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Limerick (county) constituency tally Marriage Equality Referendum 2015

Thank you to the amazing volunteers on the YesEquality Limerick team who worked so hard to tally almost every box of votes!

This tally is also available as a .csv file, which can be opened in a spreadsheet.

Box % YES Turnout Yes No Spoilt EA
Roxborough NS 1 53% 442 233 203 6 Castleconnell (W)
Roxborough NS 2 57% 56 32 24 0 Castleconnell (W)
Ballybrown NS 1 56% 243 135 107 1 Adare (W)
Ballybrown NS 2 60% 299 180 118 1 Adare (W)
Ballybrown NS 3 52% 392 200 184 8 Adare (W)
Patrickswell NS 1 52% 293 150 138 5 Adare (W)
Patrickswell NS 2 56% 271 147 116 8 Adare (W)
Patrickswell NS 3 57% 211 119 90 2 Adare (W)
Killinure NS 59% 279 163 113 3 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Anglesborough NS 56% 306 170 136 0 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Ballylanders NS 1 60% 258 156 102 0 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Ballylanders NS 2 66% 156 103 53 0 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Galbally Comm Ctr 1 52% 237 122 112 3 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Galbally Comm Ctr 2 58% 266 142 104 20 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Ardpatrick Comm Ctr 48% 259 124 135 0 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Kilmallock Girls NS 1 46% 250 113 132 5 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Kilmallock Girls NS 2 52% 286 144 134 8 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Kilmallock Girls NS 3 50% 235 115 115 5 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Kilmallock Girls NS 4 52% 174 87 80 7 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Athlacca NS 53% 65 30 27 8 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Effin NS 1 55% 152 83 68 1 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Effin NS 2 55% 314 173 141 0 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Bilboa NS 57% 293 165 126 2 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Doon CBS 1 77% 195 150 44 1 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Doon CBS 2 55% 361 195 162 4 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Bruff NS 1 60% 358 213 144 1 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Bruff NS 2 61% 252 150 97 5 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Bruff NS 3 49% 284 139 142 3 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Bruree NS 1 58% 383 218 157 8 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Bruree NS 2 59% 395 232 160 3 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Martinstown NS 54% 182 96 81 5 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Knocklong NS 1 58% 419 240 177 2 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Knocklong NS 2 57% 254 142 105 7 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Caherline NS 60% 358 212 144 2 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Cloverfield NS 49% 214 104 108 2 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Caherconlish NS 1 66% 400 264 135 1 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Caherconlish NS 2 57% 344 195 146 3 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Herbertstown NS 56% 373 204 163 6 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Cappamore Comm Ctr 1 55% 340 175 142 23 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Cappamore Comm Ctr 2 53% 310 165 144 1 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Murroe NS 1 57% 419 237 181 1 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Murroe NS 2 57% 470 266 201 3 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Murroe NS 3 67% 419 279 140 0 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Knockadea NS 45% 84 38 46 0 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Glenroe Parish Hall 58% 222 116 83 23 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Dromin Comm Ctr 56% 263 145 115 3 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Glenbrohane NS 52% 170 88 81 1 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Knockea NS 59% 224 133 91 0 Cappamore-Kilmallock
P’green Comm Ctr 1 54% 323 169 146 8 Cappamore-Kilmallock
P’green Comm Ctr 2 0 0 0 0 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Hospital NS 1 45% 332 150 182 0 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Hospital NS 2 52% 266 136 125 5 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Kilbehenny NS 50% 216 108 106 2 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Kilfinane Pr Sch 1 64% 270 171 97 2 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Kilfinane Pr Sch 2 65% 262 170 91 1 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Ballyorgan NS 55% 139 72 60 7 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Kilteely NS 53% 268 140 125 3 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Knockainey NS 0 0 0 0 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Oola NS 1 51% 323 163 154 6 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Oola NS 2 50% 288 143 142 3 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Garrydoolis NS 46% 146 66 78 2 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Meanus Comm Ctr 55% 219 119 98 2 Adare-Rathkeale
Adare NS 1 59% 398 233 162 3 Adare-Rathkeale
Adare NS 2 58% 431 248 179 4 Adare-Rathkeale
Adare NS 3 58% 371 213 155 3 Adare-Rathkeale
Askeaton NS 1 56% 355 197 157 1 Adare-Rathkeale
Askeaton NS 2 54% 311 167 144 0 Adare-Rathkeale
Foynes NS 1 49% 272 131 139 2 Adare-Rathkeale
Foynes NS 2 51% 283 143 136 4 Adare-Rathkeale
Ballingarry NS 1 57% 162 92 70 0 Adare-Rathkeale
Ballingarry NS 2 52% 201 102 94 5 Adare-Rathkeale
Ballingarry NS 3 48% 207 97 104 6 Adare-Rathkeale
Rathkeale GNS 1 46% 331 150 177 4 Adare-Rathkeale
Rathkeale GNS 2 46% 246 113 131 2 Adare-Rathkeale
Rathkeale GNS 3 58% 222 125 92 5 Adare-Rathkeale
Coolcappa Comm Ctr 1 53% 256 133 120 3 Adare-Rathkeale
Coolcappa Comm Ctr 2 59% 281 165 116 0 Adare-Rathkeale
Caherelly NS 1 65% 380 248 132 0 Adare-Rathkeale
Caherelly NS 2 58% 475 275 199 1 Adare-Rathkeale
Caherelly NS 3 64% 169 99 56 14 Cappamore-Kilmallock
Kilfinny NS 49% 344 169 173 2 Adare-Rathkeale
Banogue NS 46% 170 76 91 3 Adare-Rathkeale
Kildimo NS 1 63% 413 259 152 2 Adare-Rathkeale
Kildimo NS 2 61% 362 218 142 2 Adare-Rathkeale
Ballysteen NS 49% 201 98 100 3 Adare-Rathkeale
Pallaskenry NS 1 58% 365 208 152 5 Adare-Rathkeale
Pallaskenry NS 2 59% 353 205 141 7 Adare-Rathkeale
Granagh NS 53% 211 111 100 0 Adare-Rathkeale
Croom NS 1 51% 216 101 97 18 Adare-Rathkeale
Croom NS 2 62% 220 135 82 3 Adare-Rathkeale
Croom NS 3 51% 331 168 163 0 Adare-Rathkeale
Croom NS 4 56% 126 71 55 0 Adare-Rathkeale
Croagh NS 1 54% 298 159 135 4 Adare-Rathkeale
Croagh NS 2 55% 324 165 133 26 Adare-Rathkeale
Kilcolman NS 55% 230 123 100 7 Adare-Rathkeale
Ballyhahill NS 57% 181 103 78 0 Adare-Rathkeale
Fedamore NS 1 60% 240 141 95 4 Adare-Rathkeale
Fedamore NS 2 51% 214 109 105 0 Adare-Rathkeale
Kilcornan NS 59% 428 247 173 8 Adare-Rathkeale
Crecora NS 51% 433 219 211 3 Adare-Rathkeale
Loghill NS 52% 173 85 79 9 Adare-Rathkeale
Cappagh (Nant) NS 53% 381 201 177 3 Adare-Rathkeale
Shanagolden NS 1 62% 166 102 63 1 Adare-Rathkeale
Shanagolden NS 2 50% 234 116 118 0 Adare-Rathkeale
Shanagolden NS 3 59% 198 116 81 1 Adare-Rathkeale
Ashford NS 51% 139 70 68 1 Newcastle
Raheenagh NS 46% 159 73 84 2 Newcastle
Ballyagran NS 53% 400 208 184 8 Newcastle
Kilmeedy NS 49% 262 126 132 4 Newcastle
Cloncagh Library 49% 293 139 147 7 Newcastle
Broadford Comm Ctr 1 49% 247 120 124 3 Newcastle
Broadford Comm Ctr 2 47% 262 122 138 2 Newcastle
Mahoonagh NS 1 50% 341 159 160 22 Newcastle
Mahoonagh NS 2 56% 225 125 98 2 Newcastle
Dromcollogher NS 43% 413 173 230 10 Newcastle
Feenagh NS 56% 297 165 132 0 Newcastle
Knockaderry Comm H 48% 263 124 134 5 Newcastle
Courtney BNS NCW 1 54% 386 207 178 1 Newcastle
Courtney BNS NCW 2 55% 323 174 145 4 Newcastle
Courtney BNS NCW 3 55% 343 187 156 0 Newcastle
Courtney BNS NCW 4 52% 224 104 96 24 Newcastle
Scoil Iosaf NCW 1 59% 343 199 139 5 Newcastle
Scoil Iosaf NCW 2 62% 310 191 115 4 Newcastle
Scoil Iosaf NCW 3 65% 327 211 114 2 Newcastle
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Marriage is about friendship

DSCF6718
There are 6 days to go until Ireland votes whether to allow same-sex marriage.

The Limerick branch of the YesEquality campaign have been out knocking on doors every weeknight since 9th April. I’ve probably made it out for just over a third of those nights. I am by no means the most prolific, many more have been out more often than I have.

DSCF6727We usually meet at 6pm, after a brief set of introductions and a run through talking points, we head out and knock on doors. Anybody new is warmly welcomed and paired up with someone who has canvassed before. For 2 hours we knock on doors around an estate in Limerick City. About a half of people won’t be in or won’t feel like coming to the door. For the other half we get to have a conversation.

DSCF6737That conversation will go a number of different ways but overwhelmingly it is respectful. If someone comes to the door, invariably we apologise for bothering them. Whether a voter indicates that they are voting yes, or voting no, or are undecided, we ask them if they have any questions or concerns. And at the end of the conversation we thank them for their time.

DSCF6687I have witnessed the incredible strength and dignity of my fellow canvassers as they knock, smile, and ask; night after night. Most people, whether they are voting yes or no, are absolutely lovely. A small proportion are not. But I’m proud to say that I’ve not heard of one canvasser losing their cool. Think of how you would feel to knock on a stranger’s door to ask them for something that you desperately needed, only for them to call you abnormal, or unnatural. Even though this doesn’t happen very often, the fact that it always gets answered with ‘well sorry to bother you and thanks for taking the time to talk to me’ fills me with awe at my fellow canvassers strength and dignity.

DSCF6740I’m a little shy, and even though I have canvassed before as a member of the Green Party, it’s not something that comes naturally to me. I think most of my fellow canvassers are the same: the organisation of this campaign has been remarkably free of ego, we’re not the type of people who are naturally inclined to shout from the rooftops, but we’re at your door because we want to ask, as respectfully as possible, for your vote.

IMG_2051There are times in your life when you make a lot of friends: when you start school or college, your work, or maybe a sport or hobby that you like to do with others. I’m old enough to have finished my education, I run a very small company, and most of my hobbies are fairly solitary, so I never thought that I would have one of those moments where I would make a lot of friends.
DSCF6715
But I think and hope that I have. I have met so many absolutely wonderful people over the past 6 weeks. They have reminded me that marriage is not just about love for your spouse, but about the friends beside you who enrich and support that relationship.

As I write this I am tired and sunburnt, my house is a mess, my feet have blisters and I haven’t seen my wife properly in a month (I am not unique – the irony of a marriage referendum campaign putting extreme stress on so many marriages and hoped-for-marriages is not lost on any of us…). But I think of my new friends, and I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to meet such a wonderful set of people.DSCF6657

This referendum is going to be very close. Despite what the polls say, I’ve knocked on enough doors to realise that nothing can be taken for granted.

The enemy of equality is not prejudice. The enemy of equality is complacency.

Please vote yes.DSCF6711

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The right to marry

Irish voters will be asked on May 22nd 2015 if they want to allow equal access to marriage for all its citizens.

Many people are complacent that this referendum will pass with a huge majority.

I think they’re wrong.

A low turnout, coupled with the fact that people who are against marriage equality are very likely to vote, would result in a win for the No side.

Yes Equality Limerick canvassers
And what a lovely bunch of canvassers we were

With that in mind, I joined the first door-to-door canvass of the Limerick Yes Equality campaign this evening.

Research shows that the primary thing that changes voters minds is being canvassed.

The weather was glorious, we had a lovely group of people canvassing, and our message that a Yes vote couldn’t be taken for granted was getting a positive reception with people.

Four of us had canvassing experience (two of us were from the Green Party, one from Labour, and one who had canvassed for an Independent candidate), and so we paired off with people who were knocking on doors for the very first time.

Normally I wouldn’t be conscious of peoples’ sexual orientation, but this time it was different.  It was different because those of us who were straight were simply doing some campaigning on a political issue.

The people in our group who are gay were asking people for permission to have the right to get married.

That seems wrong to me.  They shouldn’t have to ask.  Those of us that already have the right to marry should be working as hard as we can to ensure our gay friends, brothers and sisters have the same right.

So even if you think the marriage equality referendum doesn’t directly affect you, please think about joining your local canvassing team for the Yes Equality campaign. If you’re in Limerick, a quick email to yesequalitylimerick@gmail.com will get a quick response.  If you live elsewhere in Ireland, you can find your local group at https://www.yesequality.ie/yes-equality-map/

The day I got married was the happiest day of my life.  I passionately believe in marriage, and being married has been a consistent and powerful force for good in my life.

Those of us who have the right to get married need to step up to the plate and go door to door on behalf of those who don’t have that right.

 

 

 

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Reinventing Limerick, Part 1

Limerick, that small city in the west of Ireland that I call home, has had somewhat of a challenging time of late.

Limerick City has always had an unemployment problem. But it’s worth restating how bad that problem is since the economic crisis hit. The last census showed Limerick City to have the highest unemployment rate (of any local authority area) in the country, at 27% (national average was 19%). The only two electoral divisions in the country where more than half the working-age population are unemployed are both in Limerick. The Central Statistics Office defines an unemployment blackspot as an area with over 35% unemployment. Six out of the seven worst unemployment blackspots in the country are in Limerick. Just under half (18 out of 36) of our electoral divisions are considered unemployment blackspots, and we have more than in Dublin City.

I could go on for paragraphs. The numbers for educational attainment and a host of other socio-economic indicators are equally dismal. Our city is dying.  Limerick is in crisis.  A crisis that is exacerbated by poor planning leading to a suburban doughnut around the city, a generally poor quality (with some honourable exceptions) of public representative (even by the somewhat dismal standards of Irish local councillors), an even poorer quality of local governmental and quasi-governmental agencies, each overlapping in remit with at least five other agencies, and a population that has, not unreasonably, given up a little hope of things being a bit better.

Of course Official Ireland’s answer to a crisis is to publish a long report, hold a snazzy launch, and hope nobody reads the thing, because while it is very important To Be Seen Doing Something, it is equally important Not To Offend Anyone By Doing Something Which Might Actually Make A Difference.  The latest example of this was the 170-page Limerick 2030: An Economic and Spatial Plan for Limerick back in June 2013.

Sadly I’m one of those nerds who actually read the whole thing, and even put in a brief submission (although by the deadline for submissions, the plan had almost completely disappeared from view on the City Council website, which should have told me all I needed to know about how seriously the Council takes the views of its citizens).  Brian Leddin posted his (much more eloquent) submission on his website so I thought I’d do the same below.

This article is a Part 1 because I’ve been thinking over the last few months about how things could be better in Limerick. I think it’s important that we don’t leave the future of our city in the hands (and half-baked ideas) of anonymous overpaid consultants.  I came across Richard Florida‘s writings some years ago and I remember that they had a certain resonance for Limerick, luckily a 20th anniversary edition of his landmark (and not uncontroversial) work Rise of the Creative Class has just been released so I’ve got a copy and plan on adding a follow on post in a few weeks to add my own humble thoughts about how Limerick can overcome its crisis and look to 2030 with confidence.

A few brief comments on the Economic and Spatial Plan for Limerick: (submitted to Limerick County Council 12th July 2013):

The whole document needs proof-reading – there are a number of typos and mistakes throughout which undermine the strategy – e.g. it’s the Logistics sector, not the Logistic sector (p 17), the M20 will go to Cork, not Tralee (and the M21 will go to Tralee, not Cork!) (p28).

More serious than that, the document suffers from a lack of structure and flow which make it difficult to navigate and digest. I appreciate that there is a lot to cover in this Strategy, and multiple revisions and authors can militate against coherency. The Strategy jumps all over the place, there is excessive verbiage in some areas, the same points are repeated throughout the text, and the Strategy could greatly benefit from a comprehensive rewrite. The success or failure of this document will depend in part on the degree to which it is adopted by the key stakeholders involved, and a clear, structured and legible Strategy can only help to achieve this aim.

Many of the issues addressed in the strategy have been successfully (and not-so-successfully) tackled in other small European cities. It is a bit frustrating to see that the only comparators are to cities that are mostly to a completely different scale than Limerick, e.g. Oslo (pop 570k), London pop 8m) and New York (pop 8m). There was a real opportunity to examine the spatial and economic strategies of similar-sized small cities, like Koblenz (pop 106k), Wurzburg (pop 133k), Esbjerg (pop 115k), Quimper (pop 63k), Västerås (pop 110k) and Shrewsbury (pop 70k). All of these cities are relevant to Limerick not only in terms of their population, but other socio-economic and geographical factors as well. What international comparators exist in the Strategy seem to arise from whatever city breaks the authors have been on in the last few years, rather than any desire to benchmark and learn from international experience. And it is disappointing that none of the lessons from ‘research visits’ taken abroad by council officials (and funded from the public purse) in the last few years made its way into the Strategy.

Some of the sections dealing with traffic and roads are a little odd. The Strategy deals with the pedestrianisation of O’Connell Street in little over a sentence, giving no reasons why the street should not be pedestrianised. There’s a strident assertion that Henry Street should be two-way, without any evidence at how this would help traffic management or pedestrian permeability.

It’s a shame that the economic cultural and artistic assets of the city are not explored more. The proposed Theatre Royal development gets only a brief mention, and there’s hardly any mention of the Creative Limerick project and no mention of how it could be extended.

There is no evidence of any commitment to good practice in public consultation. This is a good document, but it could be a great document through engaging with the people of Limerick. Public consultation is an area that Limerick City Council has historically been bad at, and it would be good to see some commitments in this area.

Finally, I am no means a marketer, but the marketing plan listed in the appendix is pretty terrible and needs a complete rewrite. Surely we have more innovative ways of communicating our message than spending tens of thousands of euro on signage and paying journalists to write nice things about us.

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Getting married?

I’m going to a party tonight.

Friends of ours in Limerick are having a party tonight. A young couple, just about to buy their own house. They are successful in their careers, are active in helping to make Limerick a better place. My wife and I are lucky to be friends with them. We were delighted when they came back from holiday recently and announced they were engaged. There’s not much to be cheerful about these days, but two fantastic people looking to commit their lives to each other is surely something to be celebrated.

Except they can’t.

Two people in love, people of integrity, intelligence and a deep-rooted commitment to making their communities better. Two people in love looking to get married.

Except they can’t.

They can’t because we as a society seem to believe because they are of the same gender, they are less equal than heterosexual couples and can’t get married.

I’m a bit ashamed that I live in a society where some couples are less equal than me and my wife. And it’s about time we changed that.

I’ve read a lot of arguments on why we should continue to discriminate against gay couples. I know that some religious people have a difficulty with gay marriage, but I would respectfully suggest that religious beliefs, even when they are in a majority, are not a licence to discriminate against our fellow citizens.

There are two other arguments that I wanted to touch on however, and they both centre around children.

The first is that marriage is primarily about children, therefore gay people shouldn’t be allowed to get married. This argument pushes my buttons a bit because I am in a marriage where we cannot have children, and I would be extremely upset if anyone insinuated that my marriage was in any way less valid than my friends’ just because we don’t have kids. The love I have for my wife and my commitment to my marriage is no less strong because we can’t have kids, and I think it’s faintly ridiculous to view marriage purely in terms of reproduction.

The second is that kids suffer if they don’t have a mummy and a daddy. It’s true that kids can be cruel to each other some times. And some kids, no doubt picking up on the intolerance of their parents, may tease kids whose circumstances are that little bit different to their own. I remember being about six or seven and having stones thrown at me on the way home from school with the words “Proddy” followed by epithets that seven year-olds probably shouldn’t have been using. But the concept that we might stop members of the Church of Ireland, like my parents, from getting married because of the possible reaction from some County Limerick yokels is surely ridiculous. And it’s a cheap trick to use children as an argument to promote intolerance.

It’s no longer conscionable that we continue to discriminate against gay couples. The restriction of marriage to heterosexual couples is an embarrassing anachronism. I hope that my friends, and gay couples around the country, do not have to wait for too much longer before they are allowed to get married.

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On Foreigners and Rubbish

Picking up rubbish today on the canal bank
Picking up rubbish today on the canal bank

Today was a glorious February day with searing sunshine, and I spent it picking up rubbish with friends.

And it was brilliant.

We joined the indefatigable Limerick Riverpath Volunteers who organised a Spring Clean of the canal banks between the city and the University of Limerick.  It’s a lovely spot, made even more beautiful by the blinding February sunshine.  It was surprisingly fun spending three hours picking up rubbish, there was great camaraderie and there is something satisfying about doing something physical with tangible results

The canal joins the City with the University 4km away and the path is popular with walkers, joggers and cyclists.  You can read an account of today’s cleanup on the Limerick Riverpath Volunteers website (including a description of some of the random things we found!), and Brian Leddin has an interesting post from one of last year’s cleanups on what a beautiful and useful amenity the Park Canal is. But what struck me today wasn’t the rubbish, but the people.

Some of the rubbish we collected
Some of the rubbish we collected

There were over 30 people at today’s cleanup.  On the face of it we were perfectly reflective of Irish society: some pensioners, families with kids, students, and all ages in between.  But there was one difference: according to the 2011 census in Limerick City, less than 14% of the population have a nationality other than Irish.  Yet by my reckoning, around half of the volunteers today were from outside Ireland.

The symbolism is stark – ‘foreigners’ turning out to collect our soiled nappies, cider cans and all the other detritus that Irish people like to throw away on our nature sites.

It’s a powerful slap in the face to the those who complain about people from outside Ireland who choose to come and live here.  My friend Carla got chatting to a lovely Romanian student, here on an Erasmus programme studying at the University of Limerick.  It later turned out she had only been here a few days.  When asked had she done this sort of thing before, she said:

The canal after we had finished!

Not here but I have joined cleanups back home.  They weren’t as bad as this though.

I am humbled that people who aren’t Irish would volunteer their Sunday to clean up our mess.  It’s a reminder of how much our country has been enriched by ‘foreigners’ who have come to settle here.  It’s maybe not surprising that they’re making a disproportionately positive impact on our society, but it is easily forgotten.  I hope we never forget how lucky we are to have them here.

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Moyross, Education, and changing the debate

Every Tuesday evening I volunteer with the St. Vincent de Paul, giving leaving certificate Maths grinds to secondary school students in Moyross, Limerick.  It’s been ten years since I last taught in a classroom setting and it’s a nice reminder of the buzz you get when teaching, getting to witness that ‘aha’ moment when one of the students grasps a concept.

Corpus Christi primary school in Moyross, taken last week as I was going in to give my maths grind
Corpus Christi primary school in Moyross, taken last week as I was going in to give my maths grind

Moyross is an area known to many Irish people as one of the most disadvantaged areas in Ireland and the statistics bear this out: according to the Census 2011 Small Area data, the area around Corpus Christi primary school where I go to give the grinds has well over 50% unemployment, nearly 80% of families have only one parent, and less than 5% of adults have a third level eduction [1].  Yet despite the fact that many people from Limerick would never venture this direction it’s actually quite a pleasant place to stroll through: one of the few places you would ever see kids kicking a ball around on the street for example.

Teaching for two hours a week in Moyross isn’t going to drastically change the education landscape, granted, but for me it’s an important contribution.  The culture of ‘grinds’ is well-embedded in the Irish education system, and it’s almost compulsory to get some form of extra tuition to help you through your leaving cert.  This works well for kids who have parents wealthy enough to pay for it (and, anecdotally, many working teachers seem happy to accept payment in cash for this work without bothering the taxman), but for kids who don’t have access to wealthy parents, it puts them at an immediate disadvantage.  I used to rent a house in Dublin where over 75% of my neighbours had a third level education: again the equivalent statistic for the area around the primary school where I teach is less than 5%.  It’s sad to think that our system might be serving to maintain or even widen that gap, rather than close it.

It would be naive to assume that there are easy solutions here, but it’s always struck me that we’ve never managed to have a good discussion about education in this country.  We spend a lot of time talking about inputs (e.g. teacher’s salaries, class sizes and the size of the education budget), but little time thinking about educational outputs and outcomes.  Focusing on our standardised test results in literacy, numeracy and science might be a start.  The 2009 OECD PISA report (results of a standardised test of 15 year-olds across 65 countries) ranks Ireland 21st out of 65 for reading, 32 out of 65 for maths, and 20 out of 65 for science (data taken from this PDF report, from the table on page 15).  Perhaps not extremely shabby, but not exactly wonderful either, especially for a small society hoping to get out of a recession through reaping the benefits of the knowledge economy.

One of our problems is that the debate about education in Ireland is mostly about the producers (i.e. the teachers) rather than the consumers (i.e. the students).  Not that I’m trying to apply some third-rate business thinking to our education system, it’s just that when most of the discussion about education comes from teacher’s unions, who for good reason are concerned primarily about their members’ pay and conditions, we end up missing the point a bit. I don’t have an irrational hatred for the teaching profession or their trade unions – for the record I think the teaching unions do a great job in advocating for their members (indeed, their professional approach makes me think that we’re not making the best of the organising ability of some of our best teachers…), I just think we as a society need to shift the debate a bit on to how we can improve educational outcomes for all our children, but particularly those who live in the country’s most disadvantaged areas.

When I was in first year in college, I shared with an American, Tim, who is now president of TNTP, an American non-profit which focuses on working “with schools, districts and states to provide excellent teachers to the students who need them most and advance policies and practices that ensure effective teaching in every classroom”.  I’d love to see a similar organisation in Ireland, advocating for more effective teaching, including better teacher evaluation systems.  Another innovation across the water that I’d love to see in Ireland is Teach for America, a programme which recruits graduates (mostly from the top Ivy League schools – competition is fierce to get in) to teach for two years in inner-city schools.

I did supply teaching for a few months in Ireland before I headed off to Ghana to do volunteer work for two years – I loved the teaching but it was the atmosphere in the staff room which put me off any notions I had of training to be a teacher when I returned from Africa.  It wasn’t just that I was the only one with a lesson plan and a scheme of work, but the pervasive atmosphere of cynicism and unprofessionalism put me off.  My heart goes out to committed teachers who have to put up with that every day.

The kids that I teach every week in Moyross are great, they’re eager, intelligent, funny, and ambitious for their future.  Teaching them makes me optimistic about the future.  I only hope we can give them the education system they deserve to fulfil their potential.

[1] – see http://maps.pobal.ie – you’ll need a Silverlight plugin and a few hours to waste – really this is nerdvana for stats-minded political people…

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GetThere.ie – finally a good intermodal journey planner for Ireland

Notes on planning a trip between Limerick and Kilkenny
My laborious notes trying to plan a public transport trip *before* I found the excellent GetThere.ie

It’s always been a challenge to try and plan public transport journeys in Ireland that don’t begin or end in the centre of Dublin.  Irish Rail and Bus Eireann have their own journey planners, but they don’t integrate together with each other, never mind with some of the excellent new private coach operators who are taking advantage of the new motorway network to offer quick and comfortable direct services.

Enter GetThere.ie – a proper public transport journey planner for Ireland.  You can enter your origin and destination, and the site will spit out all your available options.  The site is very clever at integrating between different services, so for example a search from Kilkenny to Limerick will offer you the option of taking Dublin Coach to Kildare Village, and then taking Irish Rail to Kilkenny.

What’s more, the site has an integrated carsharing facility – you can request or offer a car share, and it shows up immediately in the search results.

The guy behind it is very responsive and responded very quickly to a comment I made on the site. I love the fact that something so useful and complex has been developed by one guy plugging away with (presumably) a shoestring budget. Although presumably his job could have been a lot easier if the National Transport Agency mandated that operators share their timetables in an open format. Knowing the NTA they’ll probably drop a few million on a competing website which won’t be nearly as good.

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