The Wee Paper, Buncrana (2025)

07/11/2025

Transition

I am ok with dying
Because I know it is my destiny
I surprise myself with that realisation
Yet I’m glad I have reached that plateau

When young was in me
Death was a big black hole
To be avoided at all costs

Life was sunshine
Beautiful,
Fresh green grass
Crystal water
Sweetness

Somewhere in between Now
and the sublimity of youth
A haze took my soul
I slumbered in the emptiness

Maybe I was just in the queue
Waiting on my time to awaken
Now, I am detached from materialism
Detached from the power of ego

Is that spiritual awareness
Or resignation

I can smell the green grass
Taste the crystal clear water
See the beauty
Sunshine and sweetness live in me
Again

Nmar, November 2025

06/11/2025

Later Will Do !

People from outside the country are amused at how the Irish handle their problems, big and small.

Even at work, management will instruct staff to start fixing a problem next Monday. (not today, no matter what day it is)

Today (Thursday 6th November), our government has announced that from next Monday, all birds held by owners should be kept indoors to protect them from bird flu.

The same directive was given in Northern Ireland, but it is operational from today. (I wonder why?)

You might ask, on which Monday are they going to start fixing the housing crisis or the HSE?

Don't try to answer that, because they won't.

Tony Grant, November 2025

03/11/2025

DJ goes to prison, trackers go to Hell

On the same day that DJ is sent to prison for fraudulent behaviour, RTE is showing a documentary about the fraudulent behaviour of Banks towards their customers, resulting in catastrophic effects in some cases, only to be rewarded for their commercial efforts with a bailout from us, the Irish taxpayer.

How can it be that the present Taoiseach, Michael Martin was in the government when this occurred and he is still running the country.

Also, Charlie McConalogue is still here in Donegal all these years later, and we have not held either of them to account.

I think it says more about us than it does about them, we are that type of people, we take pride in taking a good battering and we are even prouder to come back for more.

The banks are "still looking into" the request for them to suspend mortgages and the interest of the victims of defective blocks while they are not living in their homes and are under reconstruction. We love the "mighty Banks" and we love the "even mightier politicians", they can do no wrong.

It is indeed "a great wee country."

Tony Grant, November 2025

25/10/2025

Going Nuts about Your Health

The walnut, the prostate, and the brain have a lot in common; to the untrained eye, we are told they look alike for a start; they all contain oils and fats that are essential for remaining healthy.

A few walnuts added to your salad or a handful of pumpkin seeds taken daily is the "medicine in the kitchen" men need to help maintain a healthy prostate.

Movement is the next vital ingredient for a healthy prostate. Get the blood moving into your ge****ls and around your lower limbs. This is also good for your heart and your brain.

Men need to move more as they get older, not less, to keep their testosterone and their libido high.

If both are low, it is reversible, not by going to the gym, no, it can be a lot more enjoyable than that.

The most important s*x organ in the body is the brain.

Stay Curious, Stay Hydrated, Stay Alive, Stay Healthy and Happy.

Tony Grant, October 2025

22/10/2025

Your Number 1

The choice is yours on Friday, so don't waste this opportunity to choose the person most likely to represent your opinions and your way of life.

If your choice was locked out of the election by FG dictating to their councillors not to select anyone in the County Councils, don't let that stop you from using your vote.

FF supporters will want to vote for their candidate, but please don't do so on this occasion because the only outcome of doing that will be a slap in the face for your leader, because he has withdrawn from the race, and perhaps FF may get their deposit back. Very small change in the greater scheme of things.

Our choice is clear, as you can see from the picture above. We believe Catherine Connolly is the best candidate to become President.

Tony Grant, October 2025

19/10/2025

A Bad Article

Heather Humphreys was welcomed to Buncrana as a government minister in July 2022 to officially open Swan Park. I approached her after her speech and gave her my "Shopping List" on behalf of Buncrana. She took my leaflet and said, "I will look into them for you". I never heard from her again.

I am bringing this up again because she is looking for your vote on Friday.

My view is that she was asked to support Buncrana in 2022, and she did nothing for Buncrana.

I think it is only fair that we should do nothing for her now.

The contract is clear:

You do nothing for us, and we do nothing for you.

Tony Grant, October 2025

17/10/2025

Government at WAR

Our government in Dublin gathered all its forces and slammed the door in the faces of the people of Donegal by casting aside every word that Charles Ward put forward in his proposal, which was supported by the entire opposition.

The government crossed the line by crushing any reform of the existing pathetic grant scheme to rescue the victims of the DCB debacle.

In the past, Donegal people thought that they were the “Forgotten County”; they need to think again because this behaviour by the government during the week doubles down on that bad attitude and is more like a “Declaration of War” on the people of Donegal because they are refusing to fix an injustice of their making.

They are saying loud and clear, to the people of Donegal: “Get Lost” – “Shove OFF” – “We Don’t Care” – “You are NOT important to us.” - “Dirt on our shoes”

They stood idly by and watched Defective Concrete Blocks being produced for use in home building. They introduced a “Light Touch Regulation” policy that turned a “blind eye” to the misuse and abuse of defective materials used for profit against the people of Donegal.

The government solution was to introduce a 5% Concrete Levy, which increased the burden on the victims even more as they struggled to rebuild their homes.

The entire opposition used the Dail, as a democratic means to solve the problem and the door was slammed in their face. By doing that, they slammed the door in the faces of the people of Donegal.

Whatever way you look at it:

This is a S**T government, a government at WAR with the people.

Tony Grant, October 2025

14/10/2025

Rated €0

The dreaded Local Property Tax is upon us again as winter approaches; all property owners are faced with putting a value on their property for the purpose of paying the LPT.

Some help can be found online: cso residential property price index

Many of us in Donegal have the added headache of owning a home that is effected with the dreaded “Mica” DCB. In truth, many of us can say that our homes are valueless in their present form and can not be sold on.

Many of us are looking out our windows at other homes on our street being demolished, wondering when our turn will come and how much we will be out of pocket, if and when we get the government grant to rebuild.

It is unfair that people have to wait until the test turns up “positive” before they are exempt from paying the LPT. When they can’t sell and they can see the cracks spreading by the month.

Contrast this with residents from across the border who bought a home in Donegal and now find themselves with “Mica” and combined with other issues apply to return to N.I. and apply for public housing, the value of their home in Donegal is down-valued to €0 to facilitate this.

I think that anyone paying their LPT should write a letter to Revenue explaining this to them and state that “they are making this payment under protest and that they would be seeking a refund when they get a “positive” diagnosis on their home.

Our TD’s and Councillors should be working on this issue, but instead Donegal County Council voted to raise the tax to its maximum value possible under the law.

That is the type of support home owners are getting from our local public representatives.

Tony Grant, October 2025

11/10/2025

Post-Election View

They reach up to the sky
Two tall red chimneys
Viewed across the lough
A landmark, two-finger-like gesture to the world
Still standing, though now a ghostly habitat
Echoes of a busy workplace
A town’s youth lured to early pay packets
Disregarding education to join a roaring Celtic
Tiger workforce
Energising a town in a new Ireland
Birds sing cheerily from neglected shrubbery
Brand name signage visible form afar
An ideal place where a new change could
happen!
To energise a people
If vision be allowed, above collapsing
monetary gains
And small town, small mindedness
Two fingers to the world it would say
A town still alive.

Mary Caldwell, June 2009

03/10/2025

Quarry on up Fahan Hill

Above you can see an article published in “The Inish Times” on a proposal from Joy Beard of 100% Redress Party to carry out a new, full and transparent audit of every quarry in the country.”

On the surface, this sounds like a great proposal, BUT it may take 20years for the testing to reach Donegal, the location where the testing is most needed.

The proposal should have read “to carry out a new, full and transport audit of every quarry in Donegal”

If the proposal to test the entire country is to go ahead, the government will make sure that the last county to be tested will be Donegal, and that will take many years.

In the past, I worked as a civil servant in the capacity as a technician in one of the test Centres in Dublin. It worked in such a way that anyone could turn up with a product for testing, we were not pro-active, going out looking for samples to test, but we tested the product for free, as a service to the public, when it was brought to us. The Minister of the Department had full control of the support we gave to industry. I believe that is the same today.

Joy Beard should have withdrawn the proposal if she had to include the whole country in order to get the support of FF, FG and SF to get the proposal passed. It lost all of its intended power when it includes the whole country.

Final Thought:

This type of testing should be ongoing as part of the industry's normal regulation. It should not be up to County Councils to plead with the government to carry out testing now and again when they are pressurised to do so.

This is called “ Light Touch Regulation” and it brought the country to its knees in the recent past and was responsible for the “Economic Crash”

Donegal is still struggling to recover from “The Crash” because it is being held back by the “Mica” DCB fiasco, while other parts of Ireland, including Dublin, are back to full recovery.

Tony Grant, October 2025

29/09/2025

GHOSTED

We make no apology to anyone for confronting the difficult issues locally in Inishowen as the "Local Papers" continue with the "nice stuff".

One of these topics is the "Mica" DCB fiasco, which we have written about for years.

We clashed with the now-defunct organisation Mica Action Group (MAG) because they resisted our suggestions that they should become a membership representative group, like the IFA, democratic and transparent. We urged them that this would enhance their power when negotiating with government.

They avoided us like the plague, and look now where they are.

Likewise, the people who came to replace them are repeating the exact same performance.

100% Redress Party got people elected to DCC and the Dail, and not once did they engage with us on social media or through The Wee Paper; they are running scared of us because we push them to work harder and smarter.

Charles Ward has been working on roads, tourism and fisheries and has gone quiet on the issue that he was elected to work on.

Likewise, the 100% Redress councillors voted to increase the Local Property Tax to its maximum, this being an issue with people living in homes with defective blocks. Recently, Joy Beard has been working for other groups in Buncrana, while she is silent on the very issue that she was elected to solve.

I voted No 1 to support Joy and Charles to get them elected, and I am bitterly disappointed with their performance, because it appears to me that they are positioning themselves for re-election ( like the rest of them) instead of working with the victims to get the job done.

Tony Grant, September 2025

27/09/2025

www.theii.com

Gone are the days of the IDA Advance Factory, never to be seen again, as it has been replaced by the Digital Hub.
We have one right here on our doorstep, in Buncrana, in the form of Inishowen Innovation, which is open for business and waiting for you to visit them.
Many of us living here in the town and beyond can benefit from getting to know about what is going on within the walls of this building.
From school leavers to seasoned business people, sole traders and companies can use this place as their second home to survive and to thrive. The choice is yours.
I had occasion to visit it with a problem that I had with my website, and after half an hour, I rushed out the door to get home to make the changes to enhance my online presence, which is still making a difference today.
This place was built with taxpayers' money, for the benefit of taxpayers, so I don't understand why it is not being used by more people.
There was a comment made by a user of the place, on Facebook, recently, that the place was "at capacity". This could not be further from the truth. I expect this person wanted to keep it quiet that the place is open to all, and that he and his friends could have unhindered access for themselves.
My advice to the people of Buncrana is to "Use it and Make it your own" and not be put off by these online comments to the contrary.
It is here for us all to use, not for an exclusive few.
Tony Grant, September 2025

The Wee Paper

07/11/2025

06/11/2025

03/11/2025

25/10/2025

22/10/2025

19/10/2025

17/10/2025

14/10/2025

11/10/2025

03/10/2025

29/09/2025

27/09/2025

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