Spirit of Ireland & Dublin Bus

Last week was remarkable for a number of reasons. Terry Henry (does he deserve to have his name correctly spelt?) showed us how to be a cheat and a coward at the same time. Ireland realised it did have a football team with quality and character. And as a Nation I felt we were slowly redeeming ourselves, re-finding our identity and winning back some grace - revisiting what it means to be Irish in a world of cultural homogenisation and double speaking FIFA types. 
 Having closed the office door last Friday evening I set off in my car toward Dawson Street to pick up a jacket from a menswear shop, aiming to drop into the Tom Draper lecture in Trinity thereafter (more on this later). Jimmy is a good operator who has been a long time in the game and was as chirpy as ever when we met repeating his thanks for the business I had brought his way. As he served me, we exchanged some views on the budget, and the stupidity of the VAT hike last year, what might be in store next week, should we care. Before parting I remarked how I felt that the city centre seemed more like it used to be in the old days. In particular, the availability of street parking to casual shoppers like me – he laughed at me and told me I had always doubled parked anyway! I felt good having supported a small independent retailer. 
 Later, walking down Dawson Street, toward Trinity College, I was stopped by a couple visiting from the US. They were heading for O'Connell Street but needed some direction. I obliged and made an extra effort to reassure them and wish them well. While offering directions to my Americans a middle aged lady was watching us. She too was lost - but was heading for Christ Church, I obliged again. However, the clincher in this story was the Dublin Bus bus driver I observed last week. He had pulled up to let some passengers off and as usual most alighting passengers thanked him for his service, nice. But just as he was to close his doors a man of Arab decent popped his head in for directions. He needed to get to the Airlink bus stop. To be honest I thought he was asking for a short two syllable reply, no such thing. The driver told him to hop on and politely explained that he would drop him at an Airlink stop on his route. A good deed indeed. It felt good to be Irish. 
 Maybe it’s the circumstances we are all facing maybe it’s something else, but I firmly believe that many of us are reaching back the Irishness of before. A decent people who are giving and warm. Despite all the tax hikes, the lack of credit, leadership and all that. Despite the nay sayers and the newspapers, we have something to shout about and it’s not just that we were hard done by in the past. We have charm and warmth. We have creativity and civility and most of all we care about each other.