The number of people that have died is thankfully low but still at least 20 families have lost loved ones. Add to that over 100 people injured I know it pales in comparison to other recent disasters but when you live close to it the impact is greater.
I know one person that has lost a nephew and also someone esle that helped out the Irish band during Paddys weekend has also been killed. Whether they were involved or not is not really the point as they both have families and so im sure they are missing them today.
On to good news all of the Irish in Lebanon that I know which is a lot are all safe and while like me and the better half some of them have had to move from west Beirut its a small inconvinience compared to some.The Irish embasy in Egypt is monitoring the situation but currently the plan is to sit tight and see how events unfold.
MacDara is now in Halat staying in a friends Parents house with a great view of the Mediteranian and this morning when I woke up and saw the sun shinning I could almost have convinced my self that everything was normal. But in reality the country is a tinder box and anything could happen. At the moment the Christians (Militias) are not involved and hopefully that will remain the case but if they do get involved things will get much more complicated.
One worring aspect is the number of news sources that have ben shut down by Hezballah including Future TV local and satelite, Two Radio stations and two newspapers. Also this morning a third radio station Radio Sifan which is Armenian has been set ablaze.
To finish with a funny story to prove My wife gives me a hard time. Thursday night the RPGs were exploding and the guns firing all around our Apartment. The army warned us to stay in and keep low and we followed the advice. We were drinking wine and chatting trying not to panic too much. After a while Mrs Mac went to bed with the warning for me not to do anything stupid (ie dont go out side to look).
A hour or two later as the battle continued I decided to…
Sorry about the delay had to run to bunker!
… go to bed as the third botle of wine was now finished. The fighting was now louder indicating that it was closer and to add to that a storm has just started bringing rain and thunder. The thunder in Lebanon is always loud and given the night one could be excused for thinking it was bombs exploding. When I got to the bedroom Eadaoin said to me my god this is even worse than the War ( July 2006) so I informed her some of it was thunder . Its not raining is it ? she asked. Yes its just started. Ah Jesus she said go out and take in the clothes before they get wet. All thoughts of the bullets flying outisde gone from her head , no longer worried about her husbands safety. No her main concern now was the clothes not getting wet. Somethings never change.
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