an entire family. As I said, I never heard of catfishing before, and I honestly hope I never hear of it again.
And finally…
Don’t forget the Creggs Harvest Festival is taking place this weekend. I am sure there is something in the extensive programme that will appeal to you over the weekend.
You can check it all out on the Creggs Harvest Festival Facebook page, and pick out the event or events you will want to attend!
