Why Emigration in Ireland is not necessarily a bad thing

When I used work in radio, I used to get in trouble with the majority of listeners (but not all) when when we used talk about emigration

I think there are a number of points to be made here, and I am not referring to the age-old excuse that we, as a nation, are used to emigration !

That said, I think emigration is no bad thing - most of my family and friends (including myself, brothers, sisters and relations) all emigrated at some point or other during the 80's and 90's - and most (again, not all) returned to live and work and raise families in Ireland

Getting up and out of any country in the world simply forces good practices on people - they get out of their parents/family home, they find somewhere to live, somewhere to stand on their own 2 feet, to pay rent, to pay bills, to get a job, to forge a new path in life - and they learn all the things that life teaches us all

Life CAN be hard, and everyone needs to learn this - some might say especially this new generation.

In my experience, after a few years - and yes, after a few years of saving money, and perhaps meeting someone, most, return to Ireland to raise families - because, and this is most important, and rarely admitted publicly, people WANT to raise their kids in Ireland and not abroad - probably for a whole variety of reasons - but one of those reasons is undeniably, because, despite the begrudgers, Ireland is one hell of a fabulous country 

Some will never raise families and may remain abroad, and some might never WANT to come back, again, for a variety of reasons

Ireland is not perfect, nowhere is, and anyone who thinks along those lines is in for a shock

Driving

 Greetings !

I am somewhat embarrassed to note that is 7 years since I was last writing on this platform - for that I can only apologise

Here in Dublin there has been much focus on the amount of people who are dying on our roads this year. We had been doing better in the past few years, but this year the figure, with one and a half months to go, is very poor indeed with 166 people not about this year who were here last year

It is not for me to say why, other than my own experiences, but suffice to say that people are simply not best equipped to drive on our roads. From the outset, the driving test is wholly and completely inadequate. People (mostly teenagers and young people) are not tested at night, not tested (or indeed taught) on motorways and, perhaps as important, not taught about the etiquette on the road. The ability to make a car go forwards, or backwards, or around a corner, does not demonstrate an ability to drive.

When I was 17 I passed my test the first time, most probably with a bit of luck. My brother, in his test, broke and amber traffic light and on another occasion, stalled the car - he passed too !!! Like all 17 yr olds I thought I was invincible and drove at high speeds all over the place. However, there was no real drug culture - there sure was, and still is, a big problem with drink - and I drove a diesel VW Golf, so I wasn't able to go THAT fast

I am not in my 50's (my missus describes me as some sort of grumpy old something or other) but what I witness out on the roads these days is simply carnage. Both males and females unable to know the capabilities of their cars (in fact some of them are challenged to see over the dashboard !!!), drive at breakneck speeds, on roads that are simply not up to it. They, like me at that age, think that they were simply indestructable - they are not !

We have a thing in Ireland, called TY - Transition Year - where, apart from an academic year of lessons and homework, kids are given a little more freedom to learn other things about life. In my grumpy opinion, it is, in essence, a year off !!! 

One thing that could be done in TY (usually ages 15-16) would be perhaps to teach kids how to drive - and how to drive properly. Teach them how to behave in their cars, including letting others out from side roads, thanking others for letting them out, doing the same, even though it is your right of way etc etc

Another important lesson is how to behave on the Motoroways. I am amazed that in 2023, people are not taught how to drive on motorways - they are actually forbidden to drive on motorways !! How on earth are they supposed to drive thereon, when they have passed their test and are legally allowed to do so. Fairs fair - you can't be expected know how to drive on the fastest roads we have, if you have never been taught !! I have witnessed a person driving on to the M50 (Dublin's orbital motorway) and actually STOPPING at the end of the on ramp, where it joins the motorway - they did that because they DID NOT KNOW what to do !!! You can just imagine the amount of drivers venting their fury !!!

Also, whilst I'm banging on about motorways, the outside lane is often referred to as the 'fast lane' This is incorrect. It is the 'overtaking lane' and you should not be in it, unless you are overtaking - and, for what its worth, you are NOT the police. If you are driving in the overtaking lane, which I have already pointed out that you should not be, unless you are passing someone out, and are driving at the speed limit, it is not for you to stay belligerently out there to keep all and sundry from breaking the speed limit. You do not know who is behind you, or why they want to drive faster than you - they may well be road hogs, but it is not your responsibility to keep them back - they may be in a hurry to catch a plane/train, or to see an elderly relative that has fallen down the stairs and is being rushed to hospital. It is very dangerous behaviour that may well result in a bad accident, which whilst not caused by you directly, you had a part to play in.

In my humble opinion, the roads are tough enough to navigate without having to put up with d*ckheads. So, why don't we ALL try something new - let every driver (yes, that includes you) let one car out in front of them, whether it is a side road, a car park or something different - and if someone lets you out, make sure you let them know you appreciate their doing so - be it a beep of the horn, a wave or a flash of your hazard lights - isn't it nice to say 'thank you' and to be 'thanked'

If someone pulls over on a major road, to let you pass by, then flash your hazard lights to them when you are passed. It just makes the effort worthwhile.

One thing that makes my blood boil is that when you do something like the above for someone and they do not acknowledge you. Taxi drivers and Bus drivers, you know who I am talking about - not every taxi driver or bus driver is ignorant, but a large percentage of them are

Finally, we all should try and be a little more accommodating on the roads - this also means using your rear view mirror. If you can pull up closer to the car in front of you in traffic, in order to accommodatre another driver, then please do so

The way to judge ANY of these situations is to put yourself in the place of some looking for a favour

Happy and Safe Driving

DC

ps - please turn off your rear fog lights - that is if you know where the button is, and if you are aware that they are on in the first place - yes, that is what that funny light on the dashboard means !!!!

The Media - Friend or Foe ?

Greetings once again my friend(s) !!

Tis been a while !

Recent events in the UK have once again prompted me to take up my pen - or keyboard in this case ! I will start out by saying that I have no particular love for the man in question, whom I shall name in a few moments, but it is the wider situation which intrigues me, and perhaps you might let me know what you think ?

The English soccer manager, or rather he who held that onerous position until last week, was a chap by the name of Sam Allardyce. As I said I have no particular like, or indeed dislike, for this man, but I very much have a problem with the way in which he was dismissed from his job. That is not to say that he didn't deserve it, I just have a problem with the way in which he 'met his fate'

Basically he was 'entrapped'. He was set up by the editor of the Telegraph newspaper, who got a few lads to pose as someone they were not, and get him to say things he should not have said. Again, this is not about who he was, nor what he said. It is about the editor of a Broadsheet, not a tabloid, setting out to 'frame' this guy. Apparently there is a lot of corruption in football (wow - now that is news !!!) and they were leading the posse in ridding England of these people.

As a one time member of the Media, and one who still works very closely with it, I have some strong views on how strong the media can become, if unchecked. What's that I hear you say ? 'You can't check the media! - they are our only way of finding out about the truth - they expose all the wrongdoings of our corrupt society'

Ah yes,  I reply ! Perhaps - but who polices the police ? Most are aware that the media can be used in some pretty terrible ways, to advance all sorts of agendas - just look at the likes of the Murdoch Machine and Fox News.

The media in the UK has become pretty powerful and now might take some amount of grit and energy to bring it to heel. Just look at recent scandals where so called journalists 'hacked' into the phones of people, some even deceased, to find a 'juicy' story. To this writer that is even more heinous than going through people bins to pry even closer. Is this the type of journalism we need ? It is perhaps, what we deserve, but is it what is needed ? Which came first, the Chicken or the Egg ?

The death of Princess Diana was another 'black day'  for the media. There was outrage at the fact that her car crashed at high speed, trying to avoid the 'paparazzi' who were trying to get photos of her, with Dodi al Fayed. Is it possible, do you think, that the ones who voiced most outrage at this invasion of her privacy, would have bought the same magazine that carried those self same photos ? Mmmmm

Remember Matthew Kelly ? Again a person who this writer had no particular opinion on, one way or another, but one of the red tops ran a story on him years ago, revealing he was a paedophile. This was completely untrue. However, the fire was lit, the smoke started billowing and because some little bastard of an editor, or so called journalist, ran the story, the fickle people believed the story and Mr. Kelly's life was forever changed. He lost his life. His family. His name. Everything ! Now, I hear you say that he could have sued. He did ! and he won ! Something like £300,000 - but what did that do for him ? Nothing was the answer - though I do agree it is better to have it, than not. You see, the damage that was done by that headline and article, could not be undone ! Ever ! People believe that bad stories, not the good - and don't wanna know about the truth. Lazy, vindictive, irresponsible lies - and here is the rub, which you may or may not know about - Newspapers, and indeed other forms of media, can insure themselves against being sued for libel - so, in this case, all the newspaper had to do was pay a bigger premium on their insurance the following year !!

So, what type of newspaper do you want to read, or perhaps, what type of society do you want to live in ? There are, of course, many hundreds and thousands of great journo's and editors who do fantastic work, but we do, today, live in a society, that tolerates this behaviour - and this is where I have a problem on an unfettered press. Exactly how we 'fetter' them I do not know - perhaps we could take away such insurance and maybe strictly discipline those who do not do their job properly.

I suspect, that like most industries, the answer can only come from within the media itself

Justice ? What Justice ?

Met an old friend for lunch today and the topic of vandals and ordinary crims came up. I was telling him that (and I have had this confirmed by a member of the relevant authority) each and every person in Ireland that is sent to jail, automatically receives a 12.5 to 25% reduction on their sentence BEFORE they even leave the court !!! No matter what their behaviour is whilst in jail, they get this reduction.

I cannot confirm which of our 'genius' Justice Ministers brought this in, but when asked, a recent Minister said that is was a 'good' human rights thing to have !! These people have gotta be joking and have obviously NEVER been the victims of a crime(s).

It is in light of policies like this that the phrase 'bleeding heart liberals' becomes bandied around, and it is easy to see why. Our Judges often react quite virulently when criticised about their sentencing and they resist all attempts to make a more transparent system, with mandatory sentencing for certain crimes. It is all too easy to point out the ones that make the headlines, but the system does need a radical overhaul.

There was one female judge, no longer sitting in court, who used be quite lenient on those who appeared before her, charged with 'bag snatching', gentling reprimanding them and scolding them, like some sort of embarrassed mother of an unruly urchin - can you guess what happened next ? Yep ! You got it - her bag was 'snatched' - quite violently as it happened, and from then on, every person in front of her, got the full 'treatment'. Do Judges need to see what live is like 'on the streets' and not 'in their club' or in their 'leafy suburbs' ?

Another person who pleaded guilty to the rape of a foreign national in the South East, got a five year sentence, with two years suspended and the judge noted in his remarks that the guilty party was a man of some standing and character !!! You wouldn't believe it if you read it in a book ! You'd think it was too far fetched. Imagine if you will, if that girl (who was believed to be a prostitute) was Irish, and was related to the Judge ? Would there be a different outcome ?

The 'do-gooders' of this world, have turned society into a laughing stock from the criminal classes. They are simply laughing at the protection afforded TO them BY us, their victims. Don't get me wrong - I know they're not Revolutionary Bombers or trying to incite hatred from one society to another - what they are, is ordinary indecent bloody criminals who sometimes need a bloody good kick in the jaxxy - if you know what I mean ?

Oh... but they from disadvantaged families in disadvantaged areas .... poor little lads and lasses ..... we should help them ..... show them we care .... blah blah blah. Former Mountjoy Prison Governor John Lonergan, used identify three areas of Dublin's Inner City as being the areas where 90% of his 'clients' are from - but what bout the hundreds and thousands of people who come from and came from these areas, that never turned to crime ?

The Human Rights activists tell us that these people were bored and that is why they turned to crime - they had nothing to do !!! boo hoo - I had nothing to do when I was a 12, 13, 14 year old, but I didn't turn to crime, nor did my friends or family - is that now considered to be LUCKY - no way - that, in my view, is NORMAL.

I don't want prison to return to some Dickensian Institution, but surely, when you are sent to prison, it is supposed to one place that you never want to go back to ? The amount of recidivism in Irish prisons is MASSIVE - you'll never see an Irish prison on those channels that show the worst penitentaries in the world !

Here's a novel idea for those who, in my mind, are overly concerned about the 'rights' of our prisoners - IF YOU INFRINGE UPON THE RIGHTS OF OTHERS BY YOUR ACTIONS, OR AS A RESULT OF YOUR ACTIONS, THEN YOU CAN NO LONGER AVAIL OF YOUR OWN RIGHTS - INFRINGE THE RIGHTS OF OTHERS AND KICK YOUR OWN INTO TOUCH !

Does it not seem absurd to you, that a person can break into your house, be caught by you, or indeed injure themselves somehow, and they can successfully sue YOU ?! The law says that perhaps they might have strayed into your house BY MISTAKE - has this EVER happened ? has it ever happened often enough to be enshrined in our law ? What a load of old bullocks !

However, I will admit, that if we put the same amount of monies into the early schooling years that most other OECD Countries do, we might start to produce young children, who MIGHT not get involved in crime, but MIGHT go further in education and stay 'in the system' longer. There's no point in having free third level education to try and encourage people from certain income levels to go on to third level, when a huge amount of them haven't even finished secondary level

Think about it ..................

Emigration ! People talk about it as if it is a bad thing !

Back when people seem not to remember, when interest rates were between 19 and 21%, and unemployment was over 20% , I joined most of the rest of us that were lucky to get a third level education (a luxury back then – not a God given right – and we had to pay for fees !) and emigrated from this, our great country. 

It was the best thing that ever happened to me.

I was born in 1964, and whilst growing up, got to recognise each and every budget, as a bad thing, where income tax was raised every year. Petrol, cigarettes, alcohol – you name it – went up in price. Tax bands were narrowed at every budget and any pluses were not worth mentioning.

But I was lucky ! I didn’t think it then, like most people under the age of thirty don’t think it now. I got a great education and was able to graduate from University (there were only five then – with a narrow enough list of courses). I realised though that I would have to seek work PDQ (pretty damn quick) and if I didn’t, then it was off to the US, or the UK, or somewhere else far flung, to earn my living. I certainly wasn’t thinking of taking a year out to ‘find’ myself, or tour the world before I started off work – but perhaps that’s a good thing – that some can afford to actually ‘do’ that now.

Back then (it’s not that long ago), if you got a job offer, you bloody well took it and were delighted. It meant that you were one of the lucky ones – one of the ones to stay ! Like the eldest boy in the family, you got the farm !

Most of my class in College waited only until they had their University degrees in their hands, before packing a bag and heading to the Airport or Ferry – and then, like now, it was seen as the ‘cream of the crop’ was leaving, never to return. Those days are thankfully gone. Most of the people who I knew to emigrate in the 80’s are now back in Ireland, living their life, raising their families, and getting on with things.

Emigration was seen in the past as just that (and indeed for many it was) – leaving the Four Green Fields never to return. Emigrating to America was the then equivalent of leaving to set up shop on the moon – never mind going to Australia or New Zealand !

Emigration in the mid 1980’s was our first step into the world of business – and by that I mean, first time going to work – whether you were an engineer, a nurse or a bricklayer. It was the first time a lot of us had been away from home. It was the first time we had to really look after ourselves.

We had to realise that this wasn’t a summer holiday away from home – this was it ! This was life ! It was this that all our parent’s teachings had been about. This is what school and college was preparing us for. To stand on our two feet and be counted – and thankfully most passed, some with flying colours.

You see, we were Irish. This had happened before to our brothers and sisters,  fathers and grandfathers – and make no doubt, even if we find endless gas off the Mayo coast, and oil in Dublin Bay – it will happen again. Emigration made men and women out of us and made us all the stronger for it. It happened to our forefathers, but in those darker times, international travel was not an option – and there was the fact, that if you came home from overseas in the past, without the trappings of being rich, then you were viewed as a failure. 

It is hard to believe that even today, there are Irish men and women, living on the streets of England, that will not come home, for that very reason, and even though there are many of them, thet are/were in a minority. Most people who left these shores in the past, are able to look back on those days and reflect that it was a good experience in the long run. Personally it was very hard to be a strange city and so far from family and friends, but in time, it became more bearable and soon it became the norm.

Once again the media are jumping on the band wagon, berating the Govt and the politicians, at every hands turn, saying that once again, Ireland’s brave young are having to leave. RTE last week, on their Six One News, had a piece about two young lads about to leave a certain village in Ireland, and that the village was going to suffer because of it. There is nothing to suggest that even if the two lads stayed in Ireland with an abundance of work, that they would stay in their village. More than likely they would have been off, if only for a few years, to Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick or some other place, with brighter lights than their own small home town.

And there lies the rub – most of those who are forced to spread their wings at this moment in time, will be back. It might be a few years, it might even be decade, but they will return. They will have learned more of the world.  They will have gained invaluable experience, which they would not have gained here. They will come back to settle down and begin a new phase of their lives – and all our lives will be richer because of it.

If the World is warming up, why am I so cold ?

Experts say it is the single biggest challenge facing humanity at the present, but are we looking at the wrong end of the Global Warming problem

You may be of the believe that climate change and global warming are parts of a normal cycle of our world, naturally heating and cooling every few thousand years, or, you may be part of the school that believes this heating of the world’s atmosphere, to the detrimental effect of mankind, is actually of mankind’s doing. 

If we are facing these problems because of what some might call Mother Nature, and the natural cycle of the earth, heating up and cooling down, then there surely is little we can do, and indeed nothing we should do. 

If, on the other hand, we are at this stage because of the burning of fossil fuels and our erosion of the ozone layer etc, then we need to examine if we can alter this situation – and how best to tackle it.

But are we being given the full picture ? We, as consumers, are being squarely blamed for our part in global warming, whereas it could be argued that it is actually the world’s corporations and governments that are actually more to blame, and that they have shifted the onus onto us mere citizens. We alone cannot stop countries like China and India from polluting the world’s atmospheres, Kyoto or not.

However, even if all governments in the world were willing to spend more money on solving the problems (which they are not !), it cannot all be done at once. We have to prioritize. The biggest problems need tackling first. It is the national governments that can effect real change – and real change at home, not abroad.

CO2 emissions and carbon footprints have become the bywords for fighting global warming, but yet here in Ireland we have huge problems with water quality, which has a far more damaging and direct effect on our population, than what the world’s multi-nationals are pumping out. We even have the Green Party as part of the Government, so things should be looking up ! But, are they ?

Last year in Galway, people had to buy bottled water, or boil their own before using it, for months on end. Why ? because of the failure of the local water plant to filter out the germ ‘cryptosporidium’ as it was an old and out of date filtration system. What was done about this ? Local and national authorities argued over who was to blame and pointed fingers at each other whilst the dirty water continued to be ‘fed’ into the public system. The irony is here that one of the local councils was headed by a Green Party mayor. And there are other blackspots for drinking water around the country which continue to cause problems for Joe Citizen. Yet, what is being done ? 

Other countries would be less tolerant for a water service akin to the third world.

Environmentalists the world over are focussing on the melting ice caps and the rising seas, when a look closer to home might yield better results. The ice caps and the seas are worrying problems and there is enough evidence to show there is significant change, but bringing your bottles to the bottle bank and composting your rubbish is not going to change the polar meltdown. 

Whilst taxing carbon does seem a popular and perhaps effective initiative, but why are we not growing more bio-fuel crops which can provide the world with non-fossil fuels - a fuel we can grow, time and time again ? A natural solution to an un-natural problem ?

But, if you are now feeling even more desperate and useless – don’t be. We, as citizens, and as a nation, can have a meaningful and tangible impact on the quality of where we live. We can have a role in the heightened protection of our coastal waters, our lakes and our waterways – we can plant more forestry and clean up our country a little more. 

This can be achieved if we combine our efforts, and not sit back and wonder what can be done about oil spillages in Alaska and CO2 emissions, over which we have little power to change.

The Copenhagen Consensus meets again this year, with the world’s greatest authorities, to find out what are the biggest challenges facing mankind in the 21^st century and beyond. Climate change ranks a lowly 13^th on the scale of threats, yet some would have us believe differently.

The panel at the Consensus found that climate policies have "costs that were likely to exceed the benefits". It further stated "global warming must be addressed, but agreed that approaches based on too abrupt a shift toward lower emissions of carbon are needlessly expensive."

Critics of the Consensus say that this is too simplistic an approach and further criticised the fact that it was only ‘economic’ in its outlook. Who do we believe ?

Wherever you stand on this issue, it is surely easier to concentrate on issues we can change and which are far simpler, than trying to alter something that, even collectively, we have little power to change. So, perhaps the powers that be could concentrate on providing more initiatives to help us help ourselves – and let us try and change the things we can change.

Beautiful Game ?

The recent tribulations on and indeed off the football pitch must force us to reflect on what was once called ‘The Beautiful Game’

It was the great Edson Arantes do Nascimento or Pele, as he is better known, who called his auto-biography ‘My Life and the Beautiful Game’ but with the way the game has been allowed to deteriorate to such terrible levels, one wonders if he still thinks it is still such.

Proponents of the game will say it is a beautiful game when it is well played well – but that could be said about any and every game/sport by its followers ! that’s why we like some sports over others.

Not to put too fine a point on it but it seems that at the very top of the game, in the hallowed halls of places like Old Trafford, The Bernabeu and the San Siro, the aim of the modern footballer is to win AT ALL COSTS – and if that means by cheating then, so what. 

What makes this all the worse is that it is taken as the norm now among, not only the supporters, but, by their lack of ability to deal with it properly, also by the games’ governing bodies. No other game on the planet suffers this behaviour – why does Soccer.

Now readers will be saying ‘rubbish – the referees are dealing with it !’ Not harshly enough says I.

Can you imagine Tiger Woods or Ronnie O’Sullivan accidentally touching the golf/snooker ball and trying to get away with it – no ! They play the game in the spirit it is supposed to be played – “May the best team/player win”

The ability of players to dive in the area, hoping to get a penalty, is becoming an art form. If it wasn’t so sad it would be funny.

Again, at the top level, where some of these guys are getting paid the equivalent of a small nations debt every week, act around so much, they should be getting an Oscar.

Picture a leading ‘star’ racing into the opponents box (and it doesn’t even have to be in the box), an opponent tries to take the ball off him, and in a dishonest effort to get a foul awarded, act like he’s been shot at point blank range by Harry Callaghan's 44 Magnum – and yet a few short moments later he’s running around like a march hare, with quite obviously nothing wrong with him – make no bones about it, that player is a cheat – some even now wave their invisible card at the ref, hoping he will book the tackler or even send them off.

And don’t let anyone brush it off by saying ‘ah sure they’re all at it’ – they are, because they have been allowed to !

We can all remember incidents where disgruntled footballers confront the referee in no uncertain terms, and without leaving anything to the imagination, telling them of their displeasure of their decision – who remembers Jaap Stam and Roy Keane venting their spleen so much to one referee, that he had to run backwards at rate of knots, being told how he was an effin this, and an effin that – what other sport tolerates this behaviour ? and of course a lot of the managers if not encourage, then also tolerate this behaviour. What do the 10 and 12 year olds now learning the game, think ? and what message is it sending out to them.

The FA and UEFA and the other governing bodies have simply to give the referees power to deal with this problem – and the clubs should back them up with real and hard fines. 

If a player on the pitch is rolling around in agony, then quite obviously he is pain – so get him off the pitch. If wants to come back after he has ‘recovered’ he has to wait 10 minutes – and he can not be substituted unless he has left the pitch for the duration of the game.

If a player starts screaming blue murder and using bad language to a ref, first give him a yellow card (this actually does happen now and again) and if he persists then give him a red one, and let the club fine him one month’s pay.

It may seem draconian, but soon you would see the sport improve beyond recognition and the game improve no end. Of course not all cheats can be rooted out, but if the Associations (and the Managers) give the refs the back up they need, then we might be able to call it the beautiful game again.