BUDGET 2013 - MY THOUGHTS

Here we go again... another so called 'austerity budget'.  I was very pleased to be asked to the National Women's Council to write a blog post on my reaction to same.

You can read the post on their website by clicking here

Would be delighted to know what you think?  You can leave a comment on the NWCI blog.

Thanks

MY GATHERING CYNICISM

A placard at the recent protest march following the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar read “How About This For A Gathering, Enda!”.  Without wishing in any way to trivialise the outpouring of anger and sadness following this death in Galway, that placard highlighted perfectly what a gathering should be and what ‘THE Gathering” is not.

When the idea of this national push to attract visitors and particularly those with Irish heritage back to Ireland was first mooted I thought “brilliant... finally we have someone thinking creatively about solutions to our economic crisis.”  I looked forward to seeing how the campaign would develop and what innovative elements Failte Ireland would put in place to make a trip ‘home’ worth doing in 2013.  To coin that modern phrase which I hate... I was curious to see how they would ‘add value’ to a trip to the auld sod.

As marketing momentum built I took a look at The Gathering website  as I was having difficulty in working out exactly what was going to be happening during 2013

A tour of the site made it clear that this was a kind of DIY deal.  We, the people of Ireland, most of whom are at the pin of our collar making ends meet, are expected to invite long lost relatives to visit and lay on an event or entertainment as required.

Suddenly Fionnuala Flanagan’s guttural uttering of ‘The Gathering’ morphs into a young boy wonder marketing executive selling his brilliant idea to the board of Failte Ireland....
“You see, he says, “the beauty of this idea is that other than the marketing, developing a website etc., there is nothing to do.  We just need to put the idea in people’s heads and hype it up a bit.  Irish people love a good excuse for a party and so they’ll go ahead and organise whatever event they want – school reunions, family clan gatherings etc. We can then invite them to let us know what they are organising and we will list it on the website. It’s pure genius.”

Oh yes, Marketing Boy Wonder is right.  The Gathering is genius alright.  But, although I agree that we Irish love a party and a get together, I think that in our Post Celtic Tiger landscape Irish people also like to feel they are getting good value for money, don't like to be patronised and have a very keen radar when we are being taken for a bit of a ride!  And that holds true for the Irish Diaspora too, as articulated recently by the gorgeous poetic Gabriel Byrne (and yes, I am a woman of a certain age).

But to me there is something missing from The Gathering.  Surely there should be a real hook, an offer of something more tangible than just “we are issuing an invitation, so come on over”.  Why have we not offered perhaps a discount on hotel rates or into some of our national attractions or extra air miles if you are flying into Ireland and staying for more than a week?  Maybe I am wrong but on closer inspection The Gathering seems, to me, like a half baked idea.

Last week I got my glossy ‘The Gathering’ (remember hear it a la Ms Flanagan) postcards so that I could invite all and sundry kind of long lost relative home for a visit next year.  You know what... if I wanted to entertain guests in 2013 I would probably opt for taking a foreign student or two, who would require little entertaining and for whom I would get paid.

Now, please don't get me wrong.  I love my country and think it really one of the best places in the world to visit.  I think we have lots and lots to offer the tourist be they with or without Irish roots.  And I think Failte Ireland has done a great job in promoting Ireland as a destination.  But I am with whoever held up that banner at the Savita protest.  A proper Gathering has to have a reason, has to have soul and meaning.  For me, the only Gathering I am having does not require a postcard invitation.  Like hopefully many, many other families in Ireland my only ‘Gathering’  will be when I welcome home my eldest daughter from Perth to spend Christmas with her family!  If she spends money while she is here, great... but wouldn’t it be better if she, like thousands others, were here paying tax.. every week and not just for Christmas!

The Gathering, much like that bloody book 50 Shades of Grey is yet another example of the triumph of hype over substance!

What do you think?

ONE WEEK TO GO AND I AM VERY UNSURE

One week to go and I am still struggling with how to vote in this bloody Children’s Rights Referendum.  We have too many bloody referenda in this country anyway.  Do other so called civilised countries entertain their citizens with this stuff as regularly as we do?  It seems to rank right up there with our obsession with how others view us.

Anyway in order to make one final attempt to come to a definite decision I am going to try to articulate my feelings and ask questions, in the hope that I might get some answers to my concerns.

My first concern is about the wisdom of actually putting children’s rights into the constitution.  Surely children have the same rights as everyone else on the basis of their humanity.  My question is this.  If we are enshrining their rights on the basis of their vulnerability well then are we going to carry on and have further referenda to protect other vulnerable citizens?  I am thinking particularly of the elderly and especially those with dementia.  Elder abuse is possibly going to be the next big scandal to rock our society.  I am also thinking of those with learning disabilities etc.  Surely if children’s rights need to be specified, so should theirs?  Or does their humanity not automatically give them exactly the same human rights as the rest of the community?

Secondly I am annoyed by the Governments campaign on this issue.  Posters telling us to ‘Vote Yes for Children’ are the stupidest of all.  The vast majority of people in this country are ‘for children’.  This Government telling us to Vote Yes for children merely makes me see red.  I voted Yes for this Government in February 2011 and in so doing managed to reduce the circumstances of many vulnerable children in this country through this on-going austerity programme.  My question is this.  Will this amendment change the circumstances for poor children, for children who need SNAs in schools?  If not, then we are not voting Yes for Children... we are voting Yes for some children.

I understand that the main reason put forward for supporting this referendum is to sort out the legal limbo that many children currently in foster care find themselves in by virtue of the fact that they cannot be adopted by their foster parents.  But, if I understand things correctly, this situation will have to be rectified by legislation following the passing of this amendment.  So my question is this.  If the Government is so keen on sorting out these children why was this legislation not passed years ago?  Along with other legislation to sort out other anomalies (polite word) in our out of date, not fit for purpose adoption laws.

By amending our constitution next weekend we will be giving the state increased power over families and their children; a state who have failed children spectacularly in the past.  If my understanding is correct, the State already had the power to intervene in cases of abuse and neglect and repeatedly didn’t.  Children were left to suffer on.  My question is this.  Surely before we are asked to amend our constitution in this way we should have knowledge of exactly how the state is going to exercise this new power?  Who will decide if parents have failed in their duty to their children?  What safeguards are going to be put in place in order to ensure that children are not removed from families inappropriately?

If this referendum is passed will it really make children’s voices heard?  I have a number of questions relating to this.  Firstly, if passed will this open the way for adult children to access their adoption records?  Will it enable adult children in the future to get information on their biological parents – children who have been conceived through donations of sperm or egg?  Will it enable a family take a legal challenge over their special needs child’s right to an education?  Will this amendment force Government to really give all children all their human rights?  

My fear about this referendum is that we are being sold a pup.  The government will congratulate us all for making this a great country to be a child in.  And then they will sit back on their laurels and other than children in foster care, no other vulnerable lives will really change?

Maybe I am just an old cynic.  But I don’t trust our politicians or our system of politics.  I have a feeling in my gut that this referendum is just window dressing that actually won’t make a hill of beans to the vast majority of children.  I have a letter from 1996 from the then Minister of State at Dept of Health, Austin Curry which stated that he was aware with issues relating to step adoptions and was “having investigations made into.... an alternative mechanism.. in such cases.”  1996 – and nothing has changed.  I am very far from convinced that this Government like others before them, are serious about children?

Please tell me I am wrong?  And I am serious about these questions.... if you can provide an answer to one of more of them, please leave me an enlightening comment.  Thank you

SPOUSAL SACRIFICE...

I am delighted to be a regular contributor to the Tubridy Show on 2FM.  Ryan is a nice guy and very easy and generous presenter to work with.

This week I spoke to him about Spousal Sacrifice – which is not about sacrificing your spouse but rather the sacrifices we make to keep our relationships on track.. and spouses in line!!

Of course being an old married woman of some 16 years I have learned all about ‘spousal sacrifice’ or the art of compromise.  I have previously detailed the big lesson I learned in a previous blog post called My Husbands Love Affair.  

But in advance of the programme and for journalistic balance I did undertake exhaustive research on this topic – both with my real life friends and my virtual friends via Twitter.  Here – in no particular order – are the main things that I found caused friction in the best of relationships!  I have not included families – because we all know about that one!

Sleep – yep... mismatched sleep patterns and/or one snorer in the bed. This is not something that me & him struggle with – we both sleep like logs and both snor (apparently... I know I doubt I do)... so happy days..  But a quick survey around a neighbour’s dinner table revealed that sleep – especially when one partner is a light sleeper is cause for major compromise or compassion and consideration on a large scale.  Mammies of teenagers seem to be particularly at risk of ‘not being able to sleep’ till all chickens are back in the roost.  Daddies don’t seem to have this problem as much – sweeping generalisation – but this is what my research found!!

Housework According to my research there seem to be a lot of women who compromise on the even division of labour in the home... in my experience most women (even those who work outside the home) end up doing the bulk of the domestic and kids stuff.  Most women I spoke to have a sneaking suspicion that a lot of men employ the “let’s make a hames of it and she will insist on doing it herself”  But the real issue with housework is.... laundry

Laundry – this specifically seems to be something that men cannot seem to get a handle on...  According to my research most of them seem to employ the “as sure chuck it all together’ method to washing.  My own dearly beloved once ‘did all the washing’ one Saturday when I was working.  “Every laundry basket is empty” he told me proudly.  At the time we lived in a town house with no garden and no spin dryer.  The only way to dry clothes was on rads and a clothes horse.  He hadn’t thought his washing through.  Most of the clothes rotted before I could get them dry!!!!  Apparently he is not alone!

Bathroom – the open door policy, sharing of bodily functions... might initially be kind of romantic.. but isn’t.  Men seem to think that witnessing them pee is a sign of real intimacy.  IT IS NOT.  This is the reason why I never want an ensuite... across the landing is bad enough.  Not quite 8 out of 10 cats but a lot of the women I spoke to quoted the example of being in the shower and he HAS to come in for a wee!!!  AGGGH... and it’s worse if you are in the bath.. NOT ON AT ALL!  No compromise here... it’s just not on.

Religion – This is a biggie in some relationships.  In the past a religious ‘conflict’ in a relationship would generally have meant a ‘mixed marriage’, ie Catholic and Church of Ireland.  But nowadays more and more there are couples where one partner is staunchly a heathen married to someone who is a a la Carte Catholic but would not be comfortable with NOT having the kids baptised.  Of course this situation is ripe for family interference.  You know the scenario “what do you mean  you are  not having the baby baptised?” says Granny trying to contain her shock. – making compromise very tricky.  A difficult one to compromise on.

Parenting – many of us don’t discuss our views on children and how they should be reared till we have them.  We generally know before getting married how our partner feels about having children.  But we rarely discuss our views on parenting itself – discipline, education even childcare until we have kids.  So – you crazy kids – sort this out before ‘putting a ring on it.’

Illness – on a serious note, if one partner develops a serious illness/disability, the level of compromise and compassion and consideration makes all the above so unimportant!!

There are of course some things YOU SHOULD NEVER COMPROMISE ON.  Again in no particular order, they are...

• Your identity..... never forget who you are.  KEEP YOUR NAME MS!!!
• 
  
• Family/Friends – no partner should make you give up on family and/or good friends.  Your partner may be your best friend but you also need your friends and especially your independent friends as opposed to your shared friends.
• 
  
• Morals – having a pain room in your house is NOT NORMAL. That bloody 50 Shades book is NOT NORMAL.
• 
  
• Self Esteem

FINALLY
All men should learn quickly that THEIR WIFE IS NEVER WRONG.

So – there you are – the secrets to a happy relationship.  You are very welcome!!!

You can listen back to my piece on Tubridy on 2FM this morning here.

PLANE CRASH....

Last night Channel 4 screened a horrifically mesmerising programme called Plane Crash in which a team of scientists flew an ultimately empty 727 airliner to a desert site in Mexico where it was deliberately crashed in order to retrieve data from many sensors, cameras, computers and high tech crash test dummies onboard.  

A worthy exercise which was turned into entertainment by the adding of an interactive element.  We, the viewers could log onto the website and check in for this flight.  We could choose our own seat and later we would find out if we were likely to have survived the crash or not.

It was, as I said, mesmerising.  The aircraft crashed and it turned out that most of us (except for those who plumped for First Class) did ultimately survive.  But I did feel very uneasy afterwards as the scientists investigated the wreckage.  

An air crash although a rare occurance must be beyond horrific.  Let me tell you a story.....


At 1.15pm on Sunday 27th March 1977 a bomb exploded in the florist shop in Las Palmas Airport in the Canary Islands.  A warning had been given and no-one was killed, although eight people were injured, some seriously.  A follow up phone call from the group responsible hinted that there may be another bomb, leaving the airport authorities with no option but to evacuate the building and temporarily close the airport.  Incoming flights were diverted to the nearby island of Tenerife.

35 years ago Los Rodeos was Tenerife’s only airport.  It was a sleepy place which was built in the mid 1940s and it still carried the echo of those days when flying was glamorous and romantic.  But although Los Rodeos gave the impression of an airport lost in the mists of time, it was also regularly shrouded in the mist that descended from the nearby Mount Teide.  Mount Teide is Spain’s highest mountain and dominates the scenery on the island.  Usually snow covered, it presence gives the island almost two different climates.  The south is dry and barren and gets the best of the weather with plenty of sunshine and little rain.  The north however is wetter and misty days are not unusual giving a very different environment which is both lush and tropical.

The 27th of March 1977 was just such a misty, damp day at Los Rodeos when KLM flight 4805 made its final approach.  Like most of the other aircraft on the apron at Los Rodeos that day, the KLM flight, which was a holiday charter for Holland International Travel Group, was en route to Las Palmas.  Onboard the giant 747 were 234 passengers (including 3 babies and 48 children), all no doubt looking forward to a sunny holiday on the island of Gran Canaria.  On arrival, they disembarked the aircraft and stretched their legs in the now crowded terminal building.

About a half an hour later, another fully loaded 747, Pan Am flight 736 arrived through the mist.  This flight had originated in Los Angeles via New York and onboard were 378 passengers, mostly of retirement age.  They were also headed for Las Palmas where they were to connect with Royal Cruise Line’s ship, Golden Odyssey for a 12 day cruise.  By the time they arrived for this unscheduled stop in Tenerife they had been onboard the aircraft for 13 hours.  As the terminal was now full, they were not given the option of disembarking although the doors were opened.

At about 3pm Las Palmas airport reopened.  At Los Rodeos the apron and taxi-ways were full of aircraft and so the controllers on duty began the job of getting everyone airborne again.  As the Pan Am passengers had not left the aircraft, their flight was ready to go but because it was parked behind the KLM 747 they were dependent on the Dutch aircraft leaving first.  Along with re-boarding the passengers the KLM captain decided to refuel, probably in an effort to save time in Las Palmas.  He was keenly aware that his crew were in danger of running out of flying hours which would prevent them from flying back to Amsterdam on the return leg of the journey.  There was nothing the Pan Am flight could do except to wait behind him.  It was about 5pm by the time the KLM aircraft began to taxi.

By now the runway was covered in thick fog.   The KLM aircraft was to taxi to the end of the runway for a turnaround in preparation for takeoff.  The Pan Am began taxiing behind him and was instructed to leave the runway at taxiway no 3.

The KLM flight began its take off.  The Pan Am aircraft was still on the runway, not having yet come to taxi way 3.  The thick fog had significantly reduced visibility so that by the time the KLM captain saw the other aircraft he was committed to take off.  He tried to climb quickly and the Pan Am tried to move off the runway onto the grass.  It was too little and it was too late.

A total of 583 people lost their lives on that damp spring day at Los Rodeos airport.  The crash is still the world’s worst aviation disaster (aside from 9/11).  There were 61 survivors from the Pan Am aircraft (although 9 died later of their injuries) and just one from the KLM, a holiday rep who ultimate destination was Tenerife anyway and so never re-boarded the flight.

Although the air accident report placed the blame fairly squarely on KLM Captain Van Zanten’s shoulders for taking off before being given ATC clearance to do so, like most aviation disasters, there were numerous factors which all played a part in the crash.  The bomb at Las Palmas, the fact that it was a Sunday and only two air traffic controllers were on duty at Los Rodeos, the number of aircraft which were suddenly diverted to this small airport, and the fog all conspired against those whose lives were lost.

After the disaster in 1977, a new airport Aeropuerto Reina Sofia was opened in the south of the island, leaving Los Rodeos to handle the inter-island flights and flights from the Spanish mainland.

I spent many blissfully happy times in Tenerife in the early 1980s.  I regularly flew in and out of Los Rodeos Airport as it was nearer to my destination of Puerto de la Cruz.   It was small, intimate airport completely devoid of the hustle and bustle one normally associates with an airport terminal.  I haven’t been there recently but know that the airport has been significantly extended and upgraded and is again handling international flights.

But Los Rodeos airport, on the foothills of the majestic Mount Teide remains in my memory as the relaxed, informal, welcoming terminal it was all those years ago.  However I never passed through it without thinking about how it was also the scene of such unimaginable horror which began to unfold just after 5pm on 27th March 1977.

The image is of the memorial to those who died in the Tenerife Air Disaster

RELAX, REFLECT, RECHARGE...IT'S AUTUMN

"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” 
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

Autumn seems to be a little later than usual in arriving this year.  Here we are in the second week of October and I wonder, can you feel it yet?

I am just beginning to sense it.... that delicious feeling of the earth slowing.  Of Mother Nature settling down and preparing for the deep slumbers of winter.  Her message is carried on the damp night air but it emanates from deep within.... deep within the earth and deep within our own psyche.

It is the feeling that makes you want to make your home a little cosier, to buy throws and comfy cushions to throw on the old sofa; to make sure you have lots of fat winter candles; to order wood and coal for the fire.  It is the feeling that makes us crave root vegetables for soups and stews.

The natural world provides us with sensual cornucopia.....
the smell of woodsmoke,
the sound of crunching leaves underfoot,
the sight of the trees wearing their warm tones of russet and golden leaves,
the touch of misty mornings,
the feeling of energy being drawn inward.

Mother Nature whispers her message to our deepest selves.  She tells us that now is time to take stock, to pause, to be gentle with ourselves and others.  It is preparation for spiritual and psychological hibernation.   It is time for reflection and remembrance.  A time for gratitude and for nurturing.

It is simply my very favourite season...... and I fully intend to do as nature intends us to do... relax, reflect and recharge.

“Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.”
― George Eliot

HANDS OFF OUR CHILD BENEFIT

One of the few ‘right’ things we did as a country during the boom years was to take a few steps towards valuing, in a real way, the work of caring for children in this country.

Back in 1992 debate began around the provision of childcare in Ireland for families where both parents worked.  The Commission for the Status of Women recommended that there should be a tax relief for the payment of childcare for working parents.  However that immediately led to parents who cared for their own children in the home feeling (rightly) discriminated against.

By 2000 we were also discussing child poverty and in the end it was felt that an increase in the universal child benefit scheme was the best way of addressing all of these concerns.

So parents in Ireland although not getting tax relief for childcare were paid what looks like a generous children’s allowance which could offset some of the cost of childcare while equally recognising the work of the army, of mainly women, who stay at home to care for their children themselves.  This seems to have been somewhat forgotten about although an excellent opinion piece by Evelyn Mahon intoday’s Irish Times goes some way to correcting our absentmindedness on the subject.

We all are familiar with that old cliché that we live in a society not an economy.  This is one area where that cliché is worth fighting for. 

Regularly we talk of how we lost ourselves completely in the excesses of Celtic Tiger Ireland; we got ideas above our station and lost our values completely.  Some of that may be true but in the midst of all the material madness we did one right thing.  We said that the work of caring for children has a value.  We recognised that value and we went a little way towards compensating the carers for that work.

That work has lost none of its intrinsic value.  Children are our future and our country’s greatest asset. 

Almost a century ago the Proclamation of the Irish Republic stated this new Republic’s aim of “cherishing all the children of the nation equally.”  We are only now getting around to beginning doing something about that as we prepare to amend our Constitution to include children’s rights.    

Isn’t it then ironic that at the very same time our Government are considering once again taking away the only value that has ever been given to the work of caring for children?  Talking out of both sides of their mouth?

Well hear this Minister Burton – Get Your Hands Off Our Children’s Allowance.  Let’s shout it loud and clear.  Our children are depending on us.

If you want your voice heard you could start by signing this petition 
http://www.causes.com/causes/795632-don-t-touch-our-child-benefit-irish-government?utm_campaign=home