Bishop Caruana signs Dr Giraldi Home Inquiry Petition

The clamour for a public inquiry into the allegations surrounding the Dr Giraldi Home for the disabled in Gibraltar is attracting support from high places!

The Gibraltar Local Disability Movement (GLDM) are reporting today that Bishop Charles Caruana, the leader of Gibraltar's Roman Catholic diocese, apparently signed their petition on Saturday.

The petition calls for a public inquiry into the Government's Social Services Agency's handling of serious allegations made during the past three years, which were highlighted last month on Spanish TV's Antena 3 programme 'Espejo Publico'. The programme featured Gibraltar's home for the disabled, the Dr Giraldi Home, referring to it as 'Gibraltar's House Of Horrors'!

The screening of the programme has caused much embarrassment to the Government and hs instigated a public row and slanging match between the Government, the Opposition parties and Gibraltar's Disability groups.

In a statement today, the Gibraltar Local Disability Movement report that Bishop Caruana signed the petition while he was attending the Royal Marines parade, who marched through the streets of Gibraltar on Saturday morning, exercising their 'Freedom of the City of Gibraltar'.

Apparently, during the parade in Main Street, Bishop Caruana approached the Disability Movement's table at the Piazza and after engaging with them in conversation, signed the petition for the public inquiry.

During his conversation, Bishop Caruana asked the question that is on everyone's mind, "why have they taken so long", and added what many of us have been saying for a long time now... "the sooner they do it the better"!

Bishop Caruana’s strong voice and support is very welcome, especially to the GLDM.

Gordon Nelson, spokesperson for the Disability Movement said:

"Bishop Caruana’s support for our petition calling for a public inquiry into the allegations of Dr Giraldi Home has not only strengthened our call but has also given us the strength and inspiration to see it through to the end.

The Gibraltar Local Disability Movement is working with very limited resources to conduct this sampling of public support for our petition for a public inquiry into the allegations of Dr Giraldi Home. We hope to be able to hand the petition over to the Governor, Sir Robert Fulton, very soon."

Mr Nelson added that the Governor is a representative for the Queen and the UK. He pointed out that the UK is responsible for Gibraltar’s compliance with the various charters respecting the rights of the disabled internationally. He said the GLDM is urging for "appropriate measures be made to enlist the support of the UK government, for a full and public inquiry into the allegations of Dr Giraldi Home, thereby remedying our violation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities".

Gordon Nelson, in the GLDM statement, concludes:

"The inquiry should also ensure that systemic failures are addressed by providing for regular such independent audits to prevent a recurrence of this sorry affair.

The Gibraltar Constitution does not diminish the UK's international responsibility for Gibraltar and as the member state responsible in the European Union the UK has a duty to ensure that Gibraltar complies."

Quite right Gordon... go for it... Oh and Well Done the Bish... he is a good egg!!

In my Inbox today... more questions than answers!

Why do banks charge a fee on 'insufficient funds' when they already know there is not enough money?

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Why does someone
believe you when you say there are four billion stars; but have to check when you say the paint is still wet?

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Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?

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Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but ducks when you throw a revolver at him?

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Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?

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Whose idea was it to put an 'S' in the word 'lisp'?

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If people evolved from apes,
why are there still apes?

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Why is it that no matter what colour bubble bath you use the bubbles are always white?

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Is there ever a day that mattresses
are not on sale?

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Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that something new to eat will have materialized?

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Why do people keep running over a string a dozen times with their vacuum cleaner, then reach down, pick it up, examine it, then put it down to give the vacuum one more chance?

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Why is it that no plastic bag will open from the end on your first try?

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How do those dead bugs get into those enclosed light fixtures?

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When we are in the supermarket and someone rams our ankle with a shopping cart then apologizes for doing so, why do we say, 'It's all right?' Well, it isn't all right, so why don't we say, 'That really hurt, why don't you watch where you're going?'

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Why is it that whenever you attempt to catch something that's falling off the table you always manage to knock something else over?

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In winter why do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in summer when we complained about the heat?

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How come you never hear father-in-law jokes?

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And my FAVORITE......

The statistics on sanity is that one out of every four persons is suffering from some sort of mental illness. Think of your three best friends -- if they're okay, then it's you.

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Royal Marines Gibraltar Memorial Unveiled... a day late

On Saturday, Royal Marines from 40 Commando returned to the scene of one of their most famous and historic battles and conducted a ceremonial parade exercising their 'Freedom of the City of Gibraltar'.

Unfortunatly, they also returned to a very rain-swept Gibraltar!

In my post leading up to the event, I said I hoped for 'a nice sunny day and no Levanter'. Clearly... I forgot about the rain... (and probably put the kibosh on things!) which deluged and delayed the unveiling of their wonderful new monument until today!

The weekend’s events for the Royal Marines culminated tonight, with a band concert at St Michael’s Cave. (I hope to publish some pictures of this tomorrow).

The weekend's events, commemorate the capture of the Rock of Gibraltar, in an amphibious assault, on the 24th of July 1704 by Engligh and Dutch Marines, who after capturing the Town, withheld a prolonged siege from October 1704 to April 1705, thereby achieving 'immortal glory' according to commentators at the time.

'Gibraltar' became the only one of many battle honours that the Royal Marines include in their 'Globe and Laurel' insignia (image on the right) when, in 1827, George IV ordered them to wear it with pride. I explain the Royal Marines long association with Gibraltar more fully in my post on Friday.

This is the first time the Royal Marines have marched through the streets of Gibraltar, exercising their 'Freedom of the City of Gibraltar', since it was awarded in 1996.

Despite the rain, their parade along Main Street was lined with hundreds of people and dignitaries. A public reception was then held on their behalf by the Governor, Lieutenant General Sir Robert Fulton KBE, himself a Royal Marine.

In a hastily-rescheduled Sunday lunchtime ceremony at Europort, Chief Minister Peter Caruana (seen here in the middle) unveiled the monument, near the point where the Marines first came ashore in 1704. Commandant General Royal Marines, Major General Garry Robison, then dedicated the monument.

Lieutenant Colonel Paul James, the Commanding Officer of 40 Commando, said:

"It is an immense privilege to be able to represent the Royal Marines at such a Parade and provide a Guard of Honour.

Gibraltar holds a hugely important position in our history and every Royal Marine is acutely aware of the events of the early eighteenth century and the traditions they helped engender."

40 Commando’s Alpha Company and attached ranks have been practicing arms drill and marching for weeks in preparation for the parade. On the transit from the United Kingdom, on the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Mounts Bay, the Company was even practicing on the flight deck of the ship.

Marine Andy Tipping, who is 22 and from Durham said, "we are very conscious of Marines of the past and their exceptional achievements, which continue to inspire us all today".

"We were all proud to be a part of this parade. All Royal Marines learn about the taking and holding of Gibraltar during our training and it’s a great honour to follow in the footsteps of our forebears."

The Commandos are in Gibraltar as their first port of call on the Royal Navy’s Taurus 09 deployment, the largest in over a decade. They move next to Cyprus to undertake amphibious exercises as the Royal Navy demonstrates its ability to project a landing force from ship to shore using helicopters and landing craft, all based from the Amphibious Task Group.

Major Sean Brady, the Officer Commanding Alpha Company and also the Guard Commander for the Parade, said:

"The Marines of Alpha Company have worked exceptionally hard preparing for this weekend but representing the Corps on such an occasion is a perfect opportunity to pay our respects to Royal Marines of the past and their exceptional achievements, which continue to inspire us all."

The commemorations and weekend's events have also been enjoyed by a large contingent of veterans, members of the Royal Marines Association, many of whom have travelled to Gibraltar from far and wide and proudly paid their respects to this wonderful memorial to the Royal Marines in Gibraltar.

Note: I am indebted to HQBF for the images of the memorial which are shown here courtesy of Cpl Ralph Merry, Command Photographer, Media Operations - HQ British Forces Gibraltar. Cpl Merry must have been challenged 'beyond the call of duty' by the torrential rain on Saturday, as unfortunately, no pics of the actual parade were able to be provided. Hopefully, nothing will get in the way of pics of the band concert at St Michael's Cave tonight... stalactites and stalagmites notwithstanding! ;)

Update: This post has been updated to include more images and a video. You can see the updated post here.

Whose Gibraltar? A documentary film on the Llanito Gibraltarian perspective

A few days ago I posted about a Gibraltar Documentary Film project that Garrett Wesley Gibbons, of Brigham Young University in the USA, was in the process of putting together.

To my surprise... and I must say, a lot sooner than I ever expected, I heard from Garrett today, telling me that his film has now been posted!

Garrett has kindly posted his film with the proviso that you understand it is still 'a work in progress'. The film, as yet, has no music and is not fully 'titled'. I am, however, very pleased to share it with you all here... for you to enjoy and in the hope that you offer Garrett your comments and reviews on his draft, (my comments below).

Anyhow... here's the film... for your delight and delectation:



Well, I don't know about you, but I thought this is an excellent documentary... I really enjoyed it... lack of music or finished 'title's notwithstanding!

Gibraltar Film Documentary Reviewed.

On the whole, I think Garrett has done a great job so far. He has produced a very accurate perspective, from a Gibraltarian viewpoint, about the Llanito identity. With, what I understand were difficult time constraints, he has managed to describe the history and particularly the political aspects challenging Gibraltar today, relatively well, if perhaps not as broadly as I would have liked to see.

Personally, I would like to see some more comment, especially from the other political parties in Gibraltar.

As it stands... the only political view expressed, other than those of my friend Dennis Beiso's, the Gibraltar Government Archivist, (who, I must say, does a very good job in his summaries), are those of the GSLP/Liberals Opposition parties. This, I think, is not a broad enough perspective.

The politics of Gibraltar always raises great passions in many quarters... not least in Gibraltar itself, naturally, and many have an opinion of where we came from, where we are... and most importantly, where we are going. For this documentary to be fully comprehensive, I think it is important that it shows a broader inclusive view, from all sides.

It is important, in my humble view, that there is at least some comment by the incumbent GSD (Gibraltar Social Democrats) Government, particularly from Chief Minister Peter Caruana.

I asked whether the Government was given the opportunity to participate in the documentary. Garrett has answered this and a number of other questions here.

I would also like to see some comment from Keith Azopardi and the Progressive Democratic Party.

Of course, if one is going to (unrestrictedly) endeavour to have the broadest perspective, no commentary on the politics of Gibraltar can ever be complete, without the participation of the British or Spanish Governments' views on the age old question of sovereignty of Gibraltar. After all... it's the nub of the whole damn historic dispute right?

In fairness to Garrett, I think we need to bear in mind he has produced this film as a school project. It's not a 'BBC Panorama' type documentary... or intended to be a comprehensive history on Gibraltar. It's just his perspective... on the curiosity that is being a Gibraltarian Llanito. People need to judge this film in that context... as it does not propose to do anything else.

Be that as it may, and appreciating the producer's obvious time (and other possible) constraints... recognising that he couldn't fit it all in, I think the political perspective the documentary offers, is fair and broadly that held by most Gibraltarians. No doubt I shall soon be corrected by those who feel this is not so! :)

My Conclusion

I think this is a very well produced piece of work so far. I thoroughly enjoyed watching it and I think most Gibraltarians (possibly with the exception of fanatical GSD supporters, who may hate the sight of 'the Walrus' and cannot abide the sound of 'the pipsqueak'), will also enjoy watching this documentary.

Gibraltarians just love watching ourselves. Sometimes I think we must have ALL been born under the starsign of Leo... "all Leos are trendsetters, leaders and adventurers. Their weakness is their pride. This is one sign where the saying 'flattery will get you everything' applies"!

But seriously... with the slight constructive criticism about broader perspectives notwithstanding, I doff my hat to Garrett... and thank him for his interest and for a very well researched and explained documentary about our homeland!

One final point I would like to make. The music, as ever, may well enhance or detract from the power of the film so care will need to be taken on the choice of music and how it is edited... but, on the other hand... what do I know of producing a film!? Not a lot! :)

Having said that... and finally... finally... on reviewing Garrett's very interesting documentary, having offered him my thoughts, I have also taken the opportunity to offer a couple of little suggestions, small amendments for him to consider making. These can be seen on the Gibraltar Documentary page posted by Garrett Wesley Gibbons on Vimeo.

You may have your own thoughts you might want to add? I know Garrett will be very grateful for your comments and feedback too!

You may also like to know there is a discussion on this film going on at Gibraltar News Online's Discussion Forum here: Gibraltar Film Documentary just published

If you missed the link in the review above, you may also enjoy further reading about this documentary and Garrett's explanation of the how and why he created this film: Gibraltar Film Documentary > Why?