A Society to an Economy

In Ireland, we make a big issue about our education system and rightly so. It’s probably on a par, if not better, than any system in the world. Walking past any school in the country and hearing the sound of exuberant, excited, fun filled and carefree children, it would gladden the heart of any person. If you stand in any small town or village in the country and listen intently, you can tell when it’s small break time, lunch time or heading home time, by the chorus of little voices. Every morning, I take a moment or two, to watch our own child as he heads in to school. He skips in to meet his friends, work on a new project, have fun and enjoy “the best days of his life”. Children are like sponges, as they soak up all the information and they love to learn.

Regrettably, our education system hasn’t always been as welcoming to tiny minds. Most of the failures in the system have been well documented by now and if I’m being honest, it could quite feasibly belong in a Stephen King horror novel. Thankfully, that stuff is in the past and a school classroom now, is a much happier place than it was for some of the previous generations.

A few weeks ago, I attended an event.  It was based on training and education opportunities for adults. There was a broad selection of people there and if I can steal a quote from a good friend that writes in another field. “Some are supposed to be at work, others are supposed to be out looking for work. The most shy have wives who think they are at work”. However, one man spoke and seldom in my life have I been so rooted to my seat, listening to his story.

At school, he sat at the back of the classroom. He was considered to be “too stupid” to learn anything. (It was hard to type that, as I would consider it deeply offensive to think of any child being classed as stupid). He slept most of the time and was actually encouraged to do same. Day in, day out, this was his school life, cast aside, and ignored, the butt of the classroom jokes. He left school, totally unable to read or write and did his best to make a life for himself. He explained that it was such a hindrance and doing even the simplest things were a mammoth task. You wouldn’t be a human being if you didn’t feel a few tears welling up, listening to him. As a parent, I couldn’t help but picture our child in a similar situation and thanking god that it will never happen.

I heard a story recently of a child that attended school. He was considered incapable of picking up the nuggets of wisdom that the “teacher” gave them (I can’t type that word again).  He was actually sent out to look after farm animals, ironically owned by the same teacher. Disgusting and sickening in my opinion.

I heard the story of a child that got a Valentine card, which he placed inside his desk at school. He was off school for a few days and another child found it. Children being children, he showed it to the teacher, who took great delight in making fun of him in front of the class when he returned a few days later.

It’s actually a bit disgusting and unsettling to think that these people were put in charge of a classroom, filled with small children, who only wanted to learn. As my granddad used to say, “The good old days? There was f*ck all good about them”

I also spoke to a man recently who has reading and writing difficulties. He explained the embarrassment of going out to dinner with friends and being unable to read the menu. Going into a bookmaker and being unable to read the form, or whatever you do in a bookmaker. Your doorbell rings and it’s a local school child asking for a few quid sponsorship. You give them a fiver and they give you their card to sign, but you can’t write.

Thankfully, all the people whose stories I have spoken about were able to find help through the National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA).

As a parent, I feel so happy that our child lives in a world far removed from that described above. However, as a human being, I feel so saddened to think of children being ridiculed, poisoned towards education, taken advantage of and the ultimate insult, being told that they were stupid.

With all this on my mind, I started a little research and was stunned with what I found.

In 2013, the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development) carried out a survey in 24 countries. The CSO (Central Statistics Office), interviewed 6000 people, in Ireland, aged between 16 and 65. They assessed their literacy, numeracy and ability to use technology to solve problems and accomplish tasks. They found that 18%, or 1 in every 6 people are at below level 1, on a five level literacy scale. Of the 24 participating countries, Ireland is ranked at 15. (Source: NALA Oct 8^th 2013)

So, here we are, a modern, well developed country and we can’t even make the top 50% in the survey. It was time to start digging a little more.

A Google search brought me to the ETB (Education and Training Board) website. Then, even more importantly, a good friend’s name popped up. He’s at the coalface in adult literacy, having achieved a Post Grad in the area. So, if anybody can answer a few questions, it’s him. We worked together for some time, many moons ago and then lost touch a little. Every now and then we might meet each other, normally on the street or in the supermarket, we exchange a few words and we go our separate ways. A quick FB message and he agrees to meet me for a coffee.

“That’s what happens when you change from a society to an economy”, he explains and instantly gives me a title for this article.

He tells me of a time when all a working person wanted, was enough to keep a roof over their heads, their family fed and their bills paid. In the event of a few pound being left over, a few pints on a Saturday night, was good, a holiday once a year, was brilliant. People worked hard, very hard in fact. Every town and city in the country had the reliable or the “good” employers. We had loads of them in Tipperary, ranging from factories, to builders, to farmers. You’d always pick up a bit of work somewhere and nobody would starve. The grapevine was a great place, as everybody knew somebody looking for someone.

During the so called Celtic Tiger (another ridiculous term – it was lunacy), we had jobs coming out our ears. We even needed to recruit workers from other countries to do the jobs as we hadn’t enough workers of our own. Huge multi-nationals set up their European bases in Ireland, bringing with them, high end, tech jobs. The cynical among us may wonder how committed to Ireland they really are. Are we all that important to them or is it our very low corporation tax levels. No doubt the upcoming Brexit and an American economy that turns more inward by the day will show their commitment to us sooner than later. Some of these companies had the equivalent of a small town or village as their campus. Town infrastructure and planning laws were changed to facilitate their every whim, as we showed the rest of the world how it should be done. I often think of the song “Hard Times”, when I look back at it, as they would “come again no more”.

However, the hard times did come again, with a vengeance. Boom was followed by bust and soon, we had a “young educated, well skilled” workforce, without jobs. The worst part of the bust for me, was the amount of indigenous Irish industry that was decimated. Small local employers, trading for generations were wiped out by a dysfunctional banking system and an uncaring government. State agencies did all they could, to attract new industry, succeeding in some cases. Thousands of young, highly skilled, well educated people saw emigration as their only option and Ireland’s loss was Australia, America and Canada’s gain.

As for the unskilled workers, not a mention, nothing. We were now an economy, our society was well gone. Crippling bank debt placed onto the shoulders of citizens made the transition complete. The staple jobs, the jobs that families relied on for generations were a thing of the past. Health and Safety legislation helped to compound the issue, further alienating workers. Anybody that wanted to push a wheelbarrow on a building site for example, needed a list of papers, the equivalent of the Encyclopaedia Britannica to “get a start”. Once upon a time, a person would get a job with a local farmer during harvest time driving a tractor. A modern tractor needs the IT skills of a young Bill Gates just to start the damn thing. If you were young, in your prime and a bit technological, you had a chance, anything else; your options were limited, extremely limited.

So, in a few short paragraphs, we have a snapshot of Ireland and how our education system, greed, a lack of foresight and pure simple ineptitude, came back to kick us up the backside. How we ended up with an entire section of our country cast adrift and forgotten about.

So, was there and is there a way out? Thankfully, there is and it’s more readily available than people think. The National Adult Literacy Agency was set up and through the ETB, runs a variety of programmes for people. Beginning with literacy from Levels 1 to 3, the programme continues from levels 4 to 6, which is back to education initiative. Then there are further courses with options of community education and VTOS, which is an option for adults to take their leaving cert equivalent. Then, there are options for further training through apprenticeships etc.

So all is good then right? Well, it’s not quite that easy. One of the biggest problems that an adult will face is themselves. There is an acute embarrassment in actually admitting that you cannot read or write. In the preparation of this piece, I have heard of the people heading to school as “a town’s best kept secret”, where people sneak in every morning, afraid they might be seen. There are also people who have more or less accepted their fate and may not wish to change, as they consider themselves “too old”.

There are nice stories too. I heard of a man that cycles 10 miles and back once a week to learn to read.

So, what does the future hold?  The classroom is a much different place nowadays. Children, like our child, run in to school every day. School is a great place, full of happiness and joy, the way school should be.

However, some children are facing problems the rest of us don’t see. There are issues with health, issues at home, there are poverty issues. Due to very busy lives, parents may not think about giving that little bit of extra time to them. One of the biggest concerns I would have in the preparation of this piece are children in emergency accommodation, facing homelessness. Children want to learn, but if they face the classroom every morning with an empty belly, worried about things at home or where they will sleep that night, that learning is interrupted.

My teacher friends will love me for this one as I am continually giving out about homework. However, one of the best things a parent can do is to sit down and read with a child. Take a few minutes to go through their spellings with them. Tell them how good their writing is and how proud we are of them. Children love to do well and they love it when their parents tell them how proud they are.

If, as an adult, you feel alienated, forgotten about or left behind, well that’s just wrong. You have a right to feel just as proud and you have every right to improve your life. I have found many avenues of help while researching and writing this article.

Most importantly though, don’t suffer yourself, don’t be embarrassed. Stand-up, be proud, climb that mountain, you will never look back. We cannot change what happened yesterday, no matter how we try, tomorrow is the future, so there’s no point thinking too much about it. Today is all that matters.

Maybe it’s time we became a society again.

Online Trolling – A bit of fun or cowardice?

Og ichi plof ti ra nesi. How many people remember this? You need to have been a child of the 80’s to get it, or understand it. It’s a marketing line from a very popular soft drink and it’s a part anagram for “original of the species”. (NB: It’s a “part” anagram, there’s no point in sitting down in an attempt to work it out, because the letters don’t add up). However, it was a pretty successful marketing campaign and one of those ads that people my age remember. It’s said that if you asked for a bottle of “og ichi plof” in Clonmel, the barman knew exactly what you wanted.

As Irish people, we hate to see anybody getting on, or being successful, we love to see the fall from grace. There’s nothing like the person that gets a bit too big for their boots coming back down to earth. Your man down the road with his fancy new car — I bet the bank own it. Look at your one with the new hair style — far from fancy hair styles she was reared. No country seems to have embraced the name and shame culture quite like the Irish. It’s a daily ritual to see “who made the papers”. Students go to college, training to be journalists and the height of their journalistic career is sitting in a court room with a pen and pencil, writing a piece about who was involved in a misdemeanour. Take a walk down the town and you are invariably asked if there’s “any news”. Any ould bit of gossip will do, the juicier the better.

The internet troll is a spin off, or a by-product of the above and most certainly the original of the species. They are very critical of people, especially successful people, whether it’s in business, politics, music or sport.  Any walk of life will do them in fact, as they are not very particular. Some of their musings can range from the amusing, the controversial to the downright abusive and insulting.

I read a very funny exchange recently between an Irish comedian and a troll. The comedian was giving his new DVD a mention on his website, when the troll began asking “why people would ever even consider buying that rubbish”. Quick as a flash, the comedian replied that he would pass on the concerns to his “couldn’t give a f*ck department and as soon as they found a single f*ck to give, they would reply to him”. Game, set and match to the comedian.

I made a reference recently about a guy in some band (I can’t remember their name – LCD Soundsystem, thanks Google), who made offensive comments about our Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar on Twitter. My point was, why he didn’t say it to the man’s face, as they were in the same room, when he first got annoyed with him.

Sportspeople have to deal with a ridiculous amount of trolling. Take for example a person, who is deemed talented enough to represent their county or even their country. We’ve all seen it ,where they are given a hard time because they have a bad day and things don’t go to plan, or even in some extreme cases, because of the shirt they wear.

It never ceases to amaze me, to see Irish people walking around with a well-known footballer’s name on their back, because he plays for some English football team. Then, the same player puts on his international shirt, normally English and he is immediately ridiculed, by people he has never met. Most of the ridicule is from people without a fraction of his ability.

Imagine if one of us mere mortals went in to work, made a mistake and were ridiculed in front of the other staff by management. How long would the manager keep their job? Not long I hope and with good reason.

It’s very easy to hide behind a computer keyboard, to ridicule and slag off people, who are not in a position to defend themselves. Recently, I wrote about our freedom of speech and how I consider it so important. I also wrote about how I feel it’s under threat from people with way too much time on their hands, on the internet in particular. I asked the question, are people beginning to ask why they would bother commenting online or making an opinion, where they run the risk of being abused or trolled by people they have never met.

I’ve been trolled a few times myself, but I’m mature enough (I hope) to laugh it off. I consider it a badge of honour that people feel it worth their while to write about you. Normally, if you pay them no attention however, they run away under a rock or wherever they came from in the first place. I remember one guy that did it and I saw him on the street a few weeks later. We were at both sides of a pedestrian crossing, so as he frantically looked for a place to escape, he ducked into a shoe shop, rather than meet me face to face. I’d say I won that one would you?

That can be a bit easy for me to say, as I’m my own person and I really don’t care what people think about me. As a person who is very active on media, you could say I leave myself open for it, so “if you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime”. However, if a person gets easily worried, maybe has a weaker type of personality where they take things seriously, it may not be all that funny.

Good natured ribbing and taking the pee goes on in every country and every culture in the world. Life would be very boring without a bit of fun and a laugh at somebody’s expense. However, is there a thin line between that simple bit of fun and trolling. Where does the fun stop and where does it become something a little more sinister.

Is it just meant as a bit of harmless fun or is it a cowardly way to have a “sly dig” at people. Done without having to conjure up the courage to say it to their face.

Most certainly, the original of the species.

Nobody wins those online competitions …….. Right.

Aquablue Sport are an Irish Pro-Continental cycling team. The brainchild of Cork man Rick Delaney, they are competing in the second tier of world cycling. In football terms, they would be second division, with big ideas to be first division in a year or two. They were the first ever Irish team to go to the start line of this year’s Vuelta Espana, competing against some of the greatest teams in the world. They actually managed a stage win, on Stage 17, when Stefan Denifl was first home, an absolutely historic achievement. One of their top riders, American Larry Warbasse is National Champion for 2017 and they won the Tour of Austria 2017, again through Stefan Denifl. Not a bad start for a brand new team. Internationally, they have Irish riders, Matt Brammeier, Martyn Irvine and Conor Dunne in their ranks. Through their Academy programme, they are giving a huge boost to young Irish talent, supporting them on the domestic scene. Their management team are predominantly Irish and they have a base in Cork, as well as in Monaco, France. They wear the Irish tricolour on their kit, along with a shamrock on their bikes.

So, not quite the Sunday morning set up, eh. This lot are the pros, the elite, out there on the world stage, a million miles from the rest of us.

Earlier this year, I entered an online competition. It’s one of those competitions where you answer a few questions, enter your email address, your phone number, press “Enter Now” and forget about it. I mean, nobody wins these things; it’s just a marketing gimmick. Now, I’m always entering these things, never expecting to win. In all honesty, I wouldn’t win an argument and I mean that.

I’m working on a course in E-Commerce and Business at the moment. It’s quite possibly one of the most rewarding things I have ever done in my life. It can be pretty complicated at times, especially at my age, but overall, it’s thoroughly enjoyable and fun. It has given me an opportunity to turn some of my ideas into possible business ventures and who knows what the future will hold.

On Thursday morning 01 June 2017, my phone was ringing on the desk. Obviously, it was on silent, but the part that really got my attention was that the incoming call was from France. As I wasn’t aware of anybody I knew being in France, I decided that it was one of those scamming calls, where your account is hacked if you answer it. I didn’t answer it and after a few minutes, it rang again. I blocked the number at this stage, wishing they would buzz off and bother somebody else. After a while, we headed down to the canteen for coffee and I noticed I had a voicemail. What do I do here, check it, ignore it, take a chance, delete it? Will my bill next month be a million euro if I do? Eventually, I took a chance and pressed the voicemail button.

The message was from Aquablue Sport, asking me to phone them immediately. I phoned home, asking my wife what she thought. I told her that I remembered entering a competition, but I mean nobody wins those things, as they are all fake and they were hardly interested in signing me up for the upcoming races across Europe. “Call them back you feckin’ eejit” was the nugget of advice from the other half, so I did.

The next few minutes are a blur, as Jamie, their marketing director assured me that I had won the competition and the prize was a Ridley Noah SL, Team Edition bike. If it was a car, it would be an Aston Martin or Ferrari equivalent. You can’t walk into a shop and buy this bike, it’s one of a kind, no other amateur on the planet has one and now, they’re telling me that I’ve won it. Jamie said that they would make an announcement later on that day. As the day progressed, there was nothing and doubt began to settle in. It was a wind up, one of my friends with nothing better to do and I fell for it. I was annoyed with myself for getting so excited, screaming down the phone line like a child on Christmas morning. However, at 5pm, Aquablue made the big announcement on their website. I was the winner, the bike was mine.

On the terms and conditions page, it was stated that it would take up to 12 weeks before the prize would be delivered. You see, the European Cycling season doesn’t come to a halt for anybody, let alone me. Aquablue were busy, very busy, moving their team from country to country. Every night I watched the day’s highlights on Eurosport, waiting to see the Aquablue kit and most especially the bikes. I watched the GCN video, where Dan gave a presentation of the team bike and even Aquablue’s own video, with Larry Warbasse doing similar. The Ridley website has lots of bikes, but none like the one I have just won.

One evening, I took a chance and sent them a message, asking if there was any possibility that a lorry might be passing our house that they could put the bike on it. I know, like a big child waiting for Santa Claus, it was cheeky and I actually expected them to tell me to sod off, “we’re busy”. However, I got a message back that they were working on it.

Wednesday July 19^th 2017. Its’ just another day in school, we’re working on internet publishing and web design. After lunch, there is a guy with a camera present. We are assured that he is recording a promo for the course, to attract more candidates for next year. As I have a huge interest in media, social media in particular, I’m totally engrossed in what’s happening. I hear a door opening behind me, but pay absolutely no heed to it, as web hosting, domains and SSL Certificates are more important.

There’s a little bit of commotion, I turn around and I can’t believe it. It’s one of the legends in Irish Cycling, Martyn Irvine, standing behind me with the bike. Aquablue have been working behind the scenes, to make my winning the competition even better. All my classmates, my family and the training personnel are in on it. I’m speechless, totally overwhelmed and excited.

For the next half hour or so, I feel like a celebrity. They take literally hundreds of photographs and video. I get to have a great chat with Martyn about training, diet, rest, bikes, crashes and god only knows what else. They say that sometimes you shouldn’t meet your heroes, as you may be disappointed. Well obviously Martyn Irvine didn’t read that book, because I have never met a nicer, friendly all round good guy in my life.

The jewel in the crown of course is the bike. It’s from Belgian Manufacturer Ridley. It has a Shimano Di2 electronic gear system. What that means is that there are no gear cables, it’s all wireless. You press a switch and it transmits a signal to the relevant gear component. The wheels are by Knight Composites, fully carbon and extremely fast. The saddle is by Fizik, with carbon fibre rails. The pedals are by Look; once again, you’ve guessed it, carbon fibre. Everything about the bike spells quality. Its distinctive colour and finishing kit, the way it looks, is just something else. As a fan of the sport, it’s a pure dream. To pass through town, most people don’t even give it a second look. Pass another bike rider and you know what they’re saying, “look at your man, the lucky sod”.

I wonder how many people here enter online competitions. You know the like and share things, for an opportunity to win an exciting prize. They are always just a marketing ploy, right. I mean, nobody ever wins those competitions, right.

So, what would be the chances of Aquablue Sport ever coming to Cahir, Co. Tipperary. Imagine Aquablue taking one of their elite riders to Cahir, have their lunch in the local hotel, present a no hoper like me with one of their top level professional bikes and make a video of it to show all over the world. That would or could never happen, sure it couldn’t.

Well guess what. It could happen and it actually did.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

To my generation, possibly the greatest development we have seen, has been the internet. It has revolutionised the way we live, the way we do business, the way we buy stuff or even the way we entertain ourselves. The last 15 or 16 years have been exceptional in its development and I often wonder what the next generation will use it for.

One huge advantage of the internet is the “how to” search on Google or the “how to” video on YouTube. It’s simple enough; you want to rewire the electrics on your home? Simples, just type in “how to rewire your home” and it’s dead easy. You’ll get an easy to follow video and all the step by step instructions.

Electrics is full of terminology and complicated stuff however. To most people, an amp is something you plug a guitar into, a current is in the sea, AC/DC are the greatest rock band ever and as for electromotive force, well you’re in trouble, so we’ll pass on that. I would recommend that you keep the A&E phone number close by, as well as the local fire station number too.

Take your car into the garage and the mechanics will connect it to a diagnostics computer, where the ECU in the car will tell them what’s wrong. Surely, you could do that yourself, fix the problem and save a few quid. There’s a video for that too.

Many moons ago, I went down the DIY route myself. The local hardware shop loved to see me coming, as a new drill or some machine would be bought. At one stage, I think I had enough tools to start off my own shop; most of them were never used. Why was that, you ask. Well it’s simple; I’m the worst DIY’er on the planet. I actually have trouble putting a nail into a wall or screwing two pieces of wood together. When I’m doing a DIY job, you will notice that something is wrong when bad language is heard from the garage, followed by shrieks of pain and a rush to the cabinet for a sticking plaster. The occasional time when I actually do manage to “make” something, it’s a standing family joke as to how long before it falls apart. Even our dog steers clear when she sees the tools coming out, as it will inevitably end in tears.

One of the simplest devices ever built, is the humble bicycle. It is this simplicity that makes it such an ingenious invention and so popular all over the world. Cue, the online video as to how to fix and maintain it yourself. Now there are certain vital skills that any bike rider should have. The ability to change a tyre, insert a new tube, mend a puncture, link a broken chain or change your brake pads are vital, if you are cycling long distances. If you head out in the group and you suffer a mechanical, there are no better people than your friends to help you out and get you going again. However, if it becomes a regular event due to poor maintenance, or if you are showing no signs of learning these affore mentioned skills, people start to get a bit cheesed off and you can become persona non grata.

You can easily pick up the necessary skills by Google or YouTube and it works up to a certain point, but you really need to know when to say stop to yourself and place your bike in the hands of your local, qualified and highly skilled mechanic.

Are you really going to take your Di2 apart and “fix it”, the wheel bearings are a bit noisy, sure I’ll fix that myself. The bottom bracket needs attention, that’s easy and your headset needs to come apart, because the video shows you how easy it is.

Then, on Sunday, you make the climb to the top of The Nire Valley. You’ve made a huge effort and now comes the reward, the adrenaline filled, exciting and downright scary downhill bit from “The Pot” to the bottom of Tickincor. It’s possibly one of the steepest hills any amateur or novice bike rider will encounter anywhere in the country. One day earlier this year, in perfect conditions on a bike just after a service, I reached over 75kph myself going down there. (To be honest, I was scared shitless and was afraid to pull my brakes in case I got a wobble, it had nothing to do with ability)

You enter a summer league and you’re feeling strong. You’re sitting in the front of the group, you’re feeling strong, and you know you have the beating of the others. Just wait, time it and with an explosive burst of power, you’ll outsprint them all for the win.

So, picture the scene, a blood curdling descent or a crazy Sam Bennett type sprint. However, just at that vital moment, BANG, CLATTER, followed by CRASH,  F*CK, that headset / bottom bracket that you fixed yourself has come loose, the wheel you fixed yourself has collapsed or your brakes didn’t slow you down.

You wake up in a hospital, attached to machines and worse still, a few of the other people in the sprint are there too and it’s your fault. I’ve said this countless times before and I mean it. As a musician, we don’t get sick pay or disability. Ask any self-employed person the same question and they will give the same answer. The bills will still come in, but the wages don’t, a sobering enough thought.

The modern bike is a highly complex machine. Top end carbon fibre is used in its construction, highly expensive parts are added. The wheels are carbon fibre, and the entire machine is actually built around the rider. Go into a bike shop now to buy a new bike and the staff will give most of the time entering all your measurements into a computer to ensure that it’s a perfect fit. You will thank them when you complete the Sean Kelly Tour or the Ring of Kerry in one piece. Modern bikes have electronic gearing systems, where a signal is transmitted to a receiver when you wish to change gear. These things are highly complex and sophisticated, not for the DIY’er.

So, next time there is a problem with your bike or you have a big event coming up, give the DIY a skip. Sure, learn all the basics and learn them correctly. I use a cheap winter bike and it’s perfect for practicing my maintenance on. However, I know my limitations and I won’t bite off more than I can chew.

One of the best bits of advice I was ever given was to “work the overtime and pay somebody to do the job right”

So, you spend a few thousand quid on a new bike and for the sake of a few more quid every year, you embark on a pathway to ruining it or worse, serious injury.  My advice for the day is, trust your local mechanic and bike shop, they know what they are doing, because a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. They are qualified; they will treat your bike like it’s their own and when that crazy descent or sprint come, you can go for it in full knowledge that nothing will go wrong.