This Song is about a fella in Rural Ireland who is suffering from Rural Isolation because all the places he used to meet his friends & neighbours are closing down around him. He decides to take matters into his own hands and heads off to Europe to plead his case to the European Union but is unsuccessful. He returned home and ends up with a psychiatrist who takes all his money. But hope is restored when he hears of the ‘Rural Drink Link Bus Scheme’ which Shane Ross introduced to support people in Rural Ireland to continue to Socialise when the new stricter Drink driving legislation was introduced. However all did not end well until the Healy Rae’s of all people arrived to save the day.
The Drink-Link Bus Scheme Lyrics
I am an auld codger, I live on me own
To keep warm in the winter,
I cut some turf for me home
Many’s the craic I had down through the years
When the countryside was the lifeblood of the nation
With regulations and taxes and fines I can’t pay
It’s no wonder the young people are moving away
And a satellite watches me all through the day
Agus faigaimid suid mar ata se
I haven’t seen no-one in more than a week
We used to meet in the shop at the end of the street
With me good friends and neighbours, one time I could greet
But now they’re all driving to Tesco’s
They’re drinking at home, they won’t go to the pub
Cheep cans of cider, YouTube and Facebook
Is how they are spending a Saturday night
Agus fagaimid suid mar ata se
I heard that down in the Rhine Valley or high up in the Alps
That you can still post a letter, or go to a dance
And if you needed some bread, You could walk down the road
To the local Bull-lingerie or baker
As I sit in me cottage, and look out at the rain
I was thinking we could learn from our Amigos in Spain
Sure they run with the bulls, and play boules on the lawn
I’ve only Joe Duffy on Liveline left to talk to
So I packed up me stuff, and I headed for France
Sure somebody had to make some kind of stance
Walked straight into Strasburg’s fine Parliament hall
To lay out me case without warning
I met Jean Claude Junker and Christine Legard
She listened and said that she knew it was hard
But that when I returned I should give their regards
To Leo, to Shane and to Michéal
I returned home dejected, found myself in a chair
The psychiatrist said, that I wasn’t all there
His professional view was, that I needed to talk
And that he was the boy with the training
He said that me scéal was as long as twas tall
He gave me some tablets and said that was all
And I handed him over half of me dole
Agus faigimid suid mar atá sé
Then – I heard of the new Rural drink-link bus scheme
Minister Ross, in the dail, sure he signed up the deal
Launched on Radio Eireann, Twitter and TV
His plan to revolutionise the nation
You’ll stand outside the bar, when you’ve finished your jar
You’ll wait for a bus, a helicopter, or car
Put up your hand like some sort of Czar
Agus Faigimid suid mar atá sé
The next Saturday night, said I’d give it a try
On me face splashed some Old Spice, round me neck placed a tie
Tramped 3 miles down the road, I was glad it was dry
In McCanns it was warm and twas airy
The patrons were lined up enjoying their stout
They were talking and singing and dancing about
Content in the knowledge that Minister Ross
Would leave us all home when we’re ready
The craic it was 90, the pub it was thronged
There were lads with string vests, but they didn’t stay long
Some quare hawk attempted Con Fada’s Pool Song
I thought we’d be there till the morning
Then the barmaid she flashed – her lights off and on
Everyone ordered another last round
And we drank to the health of Minister Ross
Agus Faigimid Suid mar atá sé
The guards then arrived, and we all piled outside
They thought we were planning to drink and to drive
We confused them by forming an orderly queue
For Minister Ross is transporting the nation
Between captain & crew, we were now 42
Me good mate Mick Roche, turned up out of the blue
Somebody said they saw the lights of a bus
Agus faigimid Suid mar atá sé
We stood there for hours in the rain and the cold
While in Dublins fair city, two hours up the road
They’ve buses and taxis and trains and rickshaws
And other forms of transportification
Our spirits were low, but a bus then arrived
Vote Number One Healy Rae wrote on the side
He said the boys in the Daíl want to take you all for a ride
Agus faigimid suid mar atá sé
Agus faigimid suid mar atá sé
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