Don't forget we're Irish – fighting The Gloom is in our genes

8 January 2009

Are you as sick of The Gloom as I am? Have you a pain in your gut hearing how doomed we are? Do you wish George would throw himself into the river Lee?
Last week, as the airwaves crackled with more bad news, I decided to try and write about something cheerful. So I looked around. And around. And around.
There's a stretch in the evening, I thought. Good, but I can't stretch that to a column.
Fuel prices are coming down. Great, but I'll wind up bashing the Greens (any excuse).
What about Mary Harney? She was photographed leaving a Dublin restaurant at 1.30am. She looked decidedly un-gloomy even though it was a school night. I could write about her fiddling while Rome burns but … more Gloom.
As I pondered this, The Gloom paid me a personal visit. I won't say what happened, but it made me more determined to be upbeat.
So I looked away from Ireland to the English papers, only to be rewarded with the downbeat headline, 'Children are unhappier than ever'. More bloody gloom.
According to the 'The Good Childhood Report', the UK is raising a generation of kids who have been "damaged" by parental "neglect".
It singled out "individualistic" women for choosing to work rather than stay at home. Well, that won't be a problem any more, will it? (Sorry, nearly spoke about The Gloom again.)
I wondered if Irish kids are unhappy. Our two societies, like our children, are much the same.
During the boom we raised a generation of latch-key children in designer clothes. This was a result of both parents having to work as everything was so expensive. Junior was bought off with guilt money, PC games, etc. According to the report, he's now "damaged" because he wasn't nurtured.
So much for something positive to write about: on top of adults feeling grim, our children are miserable too.
Want a pleasant surprise? It turns out, that despite everything, they aren't. Ireland has the happiest children in Europe.
Two months ago, the government published a study of childhood here, drawn from 22 data sources including the CSO and WHO. The 'State of the Nation's Children Report' concludes that our kids exercise more and are more likely to be happy compared to other EU children. Finally, some good news.
It sounds slushy, but there IS truth to the adage that happiness is infectious. This was confirmed on Monday when the nation woke to its first proper snowfall in 18 years. It was like a hug from an old friend and, instead of 'meltdown', the talk was suddenly of 'freeze-up'.
Ireland skittered to a halt, totally unprepared despite all the forecasts (sound familiar?). Roads were clogged and eejits had to be rescued from mountainsides after going to admire the view.
Then came the sound of Nintendos being flung aside as a generation of children and a lot of older teenagers experienced their first Irish snowfall.
On the hillside near me, trays became makeshift sleighs. The happiness spread as the snow whitewashed The Gloom. Children and adults flung snowballs at each other. Misshapen snowmen appeared. The Sixth Estate – the internet – spoke of nothing else. No economics, just snow.
Ireland wanted a distraction, anything to take its mind off The Gloom. We wanted to go outside and be children again. Or to stand at the pub door and – happily – grumble about it.
I realised that this is what makes us Irish. We're irrepressible. We're genetically programmed to fight glumness. It's why we've thrived on this dank little rock.
We're surrounded by greyness most of the year, so when a reprieve comes in the form of a glowing snowfall, we squeeze it dry. We celebrate it as a boisterous day out.
My memory skidded back to the snow of 1991 and my friends and I spinning down a frozen road on metal bin lids.
Our footballers had conquered Italia 90 the previous year and, lifted by their example, we believed that everything was possible.
"You'll never beat the Irish." We were on our way to Tiger land. We were emerging from The Gloom.
We'll emerge again. Besides, we still have each other, whatever the forecast.


February 8, 2009