(no subject)

Jul 27, 2007 12:34


'These are not my people, I should never have come here…'

'Factory' - Martha Wainwright

Well, charming as Ireland is, I've had enough.

More than enough.

The myths are pretty but reality just keeps getting in the way.

Those low crime-rates are rising fast.

The happy, friendly people are noticeably less happy these days, most of them trying to hang onto their jobs and praying the interest rates don't take another hike. 
The image of clean unspoilt countryside is getting rather tarnished with sewage still being discharged straight into the sea from several coastal towns and the water in Galway still being unsafe to drink. A problem not confined to Galway.
Tara is being sacrificed to a new road, and despite almost constant 'improvements' on our main highways, it now takes longer to drive from Dublin to Wexford than it did 10 years ago.

Not that any of this has prompted my sudden desire to leave the country. At this stage, (16 years) that's all just background noise.

No, I'm just tired.

I got a letter from the department of Education this afternoon refusing to pay me the rate for a qualified worker for  work I did last year because according to them, I have admitted that I do not have a basic standard of education. 
Well, that's not exactly what I said. What I told the gentleman from the department was that I do not have a Junior Cert (taken at 16) in the Irish language.

No, I merely have a good degree, qualified teacher status in two European countries including this one, and 12 years teaching experience. Plus basic French and German.

And it wasn't even a teaching job, just minding someone with a disability during the lunch breaks work I actually had some trouble getting because I was percieved as being over-qualified by the recruiting headmaster.

I'll fight the decision, of course. That's all I seem to do these days, tilt at the bureaucratic windmills; I've even brought a couple down, though I'm not exactly delighted with my victories. 
It's hard to see the point right now. I don't have a job and I see no chance of getting a decent one. #2Son is actually making more money at his vacation job working as a hotel porter.

Last year, I was advised to sign on the dole because I'd have been better off than I was working. At this point, I'm seriously considering it though I will of course lose any claim to the moral high-ground and may have to give up ranting about the lazy S.O.B. I had the misfortune to marry, because then I'll be doing what he's doing, sitting on my backside and holding my hand out.

That's what I hate most about this country, the way it saps your energy, the will to make things better for yourself. The way it encourages you to give up and go quietly under.

I am not going quietly.

Meanwhile, if anybody wishes to purchase an idyllic rural retreat in the sunny southeast of Ireland I'd be delighted to talk to you. It's not only a historic building but also a wonderful investment opportunity. 
If you can afford to live here, and the general nuttiness of Irish Bureauocracy strikes you as charming and quaint rather than racist or malicious, then I think you'd find it absolutely lovely.

Here's looking forward to the great escape.
Previous post Next post
Up