Today is a big day in Ireland – the national election for a new government to replace the current leadership. Every person we meet talks about it. So politics – both Ireland’s and the US’s – is a continuous topic of discussion throughout our travel today. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
It is overcast with a promise of rain and cold. As we leave our Mayfield Manor hotel in Cork, we play the Irish theme music for the day – Danny Boy – to get us into the proper spirit. As before, Martin is in good voice, and sings along. Today we travel about a quarter of the Ring of Kerry drive, stop at some notable sites, and then proceed to our next home base in Killarney.
Located in the southwest section of Ireland are five peninsulas jutting out like fingers from a hand into the Atlantic Ocean and separated by bays. We will be seeing two of these peninsulas – the Kerry peninsula and the Dingle peninsula, over the next two days. Today’s focus is on the Ring of Kerry Drive road, which follows the shoreline around the Kerry peninsula. The full 180 km drive is an all-day undertaking, which we can’t accommodate in our schedule, so we’ll settle for a sampler. Tomorrow’s focus will be on the Dingle peninsula, which is reportedly more stunning.
Macroom Castle Of Arch
Our first stop is in Macroom – a small market town halfway between Cork and Killarney. This town of about 2,000 people was established in the 600’s and was the site of numerous battles between warring Irish clans. The castle was built at the start of the 11th century. Macroom was the main military base in Cork for the British during the 1919-1921 Irish War of Independence.
Macroom River View
Continuing the Ring of Kerry drive, we arrived in Kenmare. The area was given by Britain to a British scientist as payment for mapping Ireland. He designed the layout and built the town in about 1670. About the same time, Sister Cusack founded a convent, which was disbanded in the 20th century.
Kenmare River At Low Tide
Kenmare City
Three Musicians
Grand Views
Leaving Kenmare we travel thru the mountains via the Gap of Dunloe – a ride with an endless number of beautiful views. The narrow, winding road makes it a challenge to navigate, but stunningly grand.
Road to Killarney
Long Haired, Horned Sheep
We arrived in Killarney early to give Martin time to drive home and vote. We arranged for a jaunting and jarvee to take us for a tour of the National Park. It was cold and raining with all the vegetation dormant. I’m certain it would be beautiful in the spring and summer. We were so happy to get back to our hotel and have a shot of medicinal Midleton Whiskey to warm our chilled bones.
Killarney Main Street
Meet Our New Friend
Jaunting Ride Thru Killarney National Park
Castle Ross In National Park
View From The Golf Course
Castle Ross
So let’s get back to the election and politics. The national election that occurs every five years is very important… even more so this time. The country has been led by a very conservative and arrogant coalition, which focused on austerity measures targeting mainly the low and middle classes while enriching the wealthy. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? But to be fair, Ireland went thru the financial Celtic Dragon period from 2004 to 2008. Fueled by vast amounts of cash from outside banks, like the Deutsch Bank of Germany, money was available to everyone. Loans were let by Irish banks, without regard to qualification or plan for repayment. The market began to collapse in 2008 as the European Union recognized the oncoming disaster (similar to Greece) and was unwilling to fund a bail out. The bankers who were responsible, disappeared. They relocated to the United States along with their money. To date, no one has returned, or been charged or punished. Consequently, Ireland went on an austerity regiment that has caused a lot of pain. I believe they deserve applause for their plan and execution that pulled the country back from the edge of a cliff. Now that the country is healthy again, people want a change. The current government was unwilling to begin removing the financial constraints. Several new, independent political parties have sprung up. So this election is unpredictable and makes any forecast and poll like looking into a crystal ball.
In Ireland, every citizen is required to vote. Anyone not voting will be fined. The rationalization is that they want everyone to vote so they can get a true representation of where the populace wants the country to head. No Monday morning quarter backing from those that decided not to show up or be counted. The contrast is very stark to what we do in the US. We gerrymander districts, we make voting registration difficult or impossible, and in many places require stringent identification to receive a ballot. We’ve also enabled an election process wherein money from the rich and corporations may ‘buy’ the Congress of their choice – not the people’s.
The Irish papers and media don’t just report on Irish candidates. News about the Untied States’ political scene makes front page almost everyday. They just can’t believe how we could consider and vote for someone like Trump. They follow our election very closely. They’ve had close relationships with many US Presidents – Reagan, Kennedy, Clinton, and now “O’Bama” (reportedly, since Obama’s mother is of Irish decent, he came here to find the apostrophe in his name). They want these relationships to bridge to the next President. A hard swallow, if it’s Trump!
As an aside, what’s been fun is seeing the front page of newspapers covering Britain’s referendum on whether or not to stay in the European Union. Britain’s Prime Minister Cameron plans to put an agreement he negotiated with the European Union up for vote by all of Britain. He wants this to be approved. However, the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson is leading the charge for Brexit (Britain to Exit). He is the Trump of Britain…but instead of being referred to by his last name (Johnson) like Trump, he is known solely by his first name – Boris. He looks like Trump’s twin – color and style of hair, showmanship, aggressive talk, etc. Good to see a Trump-Alike on this side of the pond.
Martin told us a funny story about Trump, and why the Irish don’t like him. Trump purchased the Doonbeg Golf Club, which is a link course on the west coast of Ireland. It is one of the top-rated courses. As soon as he purchased it, he changed the name to Trump International Golf Course, and changed the logo to the Trump logo. No one bought jerseys or golf items with the new name on it. So he changed it back to Doonbeg. He was recently asked, by the Irish press, what would happen to the golf course if he became president. He said that the golf course is ‘small apples,’ he only bought it for his children to have some fun putting around. He doesn’t care about it. Thank you Donald.
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