We should be proud of this little green island
AT the weekend I read pieces from various commentators about a comment Eamon Dunphy made on TV during the week in which he claimed that ‘Ireland is a kip’.
Dunphy was taken to task over his comment by a number of writers and quite rightly so.
We all know that there is plenty wrong with our country, but I wouldn’t swap home for America, North Korea, the UK or a host of other nations around the world if you were paying me.
Of course there are big problems, intractable problems, infuriating problems and some of them are down to imcopetence and unwillingness to change.
We need more homes. Now. We want more jobs. Now. We need more hospital beds. Now.
We need more Gardai on the beat, we need more nurses in our hospitals.
We need a fairer Ireland for all and not just the privileged few.
There are many ills in Irish society. But Ireland is not a bad place to live. It is not a kip. Far from it.
Calling Ireland a kip, is just a cheap soundbite to grab attention. It wasn’t the first time that Eamon Dunphy has categorised our country in such derogatory terms, previously labelling Ireland as ‘a dump’, so perhaps he truly believes that Ireland is in the gutter and wasn’t just seeking attention for a new TV show, but truly believes what he is saying.
Ireland is one of the best countries in the world, life expectancy is good, our general health is good, our public services are good but access to those services is an issue and can be too difficult for those crying out for help.
Our education standards are good, our legal system is generally fair, our environmental standards are high.
Our religious and civil liber-
IT’S NOT PERFECT, BUT IRELAND IS NOT A KIP AND WE SHOULDN’T ALLOW IT TO BE CALLED AS SUCH
ties are good by international standards. We know that there are issues here such as the 8th amendment, and that there are issues in relation to gender pay and equality.
But we aren’t half bad. It struck me over the weekend that the late Jimmy Magee would never run his country in the way that Eamon Dunphy is so keen to do.
Over the course of the week we heard many of Jimmy’s famous commentaries, such as when John Treacy won the silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, listing off all previous Irish medal winners as the Waterford man entered the last 100 metres of the marathon.
Jimmy would not have called Ireland a kip. Never ever.
It’s not perfect, but Ireland is not a kip and we shouldn’t allow it to be called as such.