Friday, July 07, 2006
Donegal Democrat tells it like it is
The Donegal Democrat is carrying the results of a survey it commissioned on attitudes to various topics with respondents throughout the county. The results make interesting reading, and it appears to be a very honest snapshot of feelings and attitudes in the area. 38% of people surveyed do not think the arrival of foriegn nationals in recent times is a good thing. The paper’s editor pointed out that the ‘don’t knows’ in this category were 20%, much higher than for any other question, so the figure of unease toward foreign nationals may be much higher than it appears. 92% of those surveyed felt sex before marriage was OK, a fact that hasn’t gone down well with the local catholic authorities.
No matter what the results or interpretations are, it’s healthy and productive to ventilate these issues and illuminating for all of us to place our perceptions up against reality and critically evaluate the two.
Miss Fitz @ 07:56 AM
It’s not sex before marriage the clergy need be concerned about, Miss Fitz, it’s sex after marriage when it has all become a bit routine and the eye starts to wander. The clergy would be better off giving advice from Dr Alex Comfort, or some such, than relying on their Vatican handouts when dispensing advice on that topic.
Anyway I bet they never had any trouble with that nice Donegal lad, Daniel O’Donnell, on the old pre-marital shenanigans front.
Posted by on Jul 07, 2006 @ 08:41 AMI can’t bear when people criticise Daniel O’Donnell.
He may not be to my musical or masculine tastes, but he is a decent, honest, generous and genuine guy from everything I can see. He gives of his time unstintingly and anonymously to countless charities and feeds back to his fans, particularly the ill or vulnerable ones in a way that makes them feel cherished and important. Yet he gets pilloried for loving his mother, having a deep faith, falling in love or making tea for his fans.
Maybe girls prefer the bad boy image, but it never ceases to amaze me how much bad press a good guy gets. Compare that to any amount of useless, sleazy, self obsessed, drug fuelled rock stars who will have any amount of fans and followings despite the paucity of their musical ability.
I think if we were all a little more like Daniel and a little less like....... (fill in the blank) we’d all be better off.
Posted by on Jul 07, 2006 @ 08:48 AMmissfitz
Never had you down as a US Republican “We need a nation closer to the Waltons than to the Simpsons” George Bush 1992 ;)
Posted by on Jul 07, 2006 @ 08:55 AMEasy on, Miss Fitz. I quite agree with your perceptions of our Daniel. He has a much larger female following than you might imagine. In Britain, because in the charts sales listings he regularly commanded 6-9 out of 10 of the Top Ten places in the Country and Western section, they decided to remove him altogether into a ‘Daniel O’Donnell’ section all of his own. The closest thing to that kind of chart domination was ‘Little Miss Dynamite’, Brenda Lee back in the 60’s.
But he is an icon and his iconic status is largely prefigured on his clean-cut, boy-next-door, kind-to-his-mother image and that imagery is fair play to poke gentle fun at when discussing topics (such as sex before marriage) which might run counter to it.
Now, excuse me, please, while I pop on a Willie Nelson tape. Nobody’s ever accused Willie of being ‘clean-cut’.
Posted by on Jul 07, 2006 @ 09:01 AMMaybe as a mother of daughters, who have brought home a succession of pierced, punked, metalled, hob nailed booted, spaced, final fantasied, grunged, stoned and unemployed prospects- I long for a clean shaven, decent, and working son in law.
Is it too much to ask?
Posted by on Jul 07, 2006 @ 09:01 AMRory!
Our posts crossed, and SNAP!Posted by on Jul 07, 2006 @ 09:02 AMI too am a Daniel fan Miss Fitz, and I’m 27 years old! I no fan of his music mind, but he brought years of happiness to my countless elderly relatives in rural Derry for which gave me great comic entertainment, and I love him for his pure unadulterated kitsch camp appeal. I’d have him over Dominic Kerwin any day – or, God forbid, Hugo Duncan!
Anyways, back to original blog. I just thought I’d share the fact that I was at two catholic weddings recently near Donegal (and when I say Donegal I mean Derry ;-) ) and both priests made profuse apologies to the happy couples when it came to section of the mass where they are required to give the couple advice on how to make a marriage work.
A friend of mine is getting married in September and has been living with her husband-to-be and their 3 children for 9 years now. But it seems her parish priest still wants them to take lessons in marriage from HIM before he’ll marry them! It surprises me in this day and age that such outdated practices are still enforced by the cafflick church and that parishioners still support them, and I’m afraid Donegal is no different.
Posted by on Jul 07, 2006 @ 09:04 AMMiss Fitz? You have masculine tastes? Into beer and footy then?
Posted by on Jul 07, 2006 @ 09:05 AMDoes it give any figures for sex WITH foreign nationals? Now that would be really useful for segmentation....
Posted by on Jul 07, 2006 @ 09:09 AMMiss Fitz,
My brother-in-law was attending a funeral service in a CoI church in Co Armagh some years ago when he suddenly noted familiar tones from a few seats further back. It was none other than Daniel paying his respects to one of his older fans. During the proceedings he placed a single rose on her coffin.
Posted by on Jul 07, 2006 @ 09:18 AM‘During the proceedings he placed a single rose on her coffin.’
Bloody cheek. Taking liberties and all that!
Posted by on Jul 07, 2006 @ 09:51 AM‘38% of people surveyed do not think the arrival of foriegn nationals in recent times is a good thing. ‘
Look on the bright side Miss Fitz . At least 38% is a lot lower than than the 90% or more who think that the arrival of members of the travelling community in their neighbourhood is a bad thing . I’m sure that that 38 % is a lot lower than the percentage ‘welcoming’ the arrival of a large number of Republicans into Loyalist areas of Belfast or of Loyalists into Republican areas .
The arrival of large numbers of ‘non national’s ‘ in any society causes ‘stress’. It can be seen as a threat to a way of life , or seen to increase competition for scarce jobs /resources etc etc . It’s how a society copes or adapts to that stress is what will determine it’s future prosperity . So far in my book the Irish Republic is doing fine .
This ‘recent’ phenomenon in Europe has many causes some of them going back to the mass slaughter of tens of millions in World War 1 and the same again in World War 2 . Add in the effect of increased ‘civil ‘ rights for women , the widespread adoption of family planning techniques ,abortion, increased life expectancy , and it’s a no brainer why ‘immigration’ has become necessary to keep western economies from imploding .
The simple fact of present day economic life is that without ‘mass immigration’ economies like the USA, Germany, UK, France , Holland , Italy and now Ireland cannot maintain much less increase the standard of living of their populations .
Of course the women in all of the above countries could forsake professional careers and return to the days of 5 or more children per family and accept that many of their children would of neccessity have to accept lower paid work.?
About as likley to happen as a DUP/SF power sharing set up in NI where both parties share 100% trust.
Based on present trends there will be more ‘immigrants ‘ in the Irish Republic by 2016 than there are Unionists in Northern Ireland in 2006 .
‘Maybe as a mother of daughters, who have brought home a succession of pierced, punked, metalled, hob nailed booted, spaced, final fantasied, grunged, stoned and unemployed prospects- I long for a clean shaven, decent, and working son in law.
Is it too much to ask?’
No it’s not . Perhaps you need to look to the immigrant community :)?
Posted by on Jul 07, 2006 @ 10:05 AMI wonder if Willie Fraser has any of Daniel’s CD’s? Do you think I should send him one along with the ABBA and the Judy Garland?
Posted by on Jul 07, 2006 @ 10:19 AM‘92% of those surveyed felt sex before marriage was OK, a fact that hasn’t gone down well with the local catholic authorities. ‘
The local catholic authorities obviously had an easier time accepting the fact of paedophile priests in the community which is why they kept their mouths shut for so long , and shunted these priests around from parish to parish .
Posted by on Jul 07, 2006 @ 10:58 AMSex before marriage was just “O.K.”? In my day it was bloody terrific! Maybe they’re not doing it right.
Posted by on Jul 07, 2006 @ 11:09 AMRingo:
“Does it give any figures for sex WITH foreign nationals? Now that would be really useful for segmentation...”A pertinent question.
I grew up in a small village with an ethnic minority pop of 2 families. Any suspicion that might have been there on the part of ‘local’ youths was replaced by an altogether different
feeling at the addition of a few mre pretty girls to the slim pickings on offer.Hopefully the recent influx of eastern european workers will have a similar effect. There’s plenty of big strapping lads about and some mindblowing lithuanian girls.
I wonder what their thoughts are on sex before marriage…
Posted by on Jul 07, 2006 @ 11:21 AMThe People’s Front of Judea,
Hopefully the recent influx of eastern european workers will have a similar effect.
It already has. I already know two people who have married eastern European women - one Polish, the other Lithuanian. And I have no doubt that there are plenty more.
Posted by on Jul 07, 2006 @ 11:27 AMDonegal is an odd place, or so I’m told. I’ve never visited as I was brought up in Limerick and the road and rail networks made travelling to Donegal an absolute nightmare and since moving to Dublin almost 20 years ago, I tend to take my break outside of Ireland. Those that have visited tell me that the coastal scenery is amazing (although having had Kerry and Clare on my doorstep, I probably wouldn’t be so easily impressed), but that the people are the oddest bunch you’ll find anywhere in Ireland.
I think Donegal is a tad like Sicily is to Italians, very pretty, quite remote, and perceived as being semi-lawless and populated by people who are not quite “us”.
As for Daniel O’Donnell, with over 20 hits in the UK albums charts (many of them in the Top 10), I think he’s laughing all the way to the bank and as someone mentioned above, he is very generous with his fans.
Posted by on Jul 07, 2006 @ 11:50 AM“92% of those surveyed felt sex before marriage was OK, a fact that hasn’t gone down well with the local catholic authorities.”
This is a very high figure considering that some Donegal towns still retain a strong Catholic ethos - Buncrana in particular which contains the highest proportion of Catholics in the Irish Republic.
Posted by on Jul 07, 2006 @ 12:00 PMKeith M
“very pretty, quite remote, and perceived as being semi-lawless and populated by people who are not quite “us”.”
That’s because it should have been ours ;)
Posted by on Jul 07, 2006 @ 12:26 PMNot wanting to play the man or anything but Keith M, from your views on a wide range of matters, I’d say you would be considered by a lot of Irish people as being not quite “us”.
Posted by on Jul 07, 2006 @ 12:30 PMDonegal was my favorit County when I was in ROI last summer.
Who the hell is Daniel O’Donnell!!!!?
Posted by on Jul 07, 2006 @ 01:32 PMBe careful, Canadian. Be very, very careful. If you had been caught in Donegal professing ignorance of the blessed Daniel you might never have left.
Daniel O’Donnell is a very sweet faced, sweet voiced Irish singer in the country and western mould - a bit like Jim Reeves except he possesses a quite startlingly naive innocent handsomeness.
Because of his wholesomeness (which in today’s world seems to us cynics almost too good to be true and yet is absolutely genuine - the guy is just a hell of a decent guy who happens to have a voice and style of singing that appeals to a wide base)and because his repetoire includes really lovely old ballads and romantic love songs that we all must pretend to despise (for fashion’s sake), yet secretly really, really like, opinion on him is divided. Nice decent people tend to really like him and hard boiled old codgers like me must pretend not to (but secretly do).
He is both an icon, generally thought to be venerated by spinster ladies, widows and (whisper it not!) the gay community, and also an easy figure of disparagement by smarty alecks like me when I find him a useful target.
And I should know better and should indeed be ashamed of meself but, damnit, he’s just so handy to make a smart-ass point sometimes. Such is the price of fame.
Glad you liked Donegal, Canadian. To me, since I first set foot there, it was very heaven itself and all the kind people angels therein - and I come from where the Mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea and was already used to paradise on earth. Ask Miss Fitz, she’ll confirm and she’s a Yankee blow-in so quite objective on the matter, though her heart is so lost in the Mournes now she should be it’s Minister for tourism - Jeezus! maybe she already is.
Posted by on Jul 07, 2006 @ 05:05 PMRory, Germaine Greer better not set foot in Donegal!!
Posted by on Jul 07, 2006 @ 05:18 PMIs no one interested in the intolerance toward foreign nationals, or have I inadvertently started a Daniel thread? Or sex in Donegal, or the lack or mores, or the police being popular????
Canadian: The joke is.......
What has 10 teeth and 200 legs?
Answer: Front row of a Daniel O’Donell concert.....
Posted by on Jul 07, 2006 @ 06:13 PM
