Kilbarrack has it all

but it can get nippy in the mornings.

Somehow, I'm not sure I'll be able to sell this shot to the Kilbarrack Tourism Development Authority.

As I was returning to my platform after having taken three shots of Aidan and his anonymous hooded mate, a rather vocal fellow passenger asked me why I had taken a photo of that "little gurrier in the balaclava", he was wondering if I was not giving more street cred to the kid than he deserved.
He had a valid point. I tried to explain to him that my intention was not to glamourise or condemn the use of the lovingly hand-knitted-by-his-frail-grandma-head-garment Aidan wears to protect himself from the extreme cold.
His opinion is that by asking them to take their photo, I was in a way validating their burgeoning gangster status. That I was giving them the "wrong kind of attention" they are striving on. And I have to admit that he is right up to a point.
Sadly enough, my feeling is that with or without my giving them attention, these kids have already turned a corner, years ago, leading inexorably to a future that has more chances of them being shot outside a pub at 2 in the afternoon at the age of 23 than being awarded the Citizen of the Year award by the Dublin City mayor at a glitzy reception in Mansion House.
I explained to the guy did I not use any props or manipulate things, that there was actually a kid in a balaclava at 9 am on the platform opposite me, that I usually record the usual as well as the unusual and that I prefer to ask for permission to take a photo rather than shoot from a distance. With these customers anyway, I'd rather ask beforehand (the worse that can happen is them telling me to "fook off mistah, are you a fooking peedoh?) than risk being caught taking a sneaky shot and open myself to trouble of a far more real and serious nature.

Anyway, I'll still contact the Kilbarrack Tourism Development Authority, on the off chance that they are looking for something a bit more out of the ordinary to promote linguistic trips in the area, as I need to buy a new car battery.
I'll have to check first with Aidan what his modelling fee is. I reckon that an eighth would be enough, but he may demand a quarter. And some Uzi ammunition.