In 2005 Rob Hopkins was teaching a class in the world’s first two-year program of permaculture at a college in Kinsale, County Cork a seaside community on the southern coast of Ireland.  Permaculture, in theory and practice, is the idea of sustainable living and as part of his lecture series Hopkins showed the movie The End of Suburbia to his class.  At a time when the price of oil was still around the $35 per barrel stage the implications of peak oil were not lost on the students and a proposal was drafted designing the Transition Town concept.  The cleaner, greener, community based initiative was adopted by the Kinsale Town Council as proposed by student Louise Rooney and the project was underway.

   The Transition Town concept is becoming more and more relavent, as the price of oil is now $135 a barrel, and deals with how communities will adapt, adjust, and flourish despite being faced with declining natural resources, rising fuel and energy prices or shortages, and climate change.  There are currently 50 towns actively participating in this project and hundreds of others contemplating the idea of getting involved.  Is your town or city considering the prospect?  Check this list of communities around the globe.

   A quote from Rob Hopkins’ website reads, "We are communities, a society, a world in transition, and to do that we need a culture of transition, but also we need the tools for manifesting it."  Indeed we do Rob, indeed we do.

Rob

   Amid all the controversy with global warming, fuel prices, and a slumping world economy the French wine growers, Irish truckers, UK and Scottish fisherman, and others around Europe are reacting to rising costs, EU controls and dwindling profits by holding strikes, slow downs and riots.  Is this a sign of the times and a preview of what is to come?  Or, will we take a pro-active stance, adapt as humans are capable of, and rise to the challenges we face as we approach peak oil?

   In late July a ship will quietly leave a dock in France bound for Irish shores, it’s hold will contain 12,000 bottles of wine for the thirsty Irish market, and it will be using free fuel.  A three-masted schooner, the Kathleen & May, is scheduled to deliver her cargo to the Dublin port on the 25th of July.  Over one hundred years old, the sailing vessel is one of many operated by the Compagnie de Transport Maritime a la Voile, and according to company executives will save nearly 5 ounces of carbon emissions per bottle. 

   Will we again see horse drawn wagons and a return of the canal barges in Dublin?  We can only hope! 

   Nicolas Sarkozy will take over the leadership position of the EU on the first of July and is making "border management" and immigration policies some of his top priorities.  Other items on Sarkozy’s plan for Europe include boosting Europe’s military defences and energy security.  The Lisbon Treaty may be dead but the agenda behind it is not.

   Satellite tracking will be used to monitor "illegal immigrants" and many believe privacy and human rights abuses could result.  Will this have any effect on tourism?  Will our visitors appreciate the Cead Mille Failte after they are photographed, fingerprinted, and processed?

   Braving the chill early morning Irish mists the models were asked to strip off and follow instructions for four different scenes around the castle including clutching roses, standing in the cold water holding gold coins, and "mooning" the camera. 

   Usually public displays of nudity are against the law here in Ireland but the members of the Cork Midsummer Festival were granted special permission to hold the event to coincide with the celebrations.

   This video shows the crowd following Tunick’s direction, notice the big coats and wooly hats in the beginning! Brave souls indeed, all in the name of art!

   As previously agreed, by all nations concerned, the rule was set that if one country rejected the Treaty that it was dead.  Will the politicians of Europe stand by this decision or will the rule be changed?  Will the Irish election results be ignored?  It seems so as the remaining eight countries are being encouraged to continue the ratification process.  In the coming weeks and months Ireland’s "NO" vote will do more than just send a message to Brussels, it will shine a democratic light on the institution itself in a way that a "YES" vote could never have done.

   Our own fledgling leader, Brian Cowen, who asked us to rubber-stamp this referendum without bothering to read it himself, will be facing his European counterparts next week with a democratic dilemma.  Will he respect the people of his nation and declare to the Union that the Treaty of Lisbon is a non-runner?  Or will he conspire with them to circumvent due process?  Barroso, Merkel, and Sarkozy are in denial.   Sarkozy, who will ascend to the EU Presidency on July 1st, is going full steam ahead with his plans for a European navy!  Do you think they are going to let a simple thing like the Irish democratic process get in their way?

 Tell ‘em Brian!

   The place was packed and there was a great buzz of activity, lucky for us the barmen were still serving, so I doubled our drink order (just in case) while the others checked the rooms out.  They found a table next to a fireplace and right in front of the band, so the four of us settled down to a table full of pints.  The musicians were quenching their thirsts too and seemed in no hurry to get the instruments tuned so we got a chance to chat a bit about our good luck and take a few snaps.  Those keen Meath men were not long in sussing out the situation and began a session that would delight any tourist.  Banjo, mandolin, accordian and guitar rang out and voices from stage and audience sang the songs.

   More pints kept arriving as if from thin air (the girls adapted quickly to the Irish system of buying rounds), and the music was brilliant.  Most of the songs were familiar but some were not, all were entertaining.  As the banter between the crowd, the band and us became easy and familiar it began to seem as if time were standing still and we were at a party with old friends.  It was a great night, our innkeeper was right.  Gerry Tully was the guitar player and sang most of the songs, as luck would have it Gerry has a website and has posted some of his music on the Net, you can catch him at Griffin’s most Monday or Wednesday nights.  All the best Gerry, thanks for the great show, and good luck with the new album!

   We made our way down by Custom House Quay where the replica of the Jeanie Johnston is sometimes moored, I gave a brief description and history about the original vessel and hoped that she was in.  She was.  What I didn’t tell my tourists was that Rowan Gillespie’s larger-than-life Famine Memorial (pictured) would greet them as we crossed over to the waterside.  It is an emotional sight no matter how many times you might visit it; but, to come upon it unexpectedly for the first time can have a tremendous impact, and it did.

   The onshore breezes seemed a bit chillier as we crossed one of the many bridges and headed towards the city, so I thought it was about time the girls got properly introduced to the Irish antidote for the chills.  The Hot Whiskey!  No better place than Fitzgerald’s on Aston Quay, and Fitzgerald’s is, without a doubt, the best spot in Dublin for hot whiskies and Irish Stew, we were not disappointed.

   Our next stop, Temple Bar, was right around the corner.  Temple Bar is a cultural area in the inner city that has markets, street performers, restaurants, and of course pubs, one of which is called The Temple Bar, go figure!  Treading along the cobblestones we listened to the musicians, visited the shops, took some photos, and worked up a mighty thirst!  It wasn’t long before we were settled in nicely at The Temple Bar, each with a pint of black, one for the road so-to-speak.

   This short visit to the fair city was coming too soon to an end but we were at the mercy of Bus Eireann.  We went by the Ha’penny Bridge, over to O’Connell Street, saw a few statues, the GPO, and the spire on our way to the bus station.  It had been a long trip and an eventful day, little did we know then that it was only half over or what was waiting for us in Trim!

   It’s a busy time of the year around here in the bog and although I’ve settled back in after the experience my blogging will be somewhat sporatic in the next while but I will be posting soon about some of the places and the people we met along the way.  It was a delight to play host to my American visitors and to catch up with all that has happened over the years with them.  If they had half as good a time as I did they will be very happy indeed with their holiday here.

   To Mona, Jody, and Cheryl who were such good travelling companions, conversationalists, and drinking partners, "Slainte!"

   Two days later a rebel group, the JEM, attacked government forces in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, in a bid to overthrow the despots.  What the hell is the European Union doing, in our name, propping up this corrupt and criminal gang who have caused all the trouble in Darfur that the EUFOR Army is risking their lives to control?

   I can’t wait til June so I can vote yes for more of this feckin’ nonsense!

 Harun

   The Brussels Journal has reported that "a secret Interior Ministry" will be developed only after the Treaty is voted upon in Ireland.

   On March 16th the Sunday Post online ran a story about corruption in the ranks of the officials within the EU Parliament.  The article quotes Brian Cowen, Irish Minister of Finance and soon to be the leader of our government, as saying, "For those who believe in a democratic  Europe, Yes is the only way to vote.", and then further goes on to describe the secret investigation and the internal audit "cover up".

   Benita Ferrero-Waldner is the European Commissioner for External Affairs who made a speech to the College of Europe, Bruges, on the 7th of April in which she described the need to implement the Lisbon Treaty and that "But of course what you don’t know, what indeed none of us yet know, is exactly how this will work out in practice."

   Does the question "What else don’t we know?" pop into anyones mind?