outsidein

• University funding

  July 31, 2008 @ 12:05 pm | by Bryan

  I was under the assumption we were already in a recession, but apparently, I have jumped the gun. We’re only slipping into a recession. I’m not an economist so all this talk of GDP, GNP, and quarter growth is a bit much for me.

  But that’s not where my confusion ends. I was under the impression that health and education were going to be spared from cutbacks. For some reason, universities are not being considered as part of that ‘education’ category.

  That would be understandable were it not for the fact that the economists keep going on about how Ireland needs to move up the skills ladder. Government officials have also said on occasion that the plan is to get more high skilled and technical jobs here as the more manual ones move to countries with cheaper labour. Unless I’m missing something, universities are at the heart of a knowledge-based economy.

  I’m planning on starting a master’s degree in the humanities in about 5 weeks. I bet that kind of ‘soft’ program will be the first to go if the universities become unable to cope financially. But I suspect that quite a few things are going to get axed in the coming months. Part of me almost wishes this recession would start already so we can get it over and done with.

  Comments (11)

• Thursday Book Club: Fishing in Utopia (Chpts 5-8)

  @ 7:30 am | by Bryan

  

  What struck me most in this week’s reading was the apparent randomness surrounding the author.

  It’s everywhere. It’s there in the ordering of the chapters – they do not follow a chronological order, but not in a crazy Pulp Fiction way. It’s there in his job in chapter 5. It is also evident in the decision to take up a job as a nursing auxiliary and then following Anita to Sweden. It feels like Andrew Brown was hitch-hiking his way through life.

  The randomness of it all is mind boggling for me. My confusion is worsened by his description of his childhood in Sweden. Having had such a privileged upbringing, I don’t understand why he would choose to be a drifter.

  But just as there is something admirable, even if a little confusing, in the way the chapters are ordered. There’s something admirable about Andrew Brown. He is not a crazy character in a Quentin Tarantino film. I got the feeling that there was a search for something in his drifting. It doesn’t feel like it is just drifting for the sake of drifting.

  What’s at his core, for me, comes out when he writes: If I could do nothing else, I thought, I could do good.

  What did everyone else think?

  Comments (4)

• Irish Politics

  July 30, 2008 @ 12:34 pm | by Bryan

  I find Irish politics fascinating. Most interesting for me is the relationship ordinary people have with their politicians.

  In Britain, Gordon Brown is struggling to maintain his hold on the leadership of the Labour Party. Part of this is to do with poor political acumen on Mr Brown’s part. A good deal though is the result of Britons having found him guilty of mismanaging the economy. David Cameron’s appeal has grown in step with the worsening economic outlook. It seems that Gordon Brown is being punished, rightly or wrongly, for the state of the economy.

  Things don’t seem to operate that way here. At the last election, when the economy looked wobbly, the electorate chose to keep faith in Fianna Fáil. Even now, there may be lots of complaints about the government, but there is no evidence of them losing their grip on power. Although there is a lot of scepticism about how the country is run, that scepticism does not seem to extend to those doing the running.

  I have no political affiliations here. Part of the reason is that I don’t think there is any substantive difference between the major parties. I wonder if that is why Brian Cowen hasn’t seen a serious challenge to his leadership. Could it be that there isn’t a viable alternative; no Irish version of David Cameron? Or is it something else? Do the Irish just do politics in a different way?

  Comments (23)

• Why the WTO talks will break down

  July 29, 2008 @ 12:13 pm | by Bryan

  IFA members protesting outside the office of Tánaiste Mary Coughlan in Kildare St, Dublin, yesterday. EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel has accused the IFA of acting in “bad faith” and of distributing “totally misleading” figures. Photograph: Doug O’Connor

  The World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks currently taking place were never likely to succeed. There just isn’t the common ground needed to reach a settlement everyone can live with. Even within the EU, there is little consensus. Current EU president Nicholas Sarkozy and EU trade negotiator Peter Mandelson seem determined to carry on their childish spat in public.

  And then there are other obstacles, such as the matchup involving the Americans on the one hand, and the Chinese and Indians on the other. Countries like Indonesia don’t want to be lumped together with bigger emerging market nations and want more protections. I’m not sure what Latin America wants, but as for the Africans, I don’t think anyone really cares. Although, I’m sure there are a lot of groups who have figured out what would be best for us and are pushing that agenda.

  I think the Irish Farmer’s Association (IFA) should relax. Even if they hadn’t come out in full force, this trade round would probably still have been doomed. I will say this though, having watched them flex their muscles during the run up to the Lisbon Treaty referendum, the IFA have very big muscles.

  And if every country represented at the trade talks has a group with muscles as big as the IFA’s, the talks can only collapse. Perceived self interest and common good seldom intersect in gatherings that large.

  Comments (2)

• Being Black

  July 28, 2008 @ 11:37 am | by Bryan

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dtJ7zspWpE&rel=0

  I remember watching the film Cry Freedom when I was young. There is a scene in which Steven Biko and Donald Woods walk down an alley in a poverty stricken black township. Biko is telling Woods about his childhood when he then says something to the effect of: you soon realise that a white child, smart or dumb, is born into privilege; while you, the black child, smart or dumb, face a life of social and economic injustice.

  Cry Freedom is set in apartheid South Africa and tells the story of an incredible black leader and thinker, as well as an incredibly brave and open minded white newspaper editor. The world has thankfully moved on from apartheid, but inequality is still very real. Some of the comments on this blog have got me thinking about race. I wonder how aware people from this part of the world are of the privilege that comes from being white and being born in a place like Europe or America.

  Europeans can travel just about everywhere. I need a visa to go just about anywhere. Some countries won’t give me one because of the perceived risk of my remaining in their country. If you’re black or brown, there will always be those suspicious of you. People are still asking if America is ‘ready’ for a black president and no-one, myself included, can even picture a black head of state in Europe. There isn’t the same kind of inbuilt suspicion and prejudice towards white people. When people meet me for the first time, I sometimes feel like I need to disprove a stereotype to be acceptable.

  I want to challenge those who view ‘foreigners’ with contempt. Maybe all that separates those people from the ones they look down on is inherited privilege.

  Comments (32)

• Picture of the week

  July 26, 2008 @ 8:00 am | by Bryan

  Supporters of Partizan Belgrade wave a flag with Radovan Karadzic’s picture during a friendly soccer match against Olympique Lyonnais in Belgrade July 23. Photo: Ivan Milutinovic/REUTERS

  I have no words…

  Comments (2)

• Seeking Asylum

  July 25, 2008 @ 8:24 pm | by Bryan

   Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern has apologised to a woman after a ‘profound systems failures’ led to her family being left in an Ethiopian refugee camp for three years.

  It was really big of Dermot Ahern, the Minister for Justice, to apologise to the woman whose family unnecessarily spent the last 3 years in an Ethiopian refugee camp. Specifically mentioned in the apology was a “profound systems failures”. (Read the story here)

  Few countries handle asylum well. When there is mass displacement of people due to civil unrest, it is always innocents who suffer most. It is understandable that a country like Ireland can only accommodate so many people. It is also understandable that every effort is made to keep the system from being abused. But what is not understandable is when people are left in limbo for years at a time because of bureaucratic inefficiency.

  I have met people who have spent over 3 years in asylum houses while their cases are being processed. They are not allowed to work, they have curfews and they have absolutely no control over their lives other than what €19/week can buy. All they can do is hope and wait.

  Can you imagine escaping a war zone expecting to build a new life only to be greeted with suspicion? How about being forced to wait indefinitely and left to grow frustrated and scared?

  I don’t know what that must be like. But I would hate to go through that ordeal. For the sake of all those waiting on the department of justice to decide their future, I hope the systems in place there are quickly revamped.

  Comments (18)

• Obama in Berlin

  @ 12:42 pm | by Bryan

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAhb06Z8N1c&rel=0

  Barack Obama makes an interesting US presidential candidate. He does not fit the typical mould, and that has accounted for a lot of his support as well as a lot of scepticism. His speech in Berlin reminded me why I admire him so much.

  I really, really hope he is elected president later on this year. And it’s not just because he is black. I have written about how happy I am to see a black person do so well. But I would not vote for someone just on the basis of their race.

  My overwhelming support for Obama comes from the fact that I am convinced he is a decent human being first and politician second. The fact that he is also incredibly bright, surrounds himself with even brighter people, is hugely charismatic and seems to be aware of his limitations also helps.

  As Obama points out in this speech, the world has changed. International relations, migration, international justice, climate change, poverty and development are the big challenges affecting us all now. And while once upon a time what happened in one part of the world generally only affected people there, we are now all affected by each others’ actions.

  With no disrespect intended to Senator McCain, I would much rather have someone who understands today’s world leading the world’s most influential nation.

  Comments (11)

• Drugs - part II

  July 24, 2008 @ 12:44 pm | by Bryan

  Every now and again, something happens which jars me and I remember that I’m from a different culture. It’s like a slap across the face which is intended to snap you back to reality. A while ago it happened while listening to a lady on TV giving her take on parent – children relationships and discipline. Now, it is the issue of drugs.

  Where I come from, the conventional wisdom is that drugs are bad. Marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy, LSD and others are considered to be harmful substances. So is the abuse of prescription drugs for that matter. Even drug users generally feel the same way – that is why some of them take the substances in the first place. Okay, there is my cousin and people like him. He likes to think of himself as a modern day Rastafarian and he says, in relation to marijuana, ‘erb ‘elps me get closer to Jah. But that group is a very small minority.

  When I first blogged on drugs, I was under the impression that most people in Ireland were also of the opinion that drugs are bad. Based on some of the responses that post received, I may have been mistaken. And maybe therein lies the issue. If no one really feels that the drugs themselves are the problem, then of course there won’t be a major anti-drug campaign.

  Do most people really think that drug use is okay? If in principal you believe that the use of mind altering substances is not a bad thing, then I guess there is merit in calling for an end to the prohibition of said substances. But do people really think that would be a good idea?

  Comments (14)

• Thursday Book Club: Fishing in Utopia (Chpts 1-4)

  @ 7:00 am | by Bryan

  

  This is a beautiful book. It’s so incredibly well written, that there are times when I feel like I’m in Sweden with the author. One of the things I’ve written in the margin of my copy is ‘I wish I could write like that.’ One example of the source of my envy is the description of Hans:

  He was a fussy man, energetic like a mouse, with wispy hair, large, pale spectacles and a neatly trimmed dun beard. He peered affectionately at life as if it were a bewildering exam in which he had somehow managed a pass.

  What struck me most in the first four chapters is the silence and loneliness of the setting. Nödinge comes across as a cold, distant, odd place. But there’s still something beautiful and fascinating there.

  Also fascinating for me is the way wealth and equality keep coming up and are handled. My favourite quotation so far is:
  Whether prosperity can survive without the memories and disciplines of poverty is a question I don’t know the answer to.
  Part of me wonders whether Ireland still remembers her poor years and if things would be different were that memory stronger.

  Those are a few of my thoughts. What did you think of the first 4 chapters?

  Comments (12)

• Peter’s Motorcycle Diaries

  July 23, 2008 @ 12:32 pm | by Bryan

  Peter is on the right

  Peter Murtagh is travelling across the Balkans on a motorcycle and keeping a blog on his adventures.

  Peter is an unlikely biker, or blogger for that matter, but is an incredible person. He is one of the managing editors at the Irish Times and has worked as a journalist for years. He also has a monstrous BMW bike that he uses to get to and from work.

  I can’t think of a better lead for Ireland’s version of The Motorcycle Diaries. While I don’t see him going off and starting a revolution any time soon, his blog is already a brilliant read. I highly recommend that you take a look at it and get to know a bit more about Peter and the Balkans.

  Comments (0)

• Drugs

  @ 11:52 am | by Bryan

  Listening to a radio programme this morning, I was struck by the amount of time spent on drugs. It’s to be expected considering the fact that we are waiting on sentencing in the Cork cocaine smuggling case. There is also the fact that Gardaí just made the biggest crystal meth seizure in Ireland’s history. To cap it all, there was also a guest on the programme lamenting the fact that heroin remains the drug of choice here and that there aren’t enough methadone programs in place.

  I’m surprised by the official response to the drug problem. It seems primarily directed at catching the suppliers and dealing with the legal side of things. There does not seem to be as much invested in prevention and education. Am I just out of touch when it comes to this issue? Are heroin and cocaine related crimes just very loudly discussed but not that prevalent?

  If there wasn’t a market for cocaine, heroine, crystal meth, or whatever else some people like to smoke, snort, inject or pop, the drug trade would die off. There have been some provocative advertising campaigns on drink-driving. I wonder why there hasn’t been a Nancy Reagan type ‘Just Say No’ drugs campaign.

  Comments (21)

• Karadzic and our broken system

  July 22, 2008 @ 5:29 pm | by Bryan

  Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic (left) as he looked in 1996, and as he looks now. He was apprehended in Belgrade on Monday where, with glasses, long white hair and a beard, he had forged a new existence for himself under the name of Dragan Dabic.

  You would think that I’d be happy about Radovan Karadzic’s capture, but that’s not the case entirely. A big part of me is annoyed. The former Bosnian Serb leader is accused of war crimes and genocide in Bosnia. Specifically, he is thought to have ordered the killing of over 7,000 men and boys from Srebrenica in July 1995 as well as the shelling of Sarajevo.

  Karadzic went into hiding in 1995 and has evaded capture for over a decade. He is still seen as a hero by some Serb nationalist. That support explains how he was able to evade capture for so long. While ‘in hiding’, it seems he lived and moved about freely and even had a book published. And how was he eventually captured? According to some speculation, the better question is why?

  Apparently, the desire for EU integration has now overtaken loyalty to Karadzic from some in Serbia. Far from being a victory for humanity and international justice, Karadzic’s arrest may really be a testament to the power of money and economic growth.

  Sadly, that means that although Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the International Criminal Court prosecutor, has sought an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, little is likely to happen. If Serbian nationalists could protect Karadzic for 13 years, I don’t think al-Bashir will be having many sleepless nights. He has at least one superpower on his side. Besides, people have been dying in Darfur for a long time and the world has learnt to live with it. Unless someone overthrows him and hands him in, al-Bashir will be perfectly safe from any high minded concepts of international law.

  Taking a look at how broken and corrupt the system of International and Human Rights law is can be incredibly frustrating and heart wrenching.

  Comments (8)

• An American Tail - Immigration now and then

  @ 8:26 am | by Bryan

  I remember watching An American Tail when I was young. For those who have not watched the Spielberg classic, it looks at the fate of immigrants in America at the turn of the century. The main characters are mice that are fleeing persecution from cats. Some of the specific characters explored in the animated feature are Russian Jews, Irish, Italian and East European.

  The theme that really got me, even as a child, was captured by one of the songs the mice sing before reaching their destination. They sing, “There are no cats in America, and the streets are paved with cheese.” As soon as they reach America they discover that there are indeed cats in America.

  I was reminded of this film a couple of weeks ago when, discussing EU immigration policy, it was noted that “Europe does not have the means to welcome with dignity all those who see it as an El Dorado.” My first thought was that they should have instead said that there are cats in Europe.

  I understand that immigration is a prickly, emotive issue, especially as the world’s economy slows down. But as food inflation increases, people all over the world will have to choose between sticking it out and trying their luck elsewhere. Once upon a time immigration largely benefitted both America and Europe. Fareed Zakaria, editor of Newsweek international, goes as far as saying, “…the United States’ potential new burst of productivity, its edge in nanotechnology and biotechnology, its ability to invent the future –all rest on its immigration policies.”

  Unfortunately, even America is now struggling with how to handle immigration. But just as in natural science there tends to be movement from areas of high concentration to low, people will tend to move from places with little wealth to those with more.

  Some cats are worse than others.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bC07e7PReM&rel=0

  Comments (4)

• Train Etiquette

  July 21, 2008 @ 1:33 pm | by Bryan

  Towards the end of last week, I went to and from Dublin by train. The train, especially on my trip back, was pretty full. I found myself sitting around a table with three other passengers and we were all trying really hard to avoid making eye contact!

  I had an iPod and a book to keep me going, but the journey was awkward and a little weird for me. I tend not to notice it as much on short trips or when there are fewer passengers. But having people so physically close together for 3 hours and not say a word to each other strikes me as being dysfunctional.

  Why don’t people talk to strangers on public transport more? Is being so insulated from each other healthy?

  Comments (17)

• ‘President Bling-Bling’ in Ireland

  @ 11:37 am | by Bryan

  

  French president Nicolas Sarkozy arrives in Dublin later today. If nothing else, the meetings he is expected to hold are bound to be interesting. And who knows, he might even say something controversial to keep us going for the next few days. In a speech given in Dakar, Senegal in 2007, Sarkozy more than ruffled a few feathers. The public outrage he stoked was due to words like these, taken from that speech, on African soil no less:

  “…The tragedy of Africa is that the African has never really entered into history… They have never really launched themselves into the future… The African peasant, who for thousands of years has lived according to the seasons, whose life ideal was to be in harmony with nature, only knew the eternal renewal of time… In this imaginary world, where everything starts over and over again, there is room neither for human endeavour, nor for the idea of progress… The problem of Africa… is to be found here. Africa’s challenge is to enter to a greater extent into history… It is to realise that the golden age that Africa is forever recalling will not return, because it has never existed…”

  I’m not a big fan of President Bling-Bling, but I admire his single mindedness and dogged determination. That said, I feel he often barks up the wrong tree and sometimes refuses to let go and step back when that may be the best course of action. Take the issue of a second vote on Lisbon; it was probably going to happen anyway. The biggest threat to Sarkozy getting his way is the fact that he publically verbalised that wish in an inelegant way.

  It’s going to be interesting to see what effect he has on Ireland and the Lisbon Treaty.

  Comments (7)

• Free Speech

  July 19, 2008 @ 10:33 am | by Bryan

   The cover of the July 21st issue of the New Yorker magazine has angered the Obama campaign. Photograph: AP/New Yorker

  Dr O’Dell makes a very strong case for free speech. It is a similar one made by the editors of the New Yorker.

  Can parody or polemic go too far? Should there be limits on free speech? Should people be able to say whatever they like, irrespective of the potential damage, or does the answer lie somewhere in the middle?

  Comments (14)

• Happy Birthday Madiba

  July 18, 2008 @ 11:55 am | by Bryan

  Nelson Mandela during the 46664 concert in Hyde Park, London. The event was organised to raise funds for Mr Mandela’s HIV/Aids 46664 campaign, named after his prison number. Photograph: Reuters

  Former President of South Africa, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela is celebrating his 90th birthday today. Madiba (Mandela’s clan name) is a very special man who has, and continues to live, a very special life.

  There is a scene in the movie Braveheart when William Wallace arrives on the battleground and tries to convince his fellow Scots to fight with him. One man refuses to believe that the ordinary man talking is really Wallace because of all the folklore surrounding him. The myth had turned the man into something he wasn’t.

  Like the William Wallace portrayed in Braveheart, there is an awful lot of false folklore and myths surrounding Madiba. Some of this was created and perpetuated by the ANC as a form of anti-apartheid propaganda. Another reason is the human need of heroes, heroines and salvation. Whatever the reasons, Madiba has achieved almost god-like status; before him some lay their hopes and fears as some did before Mel Gibson’s character.

  What makes Madiba so special in real life is just how ordinary he is. With no super human powers, he, and many others picked a fight with a giant. Against the odds, he gained an education. He opted out of making the most of his privileged position among fellow black South Africans. He gave up the few advantages that would have come with ‘going along’ with the state by joining the ANC. He had the strength and courage to fight back.

  To cap it all, he refused to believe the myth that was created around him. He never forgot that the struggle he came to symbolise was a collective act. Aware of his limitations, he handed over the mantle of leadership to others.

  The symbol known as Mandela hosts concerts and tours the world to fight for all manner of just causes. The real man will be celebrating 90 incredible years in a village called Qunu today.

  Happy Birthday Madiba. My best wishes and heartfelt thanks go out to you, and to all those who, like the real you, we too quickly forget.

  Comments (7)

• Pope Benedict

  July 17, 2008 @ 12:23 pm | by Bryan

  Pope Benedict and Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd. Photograph: Mark Baker/AP

  There was a lot of uncertainty when Cardinal Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI. But so far, he seems to be doing a pretty good job.

  He was surprisingly well received in the United States, and it looks like the same is happening in Australia. He has been wooing young people, which is impressive coming from an 81 year old. He apologised for the abuses that were perpetrated by members of the Catholic clergy. And he has even been speaking about the environment! If there is a winning issue at the moment, it is being green.

  I wonder how a visit by him would go down in Ireland. I‘m also curious about how a country that was once synonymous with Catholicism not so long ago has moved away from that faith so rapidly.

  Comments (5)

• Thursday Book Club: Fishing in Utopia

  @ 10:10 am | by Bryan

  

  Following on from Ciaran’s suggestion (comment #1), the Saturday Book Club has turned into the Thursday Book Club. This is a reminder to all who would like to take part. We will be discussing chapters 1 – 4 (inclusive) of Fishing in Utopia next Thursday.

  Here is the book’s synopsis:
  From the 1960s to the 1980s, Sweden’s social democratic model was the envy of every country in Western Europe. From the outside, at least, it appeared to be a prosperous, generous, egalitarian country that took care of its employees, operated a wide-ranging welfare system and offered shelter to immigrants, from Iran and the Middle East to the former Yugoslavia and Chile. It had a stable industrial economy that prized energy conservation and the environment. How could it fail? Andrew Brown lived there as a child in the 1960s. Ten years later, he returned: he married a Swedish woman and worked in a timber mill, raising his small son, first of all in a housing estate on the edge of Gothenberg, and then in a makeshift chalet in the forest. Fishing was his passion and his escape from a country and its people that alternately oppressed and fascinated him. He returned to live in England at the beginning of the 1980s, but he kept going back. This book tells his story, and woven into it is the landscape of Sweden, its rivers and forests with their attendant mythology, as well as the workings of a political and social system that seemed, for a decade or so, to have made Sweden into a modern utopia.

  Comments (0)

• Vulnerable children

  July 16, 2008 @ 11:57 am | by Bryan

  The chief executive of Barnardo’s, Fergus Finlay, at the launch yesterday of the charity’s review of 2007 at the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin. Photograph: Leon Farrell

  At the risk of coming across as a bleeding heart, I was struck by two stories in this morning’s newspaper. The first was on the children’s organisation, Barnardos, who published their 2007 report yesterday.

  I remember being impressed by Ireland when I first arrived here. One of the things that struck me most living in Cork was the lack of visible signs of poverty. It took me a while to realise that some of the people begging were homeless. Most of them looked too clean, well dressed and well fed to be fit the part in my eyes. After a while I came to the conclusion that it only makes sense that such a rich country protects people from abject poverty.

  It was only much later that I began to see the cracks. One of the things brought up at yesterday’s Barnardos event was the fact that the numbers of impoverished children is increasing. Economists also noted that early intervention in those cases would reduce the social and economic cost of that poverty in the long run.

  This brings us to the next story, which is a report from the children’s court. A 15 year old who has had trouble with the law from the age of 12 was being discussed. There is no evidence that this is a poor family, but the principles of early intervention probably also apply.

  Sometimes I wonder if we, as a society in this country, prefer fire fighting to dealing with problems as they arise. We all seem to get into a state when some teenager kills another over drugs or a gang feud. I wonder what would happen if there was the same hysteria over some of the social problems that give birth to outright crime.

  Comments (19)

• Thank you

  @ 10:50 am | by Bryan

  I have an opinion piece in today’s newspaper titled Intolerant words starve them of the chance they deserve.

  I would like to thank everyone who has been following this blog, particularly those of you who have shared your thoughts by commenting. A lot of my thinking has been refined and challenged by you and one of the results is an article that is better than it otherwise would have been.

  Thanks.

  Comments (32)

• Should there be a Public Sector Wage Freeze?

  July 15, 2008 @ 3:39 pm | by Bryan

  It was interesting watching Questions and Answers last night. The big issue was whether or not there should be a wage freeze in the public sector.

  The argument for the wage freeze is that the economy is in recession. There have been a myriad of negative economic announcements recently. And it’s not just in Ireland. An American bank has gone bust and the housing crisis there looks like it is worsening. Henry Paulson, the Treasury Secretary, has had to bail out the lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. And were that not enough, the UK inflation figures released today are the highest in 11 years.

  With such a gloomy economic outlook, there is a lot of sense in making the public sector as efficient as possible and making sacrifices now to ensure that the tough times end sooner. Private sector groups also argue though that those in the civil service have a great deal more job security. The flip side of that argument is that the economic environment hurts the lowest paid workers the hardest. There are civil servants that have seen a reduction in real wages since the last pay hike, and if there is a pay freeze, their standard of living will fall further.

  A big part of me believes that a wage freeze makes good, common sense. There is just one big catch. The people advocating for that wage restraint the loudest are either employer groups – who represent the wealthy – or government officials – who are looking for any way to save a buck.

  I still need convincing. 

  Comments (10)

• Stand Up!

  @ 11:41 am | by Bryan

  

  Stand Up

  Even though they know not who you are

  Stand Up

  If they think you know nothing at all

  Stand Up

  Where you came from, will show you where you’re going

  Stand Up and we will see what’s up…

  That’s the chorus for the first song on Take Back the Mic, the album released on iTunes today by the group Soulfège. The song is called Damoshi, which means ‘Stand Up’ in Ga, a language spoken in and around Accra, Ghana.

  I’ve never reviewed an album and I may never do it again. But this one is special. Soulfège’s leader, Derrick Ashong, came to prominence after this YouTube video popped up.

  The group’s key members are a trio of Harvard graduates. Ashong was born in Ghana and has been an immigrant since childhood. He has managed to become deeply involved in American politics and yet retain a passion for the continent of Africa and her development and growth. He has even started what’s called the Sweet Mother Tour (SMT), made up of artists, activists, educators, public health workers and others. They do development work in African countries.

  Take Back the Mic is a call to all who are interested, with an emphasis on Africans in the Diaspora. It is about harnessing the collective power and energy of ordinary people to bring about extraordinary change. You cannot help but be reminded of Bob Marley’s Exodus listening to this music.

  The album is a fusion of the best elements of hip-hop with the sounds of West Africa. Thrown in are also the cool, ‘with it’ vibe of urban America and the laid back warmth of Reggae. It makes me want to dance with my wife in our living room, and when that’s done, talk about how we’re going to change the world.

  Here is a glimpse of Derrick:

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVy8ULxDrJg&rel=0

  Comments (2)

• Oxygen?

  July 14, 2008 @ 1:45 pm | by Bryan

  

  Somebody please help me. I’m trying to figure out if this is one of those cultural, age or personality type issues. Oxygen?

  I won’t deny it – I’m a pretty boring person. My idea of a good time involves curling up with a good book, watching a movie, watching a football match or hanging out at a coffee shop. Camping out at a music festival doesn’t make it onto my list.

  

  Comments (17)

• My take on Development - the summary

  @ 12:40 pm | by Bryan

  I made a promise I could not keep. In response to a comment, I said I would give my views on development today. It is such a big issue that I will have to break it up into small parts and work through them slowly over time. Maybe we’ll go through an aspect of development a week - or something like that.

  For now, I will give a brief summary. I feel that in Africa’s case, there are three potential players in its development. These are:

  The African people - the majority of whom form the ‘bottom billion’

  The African Diaspora - people like me

  Africa’s leaders - good and bad

  The rich world’s people

  The rich world’s leaders

  A lot of aid at the moment follows a pattern of the last two groups working towards helping the first, while criticising their leaders in the process. I feel it is paternalistic and unhelpful. And although the Chinese are blatant in their actions, some of the aid from the West has had more to do with their own interests than with the welfare of Africans.

  Although it happens already to a certain degree, I would like to see development take the form of local initiatives being sponsored. Or specific government programs (designed by African governments) assisted by Western / Eastern governments. The African Diaspora already gives more than 3 times what is given in the form of ‘aid’. I think the Diaspora needs to move into more specific projects and infrastructural development.

  I know this is a very brief overview, but when all is said and done, development has to be ‘bottom-up’. Advice, expertise, training, funding…all of these are necessary, but you cannot outsource leadership and ownership. In addition, as far as possible, those giving the help should also benefit. This could be in the form of trade deals, unrestricted travel, or something else, just as long as benefitting does not turn into exploitation. If there is nothing in it for the rich world, the help will always stop or slow down when the economy tightens or something else comes up.

  Comments (15)

• Saturday Book Club: Fishing in Utopia

  July 12, 2008 @ 1:59 pm | by Bryan

    

  The first book I would like us to read is Fishing in Utopia: Sweden and the Future That Disappeared by Andrew Brown.
  I picked this book after having read its review in the Economist. Based on that, it sounded like there were many parallels between Sweden’s transformation and what has happened in Ireland. That, and I have always had a thing for Sweden.

  I was pleasantly surprised when I went down to Dubray Books in Shop Street, Galway. I didn’t expect them to have this book in stock, but they proved my wrong. Hopefully that means it is available from a variety of book shops. If anyone has any trouble getting a hold of it, Dubray are selling it online as are Amazon.

  From the little that I have read, I think this is a very well written book that is easy to read. The chapters are short so let’s try and go for 4 chapters a week. We will start with chapters 1 – 4 (inclusive) on the morning of Saturday 26 July.

  Comments (6)

• Saturday Book Club

  @ 12:49 pm | by Bryan

  I would like to start an online book club on this blog. I have given the idea quite a bit of thought and I think it’s worth trying out.

  The plan is to pick a book and every Saturday discuss 3 – 5 chapters depending on their length. Having worked through the whole book, we could then discuss it one last time and then move on to the next one.

  I would especially like to look at non-fiction books: current affairs, biographies, books on social trends and that sort of thing. One of my biggest passions is trying to understand different cultures, how we interact, why the world is the way it is, and where we are going. For that reason, I am hoping to discuss books from all over the world written by very different types of people.

  In terms of the logistics, I’ll pick a book and two weeks later, we will start the discussion. The two weeks is to give those who are interested time to buy a copy and read the first few chapters. I would then put up some of my thoughts on that week’s reading and hopefully a lot of you will also add your thoughts and we can have a discussion. If it works well, we might even be able to meet a couple of times a year for a reading and discussion in person.

  If you are interested, please leave a comment saying so. I’ll be more than happy to get going with as few as 4 people.

  Comments (17)

• Kevin Myers can keep his money

  July 11, 2008 @ 11:19 am | by Bryan

  Yesterday, a friend phoned to ask if I had read Kevin Myers’ opinion piece in the Irish Independent. I went to their website and there it was. The title jumped out at me. He really had written something titled Africa is giving nothing to anyone — apart from AIDS.

  Mr. Myers’ thesis is that aid to Africa is a bad idea. It keeps them from dying. Should these Africans grow up, they will just become murderous, AK47 wielding sex machines who spread all manner of disease, not least of which is AIDS. Ah, and some of those who do survive to adulthood may make it to Europe. Who wants that? Myers isn’t all bad though. He raises concerns about the environment – the sheer numbers of good for nothing Africans is apparently causing untold ecological damage.

  Deep breath. Believe it or not, I was a little upset when I read that article. I read it a few times. Maybe I was hoping that I had made a mistake and was making things up. The more I thought about it, the more confused I became. How can such an obviously intelligent person write such drivel?

   There is a lot wrong with Africa at the moment. There has been a lot wrong with her for a while now. And there are reasons. A lot of the ‘developed’ world was built on the back of the resources and people of Africa. A lot of conflicts there are funded by external forces. The debate in Western society over who would make a better patron for the continent, themselves or the Chinese, points to part of the problem. And of course, there have been too many instances of failed leadership on our part. But all that aside, we are making progress. It is painfully slow, but it is progress.

  Kevin Myers, keep your money. Africa will come right eventually, with or without you. In your case sir, I would rather it was without you.

  Comments (76)

• Déjà vu

  July 10, 2008 @ 11:44 am | by Bryan

   

  As I was watching the news this morning, I had a strange sense of Déjà vu. The only difference was that this time, the country in question is Iran.

  I’m not going to take sides over what is happening in the Middle East. I will try hard to just stick to the facts as I understand them.

  Israel and Iran have a frosty relationship, to put it mildly. The reasons for that state of affairs differ depending on what your take is on that region’s politics. Both countries have made irresponsible statements about the prospect for war. Last month Israel’s military flexed its muscles in the Mediterranean – presumably as a warning to the Iranians over their nuclear enrichment program. Over the last two days, the Iranians have decided to show that they have muscles of their own. They have tested missiles capable of reaching Israel. Oh…there are also some hawks in America who would like to take military action Iran preemptively. Where have I heard that word used before?

  Is it just me, or does this reek of Iraq? This whole situation, if it is allowed to escalate any further, doesn’t look like it will end well for anyone. There is already at least one failed state in that part of the world. Can you imagine the instability that will result from another regional conflict? And for those who feel that it would not affect them, do you think fuel is expensive now? Just wait and see what will happen to consumer goods prices and world inflation if this mess gets worse. Not to mention the untold human suffering.

  You would think that with Iraq still smouldering, someone would know better.

  Comments (2)

• Diversity - welcome or tolerated?

  July 9, 2008 @ 4:05 pm | by Bryan

   

  Last week, Ruadhán Mac Cormaic wrote one of the best opinion pieces I have read on immigration, titled Losing our immigrants in a fog of vague intentions.

  What I took home from it was the idea that controversies like those surrounding the hijab, or whether immigrants drink at the pub or at home are not the real issue. They are just fronts for battles society is to weary to take on. Ruadhán quotes the Hungarian historian István Bibó, who, speaking on society says, “It will substitute a fictional problem, which can be mediated purely through words and symbols, for the real one that it finds insurmountable. In grappling with the former, the community can convince itself that it has successfully confronted the latter.”

  In today’s Irish Times, Lucy Gaffney comes back to the issue of integration. She rightly points out that for the first time this nation is going to have to look at immigration in a difficult economic context. She also calls for the progress made to date with respect to diversity in Ireland to be maintained.

  In light of that, I have a few questions. Is racial and cultural diversity here welcome, or is it tolerated?  Do people really see value in diversity, or is that just one of those things we say because it is politically correct? What is the bar that must be passed for migrants to ‘belong’? Is it ancestry, skin colour, length of stay in Ireland, language proficiency, educational attainment? What would you like it to be?

  Comments (25)

• Misery loves company

  @ 2:05 pm | by Bryan

  If there is any truth to the saying ‘misery loves company’, Brian Cowen may start to feel a little better soon. Yesterday, there was a definite increase in the level of concern about the potential for a recession in the United Kingdom. A lot of the blame for that is being apportioned to Gordon Brown.

  

  The Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister have quite a bit in common. Both held the post of Finance Minister before becoming the head of government. Neither of them had to get through an election to assume office. Both have taken over in a difficult world economic climate, yet are accused of mishandling the finances during the good times. And now both face some pressure and criticism about their response to the world’s poor. In Gordon Brown’s case, this comes in the form of his involvement in the G8 and that groups resolve to combat poverty.

  Brian Cowen’s situation is more direct. Part of the cuts announced yesterday was €45 million from the overseas aid budget. A lot of aid agencies have already expressed their disappointment.

  The only surprise for me was that he did not make a bigger cut. People in Malawi or Lesotho do not vote in Irish elections. When things become difficult, most politicians will work towards ensuring their survival. Forget politicians – most people are exactly the same. That’s why there were no cabinet ministers rushing to volunteer for big cuts in their budgets. In the same way, I haven’t come across anyone offering the government a bigger slice of their salary through a tax hike.

  If anyone wants to know what is really important to this government, watch what they keep and what they give up as funds get tighter. Here’s my prediction: Overseas aid is not going to be at the top of the list. But let’s be honest, apart from the likes of Tom Arnold, John O’Shea and others in the development sector, there aren’t going to be too many complaints. Misery may love company, but there are few volunteers.

  Comments (2)

• Irish Times Politics Blog

  July 8, 2008 @ 12:56 pm | by Bryan

  Great news! A new Politics blog has been launched this afternoon. It will be run by members of the Irish Times politcal staff, including the likes of Deaglán de Breadun, Mark Hennessy and Harry McGee.

  It promises to be an incredible space. You can go to it by clicking here.

  Comments (4)

• Louth County Hospital

  @ 11:03 am | by Bryan

  I have a lot of sympathy for the situation in which the HSE find themselves financially. But I often get the feeling that they could do a better job under the circumstances.

  Apparently, out of hours surgical admissions have been stopped at Louth County Hospital. This is because there are some doctors’ posts that have not been filled. It appears as though someone decided that was the best way to save money. What that means is that should you be unable to time your surgical ailment for office hours, you are going to have to be seen at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda instead.

  Is it just me or does that just seem ludicrous? Straw poll: what would you rather have; better roads or hospitals that are open a little longer than just 9 to 5?

  Comments (4)

• Brian and Brian’s Balancing Act

  July 7, 2008 @ 11:50 pm | by Bryan

  

  The Cabinet will tomorrow try to make cuts from the budget worth €500 million. After that meeting, the changes will be made known to the Dáil and then to the press.

  Some government officials have said that there are painful decisions that are going to have to be made. In fact, most of the country knows that something has to give. But no one wants it to affect them.

  I am personally disappointed that there isn’t going to be a more decisive reform of the health department. I know that there are tremendous costs associated with voluntary redundancies, but if they are not carried out now, will there ever be a good time? The same holds for the whole of the public sector if you believe that it is bloated. And then there is the argument that what the economy really needs is to be stimulated by greater public investment in infrastructure.

  Whatever happens tomorrow, one thing is certain. The Taoiseach and the Finance Minister especially, are going to be incredibly busy for the foreseeable future. You know the saying, ‘be careful what you ask for – you might get it’? I wonder if either Brian Cowen or Lenihan is thinking that about his current job.

  Comments (7)

• The Post-G8 World?

  @ 10:45 am | by Bryan

   

  The Editor of Newsweek International, Fareed Zakaria, gave a few interviews on Irish radio stations last week. His new book The Post-American World has attracted a lot of interest. It basically looks at the rise of countries like India, China and Brazil and the implications of that on the world’s future.

  It’s ironic that days later, the G8 summit begins. The leaders of The US, the UK, Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Japan and Russia will try to sort out the world’s problems. Although the likes of China, India and Brazil have been invited to outreach groups, they are not part of the main group. What is more ironic is the fact that President Bush has said that there will be no progress on climate change without the involvement of China and India.

  If the G8 and other international bodies are going to remain relevant, perhaps it is time they acknowledged and incorporated new blood. The world has moved on from where it was after the Second World War.
   

  Comments (19)

• Minister Conor Lenihan - The Hijab

  July 5, 2008 @ 2:12 pm | by Bryan

  Something unexpected happened to me today. As I was going through the comments waiting to be moderated, I found one by Minister Conor Lenihan, the Integration Minister.  He had read the post on the hijab and the comments that were made on it.

  I would like to thank the minister for reading everyone’s thoughts and for sharing his. If he ever wants to share something or ask for people’s opinions on this blog, he is always welcome… provided he is happy to get both positive and negative feedback. His comments were:

  I appreciate some of the comments made on this blog site. It has been of help and will be of use when drawing up guidelines or otherwise in relation to school uniforms.

  Many of the contributions mirror the comments I have received from the 4,000 or so school Principals that I have written to on this matter.

  I shall make a decision, one way or the other, before the summer is out. I agree with the contributor who stated that there are far more important issues affecting integration and immigration than this particular controversy.

  For this reason we have been planning for some time a conference on diversity with regard to the education system. That conference on devising an integration strategy for schools will be held in the autumn.

  Regards - Conor Lenihan T.D., Minister for Integration.

  Comments (12)

• Wage talks

  July 4, 2008 @ 11:36 am | by Bryan

   

  I’m not a big fan of Pat Buchanan, but I think he raises a good point in this clip(Sorry, I can’t seem to embed it). The disparity in wealth between working people and those at the top of the social ladder here is shocking. And when the economy tightens, it is less well off people who bare the brunt of the harder times.

  The government and Ibec have basically called for wage restraint during the current talks on the new social partnership agreement. Their rational has to do with Ireland remaining competitive in a difficult international business climate. The trade unions on the other hand are pretty much saying what Buchanan is saying in the video. That it’s not fair to make those at the bottom of the pay scale pay the nation out of a recession.

  I don’t know who is right. My heart is with the trade unions. At the same time, there seems to be a lot of sense in going without today for tomorrow’s sake. I guess the question then becomes one of whether the sacrifices are being spread out fairly.

  I honestly don’t know. Someone school me. Are the trade unions preventing progress or are they keeping people from being exploited in this case?

  Comments (4)

• Zimbabwe

  July 3, 2008 @ 10:50 pm | by Bryan

  I wasn’t going to blog about Zimbabwe until I came across this post. It’s one of those subjects I struggle with because it is so close to me.

  Abstract suffering is bearable. When I heard about the earthquake in China, or the floods in Burma, I felt bad. But feeling bad isn’t that taxing. There is the moment of sombre silence, and then you move on. Sometimes I might even shake my head and say something appropriate. On a good day, I’ll also say a prayer.

  Zimbabwe is different. People I know are living in fear. On any given day they risk being randomly stopped and beaten, raped or killed. They don’t have the luxury of thinking much further than getting through the day. And these are people who are no different to me. A lot of them are a lot smarter than I and have more to offer the world. It’s a travesty.

  Zimbabwe is getting a lot of media attention right now but the truth is that there are many parts of the world where things are worse. It’s not right, and hopefully in time, there will be fewer places like that.

  Once upon a time I worked as a doctor. The aspect of medicine I struggled most with was the process of childbirth. It’s not the way it comes across on TV. It’s bloody, dirty and excruciatingly painful. It’s not pretty at all. But as soon as that baby comes, all that passes. Sometimes there is some repair to be done, but all in all, the process is forgotten and the focus shifts to the new life.

  I have more questions than answers when it comes to Zimbabwe. But I am looking forward to the day we start repairing it and enjoying new life there. This Soulfege video captures a lot of the hope I still carry.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1j8_kOtfd8&rel=0

  Comments (14)

• The Hijab

  @ 1:41 pm | by Bryan

   

   

  Is it just me of is the issue of the hijab (headscarf) getting out of hand? The Minister for Education, Batt O’Keeffe has asked Conor Lenihan, Integration Minister, for help. He wants to know if there should be a national policy on the wearing of the hijab in schools. Minister Lenihan then passed the issue on to school principals. Talk about a high profile game of hot potato.

   

  Honestly, what is the big deal? It’s just a piece of cloth isn’t it? If young Muslim ladies, or their parents for that matter, want them to wear it, what’s the problem? Should this really be taking up two ministers’ time as well as that of thousands of school principals? Aren’t there more serious issues to deal with, like renovating old schools and building new ones? Is this just a silly diversion to get us all thinking about something inconsequential, or do people really care about it?

   

  Let’s say that it is a genuine concern. What is the real underlying issue here? It cannot be about clothing. Or at least I really hope we aren’t that petty as a society. Is it about Islam, or religion itself? Either way, if there is going to be a debate, let it be about Islam or religion as a whole and their place in contemporary Irish society.

  Comments (61)

• Discrimination in Verona

  July 2, 2008 @ 1:06 pm | by Bryan

  There was a story in yesterday’s paper about discrimination against Roma Gypsies. The gist is that an appeal court in Italy said that all Gypsies are thieves.

   Flavio Tosi, Verona’s mayor, was quoted as having said, “The Gypsies must be ordered out because, wherever they arrive, there are robberies.” In response to that, the court decided:

  …this did not show Mr Tosi was a racist, but that he had “a deep aversion [to Roma] that was not determined by the Gypsy nature of the people discriminated against, but by the fact that all the Gypsies were thieves”.
  His dislike of them was “not therefore based on a notion of superiority or racial hatred, but on racial prejudice”.

  Hmmm… Where to start? First of all, I’m not planning on visiting Verona any time soon if it’s okay to have ‘a deep aversion’ to certain types of people there.  If all Gypsies are thieves, what are all black people? (That was a rhetorical question by the way, so feel free to NOT answer it) We can just as easily come up with stereotypes about women, Travellers, people from Cork or any other group.

  I don’t like stereotypes. They rob people of their right to be judged on the basis of their own character and actions. Worse, once you put a bunch of people in a box, discrimination is almost inevitable. And once it is acceptable to discriminate against certain groups, it is easier to tolerate people who act out that discrimination.

  It’s not right.

  Comments (12)

• Painful and frustratingly slow change

  July 1, 2008 @ 8:20 pm | by Bryan

   

  There has been a lot of attention lately on the EU following Ireland’s rejection of the Lisbon Treaty. One of the things that struck me was how as soon as the referendum result was known, most of the EU leaders took a stand. The majority acknowledged the result but also started looking for ways around it.

  Irrespective of what you think of that stance, the level of unity and decisiveness of Europe’s ruling elite is impressive. They have an agenda and they are determined to see it through. What is also impressive, though perhaps a little frightening, is the authority held by people like Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel. There is no shortage of leadership in the EU.

  Contrast that with the AU (African Union). No one seems to know how to respond to an eighty something year old who won’t play nicely with others. It has been obvious to anyone who has been watching over the last few weeks that Robert Mugabe would force himself on Zimbabweans. The AU has not been caught by surprise, and yet they still don’t have a plan. There is no consensus on the way forward. The lack of leadership in the organisation is shocking.

  All that said, things are changing for the better. 10 years ago, Mugabe would not have been criticised by a single African leader. The only problem is that things are not changing fast enough to keep Zimbabwe from drowning. Not Zimbabwe, nor Darfur, Chad or Somalia.

  Comments (17)

• Recession?

  @ 7:48 pm | by Bryan

  Word has it that Ireland is now experiencing a recession. Apparently, it started last Tuesday?

  I need to start with a disclaimer. I don’t have that much experience with normal economies. I’m more used to dealing with extremes. Zimbabwe for example has a rate of inflation that nobody is following anymore because it’s in the millions of percentage points. Interestingly, that country is not in a recession. People there prefer to use terms like ‘hyperinflation’, ‘meltdown’ and ‘collapse’. All of which are easy enough to understand. They pretty much mean that no one can afford anything… just about.

  What though, does ‘recession’ mean? What changed from the day before the ESRI report to the day after?

  There has been a trend of things getting tighter financially for a while now. There aren’t as many jobs out there, the housing market has seen better days, a fiver gets you less at the supermarket, and so forth. But surely going around proclaiming that ‘the sky is falling’ doesn’t help issues?

  I don’t remember a lot of my high school history lessons. One that I do remember was on the Great Depression. A factor that is thought to have contributed to that financial crisis was the ‘self fulfilment of expectation.’ People felt that the good times had to end sometime and behaved as though things would change for the worse. According to some, that just strained the economy further and helped bring about that change. 

  What would happen if the all the economic data that has been coming out recently was thought of as a minor cold in an otherwise healthy economy?

  Comments (19)

• Outside In

  @ 7:09 pm | by Bryan

  No, I haven’t got the title the wrong way around. Outside In is right. It does a pretty good job of describing where I’m coming from.

  I live in Galway, but have only been in Ireland for a couple of years. For now, this is home. But I don’t have the same kind of history or connection with the country that ‘native’ Irish people have. Because of that, there are times when I’m the guy outside looking in. That said, I have the benefit of a different perspective, which can be a good thing.

  I really DO NOT want this blog to become an ‘immigrant corner’ or some sort of special interest project. I’m sure issues involving immigration and integration will feature to a greater degree because of my background. But more than anything else, I want this to be a place where people debate social, cultural and political issues. And I don’t want this to just be a place for like minded people. I’m hoping for a lot of civil, reasoned debate.

  Before we get going, there are a few RULES we need to set in stone. In no particular order:

  • No foul, hateful or discriminatory language
  • No personal attacks – I’m hoping there will be a lot of strong disagreement, even attacks, on ideas, but not on people

  That’s it. Welcome to Outside In. I really hope you like it here.

  Comments (19)