Well technically I suppose sheep shearing is last on the list, but here I am starting with St. Patrick in the House of Parliament in London. Of course loyal readers of my blog, all 4 of us, will know the list I am talking about is referring to my last blog post discussing the fun and interesting things I did on holidays last month. And one of those things was seeing St. Patrick, St. Brigid and Columba located in the government buildings in London in a room that was once described as´the political centre of the British Empire`
Aha you don´t think this is going to be that concise, and to the point do you? That day, Tuesday, June 6th, I arrived into Gatwich Airport early a.m. It was the day after the last of the Queen´s Jubilee weekend celebrations. And it was lashing rain. I spent the day being a tourist in London... Kind of weird to see lots of things I saw on T.V. in Germany the night before thronged with people - and now nada. Especially weird was the stage in front of Buckingham Palace. Nothing there except a half a stage and tons of Porta Pottis.
Well it occurred to me that as everyone had left town, and... did I say it was lashing rain, the queue to see the House of Parliament at the Palace of Westminster would not be long. I was right; I was inside the Seat of Government in Britain in less than 10 minutes.
Let me take an aside here: I give a nod, a most grateful nod to democracy, and to governments which are democratic, however imperfectly so. To think, without any prior planning and with nothing more than I.D., a bag check and a very wet umbrella, I was able to access the Seat of Government of the United Kingdom!
And so it is with democratically elected governments everywhere; part of the whole being democratic deal is that anyone may go in and see the government do ´its governing thing´. I have done the same in Dublin, and Washington - sans wet umbrella or wellie boots in those cases. I have such respect for the people working in these institutions, elected or not; all it takes is one nutter to go in with a bomb in his/her wet umbrella, and there you have a horror on your hands, but that risk is taken so that the elected government may be seen by all to do its business out in the open.
And to the cynics among you I say, if you think democracies are not really democracies, then I suggest you try visiting the government buildings in ohhh... say Iran, or Zimbabwe! And the next time round YOU vote for the people who are best for the common good and not for you. And if everyone did that, then democratically elected governments might well be... well... democratic! Well enough of pontificating.... for now, back to St. Patrick et al.
So where was I. Yes, I got inside and both Houses of Parliament were in session. In the House of Lords, a man, a lord I suppose, was speaking on the topic of money. His lordship was suggesting that children in school should learn how money works, not just about saving their money, rather about how money functions. He was saying that the topic should be part of the school curriculum: he opined if people had a sense of how money functioned, that a banking crisis...( a.k.a. banking crimes) would be less likely to happen again as people would know what was going on before it was too late. I tell you that man got my vote!
So where did St. Patrick et al fit into this? Well I had a good gawk about the public areas of the Palace of Westminster, and as it was a quite night, I had a the place almost to myself so I could take my time. And I did. That´s when I saw St. Patrick in the Central lobby, an octagon where the corridors leading from the House of Lords, House of Commons meet. I could not mistake him, the bishop gear, standing on what appeared to be .... the Rock of Cashel. There he was and flanked by St. Columba and St. Brigid. I thought I was mistaken; I looked around to find someone to ask, a police officer was smiling at me knowingly. I was clearly not the first person shocked and awed by this sight. Yes it was indeed the trio of Patrick, Brigid and Columba standing in front of the Rock of Cashel.
It seems this beautiful mosaic was unveiled in 1923 in what was described by one Erskine May as the room that is "the political centre of the British Empire".
For more info. on the Central Lobby or octagon room in the Palace of Westminster check out: http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/building/palace/architecture/palace-s-interiors/central-lobby/
Unfortunately my photo opportunities were limited in Westminster Palace. But I will be back in a few days with other photos from my skite in London.... All for now; even I have had enough of me for one day!
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