Pat met a lady in Dublin she knew because her son had been to the same primary school as Pádraig. She told her that she had been at a car boot sale in Fairview where a girl was selling ‘schnickschnack’, showing a picture of Pádraig, planning to pass on the proceeds of her earnings from that day to him. – Sounds complicated? That’s because it is, but then again – it isn’t.

There is one thing we have learned over the past year and a bit, and that is that the generosity, the compassion, and the solidarity of the friends of Pádraig doesn’t end, it’s  infinitive.

I fear that if I read about this, I’d think “how pathetic”. But I can tell you, this is as real as it gets.

If you listen to the news, if you *still* listen to the news and hear politicians worrying about the OECD recommendations to make corporations pay tax; if you hear politicians calling for tax cuts for the high earners; if you thing about us returning a humongeous debt to German and French pension funds, with a high interest rate, because greedy bankers and builders couldn’t get enough; if you see the never-ending cuts in the health service that is no longer fit for purpose – your blood boils and you know that there is nothing you can do about it – other than helping your friends and ignoring politics and politicians. You look after the people you know. And in the process, you create an energy, a power, a dynamic that mainstream politics could only (and will always) dream about.

Padraig today had another visitor from Dublin, sharing with him a bit of what is going on at home. Bringing a bit of Dublin to this hospital that has been his base, not his home, for the past 10 months. 10 months.

He is getting better and recovering from the haematoma. The pain in his arm is obviously going down and he seems to be more relaxed.

Today’s German Music Tip
Reggaedemmi – Freiheit (2014)
What’s hot
Friendship
What’s cold
Bureaucracy
The German word/phrase/verse of the day
Hau rein!