It tames the population and sucks all the charm out of national life
Bill Bonner Columnist
In our first visit, almost 30 years ago, Dublin was still a grim city on the Liffey. It took three hours to drive, on little, winding roads, to get down to our office in Waterford. Eating out was not an easy matter back then; there were few good restaurants. And bars were still of the “Old Ireland” vintage.
In one, we recall standing on a bed of sawdust and talking to an Irishman, both of us holding big tankards of Guinness. In the course of the conversation, our companion got drunker and drunker. And then, he fell down, not once, but three times. Remarkably – and perhaps as proof of his Old Ireland pedigree – he didn’t spill a drop of his beer.
We ran into the Old Ireland again recently when a man in his 40s showed up with two chainsaws and offered to cut down some trees in exchange for the firewood. We agreed and got to talking and he told us of his love of salmon fishing on the nearby river. “I thought you weren’t allowed to fish in the river,” I said. The Duke of Devonshire has the fishing rights since the 17th century, hasn’t he? Aren’t you afraid of getting caught?” “I did get caught once,” he said. “I got home and there were two gardai (policemen) waiting for me. But they didn’t know anything about the fishing rights. I told them I have a special licence that gave me the right to fish out in the ocean or in the river. It was not exactly true, but who really wants to look out for the Duke of Devonshire’s fish? I invited them in. We had a drink. Then, they left. That’s how you settle problems in Ireland.”
But all this charm is being swept away by wealth and progress. Today, a modern highway system spreads out from Dublin. In just an hour and a half, you can zip along to Waterford. And the old pubs? Some are still there,but many have been turned into Italian or Thai or French restaurants. The Irish themselves have changed. “We think of ourselves as European,” explains a neighbour. Like Europe, Ireland has become risk-averse and law-abiding. No more drinking at the pub until late at nig
