27th January, 2000
Last Saturday night I met a reader who
told me that he was born and bred in Donnybrook, and that he was
not too happy with what was happening to Douglas. He told me that
he and his friends used to catch trout in the Douglas rivers,
they learnt to swim in the same rivers. He told me that now,
nothing lives in the streams and rivers. The contents of washing
machines (eg. the powders which clean the clothes) can be seen in
the streams, the soapy foam wiping out any life in the stream. I
remember last year I spoke to a resident in Hillcourt who told me
that D.I.Y. people were connecting dishwashers and washing
machine outlets to streams. Why should we be surprised? Our
government is being taken to court by the E.U. becuase our
drinking water is badly contaminated. Another reader from
Rochestwon told me that we’re not fit to call ourselves a
third world country. The reason? Our roads, which look as if
stealth bombers paid us a visit, and at the National Car Test
Centre, some guy will tell us, “You need to replace your
shocks,” and like lambs we’ll say, “Thank you,”
touch our forelocks and amble away to pothole paradise.
So, some of the larger building societies want the government to
take action against the Credit Unions. They feel the playing
pitch is not level and that the Credit Unions have an unfair
advantage over the building societies. Finance minister Charlie
McCreevy tried to make some changes a few years ago but quickly
dropped his plans when it became obvious that Credit Union
members didn’t like it. Now the financial institutions want
the EU to set the rules for the Credit Union’s. If ever
there was a ‘people orientated’ organisation, it’s
the Credit Union. No secret shareholders, no overseas accounts,
no hidden money, just an institution created by ordinary working
people for themselves and their families. As a member of a Credit
Union I feel I have a right to say to the financial institutions,
“Keep your greedy fingers off OUR Credit Unions!”
A reader telephoned the office last Thursday afternoon with a
complaint. She was driving through Douglas West at approx.
4.20pm, when she saw three teenage schoolgirls in school uniform
eating chips. One of the girls finished the chips and threw the
paper on the ground. The reader was horrified that this act was
committed, not by a small child, but by a 15-16 year old. We
suggested that the caller should telephone the school and voice
her complaint. She declined and asked us to express her anger to
the school principal. For once I didn’t bother. I’m
sick and tired of writing about the problems of litter. Millions
are spent on telling people it’s wrong. When some couragous
people put up signs which say, “Welcome to Cork, excuse the
litter”, we are horrified. We resent the implication that we’re
a dirty race, we’re told things are getting better, litter
fines are increased, we’re winning the battle. What a load
of rubbish!!! A few years ago I met someone who spent his
honeymoon in Thailand. Approaching his hotel he stamped out his
cigarette on the footpath. A policeman walked over, told him he
had committed an offence, asked him for his passport and returned
it when the fine was paid at the police station. That’s
enforcing the law!
My friend Ronnie tells me that in small towns in America the
elect their own mayor, sheriff and local council. Also, all
service charges and rates go to the town. So if somebody throws a
chip-bag on the ground, they are insulting the whole town, and
they just don’t do it. Here in Ireland our children are
becoming educated to the highest standards, but are they being
taught the important things, either at home or at school? If the
parents don’t teach them then the teachers have a moral
obligation to teach them civic pride. If only for half an hour a
week, it would be a start. And to our local county councilors ...
get the council to give us a full-time litter warden, The council
takes £3,000,000 from Douglas every year, well I think it’s
payback time. Last month I spoke to local council man Joe Lynch,
who does such a great job at keeping Douglas clean. I asked Joe
if he was appointed as a litter warden would he talk to children
and teenagers in schools about the evil of litter. “No
problem,” replied Joe. We have two county councilors living
in Douglas who represent us, they are Peter Kelly and Deirdre
Forde. I would like to make a suggestion to Peter and Deirdre ...
At the next council meeting, ask the council to provide a litter
warden for the Douglas area. 90% of litter is created by children
and teenagers. The next time you take a walk, look at the
wrappers, ice lolly papers, chip wrappings, and why? Because
nobody is telling them its wrong. Its about time they were told.
Finally, to the man I mentioned at the beginning of the article,
we spoke about the dramatic changes which have taken place in
Douglas. Many years ago an American songwriter named Joe South
wrote a song called “Don’t it make you wanna go home?”.
Its a song about a young man who leaves his home town to work in
the city and always dreams of returning home to his rural
birthplace, which he finally does, and this is the final verse of
the song ...
“But there’s a six lane highway down by the creek,
Where I went skinny dipping as a child, And a drive-in show,
Where the meadow used to grow. And the strawberries used to grow
wild, There’s a drag-strip down by the riverside, Where my
grandma’s cow used to graze. Now the grass don’t grow,
And the river don’t flow, Like it did in my childhood days.
All Gods children get weary when they roam, but don’t it
make you wanna go home?”
That’s the price of progress, Jack, I’m afraid nothing
stays the same!
Bye for now,
Michael O’Hanlon.
