From Castlebar - County Mayo -

Frank Cawley
Mulranney New years Eve 2007
By Frank Cawley
18, Jan 2008 - 12:19

All of these photos were taken in Mulranney on New Year's Eve 2007, about four hours before I had poured almost a bath full of ale down my gullet to help anaesthetise the annual new year's celebrations. If it were New Year's Eve every day, even the family dog would be chewing antidepressants.

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Ahhh the warmth of global warming! It's not that many years ago that we used to skate every winter; be it in the pool in Davitt house or the town lakes. No one has drowned skating thank God and none of the lakes have frozen now for almost 10 years. The only frozen lake I've discovered is the ice cold hearts you will find in some of the foreign nurses that make their way to this country. You buy them a drink, tell them you're a property developer rich in assets and they it's almost like they wouldn’t give you a kick even in a stampede. It's interesting that the average temperature on Mars is supposed to have increased by the same percentage over the past 100 years as it has on Earth, because, unless "My Favorite Martian" TV show is real I don't think there is any human life on Mars. I find it bizarre that we don't take advantage of all the freee energy in Ireland. I often take a stroll around the Castlebar windfarm and I find it a peaceful relaxing place. I think they add to the environment because they allow you to see nature through the wind. 70% of people would agree with me but unfortunately the majority does not rule when it comes to planning for energy use in Ireland. I welcome the proposed introduction of an EU hyper grid this will mean that wind energy will become more reliable, because when it's dead calm in Belmullet it will be kite flying weather in Lisbon or Copenhagen. Its hard to imaging looking at Mulranney today that it once had a tropical climate - where do you think the Ballynaboy gas came from? Climate change is the same as those foreign nurses hot one minute and bitterly cold the next

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I like the way that the clouds in the sky reflect the pattern on the beach. You can see Clare Island's neck is wrapped in the a winter scarf of cloud.

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I saw a man shaving himself in the reflection along the beach.

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These wild geese (brent geese I think) have been annual visitors to Ireland for the last thousands of years, but they don’t chance the transatlantic crossing as often any more, the winters weren’t as harsh in Greenland and they can always take the easy jet down the east coast of North America, where thousands of them end up caught in friendly crossfire, and the grills of 4.5 liter Dodge Durangos.

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People with a keen sharp eyesight might notice Lucy the wonder dog doing her two-legged walk across the strand here in Mulranney. If you’re the kind of person that could spot discarded winning docket on the floor of Paddy Powers then you will see the smoke rising from the village cottages into the greenhouse gas that we like to call the sky.



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