Why the Irish are suddenly great at golf

CBSsports.com Senior Writer Steve Elling said last week - before Darren Clarke's victory in the British Open - that there is "no rational explanation" for why "the Emerald Isle has accounted for five major championships since this very month in 2007."

Now what I know about golf could fit on a matchbook cover. I don't play and I only rarely watch it on television. What I do know is this: Irish people LOVE golf and they play it all the time.

By 'all the time' I don't mean every single Saturday from May - October. They play year round in just about any weather. Honestly, unless the courses are covered in snow - a rarity - or it's one of those days where you can be drowned while standing on the side of a hill - less of a rarity - Irish golfers will be out there playing. {I bet Rory McIlroy will regret his whine about the weather in England this weekend because (a) the average Irish golfer knows he learned to play in those conditions and (b) Irish people don't like weather wimps.}

Playing golf in any weather - warm, cold, dry, damp - has got to be excellent preparation for the rigors of top level golf.

The other contributing factor to Irish success on the golf course is the transformation of life here over the past 25 years. The winding down of tensions in the north and the Celtic Tiger in the south were massive, intertwined confidence boosts for everyone in Ireland.

More than more physically demanding sports, golf is dominated by confidence. Self‑doubt is a killer in golf and if there is one thing Ireland has been great at producing it's self‑doubt. Once Padraig Harrington was able to channel that national confidence into success on the biggest stage it opened that psychological door for Graeme McDowell & Darren Clarke. McIlroy was raised in the new confident Ireland, brought up to believe he can succeed. Greatness awaits.

One other thing the Celtic Tiger brought to Irish golf was a lot more golf courses. The sport, which was a preserve of the well‑to‑do in times past, is now played by youngsters from all walks of life. For that reason, I expect Ireland's golfing prowess to continue to grow. Ireland will be a golf powerhouse.

{Photo - Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell & Padraig Harrington}

Winter trip to Ireland can be rewarding

I realize that visiting Ireland in the winter is not on many people's 'to do' list, but the other night as I was watching an American television show filmed here last winter I was reminded of just how beautiful Ireland looks in the winter.

I was watching the latest installment of the NBC series Who Do You Think You Are on Ireland's national television station, RTE. The episode featured Rosie O'Donnell's search for her Irish roots (in America it can be seen here).

Of course Ireland was always going to look great. The folks at NBC were determined to get fantastic aerial shots of Dublin and the snow-covered Kildare country-side. Yet, those pictures weren't made up either - Ireland really does look great in the winter. And it provides insights into history that are less obvious in summer.

One of my favorite memories of traveling around Ireland is being in the wilds of Connemara one January in the mid-90s. I got talking to a local man, who pointed out vertical ridges clearly visible in the snow on a nearby hill. "Those are the lazy beds. People grew potatoes there before the famine, but not since."

I didn't question it because as I was looking at it I couldn't imagine anyone other than the desperate trying to cultivate such land. I would never have seen those ridges without the snow to highlight them.

The snow highlights the positive in Ireland's landscape. Although most people here preferred complaining about the mess last winter's snow made of the roads (and Dublin airport), I think most Irish people would admit that the snow really looked special on our treeless hills, patchwork fields and old churches and graveyards.

Ireland doesn't just look great in winter either. It smells good too – at least in rural areas. In rural areas people mostly burn turf, not wood, in their fireplaces. I always like the smell of a wood fire in the winter. Turf gives off its own distinctive, appealing smell.

The smell isn't just pleasant. It's part of a memory, the smell my ancestors would have known. In fact, one of the best things about being in Ireland in the winter is the chance to experience the dark, damp, cold, bleak conditions that are part of any Irish-American family's ancestral past. I always think that anyone who only sees Ireland in bright sunshine might well leave these shores wondering why anyone ever left. A few days in Mayo in January will give you part of that answer.

You don't have to suffer long, however, once you've endured a sufficiency of the damp cold, enter the nearest pub and the heat from the blazing turf fire will revive you.

A few caveats, however. It does tend to rain in the winter in Ireland. Of course, it tends to rain in the summer too, but the longer days mean you have a better chance of a few hours of dry, bright weather each day. Last winter's heavy snow was exceptional, usually it only lasts on high ground.

When it does snow on the roads, it quickly makes driving treacherous. Few cars have snow tires and fewer drivers have any snow sense. (I was wondering how Rosie O'Donnell managed driving on rural Kildare's icy, snowy roads, but we didn't see any of that. She probably had a local driver when off camera.}

Regardless, it's worthwhile. If you've seen Ireland in the summer in glorious sunshine (or even in sunshine and showers), come prepared for cold, damp weather and get in touch with the other aspect of Ireland that your ancestors knew well. I doubt you'd be disappointed.

{Photo thanks to Sligo Heritage.}

Ireland and global warming – electric cars, but colder winters

In April 2010 the Irish government announced a whole series of measures that would ensure that battery‑powered electric cars gained a significant share of the car market here. Like Dylan at Newport, Ireland is going electric.

The government's plan includes significant investment including: tax breaks to cut the price of electric cars, charge points provided by the government-owned Electricity Supply Board {photo} and other incentives to encourage the purchase and use of electric cars rather than the gasoline/diesel models we're all used to now. The goal was that 2,000 electric cars would be on the road by the end of 2011 and 230,000 by 2020.

I've indicated before that I'm not totally averse to the idea of a battery-powered car, especially as a second car, but I'd forgotten all about the government's plans for electric cars until last week. I had just parked my car in Dublin Airport's new parking garage when I noticed that the three spaces next to mine were reserved for electric cars, that in fact such cars' batteries could be charged there.

The very next day I saw my first new-generation electric car, a Toyota Leaf. It was in front of me as we headed down the highway. And, although I haven't noticed them yet, the ESB has installed charge points all over Dublin. That's probably my fault because I haven't been looking, from what I hear they look like parking meters and would be easy to overlook.

Charge points around the capital city, dedicated spaces in a public parking garage and electric cars on the road, the government's plans are probably progressing just fine, right?

Maybe, but Dublin Airport and ESB 100% government-owned. They'll do as their owner instructs. The one car I saw still had dealer license plates. I haven't seen one for which a buyer has shelled out $43,000 (after tax breaks) or so.

Will the government's targets be met?

I don't know, but ESB's web site says the plan now is only for 1,500 charge points nationwide by the end of 2011. I'd love to know how the sales of electric cars are going and how many people have had charge points installed at their homes.

More important than the targets, however, is whether this is money wisely spent?

All of the incentives and investment from the government are for one reason: to combat global warming. Maybe the earth is warming up and maybe it's not, but last winter Ireland experienced its coldest winter in 40 years and the long range forecast is that the coming winters will be even colder. Our climate seems to be changing for the colder.

All of which begs the question: is all this taxpayer-funded investment in electric cars the best use of funds if our winters are getting colder? Using the same funds to properly insulate our homes and offices seems more sensible.

In fact, it's possible that the money spent in getting electric cars on the road will seem like a a colossal waste of money if we still don't have the necessary equipment to keep the roads clear when it snows. The fact that a few happy electric car owners can charge their cars for free at Dublin Airport will seem like a sick joke if the airport shut for days on end again due to the lack of proper snow-moving equipment.

Even our European overlords, who are heavily promoting the 'green agenda', will be none too happy if our national coffers suffer another let down due to the fall-off in productivity caused by a few inches of snow. It could be a chorus of boos for the government just as it was for Dylan at Newport all those years ago.

{Photo thanks to ESB.ie}

Only in Ireland - wet Dublin's water shortage

If you're not in Ireland you may not be aware of the fact that we're having a drought here. If you are in Ireland you are absolutely, 100% certain we are NOT having a drought. Yet, despite what now seems like weeks of daily, heavy rain showers, we have water shortages.

There are times when Irish people use the expression "only in Ireland" when it's definitely not "only in Ireland." News about corruption in politics? "Only in Ireland" you'll generally hear, but that's certainly not true. All democracies experience corruption and Ireland is actually ranked better than most.

However, the other day I was watching the news headlines with a friend when the newscaster mentioned our water shortage and my friend looked at me and said, "Only in Ireland would you have water shortages in such weather." I couldn't disagree.

It was raining at the time and, in fact, I couldn't recall the last time we had had two straight days without rain. Yet I also couldn't argue with the evidence just presented on the television of a reservoir that was far from full.

The report was thanks to Dublin City Council's warning asking people to conserve water. They asked us not to water our lawns. Well, no argument from me because ... God's got that one covered!

I really don't understand how we could possibly have a water shortage. I know we had a (relatively) dry spring, but come on. It has hardly been Phoenix here.

According to the official records, Dublin had only about 60% of the normal amount of rainfall during the spring. But let's face it, 60% of Dublin's normal rainfall is still a lot of rain. There are many cities on Earth that would love to get 60% of Dublin's normal rainfall.

This is one of those examples where you can see how the Celtic Tiger years were truly wasted. The city of Dublin grew rapidly during the time, but the water infrastructure wasn't improved or expanded as the city grew.

Nearly a quarter of all the water pipes in Dublin are 75 years old or more. They leak. A lot. That's one source of our shortage.

On top of that we need new reservoirs. The city grew, but the supply of water didn't. We're near the point where demand equals supply. There are plans to draw water from the Shannon, among others, but nothing is definite yet.

The only definite is that the government wants to meter and charge for water. I can see their point, but imagine how much easier it would have been if they government had actually tackled this when the coffers were overflowing rather than just jacking up public sector pay? Now every household is going to be expected to pay for water, which has been free up to now, just when many households are drowning in debt.

That's how we find ourselves this June in a Dublin soaking in rainwater, its citizens being asked to conserve because the reservoirs are short of supply. Only in Ireland.

{Photo – Vartry Reservoir from Water Supply Project - Dublin Region.}

Hey New York, send us some snow

It hasn't snowed in Ireland since before Christmas. You might recall that Ireland was frozen solid for weeks before Christmas, with canceled flights, impassable roads and bursting water pipes. Since then, however, there hasn't been so much as a fleeting flurry.

In the same period, the northeast of America has been getting buried. Another big storm the other day; New York got another 19 inches. I know if you live in New York or anywhere in the northeast, you're probably sick of snow. Irish people felt that way in December.

But you know what? (I'm going to whisper this lest I alert a lynch mob...) I'd love a few inches of snow. Not a whole lot, just 3 or 4 inches.

Why? I'll tell you why. During our post-Christmas visit we went shopping at Wal-mart. While we were walking around the store my eye happened to catch sight of the snow shovel supply deep in a far-off corner. There were many snow shovels.

I wandered over that way without telling anyone where I was heading. There were some really nice snow shovels, the kind you'd have for life. (Okay, just go along with me here.) They were $40 or so, but I knew that it was no use because I could never get one home.

I walked further on to the $10 shovels. Not nearly as nice, but still better than any snow shovel I'd find in Ireland. They were the right kind of shovel too - more of snow pushers than a snow lifters, perfect for the showery light amounts we get when it snows here. And best of all, they were held together by easy to remove screws, which meant I could disassemble one.

I grabbed one and headed off to find the family. My wife could tell what I was thinking from 20 feet. Her first words were, "We can't fit that in any of our cases." I already knew she was right, but when I told her it would come apart she said the words I was hoping to hear: "If you can get that apart, I can get it home." {She does all the packing.}

And that's what happened.

Now I have my brand new snow shovel, but I can't go out and show it off to the neighbors (they will be very impressed - NOT) unless we get some snow. That's why I want some snow. I want to use my new shovel. (Okay, stop sniggering.)

So, New York, next time the forecast calls for more snow do you think you could ask it to head on over here? Just remember, don't tell anyone where the request came from.

New Yorkers take snow personally

I see that the Northeast of America is getting some more wintry weather. The latest forecast has upgraded the coming storm, but it won't, apparently, be anything like the storm that dumped a couple of feet of snow just after Christmas.

I happened to arrive the day after that storm. As my flight landed at Newark Airport the plows were still clearing some of the 20" or so that fell the day before. It was a complete contrast to what we'd seen in Ireland before Christmas where snow-showers of an inch or two closed the airport for long stretches.

I don't want to be too critical of the Irish airport and roads authorities. They're simply not used to snow and there was an awful lot by normal standards (basically zero).

Still, despite the fact I knew the roads would be fine, it was impressive to see the massive snowbanks along the NJ Turnpike and other roads I traveled that day. The roads were completely dry and black. In Ireland it seemed like each half an inch of snow would still be there plaguing drivers days after it fell.

Still, it wasn't all plain sailing in the area and New York City in particular was still a mess when I arrived there 5 days later. People were annoyed. Actually, they were angry.

Kind of made me laugh because, as my wife said, people were taking the snow personally. It was as if the snow's presence was a personal affront. I know there were streets in the outer boroughs that were still unplowed days later, but that wasn't the case in the Manhattan neighborhood where I staying.

These people were mad, at the snow, but at the city too. They were mad because there were huge piles of snow along the parked cars and sidewalks. Just made me laugh because, well, what did they expect the city to do? It takes a long time for a 3½ft snow-bank to melt when the temperature is hovering around freezing.

All I could think about is how the people of Dublin would have loved those problems during our snowy weeks. Some of our roads were almost impassable days after 4 inches of snow fell and the walking on the sidewalks was literally like walking on a skating rink.

Yet, despite some understandable frustration, very few here got anywhere near as upset as what I heard in New York. People just weren't experienced enough to realize they should take it personally and be angry at the snow.

Irish Weather goes "viral"

At the old saying goes, "it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good." That's certainly the case in Ireland where winds from the north have reestablished themselves bringing frigid weather and falls of snow to most of the country.

For many people this means another spell of trouble getting to work, dangerous icy roads and sidewalks and loads of cancellations. Given it's Christmas week, the return of the frosty weather has meant another blow to those stores that were hoping a good Christmas might save them.
However, there is a web site for which the snowy weather has been a boon. IrishWeatherOnline.com (Twitter: @iweatheronline, #IWO), a web site and now a viral social phenomenon, has captured a huge audience in a few short weeks.

I've mentioned before how it doesn't snow in Ireland like it snows in Albany, where i grew up, or New York, where I lived as an adult. Snow in Ireland, when we have it, comes in waves off the sea. This is one of the keys to Irish Weather Online's success.

Unlike the national weather service - Met Eireann - IWO provides a localized, "nowcasting" service which has been very popular during the recent spell of cold and snow.

Met Eireann will set the tone for the day with a general forecast telling us there is a chance of snow showers in the East or the North or wherever. IWO provides that as well on the web site, but through Twitter they provide SNOW ALERTS: "Snow in the next 15 minutes in Kilmihil, Doonbeg, Carrigaholt." What I've really enjoyed about this is that so many of the reports are about towns/villages/hamlets that I've never heard of before. I go to Google Maps to find where they are.

The past few weeks my phone has been buzzing with these snow alerts. When I'm at home they're mostly just fun (& annoying to my daughters), but when I'm out I love being told that a heavy snow shower will be heading my way in 15 minutes. That's just enough time to determine whether I should return or carry on with the journey. It only takes about 15 minutes for the roads to go from slushy to impassable.

Oh, and one more point in their favor: IWO has been (maybe only marginally) more accurate in forecasting the two cold spells we've had this month.

As well as the snow alerts, the site has been answering questions and posting pictures from people all over Ireland, basically providing an online forum for Irish people to talk about - share, really - one of their favorite topics: the weather. Blogging, tweeting, Facebooking the weather has really taken off and Irish Weather Online is at the center of the conversation.

Laid low by a snowball

It's always great fun until someone loses an eye. Who hasn't heard that old adage before?

Well, even a hurt eye can put a serious damper on the fun, as I found out last night. We had a heavy shower of snow yesterday evening and every kid in the neighborhood was again out throwing snowballs. I (and I refuse to say stupidly) decided to go out and join in.

My neighbor was out there with his kids and he was under assault from all sides. I joined him and shortly afterwards another neighbor joined our side. There were three of us; there were at least 10 of them.

We were doing fine. We had a neat operation watching out for each with occasional forays into enemy territory to administer 'justice'. All was going well.

Then - somehow without me noticing - my two teammates vanished to investigate a house alarm. I was on my own. Soon a swarm of junior Visigoths was overrunning our citadel.

I was making and throwing snowballs as fast as I could, driving back the horde. I was having some success, but then it happened. The smallest kid out there had snuck up on me. He got within 18 inches of me and then opened up...

My eye was hurting. I instantly threw up the white flag and headed for a shelter to see if it would clear. I stayed out another 10 minutes before I realized my eye was stinging too much for me to take any further part in the war.

I couldn't open my eye for most of the night. Today it's still fairly red and sore. I can't see too well - reading on the computer is a strain.

So, lesson learned? Maybe, but I hope not. I'd hate to think my last ever snowball fight ended in pain rather than the silly chatter about successful strikes. Throwing snowballs is great fun - until someone loses (the use of) an eye.

It's raining in Ireland, praise be!

Ireland is melting. Two weeks after snow and ice first started covering big chunks of the country it's losing ground. Grass is reappearing and those unshoveled sidewalks are gradually becoming less slippery.

Gradually.

Although today felt warm, the temperature probably topped out around 42F (5.5C) this afternoon. Best of all, it rained for a little while. Not long enough to totally eliminate the 3" of solid ice that has covered many of the roads in the Dublin area, but it's a start. The forecast says it will be similar tomorrow and over the weekend. With any luck the roads will all be ice-free come Monday.

This was a significant spell of cold weather, much longer-lasting than last winter's 'once in 40 years event'. And as I mentioned last winter, it rarely gets cold enough for snow to fall and stick here. I haven't met anyone who can remember it staying for nearly two weeks.

On Tuesday I was driving along the highway and caught a glimpse to my right of a wooded, snow-covered area through which I could see a frozen, snow-covered farm. For a moment I was transported back home. I thought I was driving down the NYS Thruway on a January day.

Of course the snow that fell was never properly cleared from sidewalks and side streets, which is where all that thick ice came from. There remains a real reluctance to clear slushy streets.

The public authorities did learn one lesson from last winter: throw a lot more salt and sand on the snow. It's not as good as actually moving the snow off the roads, but there was less disruption this time. Not a lot less, but less.

Despite the extra salt and sand, thousands of people couldn't get to work, costing our suffering economy hundreds of millions of dollars in lost productivity. Schools were closed, flights were delayed or canceled, and the hospitals saw a massive increase in the numbers of patients presenting with fractures. All due to a few inches of unplowed/unshoveled snow.

A new developing and possibly worse problem than the roads, however, is the water. Thanks to the deep freeze and now the thaw, many water pipes are bursting. Adding to this problem is that during the cold days and nights many people kept their water running in their sinks in a bid to prevent their pipes freezing.

As a result water supplies are extremely low. Many local authorities are asking people to limit their water usage; some are just cutting off the water for hours each evening. This is the third straight night that Dublin has issued water warnings, with many areas cut off completely from 7pm to 7am.

Frozen roads and sidewalks and now water shortages. It's easy to see why the people of Ireland are so keen on returning to their normal wet winter weather. Rain will wash away the ice and fill the reservoirs. Bring it on!

No one is dreaming of a 'White Christmas' in Ireland

A few weeks ago some Irish people, thinking about the leaner Christmas looming this year, were probably wistfully hoping that this might actually be a "white Christmas," something a bit magical to make this a Christmas to remember fondly. Not any longer as I doubt anyone in Ireland is "dreaming of a White Christmas" today.

Early last Saturday morning I had to wake early to bring my daughter to the train. She was heading to Limerick to play in a basketball tournament. We left the house around 5:50 or so. There was a light flurry in the air and a dusting of snow on the ground, but I thought little of it.

By the time I got her to the train, it was snowing pretty hard and the roads were covered. As I headed home two thoughts were running through my head: (1) The need to go SLOW and (2) the hope that it would last long enough for my son to get out to play in it.


I needn't have worried. The snow didn't melt quickly as it usually does and he got to play in it. Later that night it snowed again - more this time - and on Sunday we had a little more snow.

And so it went on and off snow and cold, crisp days and nights. Very unusual for Ireland. Today is the first day since Saturday that we've had no snow at all.

Somewhere along the way, the picture post card scenery and sounds of children laughing and playing wore out for Irish people. Of course, the roads were never properly cleared, although at least there was extra sand and salt around for treating the roads compared with last winter's snow debacle. This evening the sidewalks are a slushy, icy mess that will probably - if the recent trend holds - be frozen solid come morning time. Nobody's looking forward to that.

People are having trouble getting into work. The economy is losing €7m ($9.4m) a day thanks to the lost productivity.

Even the children seem less enthusiastic today. Fewer seem to be out throwing snowballs or building snowmen or just running around in it. Some have been off school all week and are probably looking forward to getting back to normal on Monday.

Everyone just seems a bit fed up with the snow (and ice and cold). The magic is gone.

We are three weeks from Christmas, but I suspect that a lot of people are already sick of 'glistening treetops' and would be happier to settle for the traditional Irish 'green Christmas' even with the standard wet and windy.

Open the window to let in the warm Irish air - insects too

As any visitors to these shores this past weekend could tell you the weather has been fantastic. Forget all that moaning about the cold - this weekend we had mid-summer temps. (And, yes forecast is for them to head in reverse, but the memories of this weekend will sustain us for a while.}

The weather was tremendous on Saturday and Sunday. It wasn't too shabby on Friday or Monday either. And today again, sunny and warm, down to mid-60s from the weekend's highs in the mid-70s, but in Ireland mid-60s is a pretty warm day.

On these warm days you have to open the windows of course. Back door too on the really warm days - like this weekend. I've lived here long enough to feel like I'm melting when the temperature hits 74°F.

The only downside to all this is the lack of screens on the windows. No screendoors either. I don't really know why, but the most common windows - those that seem to be on at least 95% of houses - don't have screens and can't have screens. To open them you turn a handle and push out the window. You couldn't put a screen on such a window. Oh maybe you could, but I can't see how. Regardless, I've never seen window screens here.

There are no mosquitos in Ireland, unlike where I grew up, which probably explains why we have no window screens. Still, I get fed up chasing flies and moths and the occasional wasp out of the house. Screens would save me that hassle.

Don't take me the wrong way. It's a little hassle. I'm not longing for the cold weather to return.

It's summer, but don't pack away the winter coat

I offered my daughters some fashion advice the other day that I thought I'd share with you: May is the new February. Dress accordingly.

It's been cold here. Not icy, but cold. Too cold for the first week of May, which in Ireland is the first week of summer. ("Summer?", you ask. "Yes," I reply, "in Ireland summer runs from May 1 through July 31." "Why?", you ask. "Well," I reply, "I don't really know, but that at least puts midsummer right around June 23 when Midsummer is celebrated. I guess.")

Anyway, back to the cold. Last Friday evening I was out for a post-dinner walk with the family along the seafront in Bray, Co. Wicklow. It was breezy and pretty cold, probably in the mid to high 40s. It wasn't late; the sun hadn't even set yet. Besides, the east coast of Ireland is not the kind of place where it's 85 at midday and 35 at midnight.

It was a cool day followed by a cold evening heading into a cold night.

That was when I passed on my advice. One of my daughters was decidedly under-dressed for the weather. She'd read the calendar, not the forecast. That was the 7th of May and it had already been a cool first week. This week has, if anything, been cooler. Temperatures are struggling to reach 50.

None of which is all that interesting, unless you're planning to visit Ireland soon (might want to pack an extra layer of clothing).

It's just that we're coming off the coldest winter in 40 years and now I'm wondering if we're about to have an equally cold summer. Seeing as no one has mentioned it, I presume that ash from the volcano in Iceland won't affect our weather, unlike 1816 when an eruption in Indonesia produced 'The Year Without a Summer'.

No, probably nothing to do with the ash or the volcano. Just one of those things – a cold spell. Still, there doesn't seem to be any warming in the offing, which means my fashion advice still stands: dress as if it's February. Unless, you're like these three guys (below) and decide that regardless of the weather the calendar says it's summer and you're going to behave accordingly.

Eruption makes Ireland more peaceful

It's quieter here today. I noticed it a little bit earlier. There are no planes in the sky today.

I usually hear planes flying overhead, although I don't really pay much attention to them. The only airplane I really notice is Aer Lingus' early flight from New York when it approaches Dublin Airport via the skies over north Wicklow around 5am. This isn't a daily occurrence nor does it always wake me, but there are times - on a Sunday morning, say - when I'd like to shoot the person who routed the huge plane low over my house.

For the most part airplane noises are just part the mix of sounds from cars and trucks and the occasional train that seems unimportant during the day. I'm surprised I even noticed the lack of planes, but I did. I also realized there were no jet engine trails in the sky either. The sun is shining and all the clouds above are natural.

I had thought that the quiet here was a result of the closure of all British airspace thanks to the ash from a volcano in Iceland, but I just read on RTE's web site that all flights in and out of Dublin Airport (& Shannon & Belfast) have also now been grounded.

In fact, the airspace over all of Ireland, Britain and the Scandinavian countries is now closed. Another example of nature's power.

I'm sure if I was traveling today I'd be at least somewhat annoyed, but I'm not. The lack of airplanes is simply a curiosity to me today and the source of a bit of peace and quiet.

UPDATE 1:50pm: Now it looks like this disruption could go on through tomorrow and possibly even into next week. I wouldn't have been so flippant about it if I'd known it would shut the airports down for more than a few hours.

Irish government should not pass snow-shoveling law

During Ireland's recent cold-spell the Irish government was regularly criticized for doing nothing. So now they want to do something - make a law to force people to shovel in front of their homes or businesses.

I'm all in favor of people shoveling - I practically begged people to shovel their sidewalks earlier this month - but I think this new law is a bad idea. Far better for the government to simply ask people to shovel, to be good citizens, to help their elderly neighbors.

I don't know. Maybe people won't respond. Maybe only the threat of a fine will convince people to get out and clear the sidewalk out in front of their homes.

Before we give up on the civic duty ideal and send in the snow police can't we just try it? Try a PR campaign that emphasizes what's to be done in snow? Maybe the media could promote good snow etiquette? They could even mention it's good exercise. It might work.

One thing I realized this month is that most people around where I live simply had no idea what to do. I saw some people throwing table salt on 2+ inches of snow, but it didn't seem to occur to them to shovel the snow away instead.

When people saw me shoveling they thought I was just a crazy Yank, compelled through some instinct to perform these winter rituals. Honestly, I felt like I was a feature on 'Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom' such were the looks I was getting as I shoveled. "Notice how the American grabs his shovel to attack the fluffy white invader ..."

I'm probably naive, but I'd like to believe that if people were asked to spend 10 minutes shoveling the inch or two of snow we get that they just might. The people might just respond without having to be brow-beaten into it.

Getting the weather forecast right

An article in this week's Drogheda Independent made me smile today. The paper interviewed a Boston woman living in the area, keen to learn what she thought of the snow and the reaction to it.

Predictably she said that if schools in Boston closed for as much snow as we had this past week, nobody would ever go to school. She was forgiving, more forgiving than most Irish people have been, willing to accept that investing in the kind of equipment necessary to keep things moving in snow and ice might not be a good investment.

Then she changed tack, saying how much she enjoyed listening to the Irish weather forecasters on t.v. She described them as "optimistic," which I suppose they are, but mostly they're understated and always tentative.

Their use of language is so artful that I'm not sure I can fully describe it, but failure to understand what's being said can catch out the unwary tourist or new arrival. A few examples might help.

As Bostonian Erin McVeigh mentioned, winds are often described are "fresh" or "freshening." To Americans a fresh wind is a gentle sea breeze on a hot day. Not here. If you hear the forecast say winds will be "fresh", make sure everything's tied down tight, put weights in your children's pockets because a "fresh" wind is one that would do the city of Chicago proud on its best day.

Forecasters love to use the word showers too. "Rain, clearing to showers" is a favorite, but my all-time favorite is "showers merging to give the appearance of longer spells of rain." 'Give the appearance'? The soaking is all the same.

As for the tentativeness, the most common is "mostly dry." In other words, we think it's going to be a nice day, but if it rains on your barbecue well, didn't promise anything. "Odd passing shower" is another one. It's a very rare day when they say it will be dry everywhere for the day (and it's a rare day when that happens too). They don't deal in percentages like America's weather men and women. You don't hear anything like a "60% chance of rain."

I should add that the tentativeness only arises when they're predicting good weather. Their footing is much more assured when they're calling for rain. Predicting rain or no rain, as anyone who's spent even a few hours can tell you, the Irish weather is very unpredictable anyway. A little uncertainty in the forecast is probably a good thing.

This past weekend, however, the national met service (Met Eireann) forecasters seemed to throw caution to the wind. Time and again we heard them on RTE television and radio telling us that we were going to get a lot of snow and ice, especially on Sunday. There was none of the typical doubt and uncertainty about the forecast. I suspect they let the excitement of the unusual weather get to them.

They're so comfortable calling for rain that they took their eye off the temperature. The precipitation came in large volumes as they warned, but it came as rain rather than snow because the temperatures were just above freezing rather than right around or below as they expected.

A small, but telling error and one not quickly forgotten by a people that loves talking about the weather. We don't have a weather channel here, although I'm sure Irish people would love it, such is their keenness to engage in weather conversations.

Then again, maybe not because I think they like talking about the weather more than they'd like to watch it. And in Ireland there's a sameness to the weather from winter to summer and back again that maybe wouldn't make great t.v. No, the only great t.v. is the quirky language and the unaffected personalities of RTE's meteorologists who present the weather to us.

Ireland is experiencing serious water shortages

The hills are covered in melting snow and lower down rain and wet snow has been falling for 24 hours. Some places are experiencing flooding. Yet, the biggest story is that all over Ireland water has to be rationed because it's running out. Incredible, ain't it?

The problem is pretty straight-forward: Ireland is awash in leaky pipes, if I can use such language. Some of the cities' water pipes date back to the 19th century and those pipes are notoriously leaky. Some of the pipes in Ireland's new suburbs are also leaky due to Ireland's notoriously lax building codes being ignored. On top of all that, in many places the pipes have burst due to the 'extreme cold' the country has experienced.

That extreme cold consisted of a couple of weeks of temperatures below freezing (mostly). We're not talking about weeks of sub-zero (Fahrenheit) temperatures. I'm not entirely sure what it is about Irish pipes that they can't withstand temperatures that big chunks of Europe & North America experience annually with no problems at all, but there you have it.

Our pipes are bursting due to the cold. A failure to bury the pipes deep enough in the ground is the only rational explanation I've heard so far.

The fact that pipes have been bursting has only served to encourage other people to waste water by leaving their water running around the clock (water is unmetered here). Now, just to be clear, it's not that our reservoirs are out of water, but rather the water that has been treated and labeled ready for human consumption is being lost before it arrives in the homes and businesses throughout the country.

We can't treat all the water fast enough to compensate for all that's being lost through the leaking and broken pipes. Rivers are bursting their banks as I write this, but regardless, our pipes have created a water shortage. Large areas of the country have no water or a very limited supply. The rest of the country is only experiencing a fall-off in pressure and being asked to conserve, conserve.

It's almost laughable, really. Ireland has few natural resources that it can claim to have in abundance, but water is an exception. This little island is a large sponge. Water is simply everywhere. It shouldn't be so difficult a task to get water to people's houses.

It doesn't matter, however. The deluge goes on, but we're asked not to run the dishwasher ... maybe avoid using the washing machine too ... Do you really need to shower? ... Surely, one cup of tea is enough for you? 'Water, water everywhere' and all that was never so apt as today across Ireland.

Enough government incompetence to go around

What government Minister or state body will be the 'great freeze' headline maker tomorrow morning?

Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey, who was in Malta for the week when all forms of transport were grinding to a halt in the face of our complete weather shut-down?

Or maybe Met Eireann - the national weather service - after they clearly blew the forecast for this weekend. We were supposed to be digging out from 10cm! (that's 4 inches!!) of snow today, but instead it's raining. And it's going to go on raining. There'll probably be no ice or snow left on the roads by the morning. Weather.com - based in America - called it right, but our local meteorology experts got it totally wrong.

What about the Dublin Airport Authority, which twice in the past few days has had to close the airport after falls of snow totaling less than one inch?

Or what about any of the local roads authorities, all of which were found wanting in the face of very minor snow totals?

But despite all those respectable choices, my vote goes to the Minister for Education, who first of all did nothing and allowed some schools to open when they shouldn't have, then in the face of some criticism panicked and announced - on Friday - that all schools would be closed this week until Thursday. Snow closures should always be day-to-day, especially in a place like this where you can never rely on the weather.

Thanks to the Minister's decision, thousands of working parents have to figure out how to have their children looked after while they're at work because there will no reasonable excuse for not getting to work tomorrow.

I expect all the roads to be cleared, thanks to God's intervention. The Minister either has to backtrack or live with the inevitable headlines showing empty schools and snow-less roads and sidewalks.

If people could only deal with the snow

Okay, now the snow's getting annoying. First of all, it doesn't snow like it does in America. You don't have a weather system move in dump 6-10 inches and move on.

No, the snow in Ireland is just like the rain. It snows and it stops. It snows and it stops. It snows and it stops. On again off again the past few days. No great amounts at any time, but just enough to keep the already icy, untreated roads & sidewalks slippery.

Yesterday my neighbor couldn't get her car out of her driveway. She's a widow with young children and she'd been holed up for a few days, but she was running low on food and milk, etc. So, I had to shovel her driveway clear, which was pushing my week's exercise beyond my endurance levels. It's not easy to shift this post-Christmas, over-fed and under-utilized body to daily (twice daily, actually) physical labor. I'd be slimming down these days if I hadn't upped my rations to maintain my less than svelte figure.

Truth is, yesterday wasn't really that bad. Clearing my neighbor's driveway wasn't nearly as bad as today. A few months ago my daughter had booked a trip to America for today. At the time I never imagined that the winter weather issue would be on this end.

We rose early because we have been advised to "allow plenty of time for our journey" and we left at 6:15 to make the 25 mile journey to the airport for her 11am flight. Plenty of time.

And it was. There was no bad weather and the highway was clear all the way. Arrived just after 7. Then it started to snow. Not really that heavily, but it looked like snow. For a while anyway, maybe 40 minutes. Then it tapered off to what I'd call light snow followed a while later by flurries. Total accumulation was maybe an inch? Maybe?

I thought little of it, but I thought I'd wait a bit just to be sure. Around 9:30 she called from the Gate to say the flight wasn't going til 2:30 because the runways were closed. She sounded a little down about all the hours she'd have to spend at the gate, but it wasn't a biggie. The Americans on her flight were really surprised. They could see that there wasn't a whole lot of snow out there. Eventually, when all looked good, I headed home.

I was nearly there when I got the call. Flight canceled. Now my daughter was really disappointed. The American passengers were incredulous. It was 'only a dusting,' they said. And, they were right. Her flight wasn't the only one. The airport was pure chaos.

I had other things I had to do so she had to make her own way home. She made it eventually, but we have the treat of trying it all again tomorrow morning. The forecast is for more snow overnight and tomorrow. (Weather.com says it will all be rain. I'm not sure which is preferable.)

Actually, now that I think about it, it's not the snow that's annoying, but people and governments' (local and national and other state bodies) inability to deal with it. I like looking at it and wouldn't mind if it stayed a while. The hills around my house are really pretty these days. But, if we can't deal with it then better it should vanish and pronto.

Free the elderly from their ice-bound prisons

'Many elderly people are trapped in their homes by the snow and ice.' I've heard that on the radio many times the past couple of weeks as wintry weather has descended on the country. Today, however, I had a flash of insight into the problem.

When I'd heard that announcement during Christmas week I thought the problem was mostly that rural elderly people couldn't drive down to their local town or village to buy the basics, that the roads were bad. However, after yesterday's 2+ inches of snow & ice around our area I realize that old people in towns and cities are also trapped in their homes.

Why? Because nobody - and I mean nobody - shovels the sidewalk in front of their house or business. I can't understand this. I heard people on the radio today talking about the failure of the Dublin city council to clear the "paths" (sidewalks) in the city. Well, is it too much to ask people to get their shovels out to clear the paths? Clear in front of their own homes and businesses and maybe take a few minutes to clear the walk in front of their elderly neighbors? Is that too much to ask?

Of course it isn't.

The weather forecast says the cold snap is going to continue for another week to ten days. So that ice that older people dread so much is going to be there a while. If everyone had simply grabbed a shovel yesterday evening and cleared the snow, there'd be no ice there now.

Looking down the street from my house this afternoon.

Similarly, nobody clears their own driveways and businesses don't clear their parking lots. I really can't figure this out. I had my driveway clear before the sun was up this morning. It was hard work, but it would have been much, much easier if I'd been home yesterday evening to shovel the little bit of snow we had before it was compacted down and then frozen into a bigger job.

Yet still nobody else in the neighborhood has cleared their driveway or sidewalk. Twenty-four hours after it fell and we're still waiting for God to come take it away. We may have a long wait.

Get men with shovels to clear roads

It snowed again yesterday, more this time than on New Year's Eve. Probably 2 inches or so. I was out of the country and only flew back last night. Our flight was delayed by 2-3 hours because Dublin Airport had been closed during the snow.

Landing was fine, but getting home from the airport was more difficult. Some of the roads had a fair amount of slushy snow. I had to drive very slowly (I wish I had studded tires or better yet chains. Can you still get chains in America or they no longer acceptable?) and take my chances with all the morons out there who didn't alter their own ridiculous driving habits.

Traffic was light and the temperature was falling so it didn't take a genius to work out that the slushy snow would be ice by morning. Of course, there were no plows on any roads other than the highways (and I'd been warned by text not to use the main highway to my house as it was a parking lot) so this morning the roads are sheets of ice.

And today the airwaves are full of complaints about the lack of gritting and how we're actually running low on salt. I can imagine. There seems to be a great resistance to just dumping sand on the icy roads - even just near intersections, please? - and because nobody plows the roads the whole cycle will repeat tonight. The snow that's melting a bit in the traffic today will refreeze tonight and the roads will be like sheets of ice again early tomorrow. Already the schools have announced they won't try to open again until Monday.

We have to get that snow off the roads. We don't have enough plows to clear the roads, I know, but what we do have are legions of unemployed young men in this city and throughout the country. What if the government promised them a bump-up in their unemployment benefit to come out and join work crews to clear the snow? Just imagine it: men with shovels moving snow off the roads.