THE GLADIOLI HAVE COME HOME TO ROOST

Today is voting day in the EU Treaty Referendum.  For the last month or so we have been deafened by conflicting voices telling us what they think we should do.  I am not going to rehash any of the debates (although most of them descended into shouting matches) but there is one thing that has irked me in a big way from the beginning of this campaign.  And oddly enough it was exactly the same thing that irked me the last time we voted (the General Election 2011) and that thing is ENDA KENNY.

I have nothing against the man personally.  I do think he is a good person with his heart in the right place.  But he is a weak leader – something I feared over a year ago when my vote, along with an avalanche of others, propelled him and his party into government with Labour.

After 4 years of brutal recession Ireland continues to struggle economically.  That sentence doesn’t however convey the very real suffering of many people in this country.  A fact that was brought into sharp focus this week with an excellent, if very depressing programme on RTE 1 called Life and Debt (you can watch it back on the RTE Player here).  This programme portrayed the very real and desperate nightmare many people are caught in right now.  The programme made me very angry, particularly as it was broadcast in a week when once again Ireland paid €2.25bn to bondholders.  According to tweeter @sebthegooner that equates to €500 for every man, woman and child in this country.  That would amount to €2,000 from this house alone.  We could buy our daughter the wardrobes she badly needs for her bedroom.... but for those who were featured on ‘Life and Debt’ this might buy a bit of peace of mind for a couple of weeks.

If we ever needed strong leadership we need it now, which brings me neatly back to our Enda.  Once again he refused to go into TV3 or any other studio to debate the issues around the EU Treaty.  Bear in mind we pay this man €200,000 a year to lead the country.  The arrogance is breathtaking.

But it is more serious that just giving a two fingers to his electorate, Enda Kenny’s refusal to debate live on air, his obvious fear of conflict or being seen to lose clearly makes him unsuitable for the high office he holds.  This is the man on whom we depend to negotiate our case in Europe.  I despair.  I really do.  The clip above from last nights Channel 4 News is enough to make one cry!

Here is the blog post I wrote over a year ago just prior to the General Election... the gladioli have come home to roost... or something!

Where’s my voting card...... It’s going to be NO.

Fifty People Asked One Question in Dun Laoghaire

This is a beautiful and thought provoking short film.... and it was made over a cold bright weekend in winter on Dun Laoghaire Pier... and you might recognise someone.

Enjoy

I LOVE DOING RADIO....

You can listen to my piece entitled The Wrong Bus which was broadcast last Sunday on RTE Radio One's Sunday Miscellany by clicking here.  I am the third contributor at about 19 minutes in.  And do also listen to the beautiful piece of music played afterwards - by Paco Pena.

I also contributed to Newstalk's 'Talking Point' with Sarah Carey which was broadcast last Saturday.  We discussed how far the state should go on legislating for good parenting.  You can listen to that by clicking here.
(then click the date 12th May to begin listening).  I was joined on the panel by Sunday Independent columnist Carol Hunt and Independent Senator Jillian Van Turnhout

Did I mention that I love doing radio?

Oh and I will also have a short radio essay on this weekend's Media Show on RTE Radio One at 7.30pm on Saturday evening.  I will be putting forward the case for more positive news!

Yep, I love doing radio!

7 is too young... so is 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12

In the recent past Ireland has proved herself to be a dangerous place for young children, particularly those who had connection with the Catholic Church and some of her deviant priests.  Although the said church still seems to have a problem grasping the extent and seriousness of this issue, most of us would agree that the country is now clearly a much safer environment in which to bring up our children. 

And yet, in the last budget, the only senior women in the cabinet presided over the proposal to cut lone parent benefit once their youngest child reaches 7 years of age.  The rationale behind this savage cut is that by then the child would be in school and the lone parent (usually a mother) should be back to work. 

Reality, as we know is that not only are there no jobs but there is little or no affordable childcare.  The same minister has said that she will not enforce this strategy if there isn’t such childcare available... although one would then wonder why she is still insisting on a cart before horse approach. 

But I sense something else going on in Ireland 2012.. something which I had hoped we might have gotten rid of... and that is a cavalier attitude towards single mothers (yes I am deliberately saying mothers) and their children. 

I became a single mother in 1987 and back then, 25 years ago, Ireland still legally called my child ‘illegitimate’.  Things have clearly improved hugely, but I am sensing that there is still a low level judgmental attitude towards single mothers.  At the very least they must be seen as an easy target for this bullying approach by Government. I hope that the effective triumvirate of OPEN, Barnardos and The National Women’s Council and their campaign ‘7 Is Too Young’ is successful in drawing attention to this very unfair cut which ultimately will hurt children.

This undercurrent of discrimination against single mothers was also laid bare by the recent story of the young student in Munster who was refused a place in a secondary school because she was pregnant.  As far as I can remember the principal said that the school did not accept “those kinds of girls” and that his school would not “become a dumping ground for those rejected elsewhere”.  Enlightened times, indeed.  One wonders where the father of this child was.  Did his school have the pass judgement on him before allowing him to be a student?  Of course not. 

But back to the removal of the lone parent allowance when a child reaches 7 years of age which raises another issue... and possibly an even more controversial one.  Should a Government have the right to force a parent of a primary school child out to work or should a parent (mother or father) have the right to stay at home and parent their child if they wish? 

As a stay at home mother for ten years I feel very blessed to have been given the opportunity to do so.. but I also feel (brace yourself – here’s the controversial bit) that parents should be supported if they chose that one of them will stay at home to be with their children.  I am not passing judgement on any parent’s choice.  I also worked when my eldest was young and only stopped when my youngest was born.  I have used crèches.  I know all about the juggling that working mothers have to be brilliant at.  But for me being at home with my children for ten years was the most important work I have ever done. 

Why should not all parents have the opportunity to do likewise?  I know there will be shouting about ‘who on earth is going to pay for that’ and yeah I don’t know.. But up to now we have all been content enough to allow lone parents claim a state allowance and for now, to leave that alone would be enough. 

In the future, when we rebuild this country, morally, economically and practically I hope that we may have politicians and opinion makers who will value the work that parents who stay at home to care for our youngest citizens do.  

SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN

I loved Paul Torday’s novel Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.  It was a book that was immediately witty, clever, satirical but also gentle, with finely drawn characters whose pursuit of love and the meaning of life was beguiling.  I laughed out loud in places and I cried too. It is a book that remains on my top ten recommended reads

The story is a wild one involving salmon fishing, a multimillionaire sheik with mystical tendencies and Scottish castles, waddis in the Yemen and a thinly disguised Blair like government with its dedication to spin.  Central to the story is the colourless Alfred Jones, a professor of things fishy who works for the Department of Fisheries, Harriet Chetwode Talbot who works for the investment company representing the Sheik and the PM’s Press Secretary, who one would certainly puts me in mind of one Mr Alastair Campbell (or rather how I would imagine said Mr Campbell was during his incarnation in that role).  But running just underneath the improbably and comedic storyline are stories of love – love lost, unrequited love, and the possibility of love.  The novel was a stunning debut by Paul Torday who was in his late 50s when it was published.

So I was very excited to see that it had been made into film but nervous also that the big screen would destroy some of the gentleness of the book.  I need not have worried.  Lasse Halstrom’s Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is as good as a movie based on a book gets.  This is due in no small part to Ewan McGregor’s brilliantly sympathetic and subtle portrayal of the main character of Alfred Jones, Professor of all things fishing.  It is a beautiful performance which doubtless makes this movie.  But McGregor is also aided by strong performances by Amr Waked who plays Sheik with a mytical and philosophical bent and the wonderful Kristin Scott Thomas who plays the PM’s ball breaking Press Secretary, Patricia Maxwell with wild abandon.  Emily Blunts performance as Harriet Chetwode Talbot doesn’t let down either.

In the end, much like the book, this is a feelgood movie.  In these dark days of rescession it is wonderful to be reminded of the fact that a ridiculous idea like that of the Sheik’s Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, almost works.  As he says in the film, “it’s all about faith.”   And he is right, indeed it is.  

ANIMAL MAGIC IN OZ

This is what I hope will be the first in a series of blog posts about our visit to Australia to visit emigrant daughter, Carla. In this first post I focus on Australia's amazing wildlife.

Stepping out of the modest terminal building, into the heat soaked air of late afternoon, on arrival in Perth, the first thing I noticed was the bird sounds. My ears were still tuned to the twittery gentle sounds of our little speckled brown birds but now they were assaulted by loud caws and something that sounded like demented duck quacking. As I looked up towards the trees around the car park there were flashes of blue and green as parrots and cockatoos swooped about conducting their own opera. After 24 hours travelling, this more than anything else brought it home to me that I was somewhere very far from home, somewhere exotic and somewhere with a unique beauty that was very different to Ireland.

I hadn’t expected to find myself in a land where the native animals would be such a huge part of our holiday experience. I dream of some day going on safari to Africa... to wonder at the big cats, elephants, rhinos etc. But I hadn’t expected to find the same thrill down under – naivety and ignorance on my part no doubt.

We always check out the local zoo when abroad and Perth was no different. Like most modern zoos it was committed to animal welfare and conservation. We spend a happy day wandering through the habitats. But a day out to Cavesham Wildlife Park was one of the highlights of our holiday. Dedicated to native Australian animals, it provided us with an opportunity to get up close and personal with Kangaroos.

Being old enough to have fond memories of Skippy, I have a natural affection for roost but hadn’t expected them to feel so soft. They have a casual indifference to us humans and are very Aussie in their laid back, devil may care kind of attitude. We stroked them and talked to them sure they would be captivated by our Irish brog

ue. Nah, they were entirely indifferent. They also walk funny. When bent on where they are going, they zoom along on their back legs with help from their tail. But when just cruising around they kind of crawl – using their ‘hands’ also... making them look fierce awkward. The other weird thing is seeing mammy roos with babies in their pouches... sometimes upside down so it’s just a pair of little roo feet that protrude! I can’t imagine how suffocating it must be to have your little head stuffed into your mammy’s pocket when the temperature is 35 degrees!

But for me the highlight of Cavesham was meeting a Koala. I have always been unmoved by Koalas. They look so cuddly but seem to have no personalities. But when I caught the eye of a keeper and charmed him (yeah – round of applause please for the ole wan still able to occasionally charm someone) into letting me talk to his Koala I was smitten. Her name was Karen and like all Koalas she spends 80% of her time asleep and the rest eating Eucalyptus leaves which seem to induce them into a kind of blissful trance. I stroked Karen’s back and she looked into my eyes and what can I tell you..... we connected..... on some level beyond physical communication. I am sure she still thinks about me! I hope she is well.

But if Karen the Koala was the highlight of Cavesham, for me the animal highlight of our trip to Perth was our day spent at Shoalwater Marine Park in Rockingham. Shoalwater is home to dolphins, sea lions, penguins and many seabirds including pelicans and osprey. We began our day with a trip out on a RHIB (rigid inflatable boat) to see dolphins. We cruised out to a couple of coves where we did indeed see dolphins (including a mother with a baby), all of whom were busy feeding and so weren’t up for engaging with us too much. My heart was beginning to sink, thinking ‘sure we’d see better in Killiney Bay any morning’ when our skipper announced that we were going to head out at high speed into open water to see if we could locate some more dolphins who had perhaps finished breakfast.

An exhilarating ride later and sure enough we found a pod of about ten dolphins who were all up for some craic. After watching them swim around and under our boat, Skipper then announces that we are going to see if they really want to play. “Can everyone move to the back of the boat so we can ride really fast and create some waves.” We all hung on as we shot through the water at high speed... “look out the back” the skipper called.

We all turned around and there behind our boat were the dolphins surfing the waves we were creating and jumping out of the water and clearly having a great time. It was sublime joy – for them and for us. “If no one is in a hurry back, let’s do that again” says the captain. Not surprisingly no one objected. It was magical and emotional.... the sheer joy of living that these dolphins exhibited was infectious. The sad fact is that dolphins in captivity – you know the ones in the dolphin shows in theme parks etc - on average live for about ten years. In the wild a dolphin will generally live to be about 45. I ask you to consider this before you visit a dolphin show!

We took our leave of the dolphins and cruised to ‘seal island’ – a colony of rare Australian sea lions. We viewed them from the boat as they sunned themselves on the beach above which was a pelican rookery. A flock of about 6 pelicans swooped low over the water within feet of the boat, as we watched young sea lions play in the shallow water around the boat.

We saw ospreys fishing off rocks, ancient fossilised cliffs and finally paid an onshore visit to Penguin Island where we swam in the clear blue green water of the Indian ocean. Afterwards we sat on the sand as the sun dried us and I felt that old childhood feeling of salt tingling as it dried on my skin.

As the sun sank towards the horizon we took the ferry back to the mainland to our car for our journey back to Perth. It is a day I will remember forever as being as darn near perfect as it is possible to have!

Photos are all, of course by Paul Sherwood. www.sherwood.ie

GRAVE TALES FOR EASTER

Every so often I get to interview someone who really fascinates me with their particular stories or expertise.

Recently I travelled out to Glasnevin Cemetery to talk with historian and chief tour guide, Shane MacThomais who enthralled me with stories and facts about Glasnevin and other graveyards in Dublin.

MacThomais has written a book, called Dead Interesting, describing stories of the rich, famous, infamous and ordinary citizen and which is well worth a read.

He also told me that gravediggers are (to his knowledge) all men - the last bastion of male dominance, perhaps. Gravediggers also "to a man" wish to be cremated!

And did you know, that certainly in Glasnevin buying a plot is all about 'location, location, location'.

My interview with Shane is now up on the writing.ie website and you can read it here.

Normal service shall be resumed if I return from down under!!