Monday 29 March 2010

THE NAMA SONG - Soundtrack to a National Tragedy!



A reprise of the Corrigan Brothers hit song to mark NAMA DAY

Na na na na nama
na na na na nama
its gonna be you and me
that's gonna pay

Your estate is like a bomb site
developer bust overnight
pay your tax coz u might
have to bail him out again

it was fine until Brian Cowen
pulled the Fianna Fail tent down
the jewel in Bertie's crown
now its all just a mess

Na na na na nama
na na na na nama
its gonna be you and me
that's gonna pay

Brian Lenihan has sleepless nights
like a rabbit caught in headlights
up to his neck in shsssssssh.....
the IMO ON HIS ASS

Not a builder in our eyeline
cranes are idle on the skyline
Bertie said that it would be fine
before he cut and run

Na na na na nama
na na na na nama
its gonna be you and me
that's gonna pay

receiverships and liquidation
boom to bust for our small nation
misery and consternation
where did the money go

seems like only yesterday
blowin my ssia
bougt a hot tub and a boat one day
wish I had the money now

Na na na na nama
na na na na nama
its gonna be you and me
that's gonna pay

Na na na na nama
na na na na nama
its gonna be you and me
that's gonna pay

its gonna be you and me
that's gonna pay

Thursday 25 March 2010

I welcome lifting of Good Friday pub opening ban in Limerick


Good decision in Limerick re Good Friday & Pubs - No religion should have its devotional practices enshrined in secular law! Freedom to practice yes,  but not to enforce on those who do not share their faith. I think in time this will come to be seen as a positive step both for people of religious disposition and society at large. We are not children and as mature citizens we do not need the State telling us we can't have a drink in a pub on Good Friday. Those for whom this observance is important might find it all the more meaningful when it is a matter of choice not law and calls on them to witness in the face of the prevailing culture. After all Jesus was counter-cultural so why do Christians want their faith assimilated into the secular order?

Tuesday 16 March 2010

St. Patrick's Day Post: Why the Incredible Hulk is Green - Shay Healy & Corrigan Brothers

Specially for St. Patrick's Day, the Corrigan Brothers have teamed up with Ireland's No.1 Songwriter and Eurovision winner Shay Healy to record this classic Shay Healy song.

See below or full screen on YouTube

Wednesday 10 March 2010

When President Obama comes back home to Moneygall

You heard it first here! Strong rumours of an Obama visit to Ireland in June this year - The Corrigan Brothers have written a song for the occasion and have sent a copy to the Taoiseach to present to President Obama on St. Patrick's Day in Washington.

When President Obama comes back home to Moneygall
 Will he stop off for a pint of beer
With good old Ollie Hayes
Or walk with Canon Stephen neill
To the Kearney place

Will his cousin Henry Healy
Take out the family tree
And tell him the whole story
Of his roots in Offally

Oh he’ll have an irish hooley
And he will have a ball
When President Obama
Comes back home to Moneygall

Oh music will be playing
Of that you can be sure
The Obama dancers
Will take to the floor

They’ll dance an irish  set for him
They’ll swing around the floor
And maybe our great president
Will join them for one more

Oh he’ll have an irish hooley
And he will have a ball
When president Obama
Comes back home to Moneygall

They’ll all come out to greet him
They’ll all come out to see
The man who touches all the hearts
With his humility

They’ll cheer with all their heart and soul
And they will make it known
That president obama
Is one of their own

Oh he’ll have an irish hooley
And he will have a ball
When president Obama
Comes back home to Moneygall

Oh he’ll have an irish hooley
And he will have a ball
When president Obama
Comes back home to Moneygall

Oh he’ll have an irish hooley
And he will have a ball
When president Obama
Comes back home to Moneygall

Tuesday 2 March 2010

A Good Day for Religion

Today was not an ordinary day – For one family in my parish it was a day to say farewell to a beloved one – After ninety years of life family and friends converged on a lakeside village in North Tipperary and filled a beautiful church to overflowing. There they prayed together, sang beautiful songs and shared happy memories of a good and fulfilling life.

None of this would this be unusual but we were in a Roman Catholic church and this was a Church of Ireland funeral! The deceased had lived in the village all his life – He was, like his surviving family, a part of the place - It was his home and ordinarily he would have been buried out of the local Church of Ireland church in the same village. But that church is now a private dwelling and so not for the first time the local Roman Catholic community threw open their doors so that a member of the Church of Ireland could have their funeral in their own hometown – the place they loved in life. No less than three Roman Catholic clergy turned out to show their support and not alone that but the church choir turned out in force and sang the traditional Protestant hymns with gusto that Wesley himself would have been proud of. It was as one family member observed in the eulogy, like playing rugby in Croke Park. It was a beautiful gesture and an example of true Christianity in action. I would like to think we would be as generous if the shoe were on the other foot.

But there was more to come. The burial was to take place in the Church of Ireland graveyard which is adjacent to the old church. As I and my fellow clergy led the coffin through the churchyard the occupant of the now converted church, a lady from Thailand, and I presume a  Buddhist, though I don’t know,  lit dozens of incense sticks along the route the coffin was to take to the grave. Totally unexpected it was intensely moving and impressive. I am not well versed enough in world religions to know the exact significance of this ritual but it just seemed right and was yet another example of the generous respect of one tradition for another. Today truly was no ordinary day – it was a good day for religion – a day on which its true role as a source of reconciliation and peace was demonstrated so very well. Would that it could always be so.