One day one photo - 13

Monday 22nd September

On our trip to Dublin we also bumped into the local who's who. The guy in the chain is Christy Burke, the current Lord Mayor of Dublin. Apparently, this guy was previously a member of the Sinn Fean party but decided to go independent in 2009 in a hope that his views could be better represented. The guy has also served a couple of years in prison for being a member of the IRA. Burke admits to having been an "active Republican" during the 1970s, but these days tends to focus on local issues like anti-drugs campaigning in his local area.

The Lord Mayor is also staunchly against the British royal family and does not see why they should be visiting Ireland. In fact he is lobbying for Queen Elizabeth to not be invited to the 1916 Easter Uprising anniversary commemorations in a couple of years' time. Having said that, for all his radicalism he still seemed a nice man, as we saw when he came over to officially open some local allotments. And like all politicians as he was walking out and saw my friend's baby he couldn't resist the opportunity to be photographed with him (whether the baby or its mother wanted it or not) showing off his "softer" side. It seems that whatever political hue or doctrines a politician holds, he always has to be photographed smiling and cooing at a little baby! Some things never change.