The first song below I wrote a fortnight ago. The second one I wrote during the war in Kosovo, and I direct that one to my fellow gaeilgeoirí -- is glas na cnoic i bhad uainn . . .

Le meas, Áine

Pray for Belfast Tonight

Pray for Belfast tonight, if you have a mind,
That the violence and hatred won't be paid in kind,
On both sides of the bridge, there are families in pain,
Pray for Belfast tonight, that it won't be same
In the streets lie the tatters of orange and green,
When covered in red, no difference is seen,
Muddy banners left soaking in grief and the loss,
Of a life that's been cut short, not deemed worth a toss.

Pray for Belfast tonight, if you have a heart,
Understanding of differences, if just for a start,
Let the words of the patriot dead fade away,
And new words of peace grow inside us to stay.

Pray for mothers, daughters, and babes in the womb,
That they won't have to visit a cold, lonely tomb,
Whether on left or right, the task lies ahead,
To extinguish the fires on which hatred is fed,
Erasing the lines that divide and diverge,
Listening to each other's funeral dirge,
The echoes of pipes or drums sound the same,
Over rivers of blood, 'cross mountains of shame.

Pray for Belfast tonight, if you have a heart,
Understanding of differences, if just for a start,
Let the words of the patriot dead fade away,
And new words of peace grow inside us to stay.

The fire and the water cannot come to terms,
When the lessons of death refused to be learned,
And the roads of the past are constantly tread,
O'er the cold and uncaring bones of the dead,
This is now, that was then, let's come out of the past,
And know that our only chance is fading fast,
For there's naught to be won, only peace to be found,
And to green and to orange, this is holy ground.

Pray for Belfast tonight, if you have a heart,
Understanding of differences, if just for a start,
Let the words of the patriot dead fade away,
And new words of peace grow inside us to stay.



Ar Bhóthar i gCósovó

Slán leat, slán agat a stór
Caithfidh mise le gabháil ar aghaidh
Tusa i do choladh go deo
Mise 'mo dheacaireacht 'óró

Slán leat, slán agat a chroí
Béarfaidh mise d'aghaidh mar bheo
Tusa i do leachtán chomh fuar
'S mé ar mo chosán chomh corrach

Ar bhóthairín i gCósovó
Chaill mé mo shaol
I sneachta fluacht is fuar
Críocnadh m'áthas ar fad

Slán leat, slán agat m'anamsa
Bíodh 'fhios agat go mbeidh do scéal
I mo lámh' 's mo bhéal go dtí
An domhan ar fad bí 'd'aithne

Slán leat, slán agat a leanbhán
Coladh sámh is suaimhneach a h-óbó
Ná bí buartha mar bheidh mé
Ar ais uair inteacht a h-óró