This week we learned that Cork could be submerged under water if flood defences are not adequately prepared in time for the real onset of climate change. According to a new report by the Irish Academy of Engineers, Ireland's major cities, all built on the coast and also on river estuaries, could be submerged within the next century as a result of climate change.
The report – 'Ireland at Risk' – also claims that the traditional one-in-a-century flood could happen every five years if measures are not taken to combat climate change and to prepare flood defences. And many areas of Cork are at serious risk.
Somebody tell that to the people in Passage West and Glenbrook who saw wholesale destruction of their property last week. Serious flooding occurred in Glenbrook, Monkstown, Rochestown, Carrigaline, Shanbally and Minane Bridge, and residents in Glenbrook in particular were devastated at the destruction of homes and vehicles. However, the crucial part of this tale of woe is that local people had been seeking flood defence works for years. Not huge ones; merely the unblocking of gullies. And why didn't they happen? Not urgent, according to Cork County Council.
In fairness to Cork County Council, they're not operating in a vacuum. Irish attitudes to preparation are at best optimistic and at worst apocalyptic. Make hay while the sun shines… it might never happen… sure we'll manage.
Nothing is urgent until the worst happens. That's how disaster strikes. And climate change, as this report shows, is coming at us at full speed. I'm not an expert on the environment. But I believe in what I can see, and even I can see that the weather is changing.
At the moment, the country is like one of those cartoon characters whose eyes are following the prize, while the anvil plummets towards them at speed. We are focussing on the finer points of bankers' salaries and tax rates and even on Jedward, and the Breffmeister. Some of these things are merely much-needed entertainment, while others may be directly relevant to our daily lives and wellbeing.
But issues like last week's flooding in Passage West and Glenbrook show us that we cannot afford to put climate change on the back burner. Waiting until we've dealt with the economic crisis is simply not good enough; the economic crisis could continue for the next twenty years.
While real long-term change needs to happen from the bottom up, the Government must lead on this, and introduce a flood defence programme immediately. We cannot stop climate change. But, while it might take a sea-change in mentality, we can do our best to prepare for and cope with it.
- For pics see www.corkindependent.com or www.provision.ie
*UPDATE: Cork is practically underwater today, one day after writing... wasn't aware I was psychic!
Showing posts with label Breffmeister. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Breffmeister. Show all posts
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
The winner takes it all
The winner takes it all
While it has been a perception of the civil service for years (largely thanks to the TV show Yes, Minister) that mediocrity is to be rewarded and cultivated, the celebration of mediocrity in wider society is something that hasn't really been noted, except by a small coterie of academics who bemoan the quality of university entrants each year.
This week Brian Cowen and Gordon Brown were drawn into a debate on the 'reality' television show X Factor, and the relative merits of different contestants. Showing off a particularly parochial attitude, An Taoiseach was minded to defend Irish twins John and Edward Grimes against the jibes of his UK counterpart.
"I hope they go all the way," the Taoiseach is quoting as telling a national newspaper. He was speaking from Berlin, where celebrations were ongoing for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall (surely nothing compared to the twins beating Welsh contestant Lucie Jones in this week's X Factor).
Cowen, a man who has been known to hold a note himself, is certainly listening to whichever PR adviser is telling him to 'get down with the kids' and show his fun side. And, true to his Fianna Fail roots, patriotism is his priority in this case. John and Edward were not alone in being discussed on the airwaves or in the Cork Independent offices this week.
Breffny Morgan, Cork's foremost Harvard graduate, is still in the running for Bill Cullen's Apprentice despite his bumbling manner and perceived slowness. Many people are now seeing Breffny as the danger in the long grass, a typical cute Corkman who is playing the rest of them for fools. And maybe that's the case.
I don't always agree with my colleague Neil Prendeville (page 12 of this week's Cork Independent), but I'm certainly of one mind with him in preferring 'the Breffmeister' over Jedward and the Cowell-directed circus that surrounds them.
The sad thing about all of it is that both Jedward and the Breffmeister have garnered huge public support simply because they both seem so… stupid.
When did idiocy become a qualification?
The example of Jade Goody is always trotted out in these cases but it doesn't apply – Jade Goody did not enter a talent competition. She entered Big Brother, a show that, of its nature, promoted those with a comic level of stupidity.
However, both Jedward and Breffny are contestants in competitions in which the other participants are a lot more deserving of the eventual prize. Jedward are taking part in a singing competition, and clearly can't sing. Breffny is taking part in a business competition, and clearly knows nothing about business.
And both are being supported massively by the voting public.
It does make one wonder whether the culture of 'it's the taking part that matters' has damaged the very definition of achievement. If every participant in a Sports Day egg and spoon race gets a medal, what is the point?
In any kind of competition, for most people, it is not the taking part that matters. You don't do a job interview 'to take part' – you do it to get a job.
It's winning that matters in both X Factor and the Apprentice - the contestants know that winning is the difference between being set on the path to success in their chosen careers, or being left on the scrapheap.
And the justice of giving Jedward a recording contract (my ears hurt already) or Breffny a €100,000 job (I'm probably jealous) is questionable. The winner takes it all, after all.
While it has been a perception of the civil service for years (largely thanks to the TV show Yes, Minister) that mediocrity is to be rewarded and cultivated, the celebration of mediocrity in wider society is something that hasn't really been noted, except by a small coterie of academics who bemoan the quality of university entrants each year.
This week Brian Cowen and Gordon Brown were drawn into a debate on the 'reality' television show X Factor, and the relative merits of different contestants. Showing off a particularly parochial attitude, An Taoiseach was minded to defend Irish twins John and Edward Grimes against the jibes of his UK counterpart.
"I hope they go all the way," the Taoiseach is quoting as telling a national newspaper. He was speaking from Berlin, where celebrations were ongoing for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall (surely nothing compared to the twins beating Welsh contestant Lucie Jones in this week's X Factor).
Cowen, a man who has been known to hold a note himself, is certainly listening to whichever PR adviser is telling him to 'get down with the kids' and show his fun side. And, true to his Fianna Fail roots, patriotism is his priority in this case. John and Edward were not alone in being discussed on the airwaves or in the Cork Independent offices this week.
Breffny Morgan, Cork's foremost Harvard graduate, is still in the running for Bill Cullen's Apprentice despite his bumbling manner and perceived slowness. Many people are now seeing Breffny as the danger in the long grass, a typical cute Corkman who is playing the rest of them for fools. And maybe that's the case.
I don't always agree with my colleague Neil Prendeville (page 12 of this week's Cork Independent), but I'm certainly of one mind with him in preferring 'the Breffmeister' over Jedward and the Cowell-directed circus that surrounds them.
The sad thing about all of it is that both Jedward and the Breffmeister have garnered huge public support simply because they both seem so… stupid.
When did idiocy become a qualification?
The example of Jade Goody is always trotted out in these cases but it doesn't apply – Jade Goody did not enter a talent competition. She entered Big Brother, a show that, of its nature, promoted those with a comic level of stupidity.
However, both Jedward and Breffny are contestants in competitions in which the other participants are a lot more deserving of the eventual prize. Jedward are taking part in a singing competition, and clearly can't sing. Breffny is taking part in a business competition, and clearly knows nothing about business.
And both are being supported massively by the voting public.
It does make one wonder whether the culture of 'it's the taking part that matters' has damaged the very definition of achievement. If every participant in a Sports Day egg and spoon race gets a medal, what is the point?
In any kind of competition, for most people, it is not the taking part that matters. You don't do a job interview 'to take part' – you do it to get a job.
It's winning that matters in both X Factor and the Apprentice - the contestants know that winning is the difference between being set on the path to success in their chosen careers, or being left on the scrapheap.
And the justice of giving Jedward a recording contract (my ears hurt already) or Breffny a €100,000 job (I'm probably jealous) is questionable. The winner takes it all, after all.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)