I am born Cork actually (as clarified).

As clarified w/Calvin I now work between Cork and Edinburgh (festival)

I sincerely hope I have not caused offence. I only amplify what you have heard and will on RTE (kenny, J. Duffy, 5-live, news, etc). Ireland is in a bad way. I actually like the place. What I do NOT like is as outlined above…

Foul mouths, drunk culture, drug culture, street violence, racers, disruptive behaviour. culture of dis-respect, etc etc.

As an Irishman I’m entitled to amplify what others think.

And as an Irishman I (like Pat Kenny, J. Duffy, etc) am disgusted!

I’m neither deluded or short sighted… and I’m certainly not in denial.

I don’t think anyone is pretending that the side of Ireland you’re talking about doesn’t exist… of course it does. It just isn’t quite the all-pervading menace that you seem to intimate.

It is there… of course… if you go out looking for it, but as I’ve said before during day-to-day life here over the last nine years I’ve never really encountered a problem. It’s a sporadic inconvenience at worst, and mostly it isn’t apparent at all.

This isn’t delusion or fantasy — it’s my experience of living and working in West Cork, day-in day-out. For me, that’s way more important than statistics and rhetoric!

DEPLORABLE SOGGY BOGGY MUCKY FOUL MOUTH IRELAND- NOW WE ARE APPROACHING HONESTY. …. AS FOR PRETENDING IT DOESN’T EXIST…IT EXISTS! AS FOR SCRATCHING VENEER (WE DONT LIKE THAT) AND COVERING UP VENEERS (WE LOVE THAT)… THE ABOVE STILL EXISTS

IT’S OUR MIND-STATE WE SHOULD EXAMINE… FOR EXAMPLE… JUST BECAUSE I PRETEND THAT DRUNKEN FOUL MOUTHS, LOUD RACERS, ANTI-SOCIAL VIOLENCE, VANDALISM AND TRADITIONAL SOCIALLY ACCEPTED VIOLENT WHACKERY DOESN’T EXIST… THIS DOES NOT MEAN… IT DOES NOT EXIST! …IT DOES (even if I pretend it doesn’t!)

EVEN THO’ IT HAS INCESSANTLY RAINED, SOGGED, BOGGED, CLOUDED AND DEPRESSED MOST INTO DENIAL (WHAT A SUMMER) WE/I/YOU CAN PRETEND… IMAGINE… NOT SCRATCH REALITY… HIDE REALITY… ETC… “AH CMON TED… “STATISTICALLY”… IT IS A DIRE DEPRESSING CLIMATE!” IT HAS LASHED DOWN UPON ALL AND SUNDRY (even if i pretent it hasn’t!)

NOW, LISTEN UP GIRLS- IF I READ ALICE TAYLORS BOOK “PARISH” AND FANTASISE THAT THE ABOVE DOES NOT EXIST (even if it does) AND IF I PRETEND THAT CORK IS “PARISH” LOVELY AS ALICE IN WONDERLAND SUGGESTS (even if it isn’t) AND IF I IMAGINE SYLVAN SETTINGS ON SULTRY SUMMER DAYS WITHOUT SOGGY RAIN (even if they can’t) AND DARE I SAY (never have)…

SO… IN AN ALTERTED STATE… I IMAGINE A LOVELY HEAVENLY “PARISH” (WHATEVER THAT IS).. WITHOUT ALL OF THE ABOVE. OF COURSE I WILL PRETEND NOT TO SEE ANY OF THE ABOVE DYSFUNCTION…(religion & politics, theocracy and classic heaven are symptomatic of a much deeper malaise… perhaps a function of boggy, soggy, mucky social climate?)

WHO KNOWS?

IT’S FAB WE ARE ENTERING FREUDIAN TERRITORY UND THE FANTASY REALM… WE ARE NOT SURE OF OUR PERCEPTIONS… WE MUST NOW CONSIDER OUR FANTASY MENTAL STATE…A LA MODE TAYLORESQUE 4TH DIMENSIONS….MIRRORED WITH SELF-PROJECTED KALEIDOSCOPIC VISION/S… THE COLOUR TUNNEL… WHERE ALL OUR PRE-CONCEIVED NOTIONS OF HAPPINESS MUST BE TWISTED TO SUIT OUR FAILING VISION…IN A LAND WHERE THINGS DO EXIST… DO NOT EXIST! IN A LAND WHERE WE PRETEND THEY DON’T ANYWAY… A HALF-REALITY, A HEMI-DEMI-SEMI QUAVERLAND OF SOUND BEAT… A PLACE WHERE DENIAL SEE’S LITTLE OR NOTHING OF THE OUTSIDE WORLD BUT IN OUR SELF-CONTRIVED KALEIDOSCOPE… ALL MAYBE – IS PERCEIVED WITH A MATHEMATICAL EXACTNESS AND A SCIENTIFIC PRECISION… OH YES

FILTHY FOUL LANGUAGE
SOCIAL VILOENCE
ACCEPTED VANDALISM
MINDLESS DRUNKENESS
RUDENESS
FAMILIAL DISARRAY
LITTERING
VULGARIANISM…
DRUNK DRIVING [CHECK THOSE STATS!!!], ETC

DO “NOT EXIST” …

DO NOT EXIST (in our minds)NOR DOES BAD WEATHER (in our minds)…

SO, IN OUR MINDS….WEST CORK IS A SEXY, SYLVAN, DELIGHTFUL SETTING WHERE WE SEE WHAT WE WANT TO SEE, BE WHAT WE WANT TO BE, AVOID WHAT WE WANT AVOID (TAX?) AND PRETEND THAT ALL OUR (LIES)… SORRY, LIVES… ARE ALICETAYLORESQUE…

HMMMM… ARE YOU? WE? I? ANY OF US… CONVINCED???

A VERY PRETTY WOMAN NEVER GET’S CONVINCED!

There are, indeed, sides of West Cork that could perhaps be described as “more Alice Cooper than Alice Taylor” (haven’t read either of the books you mention, BTW — my comments about West Cork come purely from an enduring relationship with the place that began more than 15 years ago, and saw me return, settle and start a family here).

It’s hard for me to equate the West Cork you describe with the community I live and work in. Yes, all of those bad things you mention are there if you go looking for them — but again, if you scratch the veneer hard enough in any community you’ll start to see the ugly stuff underneath.

The truth is, in day to day life I encounter few, if any of the problems you mention. They are sporadic inconveniences, rather than the burgeoning epidemic you describe. That’s just my experience… other people’s mileage will, of course, vary.

One/I/we… could hardly describe such a bumper-on-a-dodgem to be a real-life with it author… no no no, she must be reserved for the accolade of mistress a la RTE1 fade mode! ie…the lesser appeal of broadcast propoganda which omits above as outlined! (re-read randomly).

But if you wish to feel good… have a BBQ next weekend and use all of your Alice Taylor books to fuel it! Why? There is no mention of…

1-mindless boy racers with loud cars, pipes, high road-kill rates
2-drunken hooligans at random and at-large (inc rustic community zones)
3-foul mouths sluttering random expletives in public places
4-violent drunks indulging in social hurling (random violence)
5-violent drunken vandals wrecking our heritage (property)
6-drug abuse alcohol, As Bs Cs, etc wrecking our towns (wk ends mainly)
7-W Cork Methodone/related clinics for Cork drug addicts
8-inadequate policing for high profile “Tinker-types” as in Cork, etc
9.Tinker-types (as described by Brian Cowen) who infest Cork, Dublin, Limerick, Athlone. Tullamore, Ennis, Mullingar, Tuam, Skibb, etc, etc…
the list does go on and on and on!!! IT IS DISGUSTING!!!

In Swiss, if you do the above you get arrested and imprisoned and if not Swiss (deported) PERMANENTLY!!!… NOW I INSIST ON CAPITALS….

IF YOU DO THIS IN IReLand THE ATTITUDE IS…

“AH SHUR THEY’RE ONLY HAVIN A BITA FUN…”
“AH SHUR THEY’RE ONLY DRUNK!”
“AH SHUR THEY’RE ONLY IN AN ALTERED STATE”
“AH SHUR… ANY DYSFUNCTIONAL-WHACKERY DRUNKEN EXCUSE WILL DO…!!!!”
“AH SHUR DA GAA, DA CHURCH, DA GOVT UNDERSTANDS IT!!!”
[SHUR ISNT IT GREAT CRAIC!!!]

IS LOSS OF LIFE GREAT CRAIC?
IS MAIMING GREAT CRAIC?
IS DRUNK DRIVING GREAT CRAIC?
IS FAMILY DIS-HARMONY MIGHTY CRAIC?

Such illogical nonsense (make excuses all you like) must not be tolerated!
It is NOT tolerated in Swiss
It is NOT tolerated in NZ
It is NOT tolerated in NW
It is NOT tolerated in CAN (bc)
It is NOT tolerated in 1ST ORDER cities
It is NOT tolerated in other places [too few to mention]

Stop making excuses for the drunken Oirish (Brian Cowen)
Stop making excuses for the drunken tinkers
Stop making excuses for all who abuse our law

Either you stop it NOW….or emigrate…OR…

…….YOU LIVE WITH IT!!!!

…….and enjoy it!

Thanks for making me smile this morning – Funnily enough, I am a twin actually and dyslexic not so sure about schizophrenic.

I normally don’t comment for this reason, your earlier comments did provoke me on this occasion though.

Forgive ourselves, I & us & ye/you for your/ye’r defensive writing style???

But are you “i” , “we” or “We” (caps)? or e “extra”? 1st or 3rd person/s??

singular/plural??

Are you/ye/ a n other Siamese twins? triplets? singular? or other?

On one note you/it says “i” 1st person? then you become uncertain…

on another you/it say/s “we”… 3rd person/s? Are u a hybrid psychophant with pleasant leanings towards dysfunctional schizophrenia 1st 2nd 3rd or other order?

Please explain to Calvin the following…

1] All about schizophrenia … “we” V “i”
2] schizophrenic internal symbolism “we” V “we”
3] Does it function on internal thoughts… or just random turf??
4] Advance math Integrands and symbolic dysfunction (1st V 3rd)
5] Logic v/v related math function and psychological dysfunction

If you function at primary resource level negate all of the above logic levels and resort to abject dysfnctional confusion where 1st person, 2nd person and 3 rd person… all get all mixed into one!!!

Personally, I think it is rustically lovely… [I, we, etc...]

Nancy Schreiber Hughes (berkley Uni Press 1986) thinks its fab.

Check it out her book based in west cork & galway … it is called

“Ireland… The land of saints, scholars and schizophrenics”

(1986 berkeley University press) N.S. Hughes.

Read It.

Yes Edin IP. Working for festival 2 wks more. I live 1hr ex- Swiss/Italy most of year and Masca winter. Yes Scots as bad (if not worse) than. Agreed about diversity etc. For the record I actually like the natural setting of W Cork
and have great affinity with it. Nature-wise it’s up there. if all the above (as per prior msgs was removed) W Cork would indeed be more suitable than it
already is for some. And in all relative accuracy I’m addressing what’s by-and-large outside “rustic” W Cork. The negatives I quite rightly address are by-and-large the bigger towns and the weekend nontourist waste-lands.

So you guys are prob outside the above and ensconced in the more rustic Alice Taylor type places. I commend that and It must be truly amazing- that you do not hear boy-racers, foul lang, etc. Inchageela/Johnstown is like that- Nice and Rustic. Ballingeary/GouganB etc. Alas Glengarrif was invaded by midges, boy racers, drunks and foul-mouths last time I visited. Disgusting!
Unfit for both man & beast.

You’re obviously quite rustically removed from such dysfunction. Well done.
As an irishman it actually saddens me (no anger) -what I & others last saw, not just in GlenG. It was so prolific (even in Bantry, Skibb). We had to leave.

I admire people who are not affected by the above. You clearly are not in ear-shot of what I address. And live in a more rustic rurality.

So next time your out and about and hear none of what I mention. Enjoy it.
And girls, as for reminding of views the sickness that permeates our naturally lovely land is no laughing matter and the disgust that I’m sure you will witness next time in Urbanity is no howl.

But it’s an Irish thing I suppose & I like you will pretend it doesn’t exist. I have learned that much at least and I thank you for it.

Best regards & wishes
J
0035385-1273222 (sms or email as per)