I can’t go on. I’ll go on.
Samuel Beckett

Playback on RTÉ Radio One on Saturday mornings is a programme Pádraig listens to most Saturdays. Yesterday, they played a clip of our good friend Vincent reading one of his poems, which he had called “Beckett on a Boreen”. It’s just under two minutes, totally absurd, brilliant and incredibly funny. Only in Leitrim. Listen to it. It will brighten up your day.

Beckett on a Boreen by Vincent Woods

There were another few reports from the past week that caught our attention.

Like the one in which a journalist reminded a politician that after the last really bad floods in Middleton, Co. Cork, in 2015, they had promised to build flood defences within five years. Last week, the town was, again, totally flooded, the livelihood of many people destroyed by masses of water – three years after the flood defences were supposed to be built. When the politician blamed the complicated and slow planning process, the journalist stopped him and checked whether he had heard that correctly: the Government blaming their own bureaucracy for grinding desperately needed projects to a halt, or, even worse, preventing the projects from starting in the first place.

Even when everybody agrees, including the Government, things don’t happen, not because of a lack of funding, but because of bureaucracy not working.

Sounds familiar?

Yesterday, Pádraig went down to Griffith Park to check out the water levels of the Tolka.

High Water Levels at the Tolka River in Drumcondra

No flooding yet in Dublin, but really high water levels. Pádraig likes his special ptosis glasses that help him to keep his eyes open and take in his surroundings, including a quick snack at the little café in the Park.

I asked Pádraig whether it was ok with him to blow his cover (and that of his friends who accompanied him). Not everybody would lightly admit to have been to an S Club 7 gig like the one they went to last Monday night. They said it was ok.

You can see how much fun they had.

Life must be about having fun. Even, or especially, when faced with the absurdities of life. I can’t go on. I will go on. Sun, Moon. Moon, Sun. What is it?

Oh Jaysus, lads, sure, how would I know? I’m not from around here.

We’ll have to wait for Godot. With Beckett on a Boreen. In the city. In our everyday lives.