"Driving westwards from Dublin to the Atlantic, it's no exaggeration to say that
your chances of meeting anyone Irish are slim. In the petrol stations, cafés,
bars and shops you will find Poles, Lithuanians and Brazilians giving you the
cead mile failte. But no Irish".

Read on:

Ireland: how an ageing Celtic Tiger has bitten into those juicy salmon
Our correspondent reports from the West of Ireland in the latest of our series
David Sharrock, Ireland Correspondent

I took a peek at post-Celtic Tiger Ireland last week and it wasn't pretty. I was
in Ballina, where the fly-fishing season is beginning amid gloomy predictions
for the economy.

Everyone is praying for a long dry summer; hardly surprising after last year's
wash-out. Ballina draws rich northern European anglers for one very special
reason: the Ridge Pool.

This 300-yard reach of the River Moy is tourism gold for the west. During the
summer months, when its level drops, every tide brings a shoal of bright bars of
Atlantic silver racing up the estuary into the Ridge Pool. In the best years the
salmon are packed together, jostling for space in the seething, shallow waters.
No wonder they call it the Silver Furlong.

Perhaps it wasn't noticed because of the announcement by Bertie Ahern, the
Taoiseach, that he was retiring, but the Ridgepool Hotel, overlooking the prized
stretch of river, was going out of business too. While Bertie insisted that his
resignation had nothing to do with the ever- louder questions about his
finances, the Ridgepool's demise seemed more enigmatic.

I couldn't get a room with a river view because it was full. In fact it is
booked solid until the end of September. Yet with unseeming haste it was being
sold off and the staff served their notices. Then it emerged that the new owner
was a company that runs “direct provision” hostels for asylum-seekers on behalf
of the Government. The town's business owners went ballistic, belly-aching at
the machinations of civil servants, far away in Dublin and gamely struggling
with the novelty of Ireland having an immigration problem.

It can still seem dizzying how quickly the Celtic Tiger has transformed the
country. A nation that for centuries was a net exporter of its people suddenly
has full employment.

Ask what it is that sells Ireland to tourists and the answer will include
something about the friendliness of the locals. Driving westwards from Dublin to
the Atlantic, it's no exaggeration to say that your chances of meeting anyone
Irish are slim. In the petrol stations, cafés, bars and shops you will find
Poles, Lithuanians and Brazilians giving you the cead mile failte. But no Irish.
They are almost all in higher-paid skilled work. Which is great news if you're
Irish, but not so wonderful for visitors in search of the elusive craic.

I suppose there is an evolutionary logic (albeit at breakneck pace) to a hotel
becoming home to the less fortunate neighbours of the foreigners who in the past
decade have done the jobs that the Irish themselves no longer want or need. Even
so, the people of Ballina didn't agree: the prospect of immigrants' washing
lines flapping in the faces of anglers was too much.

A mole in the justice ministry got the word out to the Ballina burghers just in
time for them to thwart the Dublin suits. But the hotel remains closed, its
bookings transferred en bloc to a charmless modern barn of a place miles from
the river.

Which means that, so long as the weather is kind in the coming months, Ballina
will reap its golden salmon harvest unhindered, but bridling over unfounded
charges that its reaction to the asylum-seekers' hostel was motivated by racism.

Not hatred of foreigners then, but fears about the impact on a tourism industry
that is turning fragile - a tale that may seem as strange to visitors as the
mystery of where all the Irish have gone.

Source:
http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/news/article3727375.ece



---------------------------------------------------------------
We have our task, and God knows it is a hard one -- the salvage
of a shipwrecked world. - Lothrop Stoddard
---------------------------------------------------------------

On 23 Jun, 16:45, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"  wrote:
> "Driving westwards from Dublin to the Atlantic, it's no exaggeration to say that
> your chances of meeting anyone Irish are slim. In the petrol stations, cafés,
> bars and shops you will find Poles, Lithuanians and Brazilians giving you the
> cead mile failte. But no Irish".
>
> Read on:
>
> Ireland: how an ageing Celtic Tiger has bitten into those juicy salmon
> Our correspondent reports from the West of Ireland in the latest of our series
> David Sharrock, Ireland Correspondent
>
> I took a peek at post-Celtic Tiger Ireland last week and it wasn't pretty. I was
> in Ballina, where the fly-fishing season is beginning amid gloomy predictions
> for the economy.
>
> Everyone is praying for a long dry summer; hardly surprising after last year's
> wash-out. Ballina draws rich northern European anglers for one very special
> reason: the Ridge Pool.
>
> This 300-yard reach of the River Moy is tourism gold for the west. During the
> summer months, when its level drops, every tide brings a shoal of bright bars of
> Atlantic silver racing up the estuary into the Ridge Pool. In the best years the
> salmon are packed together, jostling for space in the seething, shallow waters.
> No wonder they call it the Silver Furlong.
>
> Perhaps it wasn't noticed because of the announcement by Bertie Ahern, the
> Taoiseach, that he was retiring, but the Ridgepool Hotel, overlooking the prized
> stretch of river, was going out of business too. While Bertie insisted that his
> resignation had nothing to do with the ever- louder questions about his
> finances, the Ridgepool's demise seemed more enigmatic.
>
> I couldn't get a room with a river view because it was full. In fact it is
> booked solid until the end of September. Yet with unseeming haste it was being
> sold off and the staff served their notices. Then it emerged that the new owner
> was a company that runs “direct provision” hostels for asylum-seekers on behalf
> of the Government. The town's business owners went ballistic, belly-aching at
> the machinations of civil servants, far away in Dublin and gamely struggling
> with the novelty of Ireland having an immigration problem.
>
> It can still seem dizzying how quickly the Celtic Tiger has transformed the
> country. A nation that for centuries was a net exporter of its people suddenly
> has full employment.
>
> Ask what it is that sells Ireland to tourists and the answer will include
> something about the friendliness of the locals. Driving westwards from Dublin to
> the Atlantic, it's no exaggeration to say that your chances of meeting anyone
> Irish are slim. In the petrol stations, cafés, bars and shops you will find
> Poles, Lithuanians and Brazilians giving you the cead mile failte. But no Irish.
> They are almost all in higher-paid skilled work. Which is great news if you're
> Irish, but not so wonderful for visitors in search of the elusive craic.
>
> I suppose there is an evolutionary logic (albeit at breakneck pace) to a hotel
> becoming home to the less fortunate neighbours of the foreigners who in the past
> decade have done the jobs that the Irish themselves no longer want or need. Even
> so, the people of Ballina didn't agree: the prospect of immigrants' washing
> lines flapping in the faces of anglers was too much.
>
> A mole in the justice ministry got the word out to the Ballina burghers just in
> time for them to thwart the Dublin suits. But the hotel remains closed, its
> bookings transferred en bloc to a charmless modern barn of a place miles from
> the river.
>
> Which means that, so long as the weather is kind in the coming months, Ballina
> will reap its golden salmon harvest unhindered, but bridling over unfounded
> charges that its reaction to the asylum-seekers' hostel was motivated by racism.
>
> Not hatred of foreigners then, but fears about the impact on a tourism industry
> that is turning fragile - a tale that may seem as strange to visitors as the
> mystery of where all the Irish have gone.
>
> Source:http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/news/articl...
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
> We have our task, and God knows it is a hard one -- the salvage
> of a shipwrecked world. - Lothrop Stoddard
> ---------------------------------------------------------------

Into higher paid work, instead of on the minimum wage behind the
counter in petrol stations or in crap jobs as waiters. You got a
problem with that?
And what would be your solution?

On Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:37:01 -0700 (PDT), mothed out 
wrote:

>On 23 Jun, 16:45, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"  wrote:
>> "Driving westwards from Dublin to the Atlantic, it's no exaggeration to say that
>> your chances of meeting anyone Irish are slim. In the petrol stations, cafés,
>> bars and shops you will find Poles, Lithuanians and Brazilians giving you the
>> cead mile failte. But no Irish".
>>
>> Read on:
>>
>> Ireland: how an ageing Celtic Tiger has bitten into those juicy salmon
>> Our correspondent reports from the West of Ireland in the latest of our series
>> David Sharrock, Ireland Correspondent
>>
>> I took a peek at post-Celtic Tiger Ireland last week and it wasn't pretty. I was
>> in Ballina, where the fly-fishing season is beginning amid gloomy predictions
>> for the economy.
>>
>> Everyone is praying for a long dry summer; hardly surprising after last year's
>> wash-out. Ballina draws rich northern European anglers for one very special
>> reason: the Ridge Pool.
>>
>> This 300-yard reach of the River Moy is tourism gold for the west. During the
>> summer months, when its level drops, every tide brings a shoal of bright bars of
>> Atlantic silver racing up the estuary into the Ridge Pool. In the best years the
>> salmon are packed together, jostling for space in the seething, shallow waters.
>> No wonder they call it the Silver Furlong.
>>
>> Perhaps it wasn't noticed because of the announcement by Bertie Ahern, the
>> Taoiseach, that he was retiring, but the Ridgepool Hotel, overlooking the prized
>> stretch of river, was going out of business too. While Bertie insisted that his
>> resignation had nothing to do with the ever- louder questions about his
>> finances, the Ridgepool's demise seemed more enigmatic.
>>
>> I couldn't get a room with a river view because it was full. In fact it is
>> booked solid until the end of September. Yet with unseeming haste it was being
>> sold off and the staff served their notices. Then it emerged that the new owner
>> was a company that runs “direct provision” hostels for asylum-seekers on behalf
>> of the Government. The town's business owners went ballistic, belly-aching at
>> the machinations of civil servants, far away in Dublin and gamely struggling
>> with the novelty of Ireland having an immigration problem.
>>
>> It can still seem dizzying how quickly the Celtic Tiger has transformed the
>> country. A nation that for centuries was a net exporter of its people suddenly
>> has full employment.
>>
>> Ask what it is that sells Ireland to tourists and the answer will include
>> something about the friendliness of the locals. Driving westwards from Dublin to
>> the Atlantic, it's no exaggeration to say that your chances of meeting anyone
>> Irish are slim. In the petrol stations, cafés, bars and shops you will find
>> Poles, Lithuanians and Brazilians giving you the cead mile failte. But no Irish.
>> They are almost all in higher-paid skilled work. Which is great news if you're
>> Irish, but not so wonderful for visitors in search of the elusive craic.
>>
>> I suppose there is an evolutionary logic (albeit at breakneck pace) to a hotel
>> becoming home to the less fortunate neighbours of the foreigners who in the past
>> decade have done the jobs that the Irish themselves no longer want or need. Even
>> so, the people of Ballina didn't agree: the prospect of immigrants' washing
>> lines flapping in the faces of anglers was too much.
>>
>> A mole in the justice ministry got the word out to the Ballina burghers just in
>> time for them to thwart the Dublin suits. But the hotel remains closed, its
>> bookings transferred en bloc to a charmless modern barn of a place miles from
>> the river.
>>
>> Which means that, so long as the weather is kind in the coming months, Ballina
>> will reap its golden salmon harvest unhindered, but bridling over unfounded
>> charges that its reaction to the asylum-seekers' hostel was motivated by racism.
>>
>> Not hatred of foreigners then, but fears about the impact on a tourism industry
>> that is turning fragile - a tale that may seem as strange to visitors as the
>> mystery of where all the Irish have gone.
>>
>> Source:http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/news/articl...
>>
>> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>> We have our task, and God knows it is a hard one -- the salvage
>> of a shipwrecked world. - Lothrop Stoddard
>> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Into higher paid work, instead of on the minimum wage behind the
>counter in petrol stations or in crap jobs as waiters. You got a
>problem with that?
>And what would be your solution?


That movement under you feet... That's Irish Culture being sacrificed on the
altar of Policial sacrifice...     Do take the time to wave goodbye to Irish
culture as you sit in your elitist liberal chair...  Never thinking... But
that's what liberals do...  never think of the consequences of the "change"...
they bring... But surprisingly are the first to whine if the change isn't what
they expected...  Liberals... No pleasing them.... 

Ray


---------------------------------------------------------------
We have our task, and God knows it is a hard one -- the salvage
of a shipwrecked world. - Lothrop Stoddard
---------------------------------------------------------------

WhiteWolf @iol.ie> wrote:

<snip>

> That movement under you feet... That's Irish Culture being sacrificed on the
> altar of Policial sacrifice...     Do take the time to wave goodbye to Irish
> culture as you sit in your elitist liberal chair...  Never thinking... But
> that's what liberals do...  never think of the consequences of the "change"...
> they bring... But surprisingly are the first to whine if the change isn't what
> they expected...  Liberals... No pleasing them....
> 
> Ray
> 
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
> We have our task, and God knows it is a hard one -- the salvage
> of a shipwrecked world. - Lothrop Stoddard
> ---------------------------------------------------------------

Correct me if I'm wrong Ray, but I thought your idea of supporting Irish
culture was to decamp to the United States on the promise of more totty
and more money in your back pocket.

In what way, exactly, does this support Irish culture, Mr. Cantillon?

M.

Scríobh mothed out :
>On 23 Jun, 16:45, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"  wrote:

[snip]

Please do not feed the troll.

-- 
'Donegal:  Up Here It's Different'
© Féachadóir

On Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:45:42 -0400, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"
 wrote:

>"Driving westwards from Dublin to the Atlantic, it's no exaggeration to say that
>your chances of meeting anyone Irish are slim.

Bullshit.

Neolithic

On Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:52:22 -0400, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"
 wrote:

>On Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:37:01 -0700 (PDT), mothed out 
>wrote:
>
>>On 23 Jun, 16:45, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"  wrote:
>>> "Driving westwards from Dublin to the Atlantic, it's no exaggeration to say that
>>> your chances of meeting anyone Irish are slim. In the petrol stations, cafés,
>>> bars and shops you will find Poles, Lithuanians and Brazilians giving you the
>>> cead mile failte. But no Irish".
>>>
>>> Read on:
>>>
>>> Ireland: how an ageing Celtic Tiger has bitten into those juicy salmon
>>> Our correspondent reports from the West of Ireland in the latest of our series
>>> David Sharrock, Ireland Correspondent
>>>
>>> I took a peek at post-Celtic Tiger Ireland last week and it wasn't pretty. I was
>>> in Ballina, where the fly-fishing season is beginning amid gloomy predictions
>>> for the economy.
>>>
>>> Everyone is praying for a long dry summer; hardly surprising after last year's
>>> wash-out. Ballina draws rich northern European anglers for one very special
>>> reason: the Ridge Pool.
>>>
>>> This 300-yard reach of the River Moy is tourism gold for the west. During the
>>> summer months, when its level drops, every tide brings a shoal of bright bars of
>>> Atlantic silver racing up the estuary into the Ridge Pool. In the best years the
>>> salmon are packed together, jostling for space in the seething, shallow waters.
>>> No wonder they call it the Silver Furlong.
>>>
>>> Perhaps it wasn't noticed because of the announcement by Bertie Ahern, the
>>> Taoiseach, that he was retiring, but the Ridgepool Hotel, overlooking the prized
>>> stretch of river, was going out of business too. While Bertie insisted that his
>>> resignation had nothing to do with the ever- louder questions about his
>>> finances, the Ridgepool's demise seemed more enigmatic.
>>>
>>> I couldn't get a room with a river view because it was full. In fact it is
>>> booked solid until the end of September. Yet with unseeming haste it was being
>>> sold off and the staff served their notices. Then it emerged that the new owner
>>> was a company that runs “direct provision” hostels for asylum-seekers on behalf
>>> of the Government. The town's business owners went ballistic, belly-aching at
>>> the machinations of civil servants, far away in Dublin and gamely struggling
>>> with the novelty of Ireland having an immigration problem.
>>>
>>> It can still seem dizzying how quickly the Celtic Tiger has transformed the
>>> country. A nation that for centuries was a net exporter of its people suddenly
>>> has full employment.
>>>
>>> Ask what it is that sells Ireland to tourists and the answer will include
>>> something about the friendliness of the locals. Driving westwards from Dublin to
>>> the Atlantic, it's no exaggeration to say that your chances of meeting anyone
>>> Irish are slim. In the petrol stations, cafés, bars and shops you will find
>>> Poles, Lithuanians and Brazilians giving you the cead mile failte. But no Irish.
>>> They are almost all in higher-paid skilled work. Which is great news if you're
>>> Irish, but not so wonderful for visitors in search of the elusive craic.
>>>
>>> I suppose there is an evolutionary logic (albeit at breakneck pace) to a hotel
>>> becoming home to the less fortunate neighbours of the foreigners who in the past
>>> decade have done the jobs that the Irish themselves no longer want or need. Even
>>> so, the people of Ballina didn't agree: the prospect of immigrants' washing
>>> lines flapping in the faces of anglers was too much.
>>>
>>> A mole in the justice ministry got the word out to the Ballina burghers just in
>>> time for them to thwart the Dublin suits. But the hotel remains closed, its
>>> bookings transferred en bloc to a charmless modern barn of a place miles from
>>> the river.
>>>
>>> Which means that, so long as the weather is kind in the coming months, Ballina
>>> will reap its golden salmon harvest unhindered, but bridling over unfounded
>>> charges that its reaction to the asylum-seekers' hostel was motivated by racism.
>>>
>>> Not hatred of foreigners then, but fears about the impact on a tourism industry
>>> that is turning fragile - a tale that may seem as strange to visitors as the
>>> mystery of where all the Irish have gone.
>>>
>>> Source:http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/news/articl...
>>>
>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>>> We have our task, and God knows it is a hard one -- the salvage
>>> of a shipwrecked world. - Lothrop Stoddard
>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>Into higher paid work, instead of on the minimum wage behind the
>>counter in petrol stations or in crap jobs as waiters. You got a
>>problem with that?
>>And what would be your solution?
>
>
>That movement under you feet... That's Irish Culture being sacrificed on the
>altar of Policial sacrifice... 

More bullshit. When was the last time *you* lived in Ireland?

>    Do take the time to wave goodbye to Irish
>culture as you sit in your elitist liberal chair...

In what possible way is allowing immigrants from less fortunate
countries into Ireland elitist?

You're the one that's tell others that they're unthinking and you make
comments like that?

>  Never thinking... But that's what liberals do...

You've shown a great deal of 'non-thinking' when it comes to the
BNP...indeed hiding your head in the sand Ostrich style has been what
you've been doing...

>  never think of the consequences of the "change"...

So, you've asked every single "liberal" about every decision that
they've ever made and their universal response has been
"Ah...no...well I didn't think of the consequences"?

You're demonstrating prejudice and that is all that you're doing...and
consequently...appearing to be unthinking...

>they bring... But surprisingly are the first to whine if the change isn't what
>they expected...

Citation please.

>  Liberals... No pleasing them.... 

Straw man...

Neolithic

"Neolithic"  wrote in message 
news:ak3164dbq4k2oab2onghpc2vt2af0jvqhi@4ax.com...
> On Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:45:42 -0400, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"
>  wrote:
>
>>"Driving westwards from Dublin to the Atlantic, it's no exaggeration to 
>>say that
>>your chances of meeting anyone Irish are slim.
>
> Bullshit.

Not only are you likely to meet them, they'll probably make you feel at home 
by driving on the right.

On 24 Jun, 17:38, "Westprog"  wrote:
> "Neolithic"  wrote in message
>
> news:ak3164dbq4k2oab2onghpc2vt2af0jvqhi@4ax.com...
>
> > On Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:45:42 -0400, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"
> >  wrote:
>
> >>"Driving westwards from Dublin to the Atlantic, it's no exaggeration to
> >>say that
> >>your chances of meeting anyone Irish are slim.
>
> > Bullshit.
>
> Not only are you likely to meet them, they'll probably make you feel at home
> by driving on the right.

It's not a question of just meeting, you can physically meld at a
combined speed of 140mph

On Jun 24, 5:38 pm, "Westprog"  wrote:
> "Neolithic"  wrote in message
>
> news:ak3164dbq4k2oab2onghpc2vt2af0jvqhi@4ax.com...
>
> > On Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:45:42 -0400, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"
> >  wrote:
>
> >>"Driving westwards from Dublin to the Atlantic, it's no exaggeration to
> >>say that
> >>your chances of meeting anyone Irish are slim.
>
> > Bullshit.
>
> Not only are you likely to meet them, they'll probably make you feel at home
> by driving on the right.

They'll also make you feel rather good by providing professional,
competent and pleasant service, be it the Middle Eastern waiter taking
graciously and delivering promptly and professionally my meal order in
a Dublin restaurant a few nights ago, or the Philipino nurse
serenading a delighted sick friend in a Dublin hospital in recent
weeks, or the smashing Latvian girl who's putting up with all my whims
when designing my new kitchen...
Cat(h)

On Wed, 25 Jun 2008 06:12:19 -0700 (PDT), "Cat(h)"  wrote:

>On Jun 24, 5:38 pm, "Westprog"  wrote:
>> "Neolithic"  wrote in message
>>
>> news:ak3164dbq4k2oab2onghpc2vt2af0jvqhi@4ax.com...
>>
>> > On Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:45:42 -0400, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"
>> >  wrote:
>>
>> >>"Driving westwards from Dublin to the Atlantic, it's no exaggeration to
>> >>say that
>> >>your chances of meeting anyone Irish are slim.
>>
>> > Bullshit.
>>
>> Not only are you likely to meet them, they'll probably make you feel at home
>> by driving on the right.
>
>They'll also make you feel rather good by providing professional,
>competent and pleasant service, be it the Middle Eastern waiter taking
>graciously and delivering promptly and professionally my meal order in
>a Dublin restaurant a few nights ago, or the Philipino nurse
>serenading a delighted sick friend in a Dublin hospital in recent
>weeks, or the smashing Latvian girl who's putting up with all my whims
>when designing my new kitchen...
>Cat(h)

Or the paki doctor who can't find the vein to take a blood sample, despite
several painful attempts...  

Ray


---------------------------------------------------------------
We have our task, and God knows it is a hard one -- the salvage
of a shipwrecked world. - Lothrop Stoddard
---------------------------------------------------------------

On Jun 25, 2:49 pm, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>" 
wrote:
> On Wed, 25 Jun 2008 06:12:19 -0700 (PDT), "Cat(h)"  wrote:
> >On Jun 24, 5:38 pm, "Westprog"  wrote:
> >> "Neolithic"  wrote in message
>
> >>news:ak3164dbq4k2oab2onghpc2vt2af0jvqhi@4ax.com...
>
> >> > On Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:45:42 -0400, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"
> >> >  wrote:
>
> >> >>"Driving westwards from Dublin to the Atlantic, it's no exaggeration to
> >> >>say that
> >> >>your chances of meeting anyone Irish are slim.
>
> >> > Bullshit.
>
> >> Not only are you likely to meet them, they'll probably make you feel at home
> >> by driving on the right.
>
> >They'll also make you feel rather good by providing professional,
> >competent and pleasant service, be it the Middle Eastern waiter taking
> >graciously and delivering promptly and professionally my meal order in
> >a Dublin restaurant a few nights ago, or the Philipino nurse
> >serenading a delighted sick friend in a Dublin hospital in recent
> >weeks, or the smashing Latvian girl who's putting up with all my whims
> >when designing my new kitchen...
> >Cat(h)
>
> Or the paki doctor who can't find the vein to take a blood sample, despite
> several painful attempts...  

Fair point.  That would never happen a paddy-mick doctor.

Cat(h)

On Jun 23, 11:45 am, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>" 
wrote:
> "Driving westwards from Dublin to the Atlantic, it's no exaggeration to say that
> your chances of meeting anyone Irish are slim. In the petrol stations, cafés,
> bars and shops you will find Poles, Lithuanians and Brazilians giving you the
> cead mile failte. But no Irish".
>
> Read on:
>
> Ireland: how an ageing Celtic Tiger has bitten into those juicy salmon
> Our correspondent reports from the West of Ireland in the latest of our series
> David Sharrock, Ireland Correspondent
>
> I took a peek at post-Celtic Tiger Ireland last week and it wasn't pretty. I was
> in Ballina, where the fly-fishing season is beginning amid gloomy predictions
> for the economy.
>
> Everyone is praying for a long dry summer; hardly surprising after last year's
> wash-out. Ballina draws rich northern European anglers for one very special
> reason: the Ridge Pool.
>
> This 300-yard reach of the River Moy is tourism gold for the west. During the
> summer months, when its level drops, every tide brings a shoal of bright bars of
> Atlantic silver racing up the estuary into the Ridge Pool. In the best years the
> salmon are packed together, jostling for space in the seething, shallow waters.
> No wonder they call it the Silver Furlong.
>
> Perhaps it wasn't noticed because of the announcement by Bertie Ahern, the
> Taoiseach, that he was retiring, but the Ridgepool Hotel, overlooking the prized
> stretch of river, was going out of business too. While Bertie insisted that his
> resignation had nothing to do with the ever- louder questions about his
> finances, the Ridgepool's demise seemed more enigmatic.
>
> I couldn't get a room with a river view because it was full. In fact it is
> booked solid until the end of September. Yet with unseeming haste it was being
> sold off and the staff served their notices. Then it emerged that the new owner
> was a company that runs “direct provision” hostels for asylum-seekers on behalf
> of the Government. The town's business owners went ballistic, belly-aching at
> the machinations of civil servants, far away in Dublin and gamely struggling
> with the novelty of Ireland having an immigration problem.
>
> It can still seem dizzying how quickly the Celtic Tiger has transformed the
> country. A nation that for centuries was a net exporter of its people suddenly
> has full employment.
>
> Ask what it is that sells Ireland to tourists and the answer will include
> something about the friendliness of the locals. Driving westwards from Dublin to
> the Atlantic, it's no exaggeration to say that your chances of meeting anyone
> Irish are slim. In the petrol stations, cafés, bars and shops you will find
> Poles, Lithuanians and Brazilians giving you the cead mile failte. But no Irish.
> They are almost all in higher-paid skilled work. Which is great news if you're
> Irish, but not so wonderful for visitors in search of the elusive craic.
>
> I suppose there is an evolutionary logic (albeit at breakneck pace) to a hotel
> becoming home to the less fortunate neighbours of the foreigners who in the past
> decade have done the jobs that the Irish themselves no longer want or need. Even
> so, the people of Ballina didn't agree: the prospect of immigrants' washing
> lines flapping in the faces of anglers was too much.
>
> A mole in the justice ministry got the word out to the Ballina burghers just in
> time for them to thwart the Dublin suits. But the hotel remains closed, its
> bookings transferred en bloc to a charmless modern barn of a place miles from
> the river.
>
> Which means that, so long as the weather is kind in the coming months, Ballina
> will reap its golden salmon harvest unhindered, but bridling over unfounded
> charges that its reaction to the asylum-seekers' hostel was motivated by racism.
>
> Not hatred of foreigners then, but fears about the impact on a tourism industry
> that is turning fragile - a tale that may seem as strange to visitors as the
> mystery of where all the Irish have gone.
>
> Source:http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/news/articl...
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
> We have our task, and God knows it is a hard one -- the salvage
> of a shipwrecked world. - Lothrop Stoddard
> ---------------------------------------------------------------

let all of us irish hope for the reconciliation of norhern and
southern ireland, and then the escape of ireland from the rule of the
(cough, cough) royal family.

In article ,
 "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"  wrote:

> >> > On Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:45:42 -0400, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"
> >> >  wrote:
> >>
> >> >>"Driving westwards from Dublin to the Atlantic, it's no exaggeration to
> >> >>say that
> >> >>your chances of meeting anyone Irish are slim.

Funny, isn't it, that this ridiculous whine comes from an "Irishman" who 
has quit the country for Massachusetts. Certainly qualifies him as an 
expert on demographics.

William Clark

sauteedshrimp@yahoo.com wrote:
> On Jun 23, 11:45 am, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>" 
> wrote:
>> "Driving westwards from Dublin to the Atlantic, it's no exaggeration
>> to say that your chances of meeting anyone Irish are slim. In the
>> petrol stations, cafés, bars and shops you will find Poles,
>> Lithuanians and Brazilians giving you the cead mile failte. But no
>> Irish".
>>
>> Read on:
>>
>> Ireland: how an ageing Celtic Tiger has bitten into those juicy
>> salmon
>> Our correspondent reports from the West of Ireland in the latest of
>> our series David Sharrock, Ireland Correspondent
>>
>> I took a peek at post-Celtic Tiger Ireland last week and it wasn't
>> pretty. I was in Ballina, where the fly-fishing season is beginning
>> amid gloomy predictions for the economy.
>>
>> Everyone is praying for a long dry summer; hardly surprising after
>> last year's wash-out. Ballina draws rich northern European anglers
>> for one very special reason: the Ridge Pool.
>>
>> This 300-yard reach of the River Moy is tourism gold for the west.
>> During the summer months, when its level drops, every tide brings a
>> shoal of bright bars of Atlantic silver racing up the estuary into
>> the Ridge Pool. In the best years the salmon are packed together,
>> jostling for space in the seething, shallow waters. No wonder they
>> call it the Silver Furlong.
>>
>> Perhaps it wasn't noticed because of the announcement by Bertie
>> Ahern, the Taoiseach, that he was retiring, but the Ridgepool Hotel,
>> overlooking the prized stretch of river, was going out of business
>> too. While Bertie insisted that his resignation had nothing to do
>> with the ever- louder questions about his finances, the Ridgepool's
>> demise seemed more enigmatic.
>>
>> I couldn't get a room with a river view because it was full. In fact
>> it is booked solid until the end of September. Yet with unseeming
>> haste it was being sold off and the staff served their notices. Then
>> it emerged that the new owner was a company that runs “direct
>> provision” hostels for asylum-seekers on behalf of the Government.
>> The town's business owners went ballistic, belly-aching at the
>> machinations of civil servants, far away in Dublin and gamely
>> struggling with the novelty of Ireland having an immigration
>> problem.
>>
>> It can still seem dizzying how quickly the Celtic Tiger has
>> transformed the country. A nation that for centuries was a net
>> exporter of its people suddenly has full employment.
>>
>> Ask what it is that sells Ireland to tourists and the answer will
>> include something about the friendliness of the locals. Driving
>> westwards from Dublin to the Atlantic, it's no exaggeration to say
>> that your chances of meeting anyone Irish are slim. In the petrol
>> stations, cafés, bars and shops you will find Poles, Lithuanians and
>> Brazilians giving you the cead mile failte. But no Irish. They are
>> almost all in higher-paid skilled work. Which is great news if
>> you're Irish, but not so wonderful for visitors in search of the
>> elusive craic.
>>
>> I suppose there is an evolutionary logic (albeit at breakneck pace)
>> to a hotel becoming home to the less fortunate neighbours of the
>> foreigners who in the past decade have done the jobs that the Irish
>> themselves no longer want or need. Even so, the people of Ballina
>> didn't agree: the prospect of immigrants' washing lines flapping in
>> the faces of anglers was too much.
>>
>> A mole in the justice ministry got the word out to the Ballina
>> burghers just in time for them to thwart the Dublin suits. But the
>> hotel remains closed, its bookings transferred en bloc to a
>> charmless modern barn of a place miles from the river.
>>
>> Which means that, so long as the weather is kind in the coming
>> months, Ballina will reap its golden salmon harvest unhindered, but
>> bridling over unfounded charges that its reaction to the
>> asylum-seekers' hostel was motivated by racism.
>>
>> Not hatred of foreigners then, but fears about the impact on a
>> tourism industry that is turning fragile - a tale that may seem as
>> strange to visitors as the mystery of where all the Irish have gone.
>>
>> Source:http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/news/articl...
>>
>> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>> We have our task, and God knows it is a hard one -- the salvage
>> of a shipwrecked world. - Lothrop Stoddard
>> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>
> let all of us irish hope for the reconciliation of norhern and
> southern ireland,

Reconciliation from what? North and South have never been at odds. Arrogant, 
thoughtless and bigoted Republicans individuals in a small minority are the 
cause of the problem.

and then the escape of ireland from the rule of the
> (cough, cough) royal family.

EERRMM!! Ruled by the Royal Family?? ROTFL!! Never going to happen!

So long as the Republic is in recession there is little chance of 
unification, and certainly the British/Irish in the North will not allow it 
anyway!

-- 
Hal Ó Mearadhaigh.

(Glac bóg an saol agus glacfaidh an saol bóg thú).

On Jun 26, 4:12 am, "Hal Ó Mearadhaigh."  wrote:
> sauteedshr...@yahoo.com wrote:
> > On Jun 23, 11:45 am, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>" 
> > wrote:
> >> "Driving westwards from Dublin to the Atlantic, it's no exaggeration
> >> to say that your chances of meeting anyone Irish are slim. In the
> >> petrol stations, cafés, bars and shops you will find Poles,
> >> Lithuanians and Brazilians giving you the cead mile failte. But no
> >> Irish".
>
> >> Read on:
>
> >> Ireland: how an ageing Celtic Tiger has bitten into those juicy
> >> salmon
> >> Our correspondent reports from the West of Ireland in the latest of
> >> our series David Sharrock, Ireland Correspondent
>
> >> I took a peek at post-Celtic Tiger Ireland last week and it wasn't
> >> pretty. I was in Ballina, where the fly-fishing season is beginning
> >> amid gloomy predictions for the economy.
>
> >> Everyone is praying for a long dry summer; hardly surprising after
> >> last year's wash-out. Ballina draws rich northern European anglers
> >> for one very special reason: the Ridge Pool.
>
> >> This 300-yard reach of the River Moy is tourism gold for the west.
> >> During the summer months, when its level drops, every tide brings a
> >> shoal of bright bars of Atlantic silver racing up the estuary into
> >> the Ridge Pool. In the best years the salmon are packed together,
> >> jostling for space in the seething, shallow waters. No wonder they
> >> call it the Silver Furlong.
>
> >> Perhaps it wasn't noticed because of the announcement by Bertie
> >> Ahern, the Taoiseach, that he was retiring, but the Ridgepool Hotel,
> >> overlooking the prized stretch of river, was going out of business
> >> too. While Bertie insisted that his resignation had nothing to do
> >> with the ever- louder questions about his finances, the Ridgepool's
> >> demise seemed more enigmatic.
>
> >> I couldn't get a room with a river view because it was full. In fact
> >> it is booked solid until the end of September. Yet with unseeming
> >> haste it was being sold off and the staff served their notices. Then
> >> it emerged that the new owner was a company that runs “direct
> >> provision” hostels for asylum-seekers on behalf of the Government.
> >> The town's business owners went ballistic, belly-aching at the
> >> machinations of civil servants, far away in Dublin and gamely
> >> struggling with the novelty of Ireland having an immigration
> >> problem.
>
> >> It can still seem dizzying how quickly the Celtic Tiger has
> >> transformed the country. A nation that for centuries was a net
> >> exporter of its people suddenly has full employment.
>
> >> Ask what it is that sells Ireland to tourists and the answer will
> >> include something about the friendliness of the locals. Driving
> >> westwards from Dublin to the Atlantic, it's no exaggeration to say
> >> that your chances of meeting anyone Irish are slim. In the petrol
> >> stations, cafés, bars and shops you will find Poles, Lithuanians and
> >> Brazilians giving you the cead mile failte. But no Irish. They are
> >> almost all in higher-paid skilled work. Which is great news if
> >> you're Irish, but not so wonderful for visitors in search of the
> >> elusive craic.
>
> >> I suppose there is an evolutionary logic (albeit at breakneck pace)
> >> to a hotel becoming home to the less fortunate neighbours of the
> >> foreigners who in the past decade have done the jobs that the Irish
> >> themselves no longer want or need. Even so, the people of Ballina
> >> didn't agree: the prospect of immigrants' washing lines flapping in
> >> the faces of anglers was too much.
>
> >> A mole in the justice ministry got the word out to the Ballina
> >> burghers just in time for them to thwart the Dublin suits. But the
> >> hotel remains closed, its bookings transferred en bloc to a
> >> charmless modern barn of a place miles from the river.
>
> >> Which means that, so long as the weather is kind in the coming
> >> months, Ballina will reap its golden salmon harvest unhindered, but
> >> bridling over unfounded charges that its reaction to the
> >> asylum-seekers' hostel was motivated by racism.
>
> >> Not hatred of foreigners then, but fears about the impact on a
> >> tourism industry that is turning fragile - a tale that may seem as
> >> strange to visitors as the mystery of where all the Irish have gone.
>
> >> Source:http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/news/articl...
>
> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------
> >> We have our task, and God knows it is a hard one -- the salvage
> >> of a shipwrecked world. - Lothrop Stoddard
> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>
> > let all of us irish hope for the reconciliation of norhern and
> > southern ireland,
>
> Reconciliation from what? North and South have never been at odds. Arrogant,
> thoughtless and bigoted Republicans individuals in a small minority are the
> cause of the problem.
>
> and then the escape of ireland from the rule of the
>
> > (cough, cough) royal family.
>
> EERRMM!! Ruled by the Royal Family?? ROTFL!! Never going to happen!
>
> So long as the Republic is in recession there is little chance of
> unification, and certainly the British/Irish in the North will not allow it
> anyway!
>
> --
> Hal Ó Mearadhaigh.
>
> (Glac bóg an saol agus glacfaidh an saol bóg thú).- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

my feelings exactly..... give ireland back to the irish!  english
adventurers, and interlopers, go home and stay home!

On Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:09:40 +1200, Neolithic  wrote:

>On Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:52:22 -0400, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"
> wrote:
>
>>On Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:37:01 -0700 (PDT), mothed out 
>>wrote:
>>
>>>On 23 Jun, 16:45, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"  wrote:
>>>> "Driving westwards from Dublin to the Atlantic, it's no exaggeration to say that
>>>> your chances of meeting anyone Irish are slim. In the petrol stations, cafés,
>>>> bars and shops you will find Poles, Lithuanians and Brazilians giving you the
>>>> cead mile failte. But no Irish".
>>>>
>>>> Read on:
>>>>
>>>> Ireland: how an ageing Celtic Tiger has bitten into those juicy salmon
>>>> Our correspondent reports from the West of Ireland in the latest of our series
>>>> David Sharrock, Ireland Correspondent
>>>>
>>>> I took a peek at post-Celtic Tiger Ireland last week and it wasn't pretty. I was
>>>> in Ballina, where the fly-fishing season is beginning amid gloomy predictions
>>>> for the economy.
>>>>
>>>> Everyone is praying for a long dry summer; hardly surprising after last year's
>>>> wash-out. Ballina draws rich northern European anglers for one very special
>>>> reason: the Ridge Pool.
>>>>
>>>> This 300-yard reach of the River Moy is tourism gold for the west. During the
>>>> summer months, when its level drops, every tide brings a shoal of bright bars of
>>>> Atlantic silver racing up the estuary into the Ridge Pool. In the best years the
>>>> salmon are packed together, jostling for space in the seething, shallow waters.
>>>> No wonder they call it the Silver Furlong.
>>>>
>>>> Perhaps it wasn't noticed because of the announcement by Bertie Ahern, the
>>>> Taoiseach, that he was retiring, but the Ridgepool Hotel, overlooking the prized
>>>> stretch of river, was going out of business too. While Bertie insisted that his
>>>> resignation had nothing to do with the ever- louder questions about his
>>>> finances, the Ridgepool's demise seemed more enigmatic.
>>>>
>>>> I couldn't get a room with a river view because it was full. In fact it is
>>>> booked solid until the end of September. Yet with unseeming haste it was being
>>>> sold off and the staff served their notices. Then it emerged that the new owner
>>>> was a company that runs “direct provision” hostels for asylum-seekers on behalf
>>>> of the Government. The town's business owners went ballistic, belly-aching at
>>>> the machinations of civil servants, far away in Dublin and gamely struggling
>>>> with the novelty of Ireland having an immigration problem.
>>>>
>>>> It can still seem dizzying how quickly the Celtic Tiger has transformed the
>>>> country. A nation that for centuries was a net exporter of its people suddenly
>>>> has full employment.
>>>>
>>>> Ask what it is that sells Ireland to tourists and the answer will include
>>>> something about the friendliness of the locals. Driving westwards from Dublin to
>>>> the Atlantic, it's no exaggeration to say that your chances of meeting anyone
>>>> Irish are slim. In the petrol stations, cafés, bars and shops you will find
>>>> Poles, Lithuanians and Brazilians giving you the cead mile failte. But no Irish.
>>>> They are almost all in higher-paid skilled work. Which is great news if you're
>>>> Irish, but not so wonderful for visitors in search of the elusive craic.
>>>>
>>>> I suppose there is an evolutionary logic (albeit at breakneck pace) to a hotel
>>>> becoming home to the less fortunate neighbours of the foreigners who in the past
>>>> decade have done the jobs that the Irish themselves no longer want or need. Even
>>>> so, the people of Ballina didn't agree: the prospect of immigrants' washing
>>>> lines flapping in the faces of anglers was too much.
>>>>
>>>> A mole in the justice ministry got the word out to the Ballina burghers just in
>>>> time for them to thwart the Dublin suits. But the hotel remains closed, its
>>>> bookings transferred en bloc to a charmless modern barn of a place miles from
>>>> the river.
>>>>
>>>> Which means that, so long as the weather is kind in the coming months, Ballina
>>>> will reap its golden salmon harvest unhindered, but bridling over unfounded
>>>> charges that its reaction to the asylum-seekers' hostel was motivated by racism.
>>>>
>>>> Not hatred of foreigners then, but fears about the impact on a tourism industry
>>>> that is turning fragile - a tale that may seem as strange to visitors as the
>>>> mystery of where all the Irish have gone.
>>>>
>>>> Source:http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/news/articl...
>>>>
>>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>>>> We have our task, and God knows it is a hard one -- the salvage
>>>> of a shipwrecked world. - Lothrop Stoddard
>>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>>Into higher paid work, instead of on the minimum wage behind the
>>>counter in petrol stations or in crap jobs as waiters. You got a
>>>problem with that?
>>>And what would be your solution?
>>
>>
>>That movement under you feet... That's Irish Culture being sacrificed on the
>>altar of Policial sacrifice... 
>
>More bullshit. When was the last time *you* lived in Ireland?
>

1998.

Ray



---------------------------------------------------------------
We have our task, and God knows it is a hard one -- the salvage
of a shipwrecked world. - Lothrop Stoddard
---------------------------------------------------------------

On Wed, 25 Jun 2008 06:52:18 -0700 (PDT), "Cat(h)"  wrote:

>On Jun 25, 2:49 pm, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>" 
>wrote:
>> On Wed, 25 Jun 2008 06:12:19 -0700 (PDT), "Cat(h)"  wrote:
>> >On Jun 24, 5:38 pm, "Westprog"  wrote:
>> >> "Neolithic"  wrote in message
>>
>> >>news:ak3164dbq4k2oab2onghpc2vt2af0jvqhi@4ax.com...
>>
>> >> > On Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:45:42 -0400, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"
>> >> >  wrote:
>>
>> >> >>"Driving westwards from Dublin to the Atlantic, it's no exaggeration to
>> >> >>say that
>> >> >>your chances of meeting anyone Irish are slim.
>>
>> >> > Bullshit.
>>
>> >> Not only are you likely to meet them, they'll probably make you feel at home
>> >> by driving on the right.
>>
>> >They'll also make you feel rather good by providing professional,
>> >competent and pleasant service, be it the Middle Eastern waiter taking
>> >graciously and delivering promptly and professionally my meal order in
>> >a Dublin restaurant a few nights ago, or the Philipino nurse
>> >serenading a delighted sick friend in a Dublin hospital in recent
>> >weeks, or the smashing Latvian girl who's putting up with all my whims
>> >when designing my new kitchen...
>> >Cat(h)
>>
>> Or the paki doctor who can't find the vein to take a blood sample, despite
>> several painful attempts...  
>
>Fair point.  That would never happen a paddy-mick doctor.
>
>Cat(h)


"be it the county Kerry waiter taking graciously and delivering promptly and
professionally my meal order in a Dublin restaurant a few nights ago, or the
Limerick nurse serenading a delighted sick friend in a Dublin hospital in recent
weeks, or the smashing Derry girl who's putting up with all my whims when
designing my new kitchen..."

Fair point.  That would never happen.

Ray


---------------------------------------------------------------
We have our task, and God knows it is a hard one -- the salvage
of a shipwrecked world. - Lothrop Stoddard
---------------------------------------------------------------

On Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:30:34 -0400, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"
 wrote:

>On Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:09:40 +1200, Neolithic  wrote:
>
>>On Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:52:22 -0400, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"
>> wrote:
>>
>>>On Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:37:01 -0700 (PDT), mothed out 
>>>wrote:
>>>
>>>>On 23 Jun, 16:45, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"  wrote:
>>>>> "Driving westwards from Dublin to the Atlantic, it's no exaggeration to say that
>>>>> your chances of meeting anyone Irish are slim. In the petrol stations, cafés,
>>>>> bars and shops you will find Poles, Lithuanians and Brazilians giving you the
>>>>> cead mile failte. But no Irish".
>>>>>
>>>>> Read on:
>>>>>
>>>>> Ireland: how an ageing Celtic Tiger has bitten into those juicy salmon
>>>>> Our correspondent reports from the West of Ireland in the latest of our series
>>>>> David Sharrock, Ireland Correspondent
>>>>>
>>>>> I took a peek at post-Celtic Tiger Ireland last week and it wasn't pretty. I was
>>>>> in Ballina, where the fly-fishing season is beginning amid gloomy predictions
>>>>> for the economy.
>>>>>
>>>>> Everyone is praying for a long dry summer; hardly surprising after last year's
>>>>> wash-out. Ballina draws rich northern European anglers for one very special
>>>>> reason: the Ridge Pool.
>>>>>
>>>>> This 300-yard reach of the River Moy is tourism gold for the west. During the
>>>>> summer months, when its level drops, every tide brings a shoal of bright bars of
>>>>> Atlantic silver racing up the estuary into the Ridge Pool. In the best years the
>>>>> salmon are packed together, jostling for space in the seething, shallow waters.
>>>>> No wonder they call it the Silver Furlong.
>>>>>
>>>>> Perhaps it wasn't noticed because of the announcement by Bertie Ahern, the
>>>>> Taoiseach, that he was retiring, but the Ridgepool Hotel, overlooking the prized
>>>>> stretch of river, was going out of business too. While Bertie insisted that his
>>>>> resignation had nothing to do with the ever- louder questions about his
>>>>> finances, the Ridgepool's demise seemed more enigmatic.
>>>>>
>>>>> I couldn't get a room with a river view because it was full. In fact it is
>>>>> booked solid until the end of September. Yet with unseeming haste it was being
>>>>> sold off and the staff served their notices. Then it emerged that the new owner
>>>>> was a company that runs “direct provision” hostels for asylum-seekers on behalf
>>>>> of the Government. The town's business owners went ballistic, belly-aching at
>>>>> the machinations of civil servants, far away in Dublin and gamely struggling
>>>>> with the novelty of Ireland having an immigration problem.
>>>>>
>>>>> It can still seem dizzying how quickly the Celtic Tiger has transformed the
>>>>> country. A nation that for centuries was a net exporter of its people suddenly
>>>>> has full employment.
>>>>>
>>>>> Ask what it is that sells Ireland to tourists and the answer will include
>>>>> something about the friendliness of the locals. Driving westwards from Dublin to
>>>>> the Atlantic, it's no exaggeration to say that your chances of meeting anyone
>>>>> Irish are slim. In the petrol stations, cafés, bars and shops you will find
>>>>> Poles, Lithuanians and Brazilians giving you the cead mile failte. But no Irish.
>>>>> They are almost all in higher-paid skilled work. Which is great news if you're
>>>>> Irish, but not so wonderful for visitors in search of the elusive craic.
>>>>>
>>>>> I suppose there is an evolutionary logic (albeit at breakneck pace) to a hotel
>>>>> becoming home to the less fortunate neighbours of the foreigners who in the past
>>>>> decade have done the jobs that the Irish themselves no longer want or need. Even
>>>>> so, the people of Ballina didn't agree: the prospect of immigrants' washing
>>>>> lines flapping in the faces of anglers was too much.
>>>>>
>>>>> A mole in the justice ministry got the word out to the Ballina burghers just in
>>>>> time for them to thwart the Dublin suits. But the hotel remains closed, its
>>>>> bookings transferred en bloc to a charmless modern barn of a place miles from
>>>>> the river.
>>>>>
>>>>> Which means that, so long as the weather is kind in the coming months, Ballina
>>>>> will reap its golden salmon harvest unhindered, but bridling over unfounded
>>>>> charges that its reaction to the asylum-seekers' hostel was motivated by racism.
>>>>>
>>>>> Not hatred of foreigners then, but fears about the impact on a tourism industry
>>>>> that is turning fragile - a tale that may seem as strange to visitors as the
>>>>> mystery of where all the Irish have gone.
>>>>>
>>>>> Source:http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/news/articl...
>>>>>
>>>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>> We have our task, and God knows it is a hard one -- the salvage
>>>>> of a shipwrecked world. - Lothrop Stoddard
>>>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>
>>>>Into higher paid work, instead of on the minimum wage behind the
>>>>counter in petrol stations or in crap jobs as waiters. You got a
>>>>problem with that?
>>>>And what would be your solution?
>>>
>>>
>>>That movement under you feet... That's Irish Culture being sacrificed on the
>>>altar of Policial sacrifice... 
>>
>>More bullshit. When was the last time *you* lived in Ireland?
>>
>
>1998.

I was last there in 2002 and you are talking a load of rubbish.

Neolithic

On Jun 26, 5:30 pm, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>" 
wrote:
> On Wed, 25 Jun 2008 06:52:18 -0700 (PDT), "Cat(h)"  wrote:
> >On Jun 25, 2:49 pm, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>" 
> >wrote:
> >> On Wed, 25 Jun 2008 06:12:19 -0700 (PDT), "Cat(h)"  wrote:
> >> >On Jun 24, 5:38 pm, "Westprog"  wrote:
> >> >> "Neolithic"  wrote in message
>
> >> >>news:ak3164dbq4k2oab2onghpc2vt2af0jvqhi@4ax.com...
>
> >> >> > On Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:45:42 -0400, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie> >> >> >  wrote:
>
> >> >> >>"Driving westwards from Dublin to the Atlantic, it's no exaggeration to
> >> >> >>say that
> >> >> >>your chances of meeting anyone Irish are slim.
>
> >> >> > Bullshit.
>
> >> >> Not only are you likely to meet them, they'll probably make you feel at home
> >> >> by driving on the right.
>
> >> >They'll also make you feel rather good by providing professional,
> >> >competent and pleasant service, be it the Middle Eastern waiter taking
> >> >graciously and delivering promptly and professionally my meal order in
> >> >a Dublin restaurant a few nights ago, or the Philipino nurse
> >> >serenading a delighted sick friend in a Dublin hospital in recent
> >> >weeks, or the smashing Latvian girl who's putting up with all my whims
> >> >when designing my new kitchen...
> >> >Cat(h)
>
> >> Or the paki doctor who can't find the vein to take a blood sample, despite
> >> several painful attempts...  
>
> >Fair point.  That would never happen a paddy-mick doctor.
>
> >Cat(h)
>
> "be it the county Kerry waiter taking graciously and delivering promptly and
> professionally my meal order in a Dublin restaurant a few nights ago, or the
> Limerick nurse serenading a delighted sick friend in a Dublin hospital in recent
> weeks, or the smashing Derry girl who's putting up with all my whims when
> designing my new kitchen..."
>
> Fair point.  That would never happen.
>

Aren't you the clever boy.  Indeed, an immigrant such as yourself
obviously understands that suggesting all immigrants are useless and
evil is about as clever as suggesting all Irish are.

Cat(h)

On Jun 26, 11:30 am, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>" 
wrote:
> On Wed, 25 Jun 2008 06:52:18 -0700 (PDT), "Cat(h)"  wrote:
> >On Jun 25, 2:49 pm, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>" 
> >wrote:
> >> On Wed, 25 Jun 2008 06:12:19 -0700 (PDT), "Cat(h)"  wrote:
> >> >On Jun 24, 5:38 pm, "Westprog"  wrote:
> >> >> "Neolithic"  wrote in message
>
> >> >>news:ak3164dbq4k2oab2onghpc2vt2af0jvqhi@4ax.com...
>
> >> >> > On Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:45:42 -0400, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie> >> >> >  wrote:
>
> >> >> >>"Driving westwards from Dublin to the Atlantic, it's no exaggeration to
> >> >> >>say that
> >> >> >>your chances of meeting anyone Irish are slim.
>
> >> >> > Bullshit.
>
> >> >> Not only are you likely to meet them, they'll probably make you feel at home
> >> >> by driving on the right.
>
> >> >They'll also make you feel rather good by providing professional,
> >> >competent and pleasant service, be it the Middle Eastern waiter taking
> >> >graciously and delivering promptly and professionally my meal order in
> >> >a Dublin restaurant a few nights ago, or the Philipino nurse
> >> >serenading a delighted sick friend in a Dublin hospital in recent
> >> >weeks, or the smashing Latvian girl who's putting up with all my whims
> >> >when designing my new kitchen...
> >> >Cat(h)
>
> >> Or the paki doctor who can't find the vein to take a blood sample, despite
> >> several painful attempts...  
>
> >Fair point.  That would never happen a paddy-mick doctor.
>
> >Cat(h)
>
> "be it the county Kerry waiter taking graciously and delivering promptly and
> professionally my meal order in a Dublin restaurant a few nights ago, or the
> Limerick nurse serenading a delighted sick friend in a Dublin hospital in recent
> weeks, or the smashing Derry girl who's putting up with all my whims when
> designing my new kitchen..."
>
> Fair point.  That would never happen.
>
> Ray
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
> We have our task, and God knows it is a hard one -- the salvage
> of a shipwrecked world. - Lothrop Stoddard
> ---------------------------------------------------------------


Every foreign country I have visited has had Irish immigrants settle
there. Maybe those countries should tell them all to fuck off home.

On Fri, 27 Jun 2008 07:05:50 +1200, Neolithic  wrote:

>On Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:30:34 -0400, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"
> wrote:
>
>>On Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:09:40 +1200, Neolithic  wrote:
>>
>>>On Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:52:22 -0400, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>>On Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:37:01 -0700 (PDT), mothed out 
>>>>wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>On 23 Jun, 16:45, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"  wrote:
>>>>>> "Driving westwards from Dublin to the Atlantic, it's no exaggeration to say that
>>>>>> your chances of meeting anyone Irish are slim. In the petrol stations, cafés,
>>>>>> bars and shops you will find Poles, Lithuanians and Brazilians giving you the
>>>>>> cead mile failte. But no Irish".
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Read on:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Ireland: how an ageing Celtic Tiger has bitten into those juicy salmon
>>>>>> Our correspondent reports from the West of Ireland in the latest of our series
>>>>>> David Sharrock, Ireland Correspondent
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I took a peek at post-Celtic Tiger Ireland last week and it wasn't pretty. I was
>>>>>> in Ballina, where the fly-fishing season is beginning amid gloomy predictions
>>>>>> for the economy.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Everyone is praying for a long dry summer; hardly surprising after last year's
>>>>>> wash-out. Ballina draws rich northern European anglers for one very special
>>>>>> reason: the Ridge Pool.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> This 300-yard reach of the River Moy is tourism gold for the west. During the
>>>>>> summer months, when its level drops, every tide brings a shoal of bright bars of
>>>>>> Atlantic silver racing up the estuary into the Ridge Pool. In the best years the
>>>>>> salmon are packed together, jostling for space in the seething, shallow waters.
>>>>>> No wonder they call it the Silver Furlong.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Perhaps it wasn't noticed because of the announcement by Bertie Ahern, the
>>>>>> Taoiseach, that he was retiring, but the Ridgepool Hotel, overlooking the prized
>>>>>> stretch of river, was going out of business too. While Bertie insisted that his
>>>>>> resignation had nothing to do with the ever- louder questions about his
>>>>>> finances, the Ridgepool's demise seemed more enigmatic.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I couldn't get a room with a river view because it was full. In fact it is
>>>>>> booked solid until the end of September. Yet with unseeming haste it was being
>>>>>> sold off and the staff served their notices. Then it emerged that the new owner
>>>>>> was a company that runs “direct provision” hostels for asylum-seekers on behalf
>>>>>> of the Government. The town's business owners went ballistic, belly-aching at
>>>>>> the machinations of civil servants, far away in Dublin and gamely struggling
>>>>>> with the novelty of Ireland having an immigration problem.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> It can still seem dizzying how quickly the Celtic Tiger has transformed the
>>>>>> country. A nation that for centuries was a net exporter of its people suddenly
>>>>>> has full employment.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Ask what it is that sells Ireland to tourists and the answer will include
>>>>>> something about the friendliness of the locals. Driving westwards from Dublin to
>>>>>> the Atlantic, it's no exaggeration to say that your chances of meeting anyone
>>>>>> Irish are slim. In the petrol stations, cafés, bars and shops you will find
>>>>>> Poles, Lithuanians and Brazilians giving you the cead mile failte. But no Irish.
>>>>>> They are almost all in higher-paid skilled work. Which is great news if you're
>>>>>> Irish, but not so wonderful for visitors in search of the elusive craic.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I suppose there is an evolutionary logic (albeit at breakneck pace) to a hotel
>>>>>> becoming home to the less fortunate neighbours of the foreigners who in the past
>>>>>> decade have done the jobs that the Irish themselves no longer want or need. Even
>>>>>> so, the people of Ballina didn't agree: the prospect of immigrants' washing
>>>>>> lines flapping in the faces of anglers was too much.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> A mole in the justice ministry got the word out to the Ballina burghers just in
>>>>>> time for them to thwart the Dublin suits. But the hotel remains closed, its
>>>>>> bookings transferred en bloc to a charmless modern barn of a place miles from
>>>>>> the river.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Which means that, so long as the weather is kind in the coming months, Ballina
>>>>>> will reap its golden salmon harvest unhindered, but bridling over unfounded
>>>>>> charges that its reaction to the asylum-seekers' hostel was motivated by racism.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Not hatred of foreigners then, but fears about the impact on a tourism industry
>>>>>> that is turning fragile - a tale that may seem as strange to visitors as the
>>>>>> mystery of where all the Irish have gone.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Source:http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/news/articl...
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>> We have our task, and God knows it is a hard one -- the salvage
>>>>>> of a shipwrecked world. - Lothrop Stoddard
>>>>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>
>>>>>Into higher paid work, instead of on the minimum wage behind the
>>>>>counter in petrol stations or in crap jobs as waiters. You got a
>>>>>problem with that?
>>>>>And what would be your solution?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>That movement under you feet... That's Irish Culture being sacrificed on the
>>>>altar of Policial sacrifice... 
>>>
>>>More bullshit. When was the last time *you* lived in Ireland?
>>>
>>
>>1998.
>
>I was last there in 2002 and you are talking a load of rubbish.
>
>Neolithic

You said LIVED, not "was there"...  I LIVED in Ireland until 1998... I've been
back there since then...  But I'm just Irish...

Ray


---------------------------------------------------------------
We have our task, and God knows it is a hard one -- the salvage
of a shipwrecked world. - Lothrop Stoddard
---------------------------------------------------------------

On Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:39:56 -0700 (PDT), Mother Machree
 wrote:

>On Jun 26, 11:30 am, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>" 
>wrote:
>> On Wed, 25 Jun 2008 06:52:18 -0700 (PDT), "Cat(h)"  wrote:
>> >On Jun 25, 2:49 pm, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>" 
>> >wrote:
>> >> On Wed, 25 Jun 2008 06:12:19 -0700 (PDT), "Cat(h)"  wrote:
>> >> >On Jun 24, 5:38 pm, "Westprog"  wrote:
>> >> >> "Neolithic"  wrote in message
>>
>> >> >>news:ak3164dbq4k2oab2onghpc2vt2af0jvqhi@4ax.com...
>>
>> >> >> > On Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:45:42 -0400, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"
>> >> >> >  wrote:
>>
>> >> >> >>"Driving westwards from Dublin to the Atlantic, it's no exaggeration to
>> >> >> >>say that
>> >> >> >>your chances of meeting anyone Irish are slim.
>>
>> >> >> > Bullshit.
>>
>> >> >> Not only are you likely to meet them, they'll probably make you feel at home
>> >> >> by driving on the right.
>>
>> >> >They'll also make you feel rather good by providing professional,
>> >> >competent and pleasant service, be it the Middle Eastern waiter taking
>> >> >graciously and delivering promptly and professionally my meal order in
>> >> >a Dublin restaurant a few nights ago, or the Philipino nurse
>> >> >serenading a delighted sick friend in a Dublin hospital in recent
>> >> >weeks, or the smashing Latvian girl who's putting up with all my whims
>> >> >when designing my new kitchen...
>> >> >Cat(h)
>>
>> >> Or the paki doctor who can't find the vein to take a blood sample, despite
>> >> several painful attempts...  
>>
>> >Fair point.  That would never happen a paddy-mick doctor.
>>
>> >Cat(h)
>>
>> "be it the county Kerry waiter taking graciously and delivering promptly and
>> professionally my meal order in a Dublin restaurant a few nights ago, or the
>> Limerick nurse serenading a delighted sick friend in a Dublin hospital in recent
>> weeks, or the smashing Derry girl who's putting up with all my whims when
>> designing my new kitchen..."
>>
>> Fair point.  That would never happen.
>>
>> Ray
>>
>> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>> We have our task, and God knows it is a hard one -- the salvage
>> of a shipwrecked world. - Lothrop Stoddard
>> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>Every foreign country I have visited has had Irish immigrants settle
>there. Maybe those countries should tell them all to fuck off home.


Maybe you missed the "illegal" part of that argument...  I know liberals love to
fudge the issue of the legal status of immigrants, but we conservatives do not!

Ray


---------------------------------------------------------------
We have our task, and God knows it is a hard one -- the salvage
of a shipwrecked world. - Lothrop Stoddard
---------------------------------------------------------------

"WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"  wrote in message 
news:ellk64hjemrae3kgq4705qq994brl284tv@4ax.com...

> You said LIVED, not "was there"...  I LIVED in Ireland until 1998... I've 
> been
> back there since then...  But I'm just Irish...

As the women on Les Dawson would say when he told them he was 'just a man' - 
yeah, just.

On Tue, 1 Jul 2008 20:05:15 +0100, "Sophistry Made Simple"
 wrote:

>
>"WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"  wrote in message 
>news:ellk64hjemrae3kgq4705qq994brl284tv@4ax.com...
>
>> You said LIVED, not "was there"...  I LIVED in Ireland until 1998... I've 
>> been
>> back there since then...  But I'm just Irish...
>
>As the women on Les Dawson would say when he told them he was 'just a man' - 
>yeah, just. 

You just lost the argument you patethic wanker!!!!

Do you enjoy being a wanker???

Just wondering!  You patethic pup!

Ray


---------------------------------------------------------------
We have our task, and God knows it is a hard one -- the salvage
of a shipwrecked world. - Lothrop Stoddard
---------------------------------------------------------------

In article ,
 "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"  wrote:

> On Tue, 1 Jul 2008 20:05:15 +0100, "Sophistry Made Simple"
>  wrote:
> 
> >
> >"WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"  wrote in message 
> >news:ellk64hjemrae3kgq4705qq994brl284tv@4ax.com...
> >
> >> You said LIVED, not "was there"...  I LIVED in Ireland until 1998... I've 
> >> been
> >> back there since then...  But I'm just Irish...
> >
> >As the women on Les Dawson would say when he told them he was 'just a man' - 
> >yeah, just. 
> 
> You just lost the argument you patethic wanker!!!!
> 
> Do you enjoy being a wanker???
> 
> Just wondering!  You patethic pup!
> 
> Ray


Uh, oh, now you've made him mad. Watch out, he'll hold his breath and 
faint next.

William Clark

"WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"  wrote in message 
news:p50l64hnj6sajae894sojvu2dvfp4pnisj@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 1 Jul 2008 20:05:15 +0100, "Sophistry Made Simple"
>  wrote:
>
>>
>>"WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"  wrote in message
>>news:ellk64hjemrae3kgq4705qq994brl284tv@4ax.com...
>>
>>> You said LIVED, not "was there"...  I LIVED in Ireland until 1998... 
>>> I've
>>> been
>>> back there since then...  But I'm just Irish...
>>
>>As the women on Les Dawson would say when he told them he was 'just a 
>>man' -
>>yeah, just.
>
> You just lost the argument you patethic wanker!!!!

What argument?

> Do you enjoy being a wanker???

Doesn't everyone - even you?

> Just wondering!  You patethic pup!

So where's your sense of humour now?  Typical rut-thinking conservative - 
can't take a joke.

On Tue, 1 Jul 2008 21:57:27 +0100, "Sophistry Made Simple"
 wrote:

>
>"WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"  wrote in message 
>news:p50l64hnj6sajae894sojvu2dvfp4pnisj@4ax.com...
>> On Tue, 1 Jul 2008 20:05:15 +0100, "Sophistry Made Simple"
>>  wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>"WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"  wrote in message
>>>news:ellk64hjemrae3kgq4705qq994brl284tv@4ax.com...
>>>
>>>> You said LIVED, not "was there"...  I LIVED in Ireland until 1998... 
>>>> I've
>>>> been
>>>> back there since then...  But I'm just Irish...
>>>
>>>As the women on Les Dawson would say when he told them he was 'just a 
>>>man' -
>>>yeah, just.
>>
>> You just lost the argument you patethic wanker!!!!
>
>What argument?
>
>> Do you enjoy being a wanker???
>
>Doesn't everyone - even you?
>
>> Just wondering!  You patethic pup!
>
>So where's your sense of humour now?  Typical rut-thinking conservative - 
>can't take a joke. 

You'll find it's liberals that need a humour implant operation to become half
human...  They need a brain transplant to become human...  Or a brainstorm...
Or a sudden rush of morality and honesty...  Lets face it, there is no chance of
the latter...

Ray


---------------------------------------------------------------
We have our task, and God knows it is a hard one -- the salvage
of a shipwrecked world. - Lothrop Stoddard
---------------------------------------------------------------

"WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"  wrote in message 
news:n37l64dapd7e06oj99ajkn3glr9ikja7kg@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 1 Jul 2008 21:57:27 +0100, "Sophistry Made Simple"
>  wrote:
>
>>
>>"WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"  wrote in message
>>news:p50l64hnj6sajae894sojvu2dvfp4pnisj@4ax.com...
>>> On Tue, 1 Jul 2008 20:05:15 +0100, "Sophistry Made Simple"
>>>  wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>>"WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"  wrote in message
>>>>news:ellk64hjemrae3kgq4705qq994brl284tv@4ax.com...
>>>>
>>>>> You said LIVED, not "was there"...  I LIVED in Ireland until 1998...
>>>>> I've
>>>>> been
>>>>> back there since then...  But I'm just Irish...
>>>>
>>>>As the women on Les Dawson would say when he told them he was 'just a
>>>>man' -
>>>>yeah, just.
>>>
>>> You just lost the argument you patethic wanker!!!!
>>
>>What argument?
>>
>>> Do you enjoy being a wanker???
>>
>>Doesn't everyone - even you?
>>
>>> Just wondering!  You patethic pup!
>>
>>So where's your sense of humour now?  Typical rut-thinking conservative -
>>can't take a joke.
>
> You'll find it's liberals that need a humour implant operation to become 
> half
> human...  They need a brain transplant to become human...  Or a 
> brainstorm...
> Or a sudden rush of morality and honesty...  Lets face it, there is no 
> chance of
> the latter...

So you're a liberal now?

On Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:34:04 -0400, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"
 wrote:

>On Fri, 27 Jun 2008 07:05:50 +1200, Neolithic  wrote:
>
>>On Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:30:34 -0400, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"
>> wrote:
>>
>>>On Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:09:40 +1200, Neolithic  wrote:
>>>
>>>>On Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:52:22 -0400, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>On Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:37:01 -0700 (PDT), mothed out 
>>>>>wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>On 23 Jun, 16:45, "WhiteWolf <rayh<spam>@iol.ie>"  wrote:
>>>>>>> "Driving westwards from Dublin to the Atlantic, it's no exaggeration to say that
>>>>>>> your chances of meeting anyone Irish are slim. In the petrol stations, cafés,
>>>>>>> bars and shops you will find Poles, Lithuanians and Brazilians giving you the
>>>>>>> cead mile failte. But no Irish".
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Read on:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Ireland: how an ageing Celtic Tiger has bitten into those juicy salmon
>>>>>>> Our correspondent reports from the West of Ireland in the latest of our series
>>>>>>> David Sharrock, Ireland Correspondent
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I took a peek at post-Celtic Tiger Ireland last week and it wasn't pretty. I was
>>>>>>> in Ballina, where the fly-fishing season is beginning amid gloomy predictions
>>>>>>> for the economy.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Everyone is praying for a long dry summer; hardly surprising after last year's
>>>>>>> wash-out. Ballina draws rich northern European anglers for one very special
>>>>>>> reason: the Ridge Pool.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> This 300-yard reach of the River Moy is tourism gold for the west. During the
>>>>>>> summer months, when its level drops, every tide brings a shoal of bright bars of
>>>>>>> Atlantic silver racing up the estuary into the Ridge Pool. In the best years the
>>>>>>> salmon are packed together, jostling for space in the seething, shallow waters.
>>>>>>> No wonder they call it the Silver Furlong.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Perhaps it wasn't noticed because of the announcement by Bertie Ahern, the
>>>>>>> Taoiseach, that he was retiring, but the Ridgepool Hotel, overlooking the prized
>>>>>>> stretch of river, was going out of business too. While Bertie insisted that his
>>>>>>> resignation had nothing to do with the ever- louder questions about his
>>>>>>> finances, the Ridgepool's demise seemed more enigmatic.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I couldn't get a room with a river view because it was full. In fact it is
>>>>>>> booked solid until the end of September. Yet with unseeming haste it was being
>>>>>>> sold off and the staff served their notices. Then it emerged that the new owner
>>>>>>> was a company that runs “direct provision” hostels for asylum-seekers on behalf
>>>>>>> of the Government. The town's business owners went ballistic, belly-aching at
>>>>>>> the machinations of civil servants, far away in Dublin and gamely struggling
>>>>>>> with the novelty of Ireland having an immigration problem.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> It can still seem dizzying how quickly the Celtic Tiger has transformed the
>>>>>>> country. A nation that for centuries was a net exporter of its people suddenly
>>>>>>> has full employment.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Ask what it is that sells Ireland to tourists and the answer will include
>>>>>>> something about the friendliness of the locals. Driving westwards from Dublin to
>>>>>>> the Atlantic, it's no exaggeration to say that your chances of meeting anyone
>>>>>>> Irish are slim. In the petrol stations, cafés, bars and shops you will find
>>>>>>> Poles, Lithuanians and Brazilians giving you the cead mile failte. But no Irish.
>>>>>>> They are almost all in higher-paid skilled work. Which is great news if you're
>>>>>>> Irish, but not so wonderful for visitors in search of the elusive craic.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I suppose there is an evolutionary logic (albeit at breakneck pace) to a hotel
>>>>>>> becoming home to the less fortunate neighbours of the foreigners who in the past
>>>>>>> decade have done the jobs that the Irish themselves no longer want or need. Even
>>>>>>> so, the people of Ballina didn't agree: the prospect of immigrants' washing
>>>>>>> lines flapping in the faces of anglers was too much.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> A mole in the justice ministry got the word out to the Ballina burghers just in
>>>>>>> time for them to thwart the Dublin suits. But the hotel remains closed, its
>>>>>>> bookings transferred en bloc to a charmless modern barn of a place miles from
>>>>>>> the river.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Which means that, so long as the weather is kind in the coming months, Ballina
>>>>>>> will reap its golden salmon harvest unhindered, but bridling over unfounded
>>>>>>> charges that its reaction to the asylum-seekers' hostel was motivated by racism.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Not hatred of foreigners then, but fears about the impact on a tourism industry
>>>>>>> that is turning fragile - a tale that may seem as strange to visitors as the
>>>>>>> mystery of where all the Irish have gone.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Source:http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/news/articl...
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>>> We have our task, and God knows it is a hard one -- the salvage
>>>>>>> of a shipwrecked world. - Lothrop Stoddard
>>>>>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Into higher paid work, instead of on the minimum wage behind the
>>>>>>counter in petrol stations or in crap jobs as waiters. You got a
>>>>>>problem with that?
>>>>>>And what would be your solution?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>That movement under you feet... That's Irish Culture being sacrificed on the
>>>>>altar of Policial sacrifice... 
>>>>
>>>>More bullshit. When was the last time *you* lived in Ireland?
>>>>
>>>
>>>1998.
>>
>>I was last there in 2002 and you are talking a load of rubbish.
>>
>>Neolithic
>
>You said LIVED, not "was there"...  I LIVED in Ireland until 1998... I've been
>back there since then...  But I'm just Irish...

I was lived in Ireland, most recently in 2002...whilst there are
immigrants, to suggest that a traveller would not meet any native
Irish is complete and utter bilge.

Neolithic