THE DEATH OF A SOCIETY AND IT'S TRADITIONS
What a dire place to be living?
Jan 2007
Galoot drivers and the smoking ban have destroyed a whole culture...
(My own experience on a Sunday in November 2006)
I'm one of thousands of 'perverts' in Ireland...You see, I'm a smoker and consequently, at the age of 58, my social life is over.
To give an example...today is Sunday and this afternoon I decided to go walking around our town...population around 5000. I bought a newspaper and thought to myself..."Wouldn't it be nice to go into a bar, sit down, order a pint, have a smoke and read my paper". Might even meet someone nice to have a chat with. This pleasent thought lasted only a few seconds as I realised that I was in Ireland and that I can't do that anymore.
I walked about for another while reluctant to go back to the 'incarceration' of my home. Here and there some of the other lonely 'perverts' could be seen dragging on their cigarettes in the rain and wind outside various pubs.
Some pubs have what THEY call smoking areas...a bit of an awning out the back and if you are cold and miserable...tough. In fairness, some do a better job than others and unfortunately this is where the drunks that you have been trying to avoid all your life congregate. Drunks who don't even like each other are corralled into these little spaces and their silly antics and 'banter' have to be endured. A decent conversation is out of the question.
I looked into a few pubs purely out of curiosity and, apart from four or five people in each, there was very little happening except for that great aspect of Irish Culture...a television in the corner turned up to it's best showing some foreign football match.
Anyway, I went into the hotel where I was the only customer and had one pint and a read of my paper. Half way through I had to go out into the miserable weather to have a smoke. Non-smokers don't understand that beer and cigarettes have to be done together...separately no good. I would have stayed for another pint or two but at that stage I had had enough of being treated like a 'pervert' and I also had enough of modern 'Irish Culture'.
I went home and here I am now...6 pm Sunday evening 58 yrs of age, money in my pocket and nowhere to go.
Galoot drivers
As I said, I live in a town where I have contact with family and others whereas rural dwellers who are living in isolation only have their local pub to look forward to one or two nights a week.
The modus operandi of thousands of these people for years was to use their own car or tractor to travel the few miles to their local where they had their few pints, a chat with their neighbours and friends and drove home slowly and carefully with rarely a mishap.
And if their was an incident, it was usually very minor.
But in recent years, young geeks with souped up cars have been killing themselves and others by travelling country roads as fast as the vehicle could go late into the night while fueled up with alcohol and dope.
Our government's reaction to this scenario is, as usual, to make everyone suffer for the few.
The solution to these problems should not be the destruction of a way of life for thousands of lonely rural people.
For over ten years in this country a situation has pertained where a teenager can pass a 'galoot' Theory Test, get a Provisional Licence and head off down the road at full speed without a qualified driver which he is obliged by law to have on board. And can continue to do so after failing a number of driving tests. There are over 400,000 drivers on our roads on Provisional Licences and this situation is not the fault of rural dwellers. Our government have had TEN YEARS to address this problem but they have done nothing. Now and again they send out one of their more slippery members to puke out some gibberish and the problem goes away for a short time because they know from their spin doctors the the attention span of the average man in the street is short.
I'm not advocating here that anyone should drink and drive but the destruction of a whole society and it's traditions seems to be a high price to pay.
Back to Top
Night bus link for boozers to save country pub closures
New transport plan to counter effect of drink-driving crackdown...
IT'S probably the fastest reaction ever by government to a backbencher proposal - even for an election year.
Less than 24 hours after Galway East TD Joe Callanan urged a rural Nitelink-type bus service for people travelling to and from their local pub, his plan is set to become a reality.
Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Eamon O Cuiv confirmed that the Government would introduce provisions along the lines suggested by his party colleague before the next election.
More
Back to Top
Publican forced to turn cabbie to keep customers...
FRUSTRATED publican Bob Reidy has clocked up more than 100-miles driving after a long night behind the bar in order to get his customers home safely.
He says the threat of random breath testing has devastated his business and that Road Safety Authority chairman Gay Byrne is "only codding himself" if he thinks this is an exaggeration.
"I'd like to see Mr Byrne run a pub in the country where his clientele has dwindled from 15 to just two people on some nights of the week," he told the Irish Independent.
More
Back to Top
Proposals too little, too late for bars already forced to call time...
WHEN Eileen Scully and her late husband Michael opened the doors of the Horseshoe Bar in Ballymote 36 years ago there were 23 other pubs in the rural Sligo town.
This week, when she closed the doors of her premises for the last time, there remained just six bars and a hotel in the once-vibrant town.
The closure came on the day that Social, Community and Family Affairs Minister Eamon O Cuiv announced the roll-out of the rural transport initiative to address the problem created for rural pubs by the Garda clampdown on drink driving.
More
Back to Top
Ó Cuív proposes evening rural bus scheme...
The Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs has proposed that an existing rural transport scheme could be extended in the evenings to help isolated people to socialise.
The proposal comes amid concerns about the negative impact of drink driving laws and random breath testing on social life and pubs in rural areas.
More
Back to Top
IFA calls for better public transport in rural areas...
THERE is no justification for relaxing the rules on drink driving, according to the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) president Padraig Walshe.
But the issue is obviously causing a major problem in rural areas because of the lack of good public transport which would facilitate people to go out to a function, take a few drinks and be sure they got home in comfort, he said.
More
Back to Top
Scepticism over Ó Cuív plans for bus service...
GOVERNMENT plans to extend the local transport network to counteract the demise of the rural pubs have been described as the equivalent of ‘tickets to fantasy land’ by a local councillor working in one of the affected country areas.
More
Back to Top
MY NIGHT-OUT IN BALLINACLOT
(This is from what used to be my local until the middle of 2006)
This was the scene in my local bar on a recent Sat. night in Ballinaclot about 50 kilometres from Dublin pop. about 5000.
There was around 30 customers in the Cretin's Tavern when myself and my wife entered.
There was the usual festering of drunks hogging the pool table and conveying galoot concepts to each other in loud voices.
A little later on and as usual, two Eastern Europeans selling flowers and trinkets came in and, after doing a little business, were leaving through the door where our drunks were getting more 'intelligent' by the minute.
At this stage the 'head patriot' in the group of drunks started railing loudly how it would be better if these people went back to their own country or get a proper job like a 'good Irishman'.
His parting shot went something like...'Fuck off back to your own country yez shower of bastards'.
I was tempted to say that at least these people wern't out stealing cars like he was some years ago when he had the ignition switch gouged out of an old banger that I owned. Fortunately, a friend of mine recognised my car and the thug ran off.
Anyway, some time later while getting a drink at the bar, I noticed that our publican had introduced a new product for his 'customers'...Two trays of the new phenomenon called shots. The concept of 'FIREWATER' sprung to mind immediately and it was at this time that five or six members of a large family came into the pub and preceeded to order almost every type of drink in the place including a number of these shots.
I thought to myself that if this scenario was a chemistry set it wouldn't be long before a reaction occurred. And I was right.
Since the smoking ban was introduced pubs have had to provide a smoking area which, in most cases, is an awning or rough shed attached to the premises.
Basically, the smoking drinker is treated like an inconvenience... a sort of Leper.
As a consequence of this setup you never know who is likely to be in the smoking area...invariably, factions who don't get on with each other find themselves in close proximity.
This is exactly what happened on this Sat. night when about ten of us middle-aged people were having our last smoke while waiting for our taxis.
Two drunks started to square up to each other and the 'fuck off's' became more strident until fisticuffs were introduced. Needless to say, supporters of both sides got involved and then the usual heaving, dragging, shouting, thumping, kicking and screaming melee see-sawed from one end of the pub to the other while the rest of us tried to dodge our way out of danger.
Anyway, there were no serious injuries...Just a bunch of thoughtless thugs who suceeded wildly in confirming my suspicions and who ruined our once a week night out.
A 'positive' aspect of the proceedings was that we ended up having our last smoke in the pub proper...just like old times.
There are about fourteen pubs in Ballinaclot and as a group of people who are getting on a bit we now have nowhere to drink that would be safe.
We can't take the chance of walking the few hundred yards to our homes for fear of being accosted or intimidated by drunken teenagers
There was a time in Ireland when you could go into a pub and expect to join the company of a few of the local 'wits' and feel safe...not anymore.
The whole system of the drinks trade is orientated towards the young who splurge their money on getting as drunk as possible and as quickly as possible.
So there y'are, the story of my Saturday night out in the Cretin's Tavern in Ballinaclot...not the real name.
Needless to say, I haven't been out since.
Back to Top
