In case you are bored here’s a puzzle. I can get two – octopus and walrus!
MY FAVOURITE WOMAN
My TV highlight of the week was watching Miriam Margolyes take on Australia. What a lady she is, some say she’s like Marmite, you either like her or loath her, doesn’t worry this ‘short, fat, Jewish lesbian’ as she calls herself because she likes Vegemite! In two programmes she travelled the length and breadth of the country that has become her second home and the emotion she showed when presented with her certificate of citizenship was wonderful; it’s the native home of Miriam’s partner in life obviously a woman she loves with every ounce of her powerful little frame. Driving herself in a sort of camper van can’t have been easy for the 79 year old all on her own – with a camera crew somewhere bringing up the rear – she gets into some potentially difficult conversations but she’s brave, she just weighs in with her question – ‘Why are you so big’, she asks a hugely over weight man, ‘Good Australian barbies’, she completely captured the hearts of a transgender group, men to women, who invited her to their cabaret club where she slept through the performance and they forgave her. She asked them a very personal question, after they stopped laughing, their answer: ‘We still have our cockadoodles Miriam!’
You can even forgive her dreadful language and lavatorial humour mostly about passing wind which she excels at!
Meeting young boys living their lives on the street was emotional, again she befriended a tough young man who hugged her goodbye but ran back to give her another, he had found someone who talked straight and wanted to know what was important to him.
On the 5 live Scott Mills and Chris Stark programme yesterday morning she was their guest and she admitted that one of the people she met, a young man who came from foreign parts made good and now ran a successful shop but after something like 15 years was still waiting to be officially recognised as an Australian and not only was his heart in his mouth as the decision was due in the next couple of weeks, Miriam too was equally apprehensive, and there was a wobble in her voice, she really cared. She said she’s in touch with most of the people she met over the two programmes and she’s waiting for the e-mail from him in the hope that he will get his wish.
The programme that followed on 5 Live was At Home with Colin Murray interviewing a young boxer who took himself from street gangs to the top of his professional. I have long been an admirer of Colin Murray, like Margolyes he is fascinated by the people he meets, he genuinely wants to hear their story, he asks searching questions and he appreciates the fact that they are spending time with him and as a result they tell him secrets they wouldn’t tell other interviewers.
Monday to Wednesday at 10.30 p.m. he takes over the air waves for two and a half hours of chat and at midnight the irreverent virtual pub where after lockin anything goes. This is an exception broadcaster proud to come from Belfast who’s been in and out of hot water during his career but he has matured into something special and for me a delight to listen to. I have the greatest respect for him.
Eglits Learning To Fly
Paulyn Marrinan probably didn’t realise at the time but when the nun smacked her outstretched hand as a punishment for being late for assembly, a sense of injustice became a life long passion and a dedication to the law,
“No one asked me why I was late, in fact it was because of a holdup on the way to school. I was one of a number of pupils who were punished and none of us had the right of reply. I thought that was very unfair.”
We swop stories about the trials of growing up, making our case in the hope that someone listened. The conversation swung from one topic to another, all law related and that’s the way it is in her book, What Does Law Mean MuMu? No high fluting high court language, this book is aimed at young people although it will be of interest to everyone. Apart from a couple of brushes with the courts I know nothing, at least I did know nothing until I read this book. The language is easy, the terms explained, the background to our laws told in stories that live on in the visual memory.
Paulyn, who was born in Belfast and comes from a generation of highly respected lawyers and judges, is herself a senior counsel and was Ireland’s first insurance ombudsman and the founding ombudsman for the Defence Forces Ireland and that’s not even the half of an outstanding career.
Now living in Dublin, with her wide experience in all things legal, she was considering writing a text book for young adults. “But it would sit on the bookshop shelf and only be of interest to those wanting to follow a career in law, so I thought why not more of a story book and the idea caught on. When I was going through possible chapter headings I asked my granddaughter who was just nine at the time to tell me what she thought. She did more than that, she took a pen and wrote another heading: ‘What about baddy policemen?’ Because of her interest I knew I was on the right track!”
And so the book began to take shape. Known to her four grandchildren as MuMu, Paulyn took a ‘walk and talk’ tour with them stopping at various places of interest to discuss how law impacts on everyday life. And using a clever device she introduces a French pen friend who compares how the law works in France and how it differs from Ireland and the UK.
One tour was to the courts, ‘theatres of justice’, divided into layers she explains; “There are District Courts in local areas and the Circuit Courts in main towns and cities where cases up to a certain monetary limit are heard. And then there are the high courts, the Court of Appeal and ultimately the Supreme Count which is over all of these courts.” And so opens the adventure into Lady Justice, wigs and gowns and women and the law, the story of May Donoghue who was enjoying an ice cream and ginger beer in a cafe in Scotland. “Her friend poured the remainder of the ginger beer from the dark coloured bottle into the tumbler and as she did out came a dead snail.” This was the start of Ms. Donoghue pursuing a claim through the courts but it was seven years before she was successful, it was complicated and as a result a new law was made, known as the Snail in the Bottle Case!
In 1919 the law changed to allow women to be come barristers. Fay Kyle made history becoming the first woman to be called to the Bar in the United Kingdom of which Ireland was then legally a part.
The young people discussed many topics with their granny, poor quality housing, young offenders, the Corn Laws, the Famine, the misuse of social media, even the poetry of Yeats. In one emotional conversation MuMu tells them of Harry Patch the last surviving British soldier of the First World War who died in a care home in Somerset in July 2009 aged 111. He was wounded at the Battle of Passchendaele and lost so many friends, some of the 3,000 soldiers lost every day. The war was, he said, a licence to murder and he lived with the memory every day and became highly respected as an anti-war hero. It was an introduction to a discussion of suffering all over the world, war, oppression, terrorism and injustice.
What a wonderful granny to have and what a great book she has written for all young people to learn in an easy and entertaining way. There are deep thoughts, bullying for instance and there’s the useful meaning of words heard in court reporting, loco parentis where someone stands in the place of a parent or guardian, non compass mantis meaning not of sound mind and most important, ignorant juris non excusal – ignorance of the law excuses not.
MuMu and The Learners as she calls her little troop of young people, pass on some invaluable basics when it comes to the law just as Paulyn herself learned a basic lesson when Mrs. Davis, a ‘significant’ teacher explained to her six year old pupil that you must never be afraid to admit that you don’t understand something, always ask for an explanation because the worst thing you can do is, whether out of shyness or embarrassment, pretend that you’ve understood. The Learners have learned that lesson well, I don’t think they will ever be afraid to ask why – why are people kept in prisons, who is in charge of the police, where do the rules come, what happens if the government fails to run the country properly, what is mediation? You’ll find the answers in this book.
Published by Porteo Marketing priced £9 and a Podcast is available by putting audiobook.com What Does Law Mean MuMu? into your search engine. Extremely interest and some important knowledge for us all.
Another week flies by – middle of summer and still no positive news for the future of our health and well being. Just keep following the advice, masks on – mind you so few people are adhering to this advice in supermarkets and I think it would help if staff on the floor stacking shelves and walking around wore face coverings, then the public would realise it’s a serious attempt at safety, an example of good practice and they’d all join in. And keep washing your hands!