Well HOW’s about ye!   Sure am going to tell youse all a wee story about our trip to Ireland. O.K. enough of that but you can hear or see I have been back to the olde sod and have lots of stories in store. Now to start with,  I do not remember everybody and his dog using the word “wee” so often …but they did…. including the dog! There was a wee card, a wee car, a wee bus, a wee pint, in a wee minute, in fact a wee everything!  I met a young Aussie girl who had lived there for only four years. “This is a grand wee country”, she told me. I tried to think up a typical aussie expression which I never use. “Good on you,” I replied sarcastically.

We arrived in Dublin airport from a very hot Dubai and this time I brought the wife with me on the trip. Well to be truthful, she brought me.  We were then whisked off to Naas where we settled in to recover from the long trip. As luck would have it, our host was working for Arthur (of the Guinness variety) and we were duly treated to a visit to the famous St. James Gate, where we experienced one of the highlights of the trip. This was worth a story in itself but as I am writing the Ulster column, I will let you use your imagination here.

The following day we were driven to Co. Clare where we visited the Aran Islands and Westport where some lucky leprechaun now owns a very good cam recorder and (if he did not sell it) a top camera. At this point I became the owner of my wife’s snapshot box!

 We had quite a few adventures around the Cliffs of Moher, Doolin, Durty Nellys before returning to Dublin and boarding a ferry to England where I had a gig at a local folk club. 

Then off to Nice in France, the Cinque Terre in Italy, Antibes in France, Barcelona and believe it or not a jet star flight to BELFAST. We landed at Aldergrove Airport. It was difficult for me to believe that in some thirty years it (the airport) had hardly changed. Well not the better anyway. As we strode serenely through the green “Nothing to Declare” aisle, I remarked to my wife that there was no one in sight of the customs officer variety. “Sure don’t we all have honest faces over here” remarked a passenger who had suddenly arrived to overtake us and had overheard my remark.

Now this was the first part of our trip where we had no accommodation arranged but who wants to go to Ulster in October. It turned out that hundreds of people from Donegal did!  Donegal were in the final of the All Ireland and the more than helpful young man at the information desk told us in his droll accent: ”Hard to get anywhere in Belfast to stay this weekend. It’s all booked up!”  I suggested we might hire a car and go north. “Aye youse could try that. Youse’ll have no trouble getting yourselves a car.”   He proceeded to phone the Causeway Hotel situated conveniently enough at the Giant’s Causeway. “I have a great deal for youse” he says after spending a few minutes on the phone. “Go get yourselves a car.”

I obediently trotted over to the budget car desk and asked the price of the cheapest car. “I could tell you that” this obnoxious git says, “but it would be of no use to ya!  None left! All hired out (you guessed it) by folks coming to watch the big game tomorrow. No need to try Avis or the others. We are all in the same boat.” He was most amused when I told him it was a car I was after not a bl…..BOAT!

So now we have a dilemma. We have a hotel (possibly) but no means to get there. We could I suppose get the express to Belfast and wait until tomorrow to get a bus to Antrim and Ballymena. Then to Ballycastle and perhaps walk the last few miles (they still have miles there) to the Causeway Hotel. Needless to say I did not suggest this idea to my wife. I did want to live a little longer!  “Maybe we can hire a car outside the airport” I suggested. So we tried to get out of the airport which of course was surrounded by security wire. Now I have always believed in Irish Luck and sure enough we were stopped by someone (job description unknown) who asked us what we were about. (Translation…. What are you trying to achieve?)  We explained our situation and in five minutes he had solved our problem. He phoned a company called Dooleys (head office in Limerick), who had one car left and they could send a mini bus to pick us up as they were about one and a half miles from the airport. We ran back inside the airport to book the hotel and half an hour later we were driving towards Antrim, Ballymena, Ballycastle and the Giant’s Causeway in a luxurious Ford.

 

 

 

The hotel was outstanding and situated a short walk from the entry to some really spectacular views.

 

The next day was one of the three that summer when it did not rain so after doing the obligatory walk around the famous Causeway, we drove to Portstewart, Portrush, Coleraine, Limavady and Derry or if you prefer Londonderry!  I confess I had never stopped in Derry before and it really is a spectacular walled city. It appears that it is the worthy recipient of the prestigious title “U.K. City of Culture 2013!  I did not like to mention that this was still 2012. We looked over at Donegal a few miles on before driving back to Royal Portrush Golf Club where they charge a cool 140 pounds each for a round of golf! Luckily for me it rained the day we were booked in for, so we cancelled. We had great craic in the hotel bar that night. I never realised how much I missed the good old Ulster humour but it just does not translate well in the written form, so I have left it out!
 The next day we drove the few miles to the Carrick-a-Rede Island and Rope Bridge. I do not have a great head for heights and the last time I walked it, it was so misty, I couldn’t see what was below. This time, as you see from the photograph, it was a little more spectacular.

 

Our next adventure was driving down the Antrim coast. A road noted for its bends and landslides. It is a narrow road also and the day being Sunday, it was choc a block with cyclists who we simply had to pass. The passenger seat in our Ford was not the place to be! We then arrived at Ballyclare to meet an old friend. Yes another bally and this is where Gareth Maybin plays most of his golf. Gareth was the only Irish golfer to play at the Lake Karrinyup golf tournament this year. Unfortunately he did not play his best. Bally of course means “place of” as if you didn’t know. Sometimes we think of it as “town of”. My favourite is Ballynoe which is situated just south of Downpatrick.  I have not yet found its sister city …Ballyea!

Oopps what is he rabbiting on about now I can hear you say. And so onward to Co. Down. The Ards peninsula, Bangor, Newtownards, Donaghadee, Portaferry, Strangford, Tyrella, Newcastle, the Mourne Mountains, Downpatrick, Killyleagh, Shrigley, Comber and back to Bangor.

Oh what a great memories those places brought back.  But I will save them for another day. So you can look forward to reading (in the NEXT BLOG) about our great trip to Donaghadee when we were stopped by the Royal Ulster Constabulary, (we had  Dublin license plates!)  and of course Belfast (where I was able to visit the Falls and Shankill Roads and some very new exciting bars in the centre of the city) and of course I did visit the Titanic Quarter. Well I had to didn’t I? 

 

RMS Titanic was a passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City.

The sinking of Titanic caused the deaths of 1,517 people in one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history. She was the largest ship afloat at the time of her maiden voyage. One of three Olympic class ocean liners operated by the White Star Line, she was built between 1909–11 by the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast. She carried over 2,200 people – 1,316 passengers and about 900 crew.  Yes that is the story in a nutshell but of course there are many personal stories to be told concerning this tragedy.

 

Fifty years ago the people of Ulster did not mention the word “Titanic” with much pride. I vaguely remember (Well, I was very young at the time!) a conversation when the word was used with a strange, mysterious tone.

Where and when did the story begin? A good starting point might be as far back as 1791 when William Ritchie of Scotland founded Belfast’s city first major shipbuilding company. His first ship “The Hibernia” was launched shortly after this and thus paved the way for a successful shipbuilding empire.

In 1854 Edward Harland, a young English engineer arrived in Belfast to manage the Queen’s Island shipbuilding yard. A few years later, he bought out his employer and subsequently joined forces with Wolff thus forming the famous company.  They were soon to buy the White Star Line and over the next few decades they built over seventy ships.

In 1908, it was agreed to build two new ships; “The Olympic” and “The Titanic”. The names of the ships were to reflect their remarkable size. Over 264 metres long (880 feet for all of you who still use the old system) with a tonnage of 46,328. They were to be the largest man-made moveable objects on earth.

In 1909 work began on RMS TITANIC making Belfast one of the world’s greatest ports and a world leader in shipbuilding.   The OLYMPIC was successfully launched in 1910 and on the 31^st May 1911 the TITANIC was launched before a cheering crowd of 10 000 onlookers.

The great empty vessel was then towed to the new Thompson Outfitting Warf and Gray’s Dock to have the boilers and engines, funnels and superstructure added.  

On the 2^nd of April 1912, thousands of people lined Belfast Lough to proudly watch the new wonder of the world set off for Southampton. A week later, complete with around 1 300 passengers, she departed for Cherbourg in France and Cobh (then called Queenstown) in Co. Cork, Ireland.   At 1:30 precisely, on the 11^th April, she set off for New York. There are some great tales about the nine or so passengers who disembarked at Cobh as was well reported in the last edition of THE IRISH SCENE. 

At approximately 22.50 with some 1,500 miles of ocean behind them the Californian sent a wireless message directly to the Titanic telling them that they were stopped and surrounded by ice.  At 23:30 an iceberg was spotted but with its huge mass and the great speed it was moving at, it proved impossible to manoeuvre the ship away from the iceberg. Titanic struck the iceberg at 23:40 and the impact opened up six watertight compartments below the waterline. It took Thomas Andrews, the ship’s designer approximately fifteen minutes to calculate that the great ship would go down within two hours and so it was not until shortly after midnight that the first wireless messages for help were transmitted. Another ship was seen to approach at this time but mysteriously disappeared. Until this day no satisfactory explanation has been given which fit the known facts.

At Quarter past midnight the first lifeboat was lowered into the freezing waters. Though designed for 65 people, devastatingly there were only 28 on board. For the next hour and a half confusion reigned when it became clear there was insufficient room for all the passengers on board.

At two o’clock the lights went out and the second and third funnel broke away. At this stage people were being washed off the forward end of the deck. The band now played a find hymn (“Nearer my God to Thee”) and at 2:20, with a great deal of churning water, it was suddenly quiet; the great ship had disappeared to the bottom of the ocean.

Two hours later the “Carpathia” arrived at the scene where she managed to pick up 705 survivors before sailing on to New York.

When they heard the devastating news, the people of Ulster were shocked, shamed and embarrassed. Only a few weeks earlier, they had all been so terribly proud. No one spoke much about the incident and if they did, it was with the strange mysterious tone I spoke of at the beginning of this article.

A recent investigation proved how unlucky the ship had been to sink so rapidly. IF the Titanic had struck the iceberg full-on she may have survived. IF the lookout had been able to use field glasses she may have survived.  IF the designer had been allowed to use his original plan she may have survived. IF stronger rivets had been used on the hull she may have survived. IF the designer had been allowed to provide 48 life boats many more people would have survived. If the California’s radio officer had not turned off his radio and gone to bed, many more would have survived. IF the captain had received ALL the messages which other ships had sent, she would have survived. IF the huge iceberg had not drifted so unexpectedly far south, she would have survived.    FINALLY IF any one of the above events had not happened as they did she would most definitely have survived.

Yeah, I realise a lot of IFs here but to the best of my knowledge ALL TRUE. 

A few years ago, in true Ulster fashion, it was realised that the rest of the world was fascinated by the event and that they were really missing out on sharing some of the amazing stories arising from it. They had some great stories to share and who better to tell the stories than Susie Millar; the great-granddaughter of Thomas Millar, who had been a deck engineer on the ship. Before he left Belfast, Thomas then aged 33 gave both his sons two new pennies, telling them: "Don't spend those until I see you again."

He never came back. His younger son kept those pennies and the family passed them on to his granddaughter, Susie Millar, who was present at a ceremony to mark the centenary of the launch of the luxury liner into the river Lagan in Belfast, where the ship had been built.

The name of the most famous ship to sink in modern history is now being used to re-launch a neglected area of Belfast. Up to £7bn has been invested in Titanic Quarter and an interactive Visitor Centre which should have been well and truly opened by the time you are reading this article; the opening was on April 15^th to coincide with the sinking 100 years ago.
 (Have you really gotten this far?  Well Done!)

The main building, shaped like four ship hulls, overlooks the site where the ship was built.

 It is clad in metal shards and when the light plays on them it looks like the movement of water. From above, the building resembles a white star, the symbol of Titanic’s operators. Housed in an iconic, 6-floor building, this state-of-the-art visitor experience tells the story of the Titanic from the start. The adventure begins the moment you walk through the door and into the building's giant atrium surrounded by the four high ‘hull’ shaped sections I mentioned earlier which house the experience. As you wander up through Titanic Belfast, you will experience a thrilling ride through the re-construction of the shipyards and the Titanic under construction. The stories of passengers, crew and the heroes of the day will be told in an exciting, captivating way. At the conclusion, you can visit the wreck at her resting place on the floor of the North Atlantic.!

The last time I flew into Belfast, I got the shock of my life when the airline welcomed me to “George Best Airport”. But the next time I go, it will have changed yet again as the airport is almost adjacent to the old shipyard. I can’t wait to go and maybe I will see some of you there. If you get there before me; let Fred or me know.  Apparently our host and guide will be none other than Susie Millar herself! 

You might like to watch a YOUTUBE clip of a new song composed by Ian Lily and myself.

You will need to copy the following into your browser.     http://youtu.be/rxDpZBPRxQ0

 David MacConnell        

Whitewater rafting

This was a hoot twenty four hours after the event. Not to be recommended for those over 50! The seven to eight metre drop was quite horrific. See the YOUTUBE link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a_ggEx6ZUQ

Remember September 2001

Difficult to believe it is 10 years on. I wrote this song then and should really update the recording but here it is if you have not listened to it before.

Click HERE

Contact me if you want a version of the words (updated).

Australian Beaches

My daughter went on a holiday last week and kindly lent my wife her car. We took it up north on a road which had just been opened and arrived at a town called Lancelin. This is a fishing town where they catch crayfish. Not one person was on this very pristine beach. Even in Perth there are some fabulous beaches. The closest one for my family is pictured above but of course they (the kids) do not hang out with me any more. The temperatures this summer have been quite high and for a longer period of time. I heard someone complain the other day about the lack of rain and too much sunshine. "Go to Ireland for a week or two !" I retorted.

A trip to the hospital

I was not going to write about this little/major event. Little that is for the specialist (doctor) and major for the patient...me. I tried a few details on a few friends and judging by their reaction I will spare cyper space the details. A friend of mine wrote a song for me and I have a good tune for it. It goes like this

I'm not too healthy or wealthy or wise I've got a complaint that you might recognise
I'm long in the tooth and my time's getting short But I've got a charity I must support

When you're an old crock ya invest in a doc
Then sponsor a minion a second opinion
Sustain that subtractor the poor chiropractor
Bail out at his urgin' some broke dental surgeon
And if pain persists just add to the list
Until you end up with the psychiatrist !

This reminded me of a time spent in a hospital in the U.S. when I worked there in my youth. I had a pain in the stomach which turned out to be appendicitis. I visited a hospital but was told to come back later if I felt really sick. I returned a few hours later and was on the operating table a few minutes later. I wrote this little piece shortly after. It should be remembered that I was accustomed to the National Health Service!

Where is the pain? Right here Doctor.
Have you got medical insurance? No Nurse.
Does this hurt? A little Doctor.
What does your father do? He's dead nurse.
What about here? That doesn't hurt at all Doctor.
Did he leave you any money? No Nurse.
When did the pain start? Yes Doctor.
Has your mother any money? No Nurse.
Did it come on very suddenly? Yes Doctor.
What do you do for a job? No Nurse.
I think we are going to have to operate. OK? Yes Doctor.
Are you sure you have
No money
No parents
No friends who could help you? No Nurse.
Well we think there is not much wrong
I won't charge you. Yes doctor.
Go and seek a second opinion No nurse.

So what happened this time around? Well the doctor this time tinkered with my prostate which caused a seqence of events which lead me to a G.P. a Physiotherapist, a Podiatrist, a Sports Medecine Specialist, a Nurse in Ireland specialising in prostate problems, and then back to a different G.P. The second opinion in this case was correct and finally a chiropractor who fixed me up in 10 minutes and then insisted I return for a further 4 visits. To be truthful, I am not much better off now than the day the surgeon persuaded me to have the operation but I am told it will settle down ....eventually. Of course I have lots of stories to tell but as I mentioned earlier, perhaps this is not the place. Surfice to say that I was proscribed 50 panedol forte. ( 4 of these tablets constipate one for a week! If I had taken all 50, I would have been constipated for life!) I took 3. Three doses of stong antibiotics that had no effect whatsoever and finally some magic pill which prevents the bladder from having a spasm! Great it is working!!! However there are side effects....naturally I will leave you all to work out your own moral of the story.

Down Under 2011

Australia is having its share now of misfortune with the flooding in the Eastern States. Difficult to believe as some parts were having a real drought.
It is always difficult to understand the situation despite the very good (almost too good) media coverage. Areas the size of Germany and France combined are currently affected and a great deal of land is under water. We can only hope it will recede very soon.