Marking Time

I’m back in Madrid for a while to wrap things up before the final move back to Ireland. It’s good to feel the warmth of the sun. Ireland was very cold in July, even by our dismally low expectations.

As for my impressions of the place, well I’m getting the sense that there is a momentum slowly developing in Ireland whereby people are finally starting to question the fruits of the country’s recent economic success. There is a growing feeling that the benefits have been poorly managed by the government. Until recently - and indeed it is still the majority view - if you questioned where the economic rollcoaster was taking our society you would be labelled a begrudger, a communist, a party pooper, a feckless bone-idler, or someone who was just plain ignorant of the ‘economic realities’ of the new Ireland. Then, afer a quick history lesson lauding how far we have come since the bad old days of the fifties, sixties, seventies and eighties (recalling the Monty Python sketch ‘We were so poor…’) you’d get a boot in the arse and be told to get back to work, put your nose to the wheel, and do your bit for the good of auld - sorry - new Ireland.

Now a space is developing for another point of view. There’s more to life than the bottom-line. As taxpayers we have received a very poor return on our investment in the country in the last few years. Services and infrastructure are developing at a snail’s pace - and in many cases are getting worse - and it seems that the more money we spend the less we get. Society is fragmenting as a winner-takes-all, survival-of the-fittest, every-man-for-himself approach takes over.

And it seems we have a government with no coherent long term strategy for anything. They just make it up as they go along, throw it into the public sphere and hope they can spin it fast enough to make it fly. And if it doesn’t fly, well who cares? We have money to burn. It is a government that is in thrall to the free market as the answer to everything - the laissez faire approach. It absolves itself of any responsibility for the development and protection of society because it is under the illusion that competition and efficient markets will do its job for it. This is a simplistic approach, it’s a cop out, and it’s just plain wrong.

Without proper regulation, markets favour the rich and the well-connected. And in a market as small as Ireland where this effect is even more pronounced, it becomes a fertile ground for monopolies to grow and thrive. A company’s first loyalty is to its shareholders. Its customers come a distant second. Without strong regulation the market can be reduced to a simple pipe, siphoning funds from the customer’s pocket to that of the shareholder. This is what is happening in Ireland today, even more so than at any time in the past. And it is being facilated by a compliant and complacent government who see regulation as nothing more than a rubber stamp to put a veil of legitimacy on the immoral and illegal activities of corporations.

So, if we are wondering in bewilderment - as so many of us are - at why we don’t seem to be much better off - despite earning more money and working harder than ever- then maybe that is the place to start asking questions.

Why are we giving such an easy ride to a government that is so blatantly on the side of the wealthy at the expense of the rest of society? Is it because we are too embarrassed to complain about the unfairness of ‘the rich get richer’ approach to government for fear that we will be seen as failures. After all if you can’t get rich in Ireland today then you’ve only yourself to blame. Right?

Something I recovered from sometime in 1990…

Independent Ireland

Rising from the ashes
on the words and whispered reputations
of our dead heroes,
we danced on their graves.
When we drove our masters out
we made our own chains
so we could be slaves again.
We would follow them ’til our graves.

Picture the scene:

I’m standing in Eason’s bookshop in Galway browsing the papers when this guy comes up to me with a copy of ABC, one of the Spanish daily newspapers. He opens the newspaper and shows me the famous picture of the astronaut from the moon landings with the lunar module and the planet Earth (I think) reflected in his helmet. I try to ignore him but he insists “Look at this picture! Look at this picture!”.

Then he points to the shadow that the astronaut is casting and he says “Look at it! Shadows on the moon! I never would have thought it! What do you think of that?”

Without trying to cause offence I point out that the sun shines on the moon as well and it’s not beyond the bounds of possibility that it might cast a few shadows there while it’s at it.

But there’s no convincing him and off he bounds with a big goofy grin shouting to all and sundry “Shadows on the moon! Who would have thought it!”

Although this scene has all the classic characteristics of a dream (the out of place associations of the Spanish newspaper and the Galway bookshop; the straight faced playing out of a completely illogical scenario), this did not happen in a dream. It happened to me today for real. Today. For real.

From which I can only draw two conclusions:

1. The guy was a bit nuts or (more charitably) probably missed a few lessons in physics class.

2. I haven’t yet adjusted to my new surroundings and am going around telling perfectly decent strangers that “the sun does shine on the moon too you know”.

I’m not really sure which is the correct conclusion. Sure that’s Galway for ya.

Well, here I am back in Ireland, safe and sound. The drive from Madrid went smoother than I could ever have imagined. Even the ferry sailing was a dream, the sea was as calm as a lake, and the atmosphere on board was very pleasant. The staff at Irish Ferries seem to enjoy their work and it showed.

We left Madrid for Burgos on Sunday morning and stayed in the campsite there for one night. There was a festival on, with marching bands and stalls, and the weather was a little cooler than Madrid. Next day we stopped in Vitoria, the Basque capital, before moving on to San Sebastian where we decided to spend 2 nights. San Sebastian is beautifully situated on a bay surrounded by too steep hills. We dipped in the sea and then walked up one of the mountains to an old Napoleonic fort, from which we got a great view of the city.

On Wednesday we crossed the (nonexistent) border into France. The change on entering France was very striking. There was a sense that we had left the craziness behind us. The people were quieter, the traffic more sedate, and even the landscape was more relaxed, the mountains and harsh plains of Spain replaced by flat gentle woodlands. The driving got a little boring, endless motorway without a twist, a rise, or a fall, constantly flanked by the same trees and bushes.

We spent our first night in France at the campsite at Arcachon, near Bordeaux. On the way there we saw the largest sandune in Europe. It’s over 100m high. Arcachon itself is a small seaside town with little tourist development. The campsite is set in a wood and is very nice. Nearby were dozens of large nineteenth century villas, each one more mysterious and creepy than the last. Most of them seemed unoccupied but they all had something from the Addams Family or the Rocky Horror Show about them - the classic haunted house look.

The next day we passed through Bordeaux where we bought some wine and then headed for the campsite in La Rochelle. There we ate in a lovely organic restaurant.

The following day we headed for Carnac where we stayed in a four-star campsite, complete with outdoor heated swimming pools, slides, jacuzzis, and pony rides. It was full of Irish families, more like a holiday resort than a campsite. Carnac itself is nice, the menhirs (standing stones) are interesting to read about but not much of a spectacle. The beachfront is nice although a little too close to the Irish experience for my liking.

From there we went to San Malo where we spent our final night camping in a site on a hill overlooking the walled town. The next morning it rained so we were lucky that it was over final night. Camping in the rain is a real pain especially if you are packing and unpacking on a daily basis.

Final night we spent in the luxury of a hotel in Cherbourg - stopping off at rainy Mont St.Michel on the way - before taking the crossing to Rosslare the next day.

So that’s the boring itinerary noted for posterity, it was a lot more interesting than might appear from my quick recap - of course these things are always more interesting when experienced rather than described.

Overall it was a great experience. Before I set out I thought it would be more of an ordeal but it turned out to be really relaxing holiday.