small houses replaced by big towers

Two weeks after returning from my trip to Ireland, my thoughts went back to Dublin again this morning. Remembering all the amazing people I met there. Their hospitality. Thier generosity. The excitement in their eyes when they told us about the must see Aillwee caves and the breathtaking Cliffs of Moher. I agree the Cliffs of Moher is simply a Must see.

But it struck me how a country with so incredible sights can have young talented people, with so little hope for the future. They told me about the rising unemployment rates. The situation in the health care sector. The quality of their hospitals. The fading hope in finding a decent job. Call me unenlightened, but that this is the current situation in Dublin today really was news to me.

That Ryanair “votes yes to Europe” is of course obvious. And I’m very much a supporter of their business idea! But I really didn’t know that there was such a wide-spread hope in the idea of a united Europe. But then I started noticing all the posters on the streets:
“We’re stronger with Europe”
“Stand up for Europe”

Having followed the developments of national unemployment rates for a while, I already knew that Spain has been struggling with their increasing rates. But now I realized that Ireland is fighting a somewhat similar battle. The financial crisis has hit Ireland hard. And one of the results of this hit seems to be an increased EU solidarity.

Walking through the pooring Dublin rain, with a map in my right hand and a cheap umbrella in the other, I was determined to get to Hanover Quay before leaving Dublin. But then I finally got there. Hanover Quay. Right at the end of Dublin docklands. The place where some of our times perhaps greatest music was recorded. It struck me how such a small little house - with such historical significance – now is subject for destruction. Yes, apparently it doesn’t “fit in” with the other buildings in the expanding business region of the city. A tower is planned to become the new base for Mr Hewson and his three band members. But no matter how luxurious this tower may be, I doubt it will ever replace the atmosphere you feel being outside that small house at the docks...
/Robert