Re: Re: A Nation at War with its Capital City?
I think we all basically agree with the same general point. The issue here is that the 7 decade long cultural and political war against Dublin by the rural elite has resulted Cork, Limerick and Galway cities by default being the biggest losers of all in terms of their growth and development. This is why Limerick and Navan get nothing from Transport21, while Cork a commmuter rail service they properly planned and were waiting 25 years to get. This is why you have an applling teachers to pupil ration in Dublin and practically a ono-on-one education experiance for children in rural Ireland. Who is really being disadvantaged here?
It’s a culturally entrenced hatred of urban life among the Irish esthablishment and an elevation of rural culture to what represents real Irishness which is a major part of much of this country’s issues since the formation of the state.
I disagree about the urban/rural struggle being the same in all countries. Show me one other country in world were the capital city and main economic center was left to die (and dismantled) the way Dublin was, and not by a foreign occupying force, but by politicans from the countryside? In terms of the Irish experience under Dev it is perhaps most compareble to Cambodia under Pol Pot, (without the Khmer Rouge genocide of course), than to the situation in France – Paris thrived because they had a local goverment, Dublin died because gombeenmen from Donegal and Mayo were the city fathers. Sure the PolPot comparision to Dev is a bit OTT. Dev was not evil. But the same psycholgical undercurrent applies, the distrust of urban dwellers and the need to reform them by converting them into rural peaseants. In European terms I think this is unique to Ireland. City dwellers and townies were and still to a extent today were Ireland “unpersons” as Orwell put it.
Should be interesting to see how these new immigrants change Ireland. I personally think it’ll be for the better and I can’t see any of them wanting to live in a one-off, driving their kids 20 miles to GAA practice and so on.
They will fill our towns and cities. You see this already happening around the country and it’s briliant to watch. Most towns are filling up with immigrants who want an easy, on their doorstep civic life, while the Irish are moving into one-offs on the side of a mountains and then calling up the local radio stations complaing about how far the school and shops are, and the how “the Dublin government” has to do something about the poor postal service around here and the price of petrol.
What a pity they have been brainwashed to accept a Barefoot Deception at the Crossroads, their lives would have been so much easier if they lived in a town or city.
