The Watchdog

Something seriously has to change in this country when it comes to working class people and the way we speak. For years we have had the government and the media telling working class communities about racism and discrimination and how we should treat people. And that's fair enough. But when are they going to look at themselves and ask how working class people have been treated in this country for years? Look at The Commitments, The Snapper and Love/Hate. Some of the biggest Irish films and television programmes ever made. Full of strong working class Dublin accents. People loved them. Millions watched them and plenty of people made plenty of money from them. So our accents are grand when they're making somebody money or entertaining people. But turn on the news. Turn on a current affairs programme. Look at the people in senior positions in some of the biggest companies in this country. Where are the strong working class Dublin accents? How many people over the years have gone for interviews and felt they had to change the way they spoke because somebody might judge them the minute they opened their mouth? There's actually a name for it. Accentism. Judging somebody because of their accent. So maybe before people in government and the media lecture working class communities about discrimination, they should have a good look at how working class people have been judged because of their accent, their address and where they came from. And another thing that needs to change is education. Children should be taught properly about voting. They should be taught how hard people fought for the right to vote, why their vote matters, how government actually works and how they can use their vote to demand better for their own communities. Working class people have kept this country going for generations. Our voices shouldn't just be good enough when somebody can make money from them. If our accents are good enough for the cinema and television, they're good enough for the newsroom, the boardroom and every other room in this country.

As Irish people continue to struggle to get by the insurance companies continue to do as they like. We need to Bring In unversial healthcare for Irish citizens only. We need to abolish the Medical Card means test system. The entire system of private healthcare. Private Bin companies. Private Energy companies Approved housing Body's This has all proved to be a disaster for the country.

🎄 CHRISTMAS LIGHTS UPDATE 🎄 Fellow Councillor Ring spoke out on the radio last night about the decision to move the lights from December to January. A number of councillors are very disappointed with this change, and it came as a surprise to many of us. But let's also be fair here, this isn't simply the Lord Mayor's decision. Dublin City Council and staff members are also involved in this decision. Let's remember the history of this. In 2018, Dublin City Council itself introduced these lights as a “new Christmas initiative”, designed to illuminate Dublin throughout the month of December. And only last year, in 2025, then Lord Mayor Ray McAdam described them as becoming one of Dublin's “great Christmas traditions” and encouraged people to come into the city and enjoy some “Christmas cheer”. So let's stop pretending these lights suddenly have nothing to do with Christmas. Councillor Ring and Councillor Christy Burke have made a very sensible suggestion. Turn the lights on for Christmas and leave them on right through until the end of the St Brigid's Day celebrations. St Brigid's Day absolutely deserves to be celebrated and highlighted in its own right. Dublin City Council has one of the best events teams in the country, and I'm sure they can come up with something different and special for St Brigid's Day as well. And I'll make my own position very clear. I don't call them Winter Lights. I call them Christmas lights. They've lit up Dublin throughout December since 2018 as part of our Christmas celebrations, and that's where I believe they belong. If Councillors Ring and Burke bring forward an emergency motion to reverse this decision, I will fully support it. A change like this should involve proper engagement with elected councillors. Give the councillors, and more importantly the people of Dublin they represent, some respect. If it's not broken, don't fix it. Keep our Christmas lights at Christmas, and give St Brigid's Day the celebration it deserves in its own right. 🎄