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www.celtic-connection.com
DECEMBER 2012/JANUARY 2013
THE VIEW FROM IRELAND
Where
What Ireland Needs is a Mousetrap
DUBLIN-It is going to get even tougher out there.
The Greek Government just passed its latest round of austerity measures causing, incredibly, 50 officials of the Greek Central Bank to resign in protest.
Meanwhile, the Spanish Banking Association has passed a two-year moratorium on foreclosures, claiming that the related recent suicides of homeowners are not worth the pain.
Do not be fooled: banks and bleeding hearts do not go together. Spain has inflated one of the biggest property bubbles in history and mass repossession would break the country (already 400,000 people have been thrown out of their homes and the government does not want to tip the balance of property prices into free fall).
And where does Ireland, with a budget looming this month in this lamentable European scene? Very far up the firmament.
A good symbol of our woe is the landlord of a pub in North Dublin, Quinn's of Drumcondra, who has this month become embroiled in a public wrangle over his right to continue trading in his profitable pub.
In the red corner, is Eoin Quinlan, an ordinary citizen trying to earn his living.
In the blue corner, is the bank, known as IBRC, an outfit pieced together from the dead organs of Anglo-Irish Bank. The bank that put the eke into the Irish economy.
The bank cites the fact that Quinlan has fallen behind on his extortionate rent of 30,000 euro per month as grounds to remove him.
Quinlan, who asked a real estate agent to value the property, offered the bank 15,000 per month based on the agent's estimate.
They declined. Their 'solution', also enforced in countless similar cases throughout the country, is to close down the premises, hurting suppliers, staff and all others in the turning wheel that should constitute a functioning economy.
By
MAURICE
FITZPATRICK
Bank officials mounted a raid in the early hours of November 8 on Quintan's pub, accompanied by security guards and locksmiths.
Quinlan wisely barricaded himself in and called the police.
On arrival, the Gardai duly asked to see the bank's court order to evict their tenant. The mobsters did not have one and the Gardai told them to leave Quinlan alone until they did.
The red corner starts to look stronger: Eoin Quinlan is bolstered by the force of the law.
The common assumption that banks conduct repossessions and evictions within strictures of the law was, in this case, erroneous.
Quinlan showed they were pirates dressed in suits.
History does not repeat itself, said Mark Twain, but it does rhyme.
A few haunting rhymes come to mind when one remembers the struggle of ordinary people during the Great Depression in the USA.
At various stages of the depression, 25 states placed moratoriums on foreclosures, sometimes for as long as five years. But don't expect to see the situation in Ireland turn around without mass resistance to the bullies who have taken over.
Such resistance would be nothing new in Ireland. In 1880, during the Land Wars, we introduced the word 'boycott' into the English language.
Healy and Harrington's Plan of Campaign, a manifesto for the right to pay fair rent, also enjoyed great success.
Paying fair and pulling together ultimately reinstalled Irish people as owners of their own land.
So next time you're in Dublin, call in and patronise Eoin Quinlan's bar.
You will be doing more than helping out a man who is being picked at by vultures. You will be participating in a broader resistance to a doctrine that cannot but bring more misery to ordinary people's lives.
Tourist town to combat rain by 'building roof
Ireland's top tourist town is devising an innovative way to combat the notorious Irish weather.
A plan is being examined to place an artificial roof over entire streets in Killarney, Co. Kerry, to allow locals and visitors to shop in the rain and to entice more outdoor cultural events.
Local engineer Paudie O'Mahoney has devised a clever and cost-effective way to cover footpaths and large sections of streets with a heavy-duty tent-like canvas.
He sprang into action when it was confirmed that Killarney had the third-highest rainfall in Europe and twice the average rainfall of Dublin.
"This canopy cover system could be introduced on a trial basis in a laneway or even on one of the main streets and I can see it taking off all over the country in a very short space of time," said O'Mahoney.
Our distressed condition requires artistic expression which unsurprisingly has begun to encounter opposition - as the revealing fracas stirred up by the launch of a new show in Dublin, Anglo: The Musical bears out.
Performed by puppets, the lampoon includes songs such as Put a Zero on the End, He's a Friend. The intention behind it is to cut Anglo-Irish Bank to the bone. This hammering has been a long time coming and it is a healthy development.
No sooner were the billboards posted up than the director of public prosecutions got in touch with the show's producer to highlight that he was bound for dangerous waters if his show satirised Anglo's former chief Sean FitzPatrick. (Seanie oversaw the most obscene transfer of public money into private hands in the history of the state).
The producer of the show, Darren Smith, capitulated, stating that "we have to take on legal advice and be responsible. We love comedy but we love our houses as well." So the 'Putting on the Fitz' puppet will be hung in the closet.
The script of the musical was co-written by Colm Toibin which suggests that quite a few nuggets of dissent and mischief will survive the hectoring of the legal and banking lobbies (who have very much shown their hands in this episode).
Toibin's support gives it cover.
So what has been achieved by the puppeteers, buoyed up by early publicity but denied their teeth by our overzealous DPP?
The need for an art in Ireland to engage with the crisis in our democracy has been highlighted by this incident.
I do not know if the musical will have much impact (a producer in New York is trying to bring it Stateside).
If it does nothing more than send a message to Irish playwrights and puppetwrights that a more subtle and uncompromising approach is needed to send up the collusion between the law, the banks and politicians, it will have done a lot.
When faced with villainy of another nature, Shakespeare's character Hamlet contrived a short play, The Mousetrap, to expose the rotten nature of his uncle's dispensation.
Hamlet deftly did so by creating a play using no recognisable names but easily identifiable events.
The cap fitted and the uncle was horrified to wear it. Anglo's, creators have lighted up the way for others. What the Irish public needs now is a mousetrap to stir them.
Maurice Fitzpatrick was born in Ireland and attended Trinity College Dublin. He holds graduate degrees from Ireland and Japan. He lived in Tokyo from 2004-2011 where he lectured at Keio University. He has published articles on Kurosawa's cinematic interpretation of Shakespeare, on modern novels and travel journalism. He awrote and co-produced The Boys of St. Columb's, a RTE/BBC documentary film. He is also author of a book entitled The Boys of St. Columb's which was described as "an indispensable document" by The Irish Times. He is a lec-tureratthe University of Cologne and he writes a column on Irish affairs. In spring 2013 he will direct a film for the BBC on Brian Friel's play, Translations.
JANET Holder, the executive vice president of Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines, spoke to the media in Vancouver about the proposed pipeline project.
Enbridge meets the press in Vancouver
By CATHOLINE BUTLER
VANCOUVER - Janet Holder,the executive vice president of Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines, recently spoke in Vancouver at a media reception about the benefits to British Columbia of the Gateway Pipelines in B.C.
"The benefits always seem to be more on the negative side and it is important for people to hear and listen to the facts about The Northern Gateway project and that they are understanding and make a decision based upon the information and facts and not just seeing information on the Twitter world, Facebook, and the media," she said.
Janet Holder was born and raised in Prince George, B.C. and her ancestral family background is Welsh.
She said, "One of the other things I want to say is that we are here and we are part of British Columbia. We have just opened our offices in Prince George and I'm very excited about that, since that is where I live and have my home.
"We've had offices here in Vancouver for quite some time and also an office in Kitimat. I really am part of this province and proud to be part of British Columbia."
Speaking about the economic benefits that the Northern Gateway pipeline will bring to British Columbia, Holder said, "Over the next quarter century, construction and operation of the Northern Gateway pipeline itself will create an additional $8.9 billion in gross domestic product (GDP) to the Canadian economy, with $4.7 billion of that amount, or 53 percent, heading to B.C."
After a short talk by Janet Holder, there was a short media question and answer period.
The first question was related to environmental concerns.
A tanker ran aground in Prince Rupert earlier that day and the question was if that tanker had been full of oil, how would Enbridge handle such a potential oil spill?
Holder said, "I don't have all the facts on the tanker in Prince Rupert but I understand that nothing serious came of it, so that means it must have been managed in the right way.
"I think what's important for us, is that every single tanker will have two large escort tugs, and these tugs are not the
ones you see running around the harbour here in Vancouver.
"These are massive escort tugs. One will be tied to the ship, and the other one to help if the tanker runs into any problems and will help to manoeuver the ship. They will also carry emergency response equipment."
Another question related to the political climate in British Columbia. How concerned is Enbridge that some of the opposition may not allow the project to go ahead
Holder said, "I think with the current government, they have set five conditions that they want met.
"Four of those conditions are within our control and we currently can meet and surpass those conditions.
"The fifth condition is the whole issue related to the transfer of wealth from Alberta to B.C., or from the federal government, or however they want to see that unfold. Of course, we have no role to play in that, we can sort of come up with ideas.
"We don't see a major issue with the present government, however we are also engaged with the NDP
"If they come into power we will be engaged with them and help them to understand the value of this project to British Columbia and to Canada, and that we can build a pipeline that can co-exist quite comfortably with the environment that we all love here."
Catholine Butler of The Celtic Connection asked if Enbridge is considering an alternative of going through Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Northern Ontario to a refinery in Sarnia, given the amountofoppositioninB.C. against the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline.
Holder replied, "We already have pipelines going through Saskatchewan, Ontario and into Quebec, and we're already working on projects to enhance moving oil to the east as well.
"British Columbia stands to benefit the most in terms of employment impact, since 70,000 person-years of construction and operations employment will be created in our province.
"I'm proud of the economic value that Gateway will bring to Canada. I believe our province should receive its fair share, and as the reputable numbers clearly demonstrate, we will."