Tough job for Irish police with 35,000 Americans in Dublin for Notre Dame vs Navy

Irish police provided excellent security during the 2011
visits of the Queen and President Obama.

Notre Dame and Navy have arrived in Dublin ahead of Saturday's opener to their college football seasons. Their fans are in town too. The papers say 35,000, but it seems like a lot more than that. There is a great, celebratory atmosphere in Dublin. It's fantastic.

I never doubted that those traveling from America would enjoy themselves in Dublin. It's not hard to entice Irish people to join in when a party arrives on their doorstep. There may not be a million college football fans in Dublin, but everybody here understands pre-game and post-game enjoyment. The Irish are famous in soccer and rugby circles for knowing exactly how to do these things.

The mood couldn't be lighter and I'm certainly not of a mind to dampen down that mood. However I want to spare a thought for the few people in and around Dublin who are probably feeling a lot more tense thanks to the presence of all these Americans, including thousands of United States Navy personnel - those charged with guaranteeing security over this weekend.

Obviously, there'll no real trouble from any of the visiting Americans and no serious trouble from Irish people either. That's one of the key reasons why the atmosphere around Dublin is good. Everybody knows there will be no trouble.

However, Ireland is part of Europe and as easily as the American fans traveled to Ireland so could those twisted few who belong to groups like al Qaeda. Of course, Ireland has had its own, so far thankfully light, brush with al Qaeda terrorism.
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Irish people have great faith in the gardaí and with good reason. Last year's visits of the Queen and President Obama went off without a hitch. Security was tight and effective. I'm sure the gardaí, Ireland's police force, with help from their colleagues in other European police forces have been working on their security arrangements for this weekend since this game was formally announced.

Yet, protecting one very important visitor is a different proposition to protecting thousands of visitors, especially when they're scattered throughout the city. The fact that the Americans will be so easy to identify, especially those in green pants or Navy uniforms, doesn't help the gardaí.

Tomorrow's game would be an obvious target if you were up to no good, but I expect security to be very tight around the stadium. I'm sure the gardaí have that well in hand. Same goes for the area around the USS Fort McHenry, which is in town as part of the Navy's Emerald Isle Classic celebration. Plus, the Navy knows how to protect its ships when in a foreign port.

I'm sure the gardaí are so prepared the they're unworried by either the game or the ship. No, I bet if anything is causing them restlessness it's all those fans wandering around Dublin, with the words "We're Americans" pretty much tattooed on their foreheads.

I expect the eyes under those peaked blue police caps will be keenly focused wherever groups of Americans gather. And come Monday morning I expect no one will be happier to see the American visitors happily on their way than those charged with protecting them this weekend.

{Photo thanks to the Irish Independent.}

Navy war dead in Ireland need some attention from those traveling for Notre Dame game

Headstone in Cobh, Co Cork graveyard
with details on death of 2 American
sailors during WW1.
Photo: thanks to USSWwainwright.org

This was first published at IrishCentral.com.

The other day I wrote that I thought the Navy had flubbed its mission to Ireland, isn't reaching out enough, using soft power to win some points with the Irish people. In particular, I thought the Navy isn't doing enough to highlight the links between Ireland and the US Navy, but rather is leaving the "Irish links" domain entirely to Notre Dame.

Yesterday I learned that the Navy is bringing the USS Fort McHenry to Dublin and they're allowing people to tour the ship. I know my son would absolutely love that so I entered the lottery for tickets to join a tour. Fingers crossed.

That is good, but I still think the Navy could have done so much more. However, there is one thing they can help get done that should be done.

A few years ago I wrote about an unmarked grave containing three American sailors in a graveyard in Cobh (formerly Queenstown), Co Cork. I got that story from a documentary on Ireland's national television station, however I now suspect that story isn't actually accurate.*

However, there are two Americans buried in Cobh's Old Church Cemetery, both of whom died while serving with the Navy during WWI.

One of the two lies in a grave with a headstone (see above) that is in serious need of a cleaning. The stone reads:

Sacred to the memory of our shipmates James H. Bush US Navy born 11/11/1889 at Brockton, Mass. Accidentally drowned Aug. 4th 1917 and William P. Baker U.S. Navy born 9/9/1899 at Branswick, Cal. Lost at sea Oct. 23rd 1917 body not recovered. Erected by the Officers and Crew of the U.S.S. “Wainwright”.
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The other man lies in a grave nearby. An unmarked grave. Seaman Second Class William H Mansfield, who died of the flu on October 26, 1918 while serving on the USS Utah. Mansfield was from Richmond, KY. {Mansfield's address is given as 133 Estill Avenue and his next of kin as his father William Thomas Mansfield. Interestingly, Willie Thomas Hammons, also a Seaman Second Class, died in a naval hospital in Scotland in October 1918 and he gave his next of kin as his mother Cora Elmore Mansfield, also of 133 Estill Avenue in Richmond, KY. The two men enlisted on the same day in May 1918 in Louisville. They died five days apart. Half brothers? Cousins?}

Mansfield deserves a headstone, a proper military headstone on his grave. That he died of the flu is of no matter. Most of the Navy's casualties during the war were due to the flu.

Thanks to the work of the American Legion Ireland, the Fr Francis Duffy Post, these omissions have been put right often in recent years. Now they have another mission. They could probably use a little help and with all the Navy brass that will be here this weekend for the football game that help his here now.

It would be great if someone from the Navy's traveling delegation to Ireland this weekend were to find out about William Mansfield's unmarked grave and get ball rolling when they get back stateside. A proper military headstone needs to be requisitioned immediately. While they're at it they can organize for the stone on Bush's grave to get a good cleaning and/or maybe request a proper military headstone for that grave too.

* I want to thank Aileen Walsh of Cobh Town Council who took my rumors about the three sailors in an unmarked grave and then spent quite a bit of time going through old registers to turn those rumors into the hard facts on Bush, Baker and Mansfield.

Navy should be celebrating Irish links ahead of Saturday's game in Dublin vs Notre Dame

John King, who was from County Mayo,
 won 2 Medals of Honor.
{Photo thanks to HistoricalBallinrobe.com}

Navy plays Notre Dame this weekend in Dublin. Compared with the last time Dublin played host to a college football game - the same two teams - there is a lot more interest here in Ireland. The Irish media is paying a lot more attention and there is a lot more general awareness about the game.

There are many reasons for this, including the fact that the game is being tied to the government's plans for a big Irish family reunion in 2013, but also thanks to the interest in football generally thanks to the presence of the NFL (especially) and college football on cable television.

Of course Notre Dame is the key to much of the local interest. In fact, it's all about Notre Dame, which isn't all that surprising.

The Fighting Irish are bringing most of the visiting (and spending!) fans, but the college has done a lot to develop its Irish links over the past 20 years. Although you might not realize it, the name Notre Dame didn't mean all that much to most people here until recently. Now many - most? - Irish people know Notre Dame and know it's an important institution in Irish America.
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John Barry - Irish hero of the United States
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So Notre Dame is coming to Dublin and will overwhelmingly be the 'home team,' although it's officially a Navy home game. That was always going to be the case, but the Navy could have, should have, done more to promote its Irish links, which are a lot older than Notre Dame's.

They could have started with John Barry, "the father of the American Navy," who was from Wexford. Barry's story is too little known here and in America and the Navy missed an opportunity to give a boost to the man George Washington trusted to be the first to lead the United States Navy. {I've mentioned this before, but I had hoped that Saturday's game would be known as the John Barry Bowl, but such a name doesn't have the same marketing appeal as the Emerald Isle Classic. I guess.}

There is also the fact that it was just off the coast of Ireland, near Carrickfergus, that John Paul Jones captured HMS Drake, the first British ship captured by the Continental Navy during the Revolutionary War. Surely the Navy could have marked the occasion with a lot of fanfare and a little ceremony celebrating Jones up in County Antrim.

There are many other links, including Clare's John Holland, who invented the submarine. And what about Mayo's John King, who won two Medals of Honor during the early years of the 20th century. There is a statue of King in Ballinrobe. The Navy could have gone to Mayo to honor King. After all they named a ship after him in the 70s so sending a small party to his hometown would have been entirely appropriate.

But the strongest link of all is in County Cork, where the United States Navy had a base during WW1. For two years the United States Navy called Queenstown (now Cobh) home while it waged war on the Kaiser's reich. Although Cobh was the primary base for the Navy, American ships were also based at Berehaven. There were also Naval Air bases all along the south coast and an American Naval hospital at Cobh (Queenstown).

Saturday's game is in Dublin. Dublin is getting most of the attention from the arriving fans. Cork would have been thrilled to get a Navy delegation - or two! The people of Cork would have adopted the Navy for the game. It would have been a case of "Fighting Irish" be damned if only to be different than Dublin.

I know there are all sorts of political, geopolitical even, concerns when it comes to the Navy, but they're coming here to play a football game. It's a great opportunity to for some soft power, light diplomacy and a little bit of a history lesson, one that both Irish and American people could get something from. There should be more to the Navy's mission in Ireland than a "W" on Saturday.

{Let me add, if the Navy is doing any of these things they're doing it with almost no publicity.}

Irish heritage sites have to make Irish people feel welcome

The Rock of Cashel, County Tipperary. Ancient cathedral/castle
built on a site where, tradition has it, St Patrick converted the
King of Munster in the 5th century.

A recent survey on Irish heritage sites indicated that a quarter of Irish people visit heritage sites "frequently," which surprises me to be honest. In fact, I don't believe that at all.

The same survey indicated that the prehistoric passage tomb at Newgrange in County Meath is the country's most important heritage site. That doesn't surprise me because if there's one thing that makes Newgrange different from many of the country's other sites is that Irish people go there in large numbers. In my experience that isn't the case with some of Ireland's other historic jewels.

A few weeks back I went to the Rock of Cashel in County Tipperary. It was my first time there in many years and I still can't get over how much I learned and enjoyed myself there.

The Rock of Cashel is simply fantastic. I know there seem to be a lot of places like this in Ireland and if you're on a limited vacation schedule you might not fit them all in, but if you can get to Cashel, do it.

My family and I had a great time, thanks in large part to the tour guide who did a very good job explaining the history and architecture of "The Rock."
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The only negative - and it's not a big one, more of a nagging annoyance - was that the Irish-born in my traveling party (all but me) felt during the tour that the Rock of Cashel was for tourists and not Irish people.

It was subtle and more down to the tone than the actual words spoken, especially at the start of our visit, but there was a sense that we were in a tourist trap more than a place of real significance. The Rock of Cashel is not Bunratty Folk Park (although that has its pluses too, but it is primarily for tourists).

It's a little difficult to phrase because I'm not really being critical or at least I don't have an easy answer to the problem, which is that the tour was clearly designed for a non-Irish audience. Our tour guide at Cashel did a very good job of explaining the history of the Rock, the importance of the various parts of the structure, etc. but his entire talk made it obvious that Irish people were not his audience.

Again, I'm not criticizing him because he was good and I assume he was working mostly from a script that those who run the Rock of Cashel provide for their tour guides. And he wasn't wrong. Of the 25 or so on the tour there were only four or five Irish people and three of those were my family. Most of the group probably was pretty unfamiliar with Ireland and its history.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about: our guide explained that Cashel was the seat of the King of Munster, "which is the most southern of Ireland's four provinces." Every Irish person knows that. I daresay that a large percentage of Irish-Americans know that. If I had heard that when I was a young, visiting Irish-American tourist I'd have been a little annoyed to be thought so ignorant of the basics of Irish geography.

My 17-yr-old daughter was incensed. She wanted to leave the tour right then. Yet if the guide had inserted "for those of you not from Ireland" it would have had a completely different impact. It would have been perfectly acceptable. There were a lot of similar phrases where it was obvious the tour guide expected his audience to know next-to-nothing (at most) about Ireland.

I have experienced this sort of thing before. Yet I don't blame the tour guides for it happening. They know their audience and it rarely includes Irish people. That's the shame of it. Irish people don't go to a lot of their own heritage sites so those in charge of the sites run them as tourist destinations. Or maybe Irish people don't go to the heritage sites because they know that they'll be treated as tourists and they don't like that. I don't know which it is, but it's a shame regardless.

As a comparison, try to imagine the Statue of Liberty or Independence Hall or the Washington Monument being explained to those visiting as if they don't know the basics of American history or geography. It just would never happen. Wouldn't happen at the Tower of London or Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris either.

Now if this was a one-off I wouldn't mention it, but it happens regularly. As I said, it's only a minor quibble, but I do think that fixing this would make the sites more attractive to Irish visitors. Make them feel less like only 'foreigners go there.' I also think tourists prefer to visit places that the local native population values highly and visits regularly. Tourists like authenticity and the native population's presence is proof of authenticity.

Ideally Irish people will visit their nation's fantastic heritage sites more often and force a change, but short of that the people who are in charge of the Rock of Cashel and other important sites need to explain Ireland's history and geography in a way that doesn't insult those Irish people who do go. That "céad míle fáilte" they all start with should be directed at Irish people too.

Gold medal for Katie Taylor cost Irish taxpayer close to $400,000

Katie Taylor captured Ireland's only gold medal
at the London Olympics.
{Photo thanks to Reuters}

Did you see Monday's pictures from Bray, Co Wicklow? Tens of thousands of people gathered to celebrate Katie Taylor's Olympic gold in boxing. There were similar scenes in other Irish hometowns of the country's successful Olympians.

Ireland's national television station, RTE, provided quite a bit of coverage of these events and undoubtedly will provide even more from today's national "homecoming" event in Dublin. Tremendous stuff. These local celebrations and the big one in Dublin cost a bit, but it's only a small sum and what taxpayer would quibble when the public mood is so keen on these celebrations?

Well, maybe me.

Although the truth is I don't have a big problem with these events. The public joy over Katie Taylor's success in her hometown, where I happen to live, is universal. Taylor, or I should say Katie as us locals refer to her, is a source of real pride to the people of Bray. {I'm still not comfortable with women's boxing, but I admire the way she conducts herself as an athlete and as a person.}

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What irks me, however, is the amount of taxpayers' money that goes to pay the athletes Ireland sends to the Olympics.

The Irish government pays €40,000 ($50,000) annually to each of Ireland's elite "high performance" athletes. This year there are 27 such athletes, some of whom actually did well in London and won medals. Katie Taylor is one of the 27 and she has received almost €300,000 ($370,000) in government funding (aka our money) since 2005.

Why? What does the Irish taxpayer get for this investment? After all, our government is bankrupt. Maybe the view is 'what's another few million euros into the vast debt pit in which we find ourselves?'

Don't get me wrong, it's not just Taylor. And at least she won a medal and set up Monday's happy day in Bray. Boxer Paddy Barnes, who got €40,000 this year and has received over €200,000 ($250K) in total, won a bronze and is the toast of Belfast.

Track athletes Olive Loughnane and Derval O'Rourke have received sums similar to Taylor, but neither of them was near a podium finish in London. Clay Pigeon Shooter Derek Burnett has received €270,000 ($330,000) and finished his Olympics in 46th place (I think). David Gillick has received similar money and didn't even make it to London.

There are boxers, cyclists, sailors, canoeists, archers and others receiving government money to compete in their sports. Why? What public benefit do we get for this money?

A crowd of up to 20,000 fans greeted Katie Taylor in her
hometown of Bray, Co Wicklow on Monday.
{Photo thanks to the Irish Times.}

I fully understand what the politicians get from spending our money in this way. They will be indirectly claiming credit for Ireland's Olympic medals, trying to cash in on the feel-good vibe the medal-winners provided. I'm sure they're keen to be seen on the stage in Dublin with the athletes later today. Of course, there will be no shots of any of them with the David Gillicks on the payroll. (And I don't know his story. He could well have been injured, but that only begs further questions as to how the government chooses who to fund, etc.)

The old amateur ideal of the Olympics is long dead. The International Olympics Committee makes a ton of money on the games. Let them pay the athletes who compete. I mean, nobody asks the taxpayer to pay the salaries of those who play in the NFL, NBA or English Premier League.

Besides, Katie Taylor is worth a whole lot more than €40,000 to the IOC. She is a tremendous advertisement for the Olympics. Not only should they pay her, but they should give her a huge raise.

I love sports. I watched a lot of the Olympics and rooted for the Irish competitors. Regardless I don't understand why the public should be so keen to pay the athletes who compete. Are we that desperate to see a medal hanging over a green jersey and the Irish flag flying from a stadium roof?

I'm not. I can endure, even enjoy, an Irish-medals-free Olympics.

"50 Shades of Grey" helping Irish mommies escape our long, grey summer

All the 'Shades of Grey' you could want this summer in Ireland

Two weeks ago, thanks to a flurry of Irish twitter activity built around a hash-tag topic of 'Irish 50 Shades of Grey,' I became aware of the book 50 Shades of Grey. At first I couldn't understand the tweets but assumed it was a play on the Johnny Cash song 40 Shades of Green and Ireland's weather this summer. Didn't take me long to realize that Johnny Cash and his song were not the source for the jokey tweets, but it was in fact a new book making headlines thanks to both its content and the speed at which it's selling.

50 Shades of Grey has been called "mommy porn" which is all I need to know. I'll be giving it a miss. I'll never know why it was called 50 Shades of Grey, although the title kind of surprises me because it sounds anything but sultry or steamy. In fact, it sounds cold and dull, just like our summer, which is why I was sure those tweets were about our weather.
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I suspect the dreariness of the weather here may well explain why 50 Shades is selling like hotcakes. Mommies the length and breadth of Ireland are probably only maintaining a tenuous grip on sanity given that the children have been cooped up indoors for the past few months. A bit of escapism in a fantasy novel might well be medicinal.

All of which brings me around to Mr Niall O'Dowd of this parish, who spent a few days in Ireland at the end of June, early July. After his few days he returned to New York, where the weather was sweltering in the mid 90s and he longed to be back in cool, damp Ireland. 

Don't get me wrong, I can relate to that feeling. I remember how uncomfortable New York can be in a heatwave. However, that's just it. It's a heatwave. It lasts a week, maybe two then it breaks then you have temperatures in the low to mid 80s with lower humidity and it feels pleasant. Maybe the serious heat returns, maybe it doesn't. 

Here in Ireland, however, this summer we have had week after week of dull, damp, depressing weather. We had one very good week of weather in late March and a half-way decent week in late May. That's it. 

Over dinner two weeks ago I casually mentioned O'Dowd's column. My wife's look said it all. She didn't want to say anything as our son was sitting at the same table, but the look in her eyes was murderous. This morning my wife, fighting a cold, looked at me, looked out the window at the rain pouring down and as she wrapped her hands around a hot cup of tea said to me, "If I ever meet that O'Dowd ... And we only have the one. Imagine what it's like if you have two, three or more young children?"

Yesterday was St. Swithin's Day and tradition has it that if it rains on St. Swithin's Day it will rain for the next 40 days. That basically means the rest of this summer is a write-off.

So stir crazy Irish mothers of stir crazy Irish children will have to find another book to see them through the second half of summer 2012. 

I have no idea what that book might be, but if my wife was ever to write a fantasy novel it would be less "mommy porn" than "mommy horror." I already know the plot: a middle-aged Irishman who has lived in America for decades returns to Ireland for a short break and waxes lyrical to Irish mothers about the benefits of Ireland's cool, damp summers.  The mothers, incensed, take revenge. They lock him in a small house with their children and plan to leave him there until he's driven insane and has to be led away by the men in white coats.

And the title? Well, for the moment it has a working title of "50 Ways to Slay."

Dun Laoghaire Harbour - few now emigrate from this beauty spot in Dublin

Dun Laoghaire Harbour from the more popular East Pier.

Dun Laoghaire Harbour in County Dublin is no longer the commerce and transport hub it was for more than a century after it was built in the 19th century, but it is still a functioning sea port. There is only one daily sailing from Dun Laoghaire (sounds - Dun Leary) these days, and even that is curtailed during winter months. Dublin Port has stolen Dun Laoghaire's thunder. Of course, Dublin Port would probably argue that Dun Laoghaire stole its thunder first and that turnabout is fair play. 


In the early 19th century Dublin was a growing city with a problem - it was difficult and dangerous to navigate a ship through the narrow channels that led into Dublin. The answer was to build a brand new harbor at Dun Laoghaire, eight miles southeast of Dublin.

Even before the harbor was complete - it took over 40 years to finish - Dun Laoghaire was busy providing a safe harbor for ships bringing goods and people back and forth to Britain and further afield. Dun Laoghaire was connected to Dublin by one of the first suburban rail lines in the world. 

Of course this being Ireland, one of Dun Laoghaire's less happy functions was as point of embarkation for many of those who emigrated from Ireland over the past 170 years. Most of the emigrants who left through Dun Laoghaire would have landed at Liverpool, where many settled and many others found further passage on ships going to America or Canada.

Emigrant Ship by Edward Hayes, 1853
{From the National Gallery of Ireland.}

Dun Laoghaire remained a pivotal trading hub for Dublin until recently, when new roads to Dublin port attracted away most of what was left of Dun Laoghaire's shipping traffic. Today traffic in Dun Laoghaire Harbour is mostly pleasure boats. There was a proposal a few years ago to develop a "Diaspora Centre" on a small disused pier, but I haven't heard too much about that recently.

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So Dun Laoghaire Harbour is mostly used by sailboats, but the piers themselves are also a great amenity. People come from all around to walk the piers. The East Pier, which is the most popular for walkers, rollerbladers, etc, is a mile long and finishes at the lighthouse, which is surrounded by a small 19th century fort.

The fort was recently opened to the public. It's not the most interesting old structure in Ireland, but it's having a quick look around. You do get a good view of Howth in the distance and the town of Dun Laoghaire, of course.

I always like walking the pier and inevitably as I walk back I take a good look at Dalkey Hill, which is a couple of miles away. The rock used to build the harbor was extracted from Dalkey Hill. I don't know if quarrying the rock, transporting it to Dun Laoghaire and building the harbor was an engineering marvel or not, but it always impresses me.

Today that disused quarry is part of the beauty of Dalkey Hill and useful for rock climbers, who like the sheer drops the quarry provides. Nature has covered over what I'm sure was a man-made eyesore and just down the hill the man-made harbor still tames nature.

From the end of the pier looking back towards the town of
Dun Laoghaire, County Dublin.

My Irish wife thought Americans loved liberty too much to accept the health care mandate

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts,
whose surprise vote was decisive
in health care decision.

The other night my wife and I were watching the NBC Nightly News, which is broadcast here on NBC's European cable station.

There was an item about firefighters in Colorado not having health care. It was the typical network news lechh, with a plastic reporter not so much reporting as trying to grab us by the heartstrings. That sort of thing just gets my goat and I blurted out, "Oh gimme a break."

My wife started asking me questions about the the Colorado firefighters thinking I knew something about those who are fighting fires in Colorado and their health care issues. I don't. It was merely the reporter's tone that set me off, although I told my wife I doubted that the firefighters' tale was as straight-forward as NBC's talking emoticon made it seem.

I said that I thought this is NBC's way of providing more back-up for the new Health Care law in America. We got talking about the new law. I explained that I didn't understand all of it and went through a few of the provisions as I understood them.

I told her that people who were already sick or injured or whatever could not be denied health insurance. She didn't have much a problem with that one. I told her the government claims it will help control the costs of health care and health insurance, but "who knows? We have a lot of that here and costs seem to be exploding."

I mentioned that under the new law children could remain on their parents' policy til they were 26. That didn't phase her, although I find it odd that someone who's 25 can be considered a child.

Not a biggie, however.
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I then mentioned the individual mandate and my wife was stunned.

"You mean, even people who don't want health insurance are going to be forced to buy it?"
"Yup."
"Really? Surely that would be ruled out in court."
"No, the Supreme Court just ruled it was constitutional. It's the law of the land."
"I'm shocked by that. I didn't think Americans would stand for anything like that. They always give the impression of not liking it when the government intrudes in their lives. I'm really surprised that Americans are willing to put up with that."

My wife was sure Americans had more respect for individual liberty than that. "If people can be compelled to buy health insurance what can they not be compelled to do?" Indeed. Happy 4th of July.

Beautiful day for a walk up Dalkey Hill, one of Dublin's jewels - PHOTOS

In the distance is Dalkey Island, one of the great views from the top of Killiney Hill,
Killiney, County Dublin.

I don't do "impulse buys" as a rule, but "impulse walks" are another thing entirely. I was driving through Dalkey, Co Dublin at lunchtime and I suddenly decided I'd rather walk up Dalkey Hill than sit eating while I read.

Great decision.

The weather overnight in Ireland was horrendous. Many areas were flooded. We're lucky because our house is on the side of a hill so all I had to endure was getting soaked walking the ten feet to the car and driving on roads with an awful lot of water.

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More Photos

Rest may elude Bono at his Dublin home

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When I went out at 7am I thought the car was going to be washed away at times there was so much water on the road. By noon it was as if it hadn't rained at all.

Obelisk on Killiney Hill built in 1741

I know that's not unusual in America in the summer. Sudden downpours can vanish in seconds when the hot sun returns. It's a lot less common here. I don't know that I've ever seen it dry out faster.

The sky was a beautiful mixture of puffy clouds and bright blue. There was a fairly strong breeze, but the temperature was around 70 - perfect. I couldn't resist. I headed for Dalkey Hill.

Of course, it's not just Dalkey Hill. There are two hills side by side. If you walk up Dalkey Hill the chances are you'll come down Killiney Hill. You have to get the whole panorama.

I know I've said this before, but Dublin and its surrounds are blessed with many tremendous walks. Dalkey/Killiney Hill is one of them. There's a reason why Bono, the Edge, Maeve Binchy, Neil Jordan and others choose to live there. The views are spectacular.

The last place I lived in America before moving to Ireland was Guttenberg, NJ. My wife and I used to regularly walk along the boulevard along the top of the cliffs from where we had a great view of Manhattan. It was tremendous too, but to be honest I prefer the views from the top of Dalkey Hill.

I'm pretty sure I've said this before, but it bears repeating: if you find yourself in Dublin an impulsive decision to head to Dalkey on the train or in the car will be richly rewarded if the weather is even half way decent. On a day like today there is no better place on Earth.

From the top of Killiney Hill looking over Killiney Bay

Ulster Bank fuels Ireland's anger at the country's banks

Software update by Ulster Bank's parent caused the trouble,
but Ulster Bank's response has been awful.
{Photo from HighStreetAshbourne.ie}

Just when it seemed the reputation of Ireland's banks couldn't sink any lower up steps Ulster Bank to remind everyone of just how much we hate, yes "hate", the banks.

The country is bankrupt thanks to the banks. The landscape is blotted with half built housing developments and empty office buildings, hotels and retail outlets thanks to the banks. The young people are streaming out of the country thanks to the burden the bank debts have placed on the Irish economy.

The Irish people have good cause to detest the country's banks.

The current upset caused by Ulster Bank is not on a par with the bankruptcy of the state caused by the 2008 bank guarantee, but it's still pretty serious.

The trouble all started last Tuesday evening. Ulster Bank's parent, Royal Bank of Scotland, updated their payment processing system. The new software was corrupt and from that moment the bank wasn't able to update their systems to account for payments in or out.

Account balances are frozen as of last Tuesday. No payments in or out are being registered. Wages? They're not there. Paid the gas bill by automated payment? Didn't happen. Deposited a check in the branch? It's not there. Mortgage payments? They're not there, unless you happen to have an Ulster Bank mortgage. Somehow the bank is managing to take their mortgage payments out of their customers' accounts. See what I mean about "hate?"

The bank's communication with its customers and the press has been abysmal since the problem arose. Initially we were assured the problem would be resolved by the end of last week, now we're hoping all's well by next week. In the meantime salaries and bills are going unpaid; companies can't pay one another.
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All of which is bad enough, but yesterday the bank issued a statement urging their "elderly or vulnerable" customers to get in touch. This set me off. This sort of pious drivel is bad enough when I hear it from a campaigning politician, but from a bank?

There are a lot of business owners struggling to survive in the desperate times. Already the press has stories of business being lost by companies that can't access their accounts.

Businesses need access to their money. Small business owners may well not have the time to waste waiting for their local branch to see them.

Besides, why should they be forced to go into the bank as a supplicant when it's the bank's fault? Why should any customer who needs to pay some bills be forced to plead their case in the branch? Why should any customer who just wants access to their money be treated as "vulnerable?"

Of course Ulster Bank is part of a licensed oligopoly so it's not like customers can just go elsewhere with their business. All of Ireland's banks are equally bad, truly indifferent to most of their customers.

Mistakes happen. Software glitches cause havoc. That's the way it is in any industry today, although I wonder why they didn't wait til the weekend to roll out their new software.

It's the response that really sticks in the craw, however. It's the arrogance, the failure to admit the truth, the attempt to sound like a charity or a social worker, a do-gooder that's infuriating.

Only our bankrupt, state-owned banks (Ulster Bank is, fortunately, owned by the British government) still have their superior attitude. Banks, uniquely it seems, can foul up and, time and again, not feel vulnerable while legitimate, profitable businesses, customers and taxpayers pay the price for their errors.