Mór Radharc

'Young Ireland' vs Old Ireland by Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin (see http://gaelart.net/)

He who fancies some intrinsic objection to our nationality to lie in the co-existence of two languages, three or four great sects, and a dozen different races in Ireland, will learn that in Hungary, Switzerland, Belgium, and America, different languages, creeds, and races flourish kindly side by side…
Thomas Davis.


Is bréag mór é gur choir go mbeadh náisiúnachas in aghaidh an ilchultúrachais. Síolraíonn an claontuairim sin don chuid is mó ó stair nua aimseartha na hEorpha agus an legáid de Nazional Sozialismus sa Gearmáin agus Nationalismo san Iodáil agus, an cineál ‘Fascismo’ a bhí i réim in Éireann gach re seal suas go dtí na seascaidí. Sa chathair ilchultúrtha, ilteangach darb ainm Baile Áth Cliath, feictear fear ag amharc aníos ó Fhaiche Choláiste i lár na cathrach, a bhí duine de na saoithe ba nua-aimseartha agus ba intleacthúla in Éireann dá linne, agus ba ainm do Thomas Davis. Protastúnach, réabhlóideach, file, uomo universale ba ea é agus de bhunaigh sé an páipéar ‘ The Nation’ i 1840. Ag an am, bhí an páipéar sin fíor-choitianta ar fud fad na tíre agus do thug sé léagas intleachúil agus cultúrtha chomh maith le dóchas polaitúil agus sóisialach do mhuintir na tíre. Bhí dearcadh leathan Eorpach ag Davis agus a chomhráidithe agus bhí sé mar intinn aige fuinneamh na tíre a mhúscailt agus cultúr nua-aimseartha a chruthú ó scartha den oidhreacht náisiúnta agus Éireann a chur ar ais i gcróilár de chultúir na hEorpa.

Ach i ré an Davis agus a leithéid bhí ciall agus fealsúnacht ag baint le gluaiseachtaí phobail, gluaiseachtaí chultúrtha. Sa lá atá inniu ann tá níos mó ‘spectacle’ ná ciall, níos mó ghlóir ná ceol. O thosaigh ‘Macnas’ ag sionsáil ar son na hÉireann breis is deich mblian o shin, is féidir linn iad a chloisteáil go minic ach níl morán le cloisteáil, faraor! Céard a cheapfadh Davis de sin? An mbeadh sé dearfach faoi threo cultúrtha na hÉireann?

Níl mé a rá nach bhfuil aon mhaitheas le sionsáil. Is cuimhin liom nuair a bhí mé ag teacht ar ais go hÉireann san Aerfort Charles de Gaulle I bPáras. Bhí oibrithe ag dul thart le drummaí agus bhí an glóir dofhulaingeach. Ba inimircigh formhór acu agus diúltaigh siad na leithris a ghlanadh. Sa chas sin, chur siad in iúl dúinn go han éifeachtach go raibheamar go léir ag brath orthu agus, ní raibheamar in ann a shéanadh go bhfuil an streachailt aicme fós beo. Bhí ciall agus cuspóir an-éifeachtúil ag baint leis seachas sionsáil páisteach dochríochnaithe.

bréag mór- big lie
ilchultúrachas- multiculturalism
claontuairim- prejudice
ilteangach-multilingual
nua-aimseartha-modern
fíor-choitianta- extremely popular
dearcadh- perspective
dearfach-positive
sionsáil.-drumming
inimircigh- immigrants

Brigit: an Indo-European goddess lost in a Christian desert

Upon its arrival in Ireland, Christianity had to reckon, not only with the warriors, but also with the most powerful female religious figure in all of Irish history: Brigit, a figure who achieved the distinction of becoming a Triple Goddess, a Virgin Mother, a Lawmaker, a Virgin Saint, and finally, a folk image whose shadows still move over Ireland.
Mary Condren, The Serpent and the Goddess p55.

When I was a child in primary school we would gather reeds on the first day of February to make St Brigit crosses. It was an activity which demanded enough dexterity and craft to appeal to the restless mind of a child. We were told that Brigit was a saint. I understood this to mean that she was a real being who could perform magic, good magic or what the Roman Church referred to as ‘miracles’. She was, we were told, a nun, the pagan daughter of an Irish king who converted to Christianity through her association with our ubiquitously revered Patron Saint Patrick. But our education in Irish culture was poor as the inculcation of a ‘Catholic Ethos’ was seen as more important that the exploration of one of Europe’s most ancient mythologies. It was always made clear to us that Patrick was the ‘main man’ was it were, and that Brigit was to be understood as an important though ancillary figure in Irish ecclesiastical history. Of course, the celebration of Brigit as a saint is a distortion of her origin and possible significance for world cultures.

Many of you will be familiar with the words ‘brigade’ and ‘briggant’ the latter denoting a warrior, a former a group of warriors. The word is also common in the Romance languages. ‘Brigantia’ in Latin came to signify ‘strife’. The Gaelic etymology of her name signifes ‘high’ or ‘exalted’ one. But Cormaic in his ancient dictionary derives it from breo-saigit, a fiery arrow. This would account for her association with fire but other etymologists connect it with the Indo-European root ‘bhregh’ meaning ‘swelling, increase, high’ The nuns of the convent in Kildare associated with Brigit continued to light fires in her honour before Pope Adrian IV ordered the Norman invasion in the 12th century.
Brigit was around long before the rise of Christianity. The Celtic genesis myth tells us that in the beginning there was darkness and primeval chaos. Out if this darkness, there arose the waters of the goddess Danu. Danu gave life to an oak tree named Bíle. Two acorns fell from this tree forming Dagda, the Good One and Brigit, the Exalted One. Brigit became the embodiment of the mother goddess Danu and it was she who sent her children to the land where the western sun sets, Inisfáil or the isle of destiny ie Ireland. Brigit is an Indo-European fertility goddess related to other goddesses such as Minerva, Juno, and Isis. She gave her name to the county Kildare, which means the Church of the Oak.

It is clear that the ecclesiastical scholars who wrote about Brigit tried to ignore her Indo European origins. This was simply the attempt by a new patriarchal religion to gain control over the potentially chaotic forces of nature. Henceforth, Brigit, the Mother Goddess, Brigit the warrior would become a passive and docile nun subservient to the will of the masculine church. Many of the stories about Brigit were expurgated from the Christian versions, such as when she made a woman’s foetus disappear. Another story recounts how a man came to her complaining about his wife’s frigidity. Brigit’s cure was so effective that ‘the wife gave exceeding love to him, so that she could not keep apart from him, even on one side of the house; but she was always at one of his hands’. She did hold high esteem in the Celtic Christian Church however, where it is said that she even became a bishop, though this was subsequently played down for obvious reasons. Now that the ideology of Patrick’s church has become more of an historical phenomenon than a contemporary one, the gods and goddesses of Irish mythology may offer us invaluable insights into the ways in which man has related to the earth and to himself in the form of imagined deities. In terms of her dynamic, immanent and multi-faceted nature, Brigit towers over St Patrick and it is a shame that 1st of February is not celebrated as the national day. For it was Brigit who told the Tuatha de Danaan, children of Danu to head for inisfáil, the isle of destiny, Ireland. and the Tuatha de Danann are a potent reminder to us all that Ireland is founded on immigration. She herself lies scattered throughout world cultures, a truly multi-cultural multi-ethnic symbol of human imagination. St Brigit’s Day or Lá Fhéile Bhríde in Irish, was known as Imbolc in pre-christian Ireland. Imbolc means ‘in belly’ and refers to the fertility of mother earth in spring. As the global womb now swells warmer each year, perhaps Brigit, as the ‘fiery arrow’ of human activity, may yet reveal her meaning to us. But by then, of course, we will have returned to darkness.

Téamh domhanda agus comhchruinneán beatha traochta

‘Humans on the Earth behave in some ways like a pathogenic organism or like the cells of a tumor or neoplasm. We have grown in numbers and disturbance to Gaia, to the point where our presence is perceptibly disturbing….the human species is now so numerous as to constitute a serious planetary malady. Gaia is suffering from Disseminated Primatemaia, a plague of people.’ James Lovelock

'....die vollends aufgeklaerte Erde strahlt im Zeichen triumphalen Unheils' Adorno/Horkheimer

Le blianta fada dúradh go raibh téamh domhanda ag tarlú ach níor thugadar morán aire do.D’athródh an domhan beaganín ach dealraigh sé nach raibh cúis a bheith imníoch. Bhí sé de nós ag alán daoine fonóid a dhéanamh faoin gComhaontas Glas agus trodairí timpeallachta eile agus iad i mbun feachtais chun ár meabhraíocht a ardú fá dtaobh de. Is léir anois go bhfuil cursaí i bhfad níos measa ná shíleamar deich mbliain ó shin. I bhfírinne, tá sé truabhéalach go bhfuilimid ag iarraidh srian a chur ar an bpróiseas anois agus léiríonn sé cé chomh diongbháilte is a táimid chun ár mhaireann ar an mbith a shábháil. Ní féidir a shéanadh a thuilleadh go bhfuil géarchéim phráinneach i gceist anseo, agus is ceann de na teamaí é atá ag cur eagla ar na Stáit Aontaithe anois, tír atá ag fullaingt arís ó tornadaí agus stoirmeacha millteanacha.

Ach an bhfuil sé ró-dhéanach anois chun an damáiste a laghdú? Tá saineaolaithe fós á rá go féidir linn an phróiseas a athrú chun cobhsaíocht aimsire a chur i bhfeidhm. Go deimhin, beidh alán impleachtaí taidhleorachta, eacnamaíochta agus polaitiúila i gceist anseo. Conas a chuirfidh siad in iúl do na tíortha neamhfhorbartha a bhfuil ag brath ar ola chun a ngeilleagar a fhorbairt, go gcaithfidh siad bealaí eile a aimsiú?

Nuair a fhéachann tú ar chás na Braisíle, tá sé follasach ó fada an lá nach bhfuil an rialtas ag coinnéal srian orthu siúd atá ag leanúint ar aghaidh le defhoraisiú os rud é go bhfuil daoine fós in san rialtas a dhéanann brabús as na tairgí soy bean sa reígún. Beidh i bhfad níos mó brú á chur ar tíortha mar sin as seo amach agus beidh athruithe suntasacha de dhíth ar fud an domhain.
Ach an rud nádúrtha é go bhfuil a leithéid ag tarlú? Os rud é go bhfuil daonra domhanda ag fás an t-am ar fad, d’fheadfadh a áiteamh nach bhfuil i gceist anseo ach céim eile san éabhlóid an duine daonna. Tá homo rapiens ag éirí ró-mhór don domhan. Sa chaoi sin d’fheadfá a rá go bhfuil sé nádúrtha go leor. Tá an iomarca daoine ar an domhan agus déanann an duine daonna níos mó dochar don bplainéid ná aon aimhní eile.

Ar ndóigh, brisfidh cogaí agus gorta amach de bharr easpa achmhainne chomh maith. Agus b’fhéidir nach mhairfidh gach sibhialtacht nua i bhfhad a thogadh le déanaí de bharr brabúis ola, cathracha cosúil le Dubaí mar shampla. Ach is féidir an fhadhb a fhéiceáil go soléir má fhéachann muid ar na staitisticí daonna amháin. Fiú ma ghlacann muid go mbeidh laghdú breithe as seo amach de bharr ghnéithe sóisialacha agus méadú de ráta báis mar gheall ar ghorta, bhreoiteacht agus chinedhíothú, ardóidh daonra de 6 millúin duine go dtí 7 nó 8 million i mbliain 2050. I lár na fichiú haoise scríobh na fealsaí gearmánacha Theodor Adorno agus Max Horkheimer ina leabhar cáiliúil darb ainm ‘ Dialectik der Aufklaerung’,

‘ seit je hat Auflaerung im umfassendsten Sinn fortschreitenden Denkens das Ziel verfolgt, von den Menschen die Furcht zu nehmen und sie als Herren einzusetzen.Aber die vollends aufgeklaerte Erde strahlt im Zeichen triumphalen Unheils’

‘Ba ea an aidhm a bhí ag léargas de shíoraí sa chaill is coitinne de smaointeachas forbatha, ná fáil réidh le heagla agus an duine a chur dul chun cinn mar mháistir. Ach is léir go bhfuil an domhan léirithe go hiomlán ag taispéaint comharthaí caithréimeacha de thubaiste.’

Bheadh sé doiligh argóint a dhéanamh anois ar son leargais toisc go bhfuil an chinéal réasúin sin fons et origo de thubaiste ollmhór atá ag tarlú timpeall orainn. Tá na saineolaithe ag maíomh go féidir linn stop a chur ar theas domhanda más thig linn symbiosis cobhsaíoch a chothú sa chomhchruinneán beatha, ach ní éireoidh muid a leithéid a chur i gcrích muna n-athrófar inneal an domhain, caipitleachas liobrálach. Ach faraor, níl sé sin ag tarlú.
Gluais
Meabhraíocht- consciousness
Truabhéalach- pathetic
Géarchéim- crisis
Diongbháilte- determined
Brabús- profit
Saineolaithe- experts
chomhchruinneán beatha- biosphere.
Tubaiste- catastrophe

In search of the Leprechaun

How strange it is that so many people all over the world are familiar with the figure of the leprechaun. It has become the most effete cliché in our vacuous tourist industry. Yet very few people know what it means, where the word comes from. I got a call from a friend in Talinn recently who was entertaining Estonian friends. They said they were familiar with the leprechaun. My friend who is Irish wanted to check the origin of this myth with me, so I explained the origin to him again. Leprechaun comes from the Irish Lugh an Lamh fhada, Lugh of the long hand, who was the god of light and wisdom. In Irish mythology, Lugh defeats the evil warrior called Balor of the Evil Eye in the internecine battle that would become known as Cath Magh Tuireadh, or the Battle of Moytura. In this battle the forces of good represented by the Tuatha De Danann, the children of the goddess Danu, (an Indo-European figure originating in India and flowing through Europe in the form of the Danube), and the Fomorii, those who dwell ‘fo mhuir’ beneath the sea, the forces of evil who were led by Balor. Balor’s evil eye destroyed everything it looked upon. Lugh kills Balor with a sling which gouges out his enormous eye. When the battle is over, however, Domnu the nefarious Doppelgeist of Danu, utters the following admonishment to Danu

‘all life is transitory. Even your children are not immortal, my sister. The time will come when they will be defeated. The time will come when no one will want gods and goddesses to nurture them, when they will be driven into the darkness, like my children have been this day’

The words Reich in German, Rí in Irish and Raj in Hindi are cognate with the English word ‘reach’. Rí is the Irish for King. One’s kingdom was one’s reach, that which one held. Reich in German means exactly this. The verb ‘ereichen’ means to reach or attain. Lugh was one of the most revered gods in Irish mythology. He was the father of Cúchulainn and gave his name to places as diverse as Ireland’s smallest county, County Louth and Lyon in France, both derived from Lugdunum, or the fort of Lug. His feast is still in August which is Lughnasa in Irish. In the Middles Ages, the notion of a pagan God commanding so much power and respect was anathema to the zealous monks who were transcribing the myths. So they changed his name to Lugh Chromain, little stooping Lugh. Through corruption this became the ridiculous Leprechaun. What this case shows is that cultural symbols can become caricatures of themselves through the changing ideologies of history.

RTE Féile Cheoil bheo. Harmonienlehre sa Cheoláras Náisiúnta.

Bhuail mé an bóthair le diograis aréir. Bhí mé ar mó bhealach go Baile Átha Cliath chun freastal ar an gceolchoirm sa Cheoláras Náisiúnta de John Adams, duine de na mór-chumadóirí na linne. Ach le meascán de bhrú an tsaoil, agus siléig ba chóir a adhmháil, níor shroich mé lár na cathrach go dtí 8 a chloig. Ba mhór agus géarchúiseach mó dhíomá is mé ag iarraidh mó ghluaisteán a locadh agus Bernhad Clarke, an díograiseoir par excellence i ndomhan ceoil ag tosnú an cheolchoirm a chraoladh beo ar Lyric FM. D’fhan mé cúpla nóiméad agus bhí me curtha faoi dhraíocht ón gcéad nóta de chuid a shaothar Lollapollousa. Ní raibh mé ró-eolasach faoin gceol siúd roimhe sin seachas corshliocht a cloisfinn ó am go chéile sa chlár Nova I Lyric FM. D’oscail sé le dráma agus fuinneamh agus bhí sé soléir go rachfainn i bhfad siar i mó shamhlaíocht agus chéadfa dá n-éistfinn leis go deireadh. Ach le turas fada i mo dhiaidh is mé cúpla kiloméadar ón gCeoláras le déanamh, chinn mé ar iarracht a dhéanamh ar a laghad chun teacht isteach ar chúl.

Bhí an t-ádh liom agus mé ag teacht isteach ar an príomhdhoras an fhoirgnimh.Shúil mé díreach chuig an fháilteoir. ‘ An bhfuil ticéad curtha in áirithe agat a dhuine uaisle’ a deir sí ‘níl’, deirim,’ ach is dócha go bhfuil ticéad ar mo chara istigh dom’. D’fhéach sí go neamhchúiseach orm agus thug sí ticéad dom saor in aisce cé nach raibh m’ainm ar aon liosta. Bhí an píosa fós ar siúl nuair a fuair me mó shuíochán ar chúl na hamharclainne ach d’éisc mé go hiomlán lena dara chuid darb ainm Harmonienlehre. Is tagairt do Arnold Schoenberg é an saothar seo inar ndéanann Adams iarracht an lámh in uachtar a fháil ar Schoenberg le cinéal harmonia a chruthú lena theanga cheoil thagarthach féin. Ba ea ‘minimalism’ an t-ainm a thugtar ar an gceol de chuid Adams cosúil le Philip Glass Steve Reich, ach i bhfírinne, tá a cheol i bhfad níos suimúila ná a chomhghleacaithe súid. Agus sa Harmonienlehre taispeáineann Adams cen fáth nach dtaitníonn na nótaí lom míbhinn de Schoenberg le mórchuid na n-éisteoirí. Éiríonn leis chomh maith, an ‘Lehre’ a thabhairt do Schoeberg faoi chumadóireacht. Cruthaíonn Adams téagar ilshraitheach lán de hathruithe túin agus éiríonn leis bríomhaireacht a fháil a chuireann Mahler agus Wagner in iúl ina mhothúcháin agus Stravinsky sa chaoi inar gcruthaíonn sé teannas agus claochchlú fuaime. Léiríonn sé sa phíosa seo chomh maith nach bhfuil ‘minimalism’ cúi don chinéal ceoil atá i gceist anseo. Fuair Adams inspioráid don chéad ghluaiseacht sa bhroinglóid inár shamhlaigh sé gluaisteán ag teacht aniar ón bhfarraige de chuan San Francisco go dtí an spéir. Ta tagairtí do Parsifal de Wagner chomh maith agus tá an ceol tagarthach agus lán de bhríomhaireacht shaibhir an t-am ar fad. Críochnaíonn an saothar leis an ngluaiseacht darb ainm ‘Meister Eckhardt and the Quackie’ agus tagann na nótaí éagsúla go dtí pointe lárnach ag dul timpeall an eochair E Mín. Níl aon focail eile don saothar seo ach magnum opus agus ba ocáid speisíalta í seo a d’fhanfaidh I bhfad I mo chuimhne agus toisc go bhfuil airgead fágtha dom, beidh oíche eile san Cheoláras Náisiúnta sar i bhfad.

Seachtain na Gaeilge, Irish week

This week is seachtain na Gaeilge, Irish week. For many of you, this will come as a surprise.Most of you are unlikely to have heard much of the language spoken in the cafés, pubs and shops of Ireland’s busy thoroughfares.Even though there are many events on all over the country, sometimes it feels as though the language exists in a sort of a parallel universe, irretrievably lost in the ether of our nation’s collective unconscious, surfacing furtively every now and then by deftly disguising itself as English. Even though the language is written all around us, it requires an effort to actually perceive it. In a sense, the notion of a bilingual place name is somewhat perplexing. A place should have a name. That is all. When we provide anglicized versions next to the names we are immediately negating the possibility of linguistic consciousness being awakened every time we utter that place name. We pronounce its meaningless English version. This not only distorts the word but it deprives that place name of dignity. A place with the dignified name of An Obair meaning, The Work, mutates into the meaningless and ignoble ‘Nobber’. An Uaimh meaning The Cave, becomes the insipid sounding Naven. Most place names thoughout the country contain some sort of meaning yet most people are unaware of this. It is often argued that foreign nationals would not understand or be able to read the place names if they were only in Irish, but this is nonsense. English literacy is one of the most irregular and illogical in the Indo-European language group. Why would Gallimh be any harder for a Polish person to pronounce than Galway? Should the French anglicize their place names so that foreigners will be able to understand them better? Of course not. The French are far too proud of their national language, and besides, the absurdity of the suggestion would soon be ridiculed. If monolingual placenames were introduced, it would not only raise our own awareness of the language but that of visitors to Ireland, most of whom are interested in the country’s language and culture. It would also bring us closer to the language in our daily lives, making the cúpla focail an effortless daily phenomenon. Everyone educated in Ireland has some smattering of the language. Yet one rarely hears ‘dia dhuit’ or go raibh maith agat or slán. Why? I suppose it is not natural for a predominantly monolingual society to consciously introduce the words and expressions of another language into common speech. Yet, what about the role of the state, what about the public sector? Public sector? Did I not see that advertised in the January sales? One of the difficulties with the state project of linguistic regeneration is the diminution of the very state itself. Privatisation of public services has made it increasingly difficult to implement policies that are not motivated by the formula of profit and loss. Yet, the attitude of the public bodies to the language is still lax and uncommitted. It is a requirement that all workers in public libraries, the Garda Síochána, county councils, have a sufficient command of Irish to be able to do their business through that medium. The problem here is lip-service without speech. Why am I not greeted by ‘dia dhuit’ when I am accosted by a Garda, or when I go to get a book out from the library, or when I ring up the county council looking for information? Why can’t we have a situation where I am not embarrassed and self-conscious for speaking Irish? The cúpla focail are not difficult. Yet, why is it not part of the training and practice of public bodies to reflect the aspirations of the constitution of the state? Why will debates in Dáil Éireann and the Seanad be conducted in English this week? The state policy allows for the potentiality of Irish instead of its actuality. In other words, if I ring up the county council and I am greeted with ‘hello, how can I help you?’changing the language to Irish involves a conscious effort on my behalf becoming an object of communication rather than a means.If the bilingual legislation were implemented it would revolutionize Irish culture introducing colour and grace into the banalities of everyday communication, bringing the language out of the night and back to where it belongs in the cold light of day. Whether we like it or not, the spectre of Irish has not gone away you know. As long as we the multi-ethnic people of this island call ourselves Irish, the language question will remain inextricably linked to our sense of identity.

Dialann na hainnise

On entre, on crie, c’est la vie,
on crie on sort, c’est la mort’
Racine


Tá mó tríocha bliain ag teannadh liom. Ó shroich mé fichiu is a haon bliain d’aois níor theastainn uaim aon cheilúradh a dhéanamh ar mó bhreithlá. Ba scéal eile é nuair a bhí mé i luisne na hóige is mé ag tnúth leis an tsaoirse a bhainfinn as a bheith níos sine. Ach níl aon chúis a bheith dearfach faoin athrú ama. Tagann an saol, tagann an bás; idir an dá linn tá a lán streachailt agus fulaingt le cur suas leis sular dtéimid ar shlí na fírinne. Sin sin. Nílim a rá nach bhfuil suairceas ar bith ann. Faigheann muid suairceas mar shampla, nuair a dhéanaimid chomhriachtain don nóiméad beag bídeach, b’fhéidir, nó ag éisteacht le ceol cumhachtach drámatúil cosúil le Wagner nó Mahler, más féidir linn ‘suairceas’ a thabhairt ar an gcinéal soláis a fhaigheann muid as Liebestod nó Das Klagande Leid!

Nach mbeadh an bréag a dheireann beagnach gach sagart de gach reiligúin agus a thugann siad ‘flaitheas’ air, nach mbeadh sé sin cosúil le bheith ag bualadh craiceann le Kyle Minogue , ag togáil coicain is ag éisteacht le Ride of the ‘ValKylies’ ag an am céanna don chéad uair? Agus mhairfeadh sé de shíoraí de shíoraí! De de de dah dah de de de dah dah de de de daaaaaaaaaaah! Ní bheadh aon post-coitus, nó aon adagio níos mó, just súnas síoraíoch, allegro fortissimo! Agus má tá sé cosúil le sin, cén fáth nach gcuireann muid deireadh lenár saol anois agus ar aghaidh linn go dtí na Kylies dár mbrionglóidí! A consumation devoutly to be wished? Ní hea, tiocfaidh an adagio ar ais agus an iarchollaíocht leis!

Ní he go bhfuilim dolásach faoi dheireadh mó hóige, is ró-mhinic a shileann muid go mba am úr shimplí neamhurchóideach í ár n-óige ach nach raibh buairt is sceon is nausea céanna againne ag an am sin nuair a thosaigh muid ag foghlaim faoi na rialacha neamhchiallmhare den domhan mór seo? Cén fáth go shileann muid deor is screadeann muid nuair a bhreitheann muid? When we are born we cry that we are come to this stage of fools arsa Lear an Rí. Cé chomh minic is a chaoineann páistí nuair a thugann siad faoi ndeara nach gclíonn an domhan lena réamhchoincheap, agus cé nach dtugaimid aon luach ar a gcaoineadh neamhchiallmhar súid, tá a bpian chomh scéinúil sin is a bheidh sé i rith a shaol ach le athrú amháin; le himeacht ama beidh siad ábalta réasunú agus beidh an fhulaingt níos mó dá bharr.


Ní mór dom a admháil anseo nach bhfuil aon saíocht nó fealsúnacht bailithe agam go fóill as mó thuras tríd an domhan. Agus tá fhios agam freisin go bhfuilim an eoraip-lárnaithe i mo dhearcadh. B’fhéidir ba chóir dom turas fada a dheánamh anois i bhfad siar ó theorainn na hEorpa. Uaireannta is turas fada an saol, scaití is turas beag é. Ach taisteálann gach duine ina haonar le ticéad aon-bhealach chuig an bás. É sin ráite ní féidir a shéanadh go gcaithfidh muid glacadh go bhféadfadh ár shaol a bheith i bhfad níos measa agus níos measa fós. Muna gcuirim isteach orainn le mó headóchas, tagróidh mé do Shakespeare arís.
Better thus and known to be contem’d,
To be the lowest and most dejected thing of fortune,
Stand still in esperance, lose not in fear
The lamentable change is from the best
The worst returns to laughter.
The wretch that thou has blown unto the worst
Owes nothing to thy blasts.

Ní bheidh aon chóisir agam ar son mó bhreithlá. Beidh faoiseamh éigin agam agus an solás go bhféadfadh gach rud a bheith níos measa. ‘ but whose can say I’m at the worst, I’m worst than ere I was and worse I may be yet, the worst is not so long as we can say “this is the worst”. Agus ar ndóigh ní bheidh muid in ann é sin a rá sular stopann an traein cibé áit cibé am.

The Contradictions of Capitalism

Modern bourgeois society with its relations of production, of exchange and of property,
A society that has conjured up such gigantic means of production and of exchange, is like the sorcerer, who is no longer able to control the powers of the nether world, whom he has called up with his spells.
Marx and Engels- The Communist Manifesto


As election placards are hoisted throughout the country urging the masses to vote for this or that party’s bogus policies, their own particular tint of the same colour, the spectre of Ireland’s recent industrial past has once again reared its ugly head: unemployment. For a while, it seemed that this problem was a class room matter, something which the insouciant nouveau riche of the Celtic Tiger generation read about when studying economic history. The consensus of the last few years has been that Ireland has become one big happy middle class family. Everyone has money, so it seems. Therefore any talk of real left-right politics is scrupulously circumscribed. However, this year’s political concert rehearsals have been surprised by an unexpected cacophony: unemployment. Could this become an election issue before the curtain is raised in a few months time? The announcement of new job losses in Cork last week came as a shock to those who faithfully imbibed the government’s economic propaganda; ie those who had got married, bought property and booked their two weeks in the sun.

Today’s Ireland is a nation of multinational mobile companies who set up shop when wages are low and abscond when better opportunities arise elsewhere. As Marx and Engels put it
‘The need of a constantly expanding market for its products chases the bourgeoisie over the whole surface of the globe. It must nestle everywhere, settle everywhere, establish connections everywhere.’

It is well known that the most central feature of capitalism is the boom and bust phenomenon. Marx and Engels spoke of ‘ the commercial crises that by their periodical return put on trial, each time more threateningly the very existence of the entire bourgeois society’. For a while now we have heard that the property market, the internal combustion engine of the Irish economy, may be showing signs of slowing down. This is hardly surprising, as those who are building the houses, ie the property developers are renting them out at inflated prices, flagrantly ignoring the needs of the majority of the population.

The whole property market has become a bauble for speculators and millionaires, instead of shelter for the populace. The average couple is forced to work over a 40 hour week to satisfy the lucre-lust of the multinational conglomerates who run this country, and to repay the borrowed money which they need to keep the whole property charade going. With all the stress, fast food and convenience foods become more common with their resultant ill-health, diabetes, depression, heart disease etc, the maladies of the hypercapitalist era. But not to worry, the government provides. That is to say, it provides for those who can pay for everything has its price. It seems the answer to the pathetic joke that calls itself the Health Service Executive is to build more private hospitals where people with money can get top service while the rest of us are consigned to death. After all, privatization has proved to be an astounding success, it’s most outstanding examples being the M50 toll bridge (subsequently bought back by the government at an astronomical price) and Eircom. But fear not, there’s plenty more on the way.

Eircom deserve special mention here. Many of those made redundant who are living in rural parts of Cork will find it harder to look for new jobs as they do not have a broadband internet connection. Ireland has one of the worst records in the developed world for the provision of broadband. We are at the bottom of the European table here, shamelessly traipsing behind countries such as Finland and Estonia. Eircom have recently announced a new initiative to provide an ubiquitous broadband service but such pronouncements have been dogged by procrastination on monetary grounds for years now. Eircom will not connect rural areas as they do not deem it profitable enough to do so. There was a time when Telecom Eireann existed to provide good communication for the state. The aim of the company then was to provide a service for the people. Eircom’s goal now is simply to make a profit. Service has nothing to do with it. The problem here however, is one of pure myopia. If I may allude to Marx and Engels once more
‘constant revolutionizing of production, uninterrupted disturbance of all social conditions, everlasting uncertainty and agitation distinguish the bourgeois epoch from all earlier ones’.
The government by failing to ensure the provision of the internet to every citizen of the state has weakend Ireland’s ability to be a competitor in the global information economy. What we have in the case of Eircom is an example of capitalism being hoist by its own petard, which is of course its very essence.