March 07, 2004
No Blacks,No Dogs,No Irish
One of the prices of living in a hurling county is that, occasionally, one's repose is disturbed by the clatter of a sliotar bouncing off the car, window or cat (a price that would be easier to pay if the All-Ireland came west more often). I looked out the window yesterday morning to see who was the culprit. It was a Chinese boy - a neighbour - having a puck around with his dad.
Along with a large photograph in this week's Connacht Tribune of a group of black African women in Galway who are learning Irish, one gets an insight of how immigrants to Ireland are adapting to life in the west of Ireland. But it was another article in the Tribune that got more attention during the week. It was an apology on behalf of it's sister paper, The Connacht Sentinel, for running an ad in the property section that specified no coloured [tenants]. The ad had been placed by a letting company, who also apologised subsequently.
There is plenty of anecdotal evidence around the country to suggest that when someone rings up a landlord or letting agency looking for a place to stay, their prospect of success depends on how Irish they sound. The only surprise about this particular ad is that someone was foolish enough to put their prejudice, sorry mistake, in writing.
The reaction of the British press to the prospect of 10 new countries joining the EU has been as depressing as it has been predictable. "Overrun by filthy hordes" basically summarizes their opinion pieces. It's funny - the same press that complain constantly about the state of the NHS also raises the spectre of people from the accession countries wanting to undertake long journeys to use it. I mention this only to contrast with the Irish view. Last year, RTE correspondent Tommy Gorman made a documentary based on his own experience of receiving treatment for cancer in Sweden. The programme was practically an instruction manual on how to get treatment in other EU countries - so much for health care tourism. Incidentally, I was on a flight to London during the week, and the couple beside me were returning to Bahrain after making use of, in their words, Ireland excellent health care system. The private one, that is.
Posted by Monasette at March 7, 2004 09:57 PM | TrackBack