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How do foreigners find out about Irish culture?

Written by Joerg Steegmueller
How do foreigners find out about Irish culture?

“Culture” is a complex thing! Dublin has a very multi-national population and at some point many of the people from other countries will go to their home country and will bring a piece if Irish culture with them or might even be seen as experts on Irish culture. But have they really lived in Ireland?

This is not an Ireland-specific problem, but the Brazilian community in Dublin spends most of the time with other Brazilians, the Polish community sticks together, the Chinese community does the same and I could go on. By not living with Irish people, however, this means that the international community will never really get in contact with Irish culture.

They don’t know what the Late Late Toy Show means in Ireland. Or the Rose of Tralee. They don’t have experienced Christmas Day in an Irish family. They have never heard of Horlicks and when they hear “Irish stew”, they think it should contain Guinness or other new fandangled things.

Now you sure could say that nobody needs to know about about the Rose of Tralee or Horlicks or the Child of Prague because even among the Irish younger population these things lose relevance. But it still means that there are parallel universes in the same country where all people involved THINK they know what Irish culture is, but they don’t!

At Christmas, Brussels sprouts are obligatory here! Gammon/Ham and Turkey BOTH are needed to have a proper Irish Christmas Dinner. But does a Brazilian or Polish or Chinese or German who lives here but has never lived in and with an Irish family know these things?

Maybe there should be “culture classes”? ;-) To make sure that at least the stories are told, even if they other nationals won’t get a chance to live it?!

Or maybe it should be obligatory for every foreigner in Ireland to have an Irish boyfriend/girlfriend for a minimum period of 12 month. :-P

Dublin, Irish, Society, ,

Credit Unions in Ireland – Bullying and Arrogance?

Written by Joerg Steegmueller
Credit Unions in Ireland – Bullying and Arrogance?

Many years ago, I became a member of the Sandymount Credit Union. At the time I was advised that it might come in handy to be a Credit Union member if you needed a loan for a short period of time. I never went for the loan and don’t have much money on my credit union account, but curiosity drove me to attend this year’s Annual General Meeting (AGM).

My formerly little Credit Union has undergone a whole range of mergers and now is called “Capital Credit Union” with a whopping 40,000 members and something like 14mio of deposits. Every single member if a Credit Union is automatically a share holder and is therefore invited to the AGM and out of the 40,000 members an extremely disappointing amount of maybe 200 people came to that meeting that votes for the board members, makes decisions about the future and also is meant o hold the credit union accountable.

The age profile and the behaviour of the 200 was very interesting. I would guess that the average was well above 65 years of age and you were wondering of the majority came just for the draw of a few Christmas Food Hampers and cash prizes because the interest in the proceedings didn’t seem to be the main reason for their attendance.

The Board of Directors sat on the stage and – lead by the Chairman and assisted by the Credit Union Manager – they ran through their programme with the clear expectation that there would not be much if any opposition to their running of the Credit Union.

I should mention that Credit Unions in Ireland have a long standing and are not banks, but are cooperative lending institutions. Nowadays, though, they have to become more and more like banks or they will be wiped out. So they are in the unique position of being a cooperative organisation that is owned by the members and a the same time an organisation that is looking after a sizeable amount of money and is expected to do that as good as a bank would.

My image of Credit Unions before attending the AGM was that they are a friendly and customer-focused mini-bank that is run highly democratic, but my pretty image got a big dent!

At the AGM was one member who was very much different than the rest. He was contrarian and disagreed or at least questioned nearly everything. Interestingly he asked some very interesting questions that should have interested most members, but he was not very good in representing the interests of others, instead it seemed as if he was out on a crusade against the board of the Credit Union. A bit of a Don Quijote fighting against windmills. Maybe he defines himself through this opposition, maybe it is his yearly hour of fame that he lives for or maybe he really is passionate about the issues that he wanted to bring up.

Either way, he was bullied from the first minute by the chairman of the credit union to the point that he was threatened with being thrown out of the room and any further questions were ignored.

I didn’t agree with many things this gentlemen brought up and his motives were unclear and also he didn’t stick to a number of rules (questions were meant to be submitted before the AGM), BUT he was passionate and (most of) his questions seemed genuine. But the chairman and CEO saw him coming, had previous experience with his approach and were DETERMINED to shut him up.

Right at the beginning of the meeting resolution was voted on that seemed to have been written with the only purpose to shut up any difficult questions and especially from the said gentleman.

Democracy in Credit Unions? Not in the slightest!!! The board behaved in an shockingly arrogant manner against a person that seemed difficult but harmless. They even used the mob to shut up the lone opponent when the chairman asked the “masses” if they agreed that the contrarian gentlemen should not be allowed to continue asking his questions. The 70+ year old grannies and granddads who probably had no clue what the discussion was about anyway and just wanted get home to their hot warm milk were very much siding with the similarly aged chairman.

Instead of an example in cooperative management, it was a masterclass in bullying.

I have no doubt that the history (that I am not aware of) between the contrarian gentleman and the board of management had a LOT to do with the stance that was taken, but I would have expected better from the CEO of the Credit Union. The CEO and the board had no need to be shaken or even afraid, they seemingly did their job during the year in a good and justifiable and fully explainable manner, so why this frightened and dismissive approach when someone dares to question and hold them accountable?

Very odd and quite disappointing!

Irish, Odd, Society, , , ,

Brexit – No Hard Border and the Creation of Northern Ireland – History Tidbit

Written by Joerg Steegmueller
Brexit – No Hard Border and the Creation of Northern Ireland – History Tidbit

Yesterday morning (08 Dec 2017) it was agreed that there should not be a Hard Border between Ireland and Northern Ireland after Brexit. Nobody has a clue yet how to achieve that because it looks as if this either means that Northern Ireland has to partially leave the UK OR that the UK will NOT leave the Single Market and the EU Customs Union despite their eagerness to do so. Nevertheless, the declaration was made and everyone on either side celebrates it as a big achievement (Theresa May, the EU, Leo Varadkar and the DUP in NI) even if nothing is clear until further negotiations will take place.

And here is the curious aspect: This happened EXACTLY on the day (!!) 95 years after Northern Ireland came into existence. Northern Ireland declared on 08 Dec 1922 that they would opt out of being part of the Irish Free State (the precursor of the Irish Republic) and this created Northern Ireland as a self-standing political entity.

History is fascinating! 

Irish, Politics, , , ,

The Big Smoke? That’s London, not Dublin!

Written by Joerg Steegmueller
The Big Smoke? That’s London, not Dublin!

Some people in Ireland refer to Dublin as the Big Smoke, but it is really a name that London got 65 years ago. Most of us, however, don’t know why! So let me explain because it has a lot to do with today:

On 05 Dec 1952 the “Great Smog” happened in London and that event was also called the “Big Smoke”. It was a five day period of severe air pollution (from coal), that coincided with a cold weather period, which created a thick layer of smog. It reduced visibility in London and even crept into indoor areas. Sounds uncomfortable, but it gets worse: Up to 12,000 people died as a direct result of the smog and it is expected that more than 100,000 people got ill because of it. 

London changed a number of laws to reduce the air pollution as a consequence of this event, but Dublin had to have its own episodes of severe smog (in the 1980s) before smoky coal was banned in 1987 and 1990. 

Shockingly in Ireland it will take until 2019 until the law that forces people to use smokeless coal will be enforced nationwide. That’s more than 30 years since smoky coal was banned in Dublin!! Unbelievable!

Dublin, Odd, Politics, , , , ,

Brexit: No hard border to Northern Ireland – Is that really possible?

Written by Joerg Steegmueller
Brexit: No hard border to Northern Ireland – Is that really possible?

For weeks this issue is in the media and it is/has been a big hurdle for the Brexit negotiations. No matter what some might WANT, Northern Ireland is part of the UK and the fact that it once was part of Ireland or the fact that it is located on the island of Ireland does not change that. Valid treaties are in place and unless they change Northern Ireland will remain to be a part of the UK. And if the whole UK leaves the EU, then this will also mean that Northern Ireland will leave the UK.

I am well aware that the population of Northern Ireland is divided on their allegiances and many would prefer a closer relationship or even a “re-unification” with Ireland, I am also aware that nobody would want to get back to the situation before the “Good Friday Agreement” from 1998, when terrorist organisations on both sides and highly questionable official forces made life hell for everybody.
But being from a border area elsewhere, I also am well aware that a border or even border controls is not the biggest problem in the world. Sure, we would all prefer a borderless world, but we have on one hand no problem causing a huge amount of in-humane problems to non-EU citizens who want to visit us in the EU, but on the other hand, many think that a border between Ireland and Northern Ireland would be the worst possible scenario.

I don’t agree that borders are a problem. When I grew up we regularly went to France, which was only 20 minutes away and it was never a big problem. Two countries, two set of laws and rules and a border made some sense. The EU states worked hard to break down the borders, but if one state decides to leave, I can’t see how it will work not to have borders again.

Nevertheless, it was announced on Friday that after long negotiations it was agreed that there will be NO hard borders between Northern Ireland and Ireland. So no border controls! But nobody seems to know yet how that will work in reality.

UK government said that they will ensure that there are no barriers to trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. So, there won’t be a border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK and there won’t be a border between Northern Ireland and Ireland. BUT there might be completely different tax rules. Do you see the problem?

Have a look at the agreed document here. It says nothing and leaves a lot to Phase 2 negotiations and at the same time the agreement says a lot. Clause 49, for example, more or less implies that Northern Ireland might stay in the EU Customs Union and in the Single Market. And Clause 50 promises that there won’t be any barriers between Northern Ireland and the UK, but this is then probably only possible if the UK also stays in the EU Customs Union and the Single Market. :-O

Either that agreement is not worth the paper it is printed on OR the UK just has abandoned Brexit in large parts. Odd!!

Brexit, Irish, Odd, Politics, Taoiseach, , , , ,
 
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