Almost as though we wouldn’t be happy just with the European Court of Human Rights judgment, Countryside Alliance Ireland really cheered us up this morning with their round-robin email which contained the following verse:
They came first for the Ward Union, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a member of the Ward Union
Then they came for the Fox Hounds and the Beagle Packs, and I didn’t speak up because I did not go hunting.
Then they came for the Anglers and Coursing Clubs, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t an Angler or took part in Coursing.
Then they came for the Game Shooters and Deer Stalkers, and I didn’t speak up because I was a beef farmer.
Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up.
It’s based on Martin Niemöller’s anti-Nazi poem, First they Came. The poor, tortured souls really are worried about the Irish parliament bringing their bloodsports to an end, just as our parliament did in 2004.
We wonder if they’ll turn their clear poetic talent onto other famous songs. “The hills are alive with the sound of music” could become “The hills are alive with the sound of screaming foxes”. We look forward to their next instalment.
gilesbradshaw said,
December 17, 2009 @ 3:53 pm
Really? Who said that?