So while we Northerners might be shit at blogging (as evidenced by our complete lack of talent at the Irish Blog Awards), we’re pretty much in the top-5 for self-hatred, hatred of neighbours, hatred of foreigners, hatred of animals and hatred of things we don’t even know about. Judging by the young trees that line our streets, the yobs up here hate plants too. That has to count for something, right?
I guess not. I mean, we’re a country of idiots as it is. We trumpet our great successes as something to be proud of. Our dead shipbuilding industry built the most famous wreck in the world which, of course, sank on the maiden voyage. We express our pride at an Ulster son who spent more time behind the bottle than on the pitch. We have one of the highest incidences of genetic dysfunction in the West due to having a low population who tend not to breed outside of their social groups (and woe betide any taigs and huns who get it on together). And now we’re the racist capital of Europe.
A few years ago, at the tme of the Holy Cross Bomb Blast, one of the commenters on the BBC ‘Have your Say’ section of the web site, made the following poignant remark.
It’s about time we built a high wall around
Northern Ireland and put up a sign saying
“Do not feed the animals”
To be honest I can’t disagree. Walking the streets near my home, it feels like 20 years ago because the people of Ballyholme can’t be bothered picking up after their dogs in the morning. I mean – nothing to me is worse than picking up after my own dog but we do it because we think of the consequences. When using the canteen at work, I notice the number of people who don’t bother cleaning their cups or who have emptied the remnants of their breakfasts and lunches into the sink (and these are meant to be educated people). It surprises me that there are such a number of animals in this country that they cannot even take pride in the areas they have to live and work in.
I’m sick of Northern Ireland. Deeply, viscerally sick of everything this country has made. Of everything this country has become. We inherited this mess from our parents and from their parents and it falls to us to try and make things better.
We’re completely outnumbered
That’s the unfortunate truth. For every individual that can see the problems we face, there are ten who don’t give a fuck, and worse, a hundred who are causing them. My own guilt at not doing enough is beginning to eat at me. But what to do and where to start and how to fit that in with a day job, a night job and a family.
Which is exactly part of the problem.
So you help the people you know get on with their lives in the way that’s best and most productive for them. If they thank you, tell them, “Go help the people you know that I don’t. That’s how you thank me”.
They should make a movie out of that, John. Starring some wunderkind like Haley Joel Osment, when he was younger. And if they could get Kevin Spacey that’d be cool too. 🙂
I mostly agree. NI is just too small minded and parochial to be healthy. My personal annoyances are driven by extreme dislike of the lazy bureaucrats, freeloaders and quangos. Not sure what the figure is now, but I remember reading that over 60% of the local workforce work directly or indirectly for the government. That’s obscene. There was talk of pushing that back to something like 40%, but why not go the whole hog and aim for 20%! Is there really a need for an organisation like Invest NO to have so many people pushing paper? Bring Michael O’Leary in I say! I am sick sore and tired of being talked at as a substitute for actually doing anything. For instance I cringe when I think of the very poor advice that has been doled out in the name of promotion of ebusiness. Really! Most of the people giving that advice have absolutely NO CLUE. They have almost single-handedly managed to persuade companies to invest needless cash in meaningless ‘web pressences’. Have you noticed that there seems to be endless supplies of money to ‘promote’ and ‘inform’ – it is a gravy train for the local printers! Bah. Humbug.
To be honest, I don’t have a problem with the promote and inform thing because a lot of my friends and clients work for design companies and printers and if not for their current boom, Mac-Sys wouldn’t be doing quite so well. I’m joking a little bit there.
Government is a problem, yes. Apart from the top-heavy bureaucracy of the civil service and local government, there’s the utter nonsense that is coming out of InvestNI. Being told that the only companies they can support are ones that really don’t need to have government subsidy just hurts my brain. I mean it leaves me speechless. Utterly flabbergasted.
InvestNI has always left a sour taste in my mouth and it wasn’t just their expensive coffee machines in their brand spanking new building.