An Irish woman’s social, political and domestic commentary
For those interested, Cleraun are hosting a seminar on the media and the death penalty in the US. Can’t attend myself, but some of you might like to.
And my former colleague Dearbhail McDonald is speaking at the Ceifin conference..
Hee hee, I’ve developed an aversion to public toilets. Looks like this could be the solution…
ok so I cheated – I did this column before, but differently…anyway, getting lots of warm comments about it from the locals..Frank tidied this up a little but this is the raw copy. No time to make changes. F*cking F8cking Eircom left me without the internet all weekend. The fact that I logged a fault on Friday afternoon meant it wasn’t checked until this morning, cos you know, people don’t need the phone on a bank holiday weekend. Oh and though they guarantee to fix lines within 4 of their working days, a working day doesn’t count if you log a fault after 2pm.. Grrrrrrr When it was a state company the engineers worked seven days a week. Can someone remind me again why private sector companies are automatically assumed to be better? Not for the customers…
“The clocks have changed and the annual thermostat war has kicked off. To anyone embarking on marriage, here’s some free advice. You know those pre-marriage courses where they talk about commitment and opening joint bank accounts? They are completely pointless. I’m going to start a relationship counselling service in which prospective couples will be required to answer questions about important issues like preferred ambient temperatures in a winter home. Anything greater than a 3 degree disparity would be grounds for a stern talk.
If one party, him, insists on 23 degrees throughout the house and the other party, me, is quite happy curling up in front of Grey’s Anatomy in a cool 17 degrees with that lovely mohair blanket I got as a wedding present, the prospects of domestic harmony are limited.
It’s our backgrounds of course. I grew up in a damp, rural Land Commission house where drafts forced their way under doors and through ill-fitting windows. Babies were put to bed with jumpers on them and we left our school uniforms over the range in the kitchen at night and dressed there in the morning. Cold houses were the norm: an Aunt bitterly complained once that she woke up one morning to find ice in the glass of water she’d left on her dressing table. I hate the cold now, but my metabolism can’t adjust to anything above 18 degrees.
When we were still stumbling around with oil lamps he was growing up in Belfast where apparently they enjoyed efficient central heating. This was followed by years living in the Middle East and Africa where heat of 50 degrees had to be endured. As far he’s concerned anything under 20 is a violation of his Human Rights.
Fortunately we agree on one thing: insulation. Whatever heat is generated has got to be kept in the house. The ideologically sound argument in favour of this policy is of course the environment. What motivates us is the more pressing issue of economy and together we have embarked on sealing up the house. Money is a weird thing : I can justify blowing it on facials and new coats : but I can’t abide wasting it on utilities like electricity and oil.
I approve in principle of the Power Of One campaign which urges individuals to act collectively to save the environment, but the moral arguments tend to irk me. What’s the point in me turning off lights if I can still read in the glow from the M4 motorway across the field? If cars have lights why does the road have to be lit up so it can be seen clearly from the moon? Obviously I haven’t been to the moon to confirm if this is the case, but I can assure you it seems unnecessarily bright on that road.
I resent the role guilt plays in my life so government efforts to lecture me about saving the world while their inefficiencies cost the earth don’t go down too well. Every time I hear a Power of One ad on the radio I end up arguing in my head with Bertie Ahern which is not healthy. He doesn’t know nor care and I’m only upsetting myself. So I’ve started switching off the radio, which is better for my mental health and apparently the environment too.
I mustn’t be the only one who has issues with environmental moralizing because the Power Of One has begun a new campaign called the Power of One Street. You thought “life coaching” was the latest craze? Wrong. Power of One have hired “energy coaches” Kirk Shanks and Aodhan MacPhaidin to help eight families reduce their oil and electricity bills. Just like the plastic bag tax, people get considerably more enthusiastic about the environment when there’s money to be saved.
The Power of One seeks to raise awareness and that’s good but now I’m so aware I think I’m cracking up. I pounce on mobile phone chargers left in the wall and gasp when I see the washing machine is still on though the cycle is finished. Every time I switch something off I’m not pleased. Instead I worry that I’m obsessive and the difference in the electricity bill is negligible. Still if the Power of One is telling the truth the savings are impressive : from €300 to almost €1000 each year just by turning down the thermostat and switching off the radiators. In order to save my marriage, I can’t avail of these options, but there are plenty of insulation tips which might save us some money.
The only problem with them is that typically you have to spend money to save some. Curtains are an excellent example. I know there are people like my mother-in-law who are able to buy readymade curtains for €4.99 which suit perfectly, but I’ve been down that road before and it never works out. I can’t seem to measure accurately, my windows are non-standard sizes anyway and it takes me 6 months to get a tradesman round to fit a curtain pole. My DIY jobs end in disaster and I end up calling in the professionals.
They sweep in, do all the measuring and bring the sample books. My taste invariably veers towards the raw silk or whatever is the most expensive fabric available that day. Thrown in the double lining and the extra charge for delivery and erection and I’ve got beautiful, well made, perfectly fitted curtains which will save me a small fortune and just cost a bigger one. Oh well, it’s an investment and they are incredibly effective.
The experience seems to be a template for greener living. Solutions that use less energy require an investment that yields a return in the distant future. When we built our house we looked into geothermal heating (big pipes under the house), solar panels, small windmills and various other hi-tech solutions. In each case the cost of installation was so high that the savings were made over twenty years, not two or three. The problem was exacerbated because each system still required the standard installation as back-up. Man cannot live on solar panels alone, especially in Ireland- you still need the oil anyway. In the end we rejected the green solutions and stuck to the solo oil-system.
Our experience is magnified on the global scale as governments find themselves in the same predicament : oil might be evil but achieving independence from it costs too much. So we confine ourselves to putting up curtains to keep the oil- generated heat in. Will it make a difference? It puts off the day I have to order more oil so that’s good. If everyone does it will it put off the day the oil runs out? If everyone does it : that’s the key. I wonder are there curtains in government buildings? Send the Power of One in to check.
Some lovely letters in the Irish Times today. This was my favourite
“Madam, – I was devastated to hear the sad news of Brendan McWilliams’s untimely death. Invariably his was the first column I turned to each day. Not only did his writing express the depth and breadth of his vast knowledge but it it showed forth his innate goodness and integrity. He will be very much missed. – Yours, etc,
SHIRLEY MARTIN, The Park, Strandhill Road, Sligo.”
I think the goodness and integrity part is important. It’s so rare. He could engage in controversial topics without getting personal, angry or ranting – yet he could still provide education and opinion. Sigh…
Alright so, if:
a) I’m sick of politics and you all think I’m wrong anyway
b) Being angry about inequality just makes me even more angry and achieves nothing
c) The free market capitalists will win and I should just join up now
d) The soccer team is more important than poor people and lying politicians
THEN, what should I write about this week?
The vibrator?
Suggestions please. A bag of Tayto Cheese and Onion to the best one.
OMG
When M came up to bed last night and told me that the HEADLINE news on the 9pm news was that nothing had happened at the hotel, we agreed it was crazy.
But Morning Ireland (not picking on them! maybe Newstalk went mad too but I wasn’t listening). It led all the headlines and sports bulletins and then..
Tony O’Donoghue – 8mins 36secs
John Delaney – 3mins 51 secs
Eamon Dunphy – 7mins 50 secs
Extended sports bulletin interviewing Brian Kerr – 10 mins 24 secs
That’s over half an hour of a two hour show which also includes news headlines, ads, business news, traffic and weather reports.
Is it THAT important?
Oh and its 10:18 and Pat Kenny is still interviewing people. While Suzie Long is last week’s news…..
More fun today with news that the DAA knew all about the Shannon-Heathrow cancellation but kept the dirty little secret, well, secret.
Course, and as we learned over at Irish Election, all we really had to do was the read the newspapers to find out what was happening. I thought the government had some fancy media monitoring unit?
How sad! I just heard that he died. He wrote the wonderful wonderful Weather Eye column in the Irish Times. It was always a pleasure to read and I was so happy to hear him pop up on Pat Kenny’s radio show from time to time. He was a charming, pleasant and utterly reasonable columnist. And such a short illness. I think he’s only been away from the column for 10 days. RIP.
Gosh, I just got an email that John Waters is on the panel. If I’m the blog totty, I’d better find out what on earth David wants to talk about so I can assemble some semi-rational opinions. I wondered, since Twenty is on the panel, will everyone call him Twenty or will we find out his real name? Personally I hope not. I like the mystery 
An earlier comment mentioned her so YES I checked out the article in question.
It’s about her views on abortion, which by the way seem perfectly reasonable, contextualised and well argued. BUT WHY OH WHY do they have to throw in this stuff?
“Ireland’s favourite model”…em, who decided this? Ireland most self-publicised model yes. She’s not even that good looking, which for a model is a problem.
And then she demeans herself with this.
“As I spoke to her, Katy was still trying to make a last-minute decision about what one luxury item she would bring on the show with her.
“I was thinking about bringing my vibrator, but I’m giving up cigarettes for the week so I wouldn’t be able to have a smoke.
“But, in the end, I plumped for mascara. After all, a girl’s gotta look her best.”
By the way, the “show” in question is Celebrities Go Wild, a charity thing where 8 celebrities go off to some pseudo wilderness. I missed the Late Late Show where SEVEN of the “celebrities” were introduced. The eight one refused to go on because as Pat explained, she refused to answer the questions that he would ask her. Who was the celeb in question? Michelle Smith! How utterly bizarre. What is the point of getting a celeb to be in the charity fundraising exercise if she won’t do the publicity?
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