Say Nothing, Do Nothing???

What with appalling neighbour governments in place across the water* in both directions, on top of the climate threat and our problems in facing up to the consequences of the pandemic, it's no wonder that Ireland is in danger of political paralysis. The fact is that nobody in their right mind would actually want to go into government at the present moment. It’s very tempting to fall back on one time-honoured Irish reaction to being confronted with alien force majeure; - Say nothing! Do nothing! Give it time!

At least it is beginning to look as if we may see the back of The Ducky in five months’ time! Is there any chance at all of things being turned around in the UK before five long years? It is hardly possible to imagine that more than a shrinking minority there fail to see now that their government of chancers is horrendously misleading them, but very difficult to see how they might do something about it any time soon, even while things are plainly going from bad to worse. 

One Bird Has Flown!

Now the year has turned. On Sherkin we are back to grey skies, wind and rain, which came in dramatically with a Midsummer gale. One bird has flown to a sunnier clime, virus or no virus. The lockdown, with its fine weather, is beginning to seem quite blissful; now a sterner future looms, fraught with uncertainty. Where will we find the leadership to weather the coming storm? Frankly, Ireland is used to being towed along in the wake of our large neighbours in the Anglosphere. It would be much better if they would change course, so that we would not have to part company too drastically!

Ireland's Naval Might.

If minds are finally to be concentrated in the UK, it badly needs to be done now, with the deadline for renewing the extended relationship with the EU about to expire, and before the situation becomes yet more dire as bad weather and winter set in. But what can be done? I said at the time of that last big Remain demo in London, which I was on, that it all felt too much of a walk in the park to be really changing things. 

A limp acquiescence seemed to set in after the General Election, though I do not believe it reflects the positive convictions of a majority, but only a sad state of disarray and disunity that a small minority knew how to exploit. Now it will indeed take massive demonstrations, with civil disobedience probably required, to turn things round. It might be an idea to start with ‘Cummings Must Go!’, but where are all those remainers now? Where is the will to turn things round?

Meanwhile in Sherkin, let us hope that our summer has not come and gone. It seems to be difficult these days even to enjoy the little things, though more important than ever. Rather than those passing nations and notions, I focus both narrowly on our little corner, with house and garden constantly claiming attention, and also as widely as possible on the Gannetsway, - a cultural framework that reaches back many hundreds of years, and into an exciting future.

Nice When It Happens.

It is anyway a long time since I felt that I could make any difference in the political picture, but even in that I suppose it is good that the odd person is able to sit back in relative peace and comfort, and consider matters with detached sympathy, 'detached' in the sense that I try to hear all sides of the story, to be objective, take a long-term view, and have no ideological axe to grind; but all the same this Dr Robert Palmer seems to me spot on:-*http://www.brexitshambles.com/the-brexit-government-and-a-global-pandemic-the-perfect-storm-in-the-eye-of-a-hurricane/