Another week passes and no rain. It’s unreal. What I can’t understand is how it doesn’t rain when the skies are so cloudy. Normally you’d be running to get the washing off the line, but these clouds don’t produce a drop of rain.

Sean and myself were driving to Mullingar Show on Sunday – the further up the country we went, the more parched the fields became. Paddy Donnelly, PRO of the show, told me the ground was so hard they had a tough job getting stakes into it.

I’d never been to the Mullingar Show before and think every show committee in the country must be in awe of its grounds and facilities. And all of it owned by a co-operative established at the time the grounds were offered to it by the Land Commission in 1977.

I was there to open the show and judge some of the home baking. I had a great day. Thanks to everyone for their warm welcome and well done on a very successful show. Well done too to Dr Michael Smith, who received a presentation from the show committee for his 35 years as patron.

The week before I was over at the McWilliam Park Hotel in Claremorris, where along with Margo I was honoured to launch the Michael Commins Song Book.

The album has 15 songs written by Michael and includes Three Pubs in Bahola, which the great Brendan Shine performed to acclaim from an audience of over 800 people.

It was a wonderful night and I was delighted to see the great regard with which Michael is held by so many people.

When we were thinking about including a couple of pages on country music in Irish Country Living, it was Michael we contacted about compiling them.

What he doesn’t know about and who he doesn’t know on the country music scene would fit on the back of a stamp. Congratulations on the album Michael, and here’s to volume two.

So it’s happened at last. The greatest bit of waffle in our Constitution is now to be subject to a referendum. I’m talking about article 41.2 where the State says it “recognises that by her life within the home, woman gives to the State a support without which the common good cannot be achieved”.

It goes on to say the “State shall endeavour to ensure that mothers shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labour to the neglect of their duties in the home”.

Apply the first sentence to a care giver of either sex, and what’s not to agree with? Work in the home is essential for the common good.

I really believe that, but the State has always paid lip service to the importance of it.

However, it’s the second clause where the State says mothers won’t have to work outside the home because of financial issues that’s the laughable bit.

I know so many young men and women who would dearly love to take time out to rear their little children in their own homes, but who can’t because economic necessity forces them to work. There’s never been a time when we really respected work done in the home and that of rearing children.

Minister for Finance Charlie McCreevy put the tin hat on it with his ‘individualisation’ budget. The referendum will acknowledge the facts, not the fantasy.

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