It's about time....

From breakingnews.ie...

The Rose of Tralee is changing its criteria to allow single mothers to enter the competition.

Up until now, mothers have not been allowed to take part in the 49-year-old pageant.

Other criteria require that the entrant be aged between 18 and 27 and not be married.

How out-dated! How behind the times! How embarassing! How very fucking noble of them!

Why were single mothers excluded to begin with? It stinks of the influence the catholic church had (and to some extent, still has) in this little country of ours.

I hate that people need to baptise their children into a faith they may not particularly believe just so their child has half a chance of being accepted into the local state run, tax payer funded school.

As a non-drinker, I despise the fact alcohol is not sold here on Good Friday. How fucking narrow minded do we wish our nation to be in this multi-cultural era? Why do we discriminate against non Catholics, lapsed Catholics and a la carte Catholics who might wish to make their own choices. People of drinking age are old enough and responsible enough to decide if they want to chance a Guinness on Good Friday and run the risk of hell and eternal damnation in the afterlife. Why not treat them like the adults instead of children? Failing that, adopt an all-inclusive policy. Traditional Jewish dietary law bans the consumption of Pork at all times - ban the sale of such products immediately. Sound silly? Though so.

I detest our RTÉ broadcasting the Angelus twice daily. Islam, if I am not mistaken, has 5 daily calls to prayer - why aren't these also broadcast? It all seems a bit unfair to me. I have read in the past that the official RTÉ line that they broadcast a "period for reflection" as opposed to the Angelus. Bollox! It's broadcast at the same time as the Angelus, it is the same length as the Angelus and the chime pattern happens to be identical to that of the Angelus. In any case, who in their right mind would reflect on life and how to live it with the television or radio on - never mind the bloody bells.

The sooner this country is freed from the influence of an organisation that once tried to ban "improper dances... such as polkas and waltzes", Ireland will be a far better place.