Where do they source their stock @Thrawneen and what’s the mark up?
I often wondered that. I assume there is some lad with a big warehouse / wholesale operation that they go and purchase the relevant colours from on a friday evening?
That’s a question I did not ask. Yer man isn’t actually called John. And he wouldn’t even let me take his photograph
A brief history of lockhards would be a useful follow up to your piece
Ask them are they involved in the trade of stolen bikes.
[QUOTE=“Thrawneen, post: 1007740, member: 129”]Do your worst gentlemen. This is my first piece on a topic that I don’t have first-hand experience at. It ain’t anything special and it’s a first draft but maybe some paper somewhere might like it. I don’t know.
“HATS. FLAGS and HEADBANDS!?”
The cry is as much a part of the GAA match experience as the rusty turnstile and the over-priced programme. I decided to approach a “casual trader”, or “hawker”, as they’re universally known, and see what’s it’s like to be the one calling out that immortal phrase.
At first, John looks perplexed as to why anyone would want to ask him any questions other than, perhaps, “how much is that Monaghan flag?”. Nevertheless, he tolerates my presence with unfailing politeness, as himself and his sales assistant go about packing up. A job, I see, which involves the filing away of county colours with military prescision.
I begin with a variant of the “do you come here often?” line.
“30 years here”, he tells me.
What got him into it?
“I was unemployed and gave it a go and I’m still at it.”.
John’s from Pearse Street originaly but lives in Ballybough and prefers the hurlers to the footballers.
I’m shocked already, but admire his good taste. I ask him does he mind missing being at the football matches. Not really, as it happens.
”I’d be for the Dubs, d’you know what I mean? But, I’d rather the hurling than the football”.
I had looked up the rates for the casual trader licences on the Dublin Council website and tentatively asked John if he has one. “Oh yeah, I’m working right now. It’s €38 for Croke Park days and €25 for down the o2.”
If you want to make a living as a casual trader it seems you have to put the hours in.
“You have to be pro-active now”, John tells me. “Years ago there was a handful of us doing it and now there’s hundreds out”.
John tells me he’ll be out two hours before the first match of the day. I ask him if he just does Croke Park and he scoffs and tells me he’ll be at the o2 and anywhere else hosting a big event, all year round.
Casual traders selling hats, flags and headbands (with a nod to the enterprising ladies who sell 3 chocolate bars for a pound, out of a pram) have been around since the 1960’s. I asked the oldest person I have to hand, (my dad, 60), what they began selling. “Rosettes, paper hats and miniature dolls to wear on one’s chest”, he tells me.
I quickly see how hats, flags and headbands took over.
Whilst they need not diversify much, competition appears to have made the business even harder.
“You have your good days and your bad days”.
Dubs matches, I enquire, must be the best days?
John is quick to reply: “No. You’d be surprised. Dubs in an All-Ireland final, maybe, but what you want is a team that doesn’t get to Croke Park often, a team that hasn’t been up here in years. They buy the most souvenirs.”
I chance my arm and ask him who is best ever customers were. For a moment, he stares off into the distance, a grin grows on his face, and, eventually, he replies: “Donegal, 1992”.
Yeah?
“Yeah. I went up on the Saturday, the day before the final and I cleaned up.”
That heart-warming story aside, he has nothing but scorn for the “drunk northerners” who booze all the way down on the coach and then interfere with his stall when they get off the bus.
“Messy fuckers”, he says.
To round off I ask him will he be at the Limerick-Kilkenny Hurling semi-final the next day.
Almost before I finish the question he replies:
“Oh, rain, hail or snow. Rain, hail or snow.”
I was at that game myself and we had both rain and hail. Sure enough, there he was, plastic covers shielding his wares and extolling the virtues of a Limerick flag to a potential customer as I walked by.[/QUOTE]
I like it, pal… I would have liked a bit more depth to it tho. Expanded on the struggles of the job today etc. etc. Maybe a couple of witty one liners about some cute Kerry hoor or how he brought the inflated ego of a Cork man crashing back down to earth… But good stuff, there’s certainly space there to question the tradiotions/romance of match days of yesterday vs today… we only lost Pecker not so long ago and we now have Sky TV and American football…The GGA has lost it’s soul.
Also- @Thrawneen[/USER] , there’s a great story/movie in the waiting about the great cider shortage in the Ardu before the Tipp game last year. [USER=332]@Julio Geordio[/USER] and [USER=1786]@TreatyStones have never been right since.
The day the boozing died
[QUOTE=“Thrawneen, post: 1007740, member: 129”]
he has nothing but scorn for the “drunk northerners” who booze all the way down on the coach and then interfere with his stall when they get off the bus.
“Messy fuckers”, he says.
.[/QUOTE]
great piece pal… about time these scummy northies were exposed…
have you a spot picked out.
Theres a warehouse there in annacotty selling off a shitload of office furniture today and tomorrow for peanuts you could pick up a table for very small money
[QUOTE=“twiceasnice97, post: 1007867, member: 1061”]have you a spot picked out.
Theres a warehouse there in annacotty selling off a shitload of office furniture today and tomorrow for peanuts you could pick up a table for very small money[/QUOTE]
Who is that? PJ Noonan
Well done @Thrawneen 
Next piece?
Maybe meet up with a grounds man of a local Gaa club? Them boys would have some stories to tell.
Thraw there’s a “homeless” fella on Baggot street between Ulster Bank and Larry Murphys. The cunt never stops talking, you’d get a good insight into the life of a professional beggar off him. He told me before he rents the spot, so you’d have an organised begging angle with it as well. He’s not a drunk or an addict or anything so he’d be easy interview.
Ya, thraw would really have difficulty interviewing a drunk or an addict 
Thanks for the kind words and advice gents. I was down in Kidszone in Gorey all day so I’m only getting to reply now. I can write it up any way whatever fucking editor wants it. Probably no one will want it and it’ll simply exist forever on the Woeful Journalism thread for ever.
I’m just waiting for @caoimhaoin to log in and say he knows someone in the Cork Examiner and that I’m delusional.
I was there and witnessed it first hand. It’s all a bit raw to be writing about it so soon.
Those headbands are a great job to put on a bag when flying. Easy to spot your bag on the luggage carousel or when it gets dumped on the ground in the dark next to your plane.
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That was the original plan but I figured that prick had been there for 30 years…I wouldn’t learn much from someone else. Also, I reckon anywhere that prints it will want it even shorter than it already is.