I remember My Granny telling me once that Idle hands do the Devils work. She may be right! Me and many other Irish ( some British but Irish by marriage ) have been idle for the last week or so. Yes this has led to more drinking and we did set up an evacuation committee to prepare for skipping the country if the situation got really bad.

During last nights meeting someone asked the question , How would we defend ourselves prior to evacuation? The answer came form a Lebanese Man sitting in the Corner. Set up you own militia. He claimed that because everyone has a gun in Lebanon it was only prudent that we arm ourselves.

Yes but where would us bunch of paddy’s get guns we asked. I’ll be back in a Jiffy he answered.

And so is was that half an hour later at an undisclosed location the Irish Militia of Beirut and suburbs was formed and the first training session commenced.

But don’t worry like the Irish Army we are a defence force and we wont be going around attacking anyone.

Beirut International Airport has now been closed for over a week.the airport is the main point of enty into and out of the country and is responsible for helping to drive the economy. Before last tuesday passenger numbers were up and also Foreign tourists figures were up and it looked like a busy summer was on the way. A busy summer would have meant a lot of money being pumped into the economy , More jobs , higher pay and a much better feeling through the country. Now thats all gone and no one really knows why as it seems as if nobody has gained form the last week, everyone has lost and at the moment the country is in the exactly same position politically as it was a week ago. Of course that position is stalemate.

Now talking to people including one that just came back to the country by boat ( ticket price $ 2000) it seems as if opinion is divided on whether the Airport will open tomorrow or not. Then again I guess its no surprise that opinion is divided as this is Lebanon and everything is divided.

I am getting tired of staying at home and am hoping the Airport will open as I really want to get back to work. three days should be enough before I enjoy the weekend.

Today another Idiot Lebanese politician that could not get elected last time round feel he can speak on behalf of the Lebanese people. Not only that but in effect he has declared wa on the US. Jesus even Hezballah would go that far.

Here is what EX MP Nasser Qandil Said in his statement. ( You see in Lebanon when one speaks they all must speak)

Qandil said the sending of the U.S. warship USS Cole to Mediterranean waters means that the “rubble” of the U.S. embassy in Aukar will be dumped in the sea.

Today Later today Saad Hariri will be having a press conference, God only knows what he will say, I only hope it does noy interupt our Evacuation planning meeting in the Cabin which is also due to commence at 5.

Tantalus describes the moves in the recent game of Chess played by anynumber of factions in Lebanon.

Its a good read on the Situation.

Sietske as usual brings some great pictures and sounds from Beirut. Click here

And over on Blacksmiths of Lebanon they have a five day indexed summary.

This was meant to be my first blog post using my new I phone baut the body of the blog did not post. Not sure why but there you go technology is not alway easy to figure out.

We are going to head back to beirut in the next hour to check out things and our apartment. I know that there was some fighting last night in Hamra at 2.00 AM but we will see what the lay of the land is. Fighting has eased off in the north and in the mountains but I don’t think it is entirely finished. Hezballah used some heavy artilery yesterday and again this will not be forgotten . They really have ruined the Resistence’s name . While onse people beleived their mantra about Israel now their true colours are being seen. They want power and a much larger control over the country.

Fighting is continuing along the Eastern border with Syria with the Masnaa crosing coming under fire today.

Ok we will keep you updated as we get back to beirut.

Sunday papers cover the story in Ireland.

Sunday Business Post  - Tom Felle

Sunday Independent

Saturdays Irish Times - Lucy Fielder

So the armed men are withdrawing back to their districts and homes, the guns and RPG will be put away for another day. Nothing has been resloved and the only thing that has changed is that Hezballah has now used its weapons against Lebanese and the Government know they can’t depend on the army.

What will happens over the next few days /weeks /months nobody knows but there will be a lot more distrust betwen the different religions. People living in west Beirut will not forget too soon what Hezballah and Amal have done to them. They may decided that they better be more prepared for the next time or they may decide to move area. Either way Beirut is going to be a little less welcoming than before Thursday.

I am still not sure when we can move back home as they say there will still be civil disobedience and only the know what that means. This is the second time I have had to move from my home because of War but atleast this time I did not have to go to Cyprus. Halat is mouch more enjoyable and the food is great.

Anway I found a link to this article from the Guardian ( HatTip: beirut spring) it describes the start of some of the street fighting.

‘We are just trying to clear the thorns from our side … by God we will finish them soon’

The Lebanese Army have decided to reverse the Govenments decision and leave the head of the Airport security in place. Regardsin the telephone network they said they would look into the matter.

Why exactly did we need the last few days if this was going to be the outcome.

In other News Hezballah have accused PSP party of Walid Jumblat of executing two of their men in a very inhumane way and kidnapping another. They are holding Jumblat personally responsible.

Map shows where the fighting is spreading too.

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. 

They are currently attacking Saad Hariri’s house in Qoreitem. It is bein attacked with RPG’s and Gun Fire. An Irish friend living in Hamra was describing the fighting around his house , the firgters were on the roofs surrounding his building firing at army and people. He says he took some good pictures so will try to get them later.

We have now moved and are currently away form the fighting. See New Map