Christmas again, and at Horseshoe Cottage we have been busy lately, with grandchildren to look after in addition to the usual fun and games, plus the demands of suddenly finding myself in the role of chairman of a local development coop once more. But we still have time to think of all you lovely people who have visited here in the last year, and of the woofers who have helped us, and to thank you all very much.

            By way of a little gift to you, the only thing I can think of offering is a little overview from the Gannetsway perspective of the Eurozone crisis we hear so much about, but of which the effects are still very largely masked and contained. I doubt if they will continue so very much longer. In spite of all the words about it that have already rained down on us, I will venture a very few more from an old fisherman that just might clarify things for some of you.

            It really ain’t that complicated. Any skipper will tell you that if you catch a lot of fish, the first thing you have to do is to make sure they are evenly stowed aboard. You may get away with a bad list or being down by the bow if the sea is calm, but when the storm comes, over and down you will go, and many a boat has sunk in this way. Well the introduction of the single currency in Europe did indeed yield a big catch, but it was never properly stowed. The ship is therefore now extremely unstable.

            Where is the skipper who will rectify this situation? Not alone is there none to be seen,  but the guys on deck seem to have been largely press-ganged while drunk, and still mostly haven’t even woken up to the fact that they are now all together in a ship that is in danger of sinking!

            The simple fact is that monetary union without fiscal union has created dangerous imbalances. We are also evidently going to have to prove the hard way that fiscal union will not work without political union, and political union will not work without a certain spiritual convergence. Obvious really, but such a fog of intellectual rubbish hangs over everything that these simple truths seem to have become all but unrecognisable.

            However, hope springs eternal, and Christmas comes around each year, just when it may seem that the sun has gone into an irremediable decline. Braving the danger of mixing my nautical metaphors, I offer a charming little story that Nick Lowry recounted in the latest Brandsma Review, which neatly illustrates how such miracles may come about. He had it from an elderly lady who, in her youth, had been friendly with Hilaire Belloc’s children.

'Once as a child she and the Bellocs were on a sailing trip with Hilaire and a couple of other adults when the yacht became stuck on a sand-bank. The adults had a confab, and Belloc said to the youngsters: 'My children, I want you to be very good and quiet and go below while we deal with this'. They did so, while a lengthy discussion continued on the deck, with much stamping about and hauling on ropes. Then one of the children noticed that the yacht's centre-board could be moved slightly. The children all gave it a good heave, and the yacht suddenly came unstuck and was re-floated. The adults on deck were convinced it was something they had done, and were highly pleased with themselves.'

            So where are we going to find such children?  How about having a go at being them ourselves! If the ordinary folk of our old continent woke up this Christmas morning, all deciding to open their hearts anew to the child Jesus and His mother, fixed our problems would be!

Happy Christmas to ye all!

Archive:

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October 2007 - 1
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May 2007 report
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West Cork Sustainable Fisheries Group Launch

Tuna Trip 2007
On launching Wavedancing - 19 April 2006

IWDG Cabo Verde Expedition - 11th March 2006

Just a reminder:-

http://www.fastnetline.com/special_offers.html

The ferry is a much better idea than flying, though not so good as calling up the Anna M if you happen to have the time! The odd trip to UK, France or Spain is very welcome, and I'm planning a trip to Scotland late May this year.