Donal Kennedy,a Go reader who lives in London, wonders what has happened to home-grown hospitality
DURING HIS recent visit to London the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Martin Cullen, said: "Your first contact should be with an Irish person . . . friendly, and with an Irish voice."
In recent years I've had many opportunities to compare the friendliness of Irish hospitality professionals with that of those in England, Scotland, France, Belgium, Germany, Italy and other places.
I am ashamed to report that my compatriots have been the unfriendliest of the lot. On our last trip to Ireland, my wife and I stayed in a Co Dublin hotel for a few nights.
At reception, a Dublin man who had been golfing in the hotel's grounds was complaining that heroin was being sold within metres of the building. This did not concern the receptionist, and the golfer advised me not to stay there. As we had paid in advance, we stayed.
Late the following morning, trays laden with the detritus of meals eaten in bedrooms the previous evening remained uncollected on the floors of corridors. Cooked breakfasts arrived late, and cold, and guests who had flights to catch left without eating.
We went to a hotel a few kilometres up the coast for lunch. During the meal a trolley piled with soiled bedlinen was wheeled within centimetres of our table. We remarked on this to staff. A second, similar load followed in its wake.
On a previous trip, when my wife approached reception to settle our bill she was kept waiting while the receptionist telephoned the sleeping arrangements of guests to a gossip columnist, private detective, nosy parker or intelligence agent - I never did find out. She made no apology for the long delay.
Not long before that we spent a night at a hotel in Waterford. When we asked where we could attend Sunday Mass the receptionist neither knew nor deigned to find out. A beautiful basilica-style cathedral was within five minutes' walk, and had been for well over a century.
A few weeks later I was in the foyer of a hotel in the West End of London when a woman from San Francisco asked a similar question; the English receptionist answered her instantly and politely.
A few years previously I was with my brother in the Kerry Gaelteacht. My brother addressed the landlord of a local pub in fluent and polite Irish. He was given a churlish reply in English and so asked our host if he was a stranger there and unacquainted with the language. The landlord was a local man and native speaker.
Two English friends of mine, teachers with an interest in history, on a visit to Dublin asked at a tourist office if there was a brochure or guide to places featured in the 1916 Rising. Rather than trying to help them, the official asked why they would want to know about that.
I could give further instances of Irish hospitality professionals addressing guests with attitudes where "F" does not signify "fáilte". I would prefer to recall good manners, good value and good will where I have found it.
Another thing. In one pub a barman confided in us that he had lived in England but had gone home because there were too many blacks there. We found it insulting that he assumed we shared his racism.
Since then I have advised black and Asian friends that, while I'm an unreconstructed Irishman, if they visit Ireland not to be surprised if they encounter virulent racism.
Another thing. A couple of months ago, in the back of beyond in a two-horse town in France, we had a five-course dinner for two, starting with seafood, including oysters, plus a bottle of wine and a bottle of mineral water, for €49. We don't usually dine so regally. Can Ireland match such value, service and good cooking, unpretentiously served?