I’ve frequently asked people who travel a lot to tell me what city or country they think is the most beautiful. For cities I haven’t been to myself, Prague is a frequent answer. For countries, it’s Ireland that tops the list. I’d like to go to Ireland because so many people have told me it’s gorgeous.
One thing I never considered when thinking about possible vacation destinations was Ireland’s Eighth Amendment which was repealed by referendum yesterday. It banned abortion even in cases where the health of the mother was at risk.
I also never considered how well-armed their police are:
Advocates for the repeal were also fighting a status quo that was wrapped up in certain conceptions of Irish identity. One 65-year-old man in Dublin, who asked HuffPost not to publish his name, said he believed that women should have the legal right to choose abortion, but he was still emotionally conflicted about which way to vote. “There are so few things that make Ireland unique anymore,” he said. “We don’t allow abortions, and our policemen don’t carry guns. If you start changing those things, what incentive would people have to come visit our country?”
One thing that makes America unique is the frequency of school shootings. If we eliminated them, I suppose there’s a risk that no one would want to visit our country anymore.
A policeman shot a murder suspect a few days ago. The precise circumstances are still being investigated but people are in shock because it is so rare – especially since the N. Ireland Troubles died down. The notion that police should carry guns strikes us as extremely strange and anathema to what community policing is all about. There are some armed detectives in specialised units, but never the uniformed police in the course of their normal duties. The general populace don’t carry guns either, so why would the police need them?
One of the great achievements of the Irish State when it was established in 1922 after a bitter civil war which pitched family members against each other is that the state set up the essentially unarmed Garda Síochána police force which focused on developing good relations with all sections of the community.
In addition, the losing side in the civil war set up the Fianna Fail party in 1926 and won the elections in 1932 to become the government. The Winning side in the Civil war – now essentially Fine Gael, handed over power to their bitter rivals without incident.
I have quite a lot of involvement with An Garda Síochána through my involvement with Restorative Justice. Although there have been a few damaging scandals involving An Garda Síochána in recent times, I have always been very impressed by the calibre of their personnel. Most are university graduates, generally socially astute, and none fit the dumb/authoritarian/fascist stereotype one associates with many police forces around the world.
The fact they are relatively well paid and can thus attract high calibre recruits obviously helps, and it seems to me that spending money on a competent police service is worth the cost.
“Come to a country where you won’t be shot” is a selling point. “Come to a country where you will be allowed to die of sepsis if you need an emergency abortion” really isn’t. I suspect they will find their tourism industry does better now.
US tourism down. Due to the donald? What ever the cause….that’s jobs.
I’m sure guns factors in. Remember when the German govt advised their tourists to not visit Florida, b/c so many Germans were getting attacked?
Yes.
Due to the guns…being used in all kinds of hands for all kinds of reasons. Mostly insane reasons.
The U.S. has essentially been driven mad.
By the Donald.
By RussiaGate.
By crooked politicians of all stripes.
Bad publicity is roiling out of the U.S. into the international media.
Deservedly bad!!!
Tourism is fueled by air travel.
The TSA is totally incompetent and at the same time arrogant as hell, and our major airports? Third World level, really. Only bigger. Why would anyone even think of visiting most major U.S. cities?
Riiiiight…
AG
I would visit Ireland in a heartbeat– and England, Scotland, Wales, and the Orkney Islands. Maybe the Shetland Islands, too. Everything good about America is being destroyed by the Trump administration and Republicans.
Dublin’s funny. I was on foot in Dublin about ten years ago, trying to figure out how to get back to my cousin’s house. I like to walk European cities because there’s so much going on, and some of them are compact like Dublin. I saw a sedan at a red light, and being on vacation, I did something I wouldn’t normally do back in America or Japan. I approached the car with the open window on the passengers side (opposite America) and asked if they knew which way it is to Tenure (a neighborhood slightly to the west of the town center.) As I asked this, I noticed that all four guys inside were Garda or police officers in their uniforms in an unmarked car. In Chicago, I would’ve crumpled as in, “Holy shit, you just flagged down a tactical unit for directions!” But, I kept my smile friendly and touristy, and the passenger cop gave me good directions. I remembered what Bono said to David Letterman about all the cops and firefighters assembled for the 9/11 concert quite a few years ago, “Me and my bandmates looked out in that crowd, and all the cops and firemen looked like guys we went to school with.” That’s how the Dublin cops looked to me.
To quote my retired Scotland Yard Brother-in-Law who was a London police officer (like Ireland, still largely unarmed) taking on the IRA during the height of it’s bombing campaign (aka. going after cells of armed bomb makers):
“If you need a gun to do your job, you’re not doing it right.”
But then again, as we have seen the majority of America’s police forces still function like 19th century Social Order Enforcement/Property Protectors of the Wealthy than anything close to modern community police. AND this is an intentional decision by people outside of the precinct.
Dublin’s definitely on my list. Had I the money, I’d make a vacation out of it. In what seems like another lifetime ago, I used to be acquainted with people who worked in pubs there. Might have had a few free pints that way. But with time come lost connections. Would still love to visit and tour the rest of the country. Some of my ancestral roots and all that.
Same with Prague. Got a couple friends on business there now. The photos I’m looking at are amazing. Hell, just to see the Kafka monument in Prague would be worth it. If I could swing it, Pribor is about a 3 of 4 hour drive away from Prague. That is the birthplace of Sigmund Freud. Let’s just say I have a few bucket list items left. Well, I keep adding to it, but that’s another story.
Was in Iceland in the summer of 2016, most beautiful country I have visited. Was also during the amazing Euro soccer run the country was experiencing. As we sat at a friends house drinking and talking under the midnight sun, I assured them we would never elect Trump as President. We had a good a good laugh, but the laugh was on all of us.
Most beautiful city in my opinion is Krakow, Poland. (That’s the Polish spelling.) Liked it best in the early 90s when it was decrepit but still beautiful. Now it’s sort of like Disneyland. It looks perfect and has fancy trinket shops. In those days, the stores had things like toilet paper in the windows — which was really exciting to people because for many years EVERYTHING (even TP) was hard to get. It was like the shop owners were saying, “Look what we’ve got!!!”
During the years of restoration, shop owners had to decide how far back to restore to. The shops were so old, one could peel back to the 19th Century, 18th, 17th, 16th. I’ve been to Prague. No question that my preference is to hang out in Krakow.
As for Ireland, what I remember is how relaxed and friendly it is. Used to hitchhike in the countryside. It’s the only place I know where it was easy and safe to hitch. Was a great place to ride bicycles when the weather cooperated (alas, not often). And the pubs were like your living room — relaxed and comfortable. Once there, it was easy to meet people and the vibe was usually great. Like multiple dinner parties one could just walk in on. The food typically high quality and inexpensive and the beer truly special. (Nothing like an American bar, which is not generally comfortable and where one is most likely to meet drunks.)