There is a perception amongst some Irish and English people that The Wolfe Tones and their fantastic music are anti-English. This couldn’t be further from the truth.  They are simply anti-oppression.  Remember that the English establishment who oppressed the Irish also oppressed the English working class. The Wolfe Tones simply recorded the history of Ireland with fantastic songwriting and performing talent, and nobody could have possibly achieved that in the manner that they have done.

I remember a time when in the 70s and 80s the ordinary “Joe Soap” in Ireland was completely behind The Wolfe Tones.  We are all grateful that there is peace in the North now, but there are a certain element of the Irish population – God… oh sorry, I mean *Bono* – and the Press, who think The Wolfe Tones should shut up now.  I understand the North is a very sensitive issue and people´s lives are at stake, but it’s ludicrous to think we should be expected to forget the recent and not so recent past, and I can’t understand why some people, both Irish and English, don’t realise that The Wolfe Tones are and have always been singing about peace, equality and freedom, and for all, and those who fought and paid the ultimate price for that equality.

It’s worth remembering that the recent troubles erupted not because the North was under English control, but because the nationalist community were discriminated against in so many terrible ways.  The proof of this is that we now have, thankfully, peace in the North, and it’s still under the control of London, but now there is no discrimination (or very little) if any, I hope, and not just against the nationalist community.

I believe that we should have a 32 county Ireland for the very simple reason that the six counties are simply the North of Ireland, and not the West of England.  They say that it’s about the wishes of the majority, but does that mean if the majority of the population of Kilburn in London are Irish that it should be controlled by Dublin???  I also believe that anybody who is English should be and is welcome and treated equally in Ireland to live and work, but that they should respect the fact that they are in Ireland, just as the Irishman working and living in England must respect the fact and the people around him when he is living in England, and he must also be treated equally.

We should all be thankful that there is peace in the North now and hope it stays that way forever, but we should never forget those who fought for justice and those who told the story through their music.  I am completely convinced that the songs of The Wolfe Tones will live hundreds of years longer than anything God… oh sorry, I mean *Bono*… ever wrote.

Having a quiet few pints with Brian Warfield the other night, he became very emotional and passionate about the images and news coming from Gaza, and rightly so.  Unfortunately it’s another story of oppression, and let’s hope and pray that it comes to an end straight away.

Here is something interesting (to me at least) that you may or may not find interesting. When I bought Charlie´s Bar it was in my mind that I knew the correct formula for a very good music venue. I hope I was right about that and, as always, you (the customers) are the only judge of that. But the fact is that you (the customers) now see Charlie´s in a different light from how we do – and we see Charlie´s in a light that I would never have dreamed about, and didn’t understand, when I set about re-opening it.

Let’s try to keep this as short as possible by making two observations as I see them, whether right or wrong, and I look forward to your opinions. This is what I see from the customers´ side and from our side after two years now.

1.  The customers´ side.

I feel that the customers of Charlie´s, or most of them, see the bar as a fantastic live music venue with a great band, a decent drink and a great atmosphere, and I’m sorry if this sounds cocky because I don’t mean it to be.  I ask “why do people come to Charlie´s?”  Is it because of the music?  Maybe.  But you can get good music on CDs and DVDs.  Is it because of the drink? Maybe.  But you can get drink cheaper in an off licence.  So the only reason left is the atmosphere which we create and the new friends they might meet.  There are people who will come for the music, the staff and the band for sure, but regardless of how good a band are, you can and will get fed up with them, and yet people come back very often time and time again.  We have enough songs to be able to go at least 21 hours – which is a week without repeating one, but that’s not the reason either…

2. The band and staff side.

When I bought Charlie´s Bar I understood what I wanted to do with it, but I can honestly say I didn’t understand why, and never thought about it either.  Now I can see why after two years. The truth is for all of us at Charlie´s (as I see it any way) something has emerged naturally and we see Charlie´s in a different way to the way customers see it.  Charlie´s for us is about music of course, as you can see from the standard of musicians in Skin & Hide and the guest artists we bring over from time to time, but it is much, much more than music ability now.  After two years, we learn new songs every week – but I have to tell you honestly that we do that to make it more interesting for ourselves just as much as for the customers, and maybe even more for ourselves, just to keep moving forward.

What Charlie´s really is for us is a theatre – and not a music venue that sells drink.  We take great pleasure in watching people make new friends, enjoy their holidays or their night off, and just having spontaneous off the cuff fun, wherever the opportunity presents itself and, most importantly, not at the cost of others.  We change around the songs all of the time, but they are still coming from a repertoir that we know well, and you could ask “is it boring?”  The truth is that every night we go to Charlie´s we may have an idea of the songs that will be played which could change by the minute, but we don’t ever know what the night will hold for us and we don’t know who we will meet that we may or may not have met before, or what craic will come from where, except that there is a good chance it will come from somewhere, or someone, on or off the stage.

We have met great characters in the last two years who we are always in regular correspondence with and, would you believe, not all of them are of the opposite sex!!!  It seems to me that we are a bunch of positive people with a wish to harm nobody, with a lot of energy and, as I write this, I have no f*cking idea how we all came together and ended up in this little 200 sq meter “asylum” called Charlie´s Bar on a volcanic rock in the Atlantic Ocean!!!

It’s funny, but if any one of us has a night off on the rare occasion, people ask “Where is Sarah? Where is Terry?  Where is ….?”, and we can come up with some great answers!!

The conclusion is that I knew what I wanted to create and I now know that the reason was to create a good venue that would consistently attract decent, even if sometimes crazy characters (but not stupid ones), that keep life interesting and enjoyable for all of us.

Good Night Sisters, says Nell McCafferty!