Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann

Dignitaries from Ireland and Northern Ireland

This past week in Derry/Londonderry has been, as coined by the locals, “Legenderry.”  For the first time in its 60+ year history, the Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann (music festival in Ireland) has been hosted by Northern Ireland.  There has been music in the streets, the pubs, the performance halls, and even a bit in the university dorms where I am staying.  According to news reports, over 300,000 people from all over the world have visited Derry during this week of The Fleadh (pronounced “flaw” or “flah”), including 20,000 musicians, many of them highly talented young persons who also came to compete for various musical honors.  (Note: Derry’s population is 108,000).

For myself, I have thoroughly enjoyed wandering the streets, absorbing the sights and sounds, attending various events, and engaging in numerous wonderful conversations with a variety of people, including: Derry locals; visitors from all over Northern Ireland; visiting Americans (many from St Louis); and numerous other citizens of the world.  I find it interesting that most of the people I have encountered here have heard of Oregon and many have even visited it.

Impromptu jam session at the City Hotel

My favorite conversation was with a delightful 16-year old young man named Ryan.  While we enjoyed the music of an impromptu jam session of violins, banjos, flutes, etc. in the City Hotel, we did our best to also carry on a conversation.  Being able to hear each other over the music was challenging, and yet, we happily succeeded in sharing information, ideas, and views on a number of topics, including education systems in Northern Ireland and the United States.

Ryan, a local Derry boy, has obviously thought a lot about the education structure that is currently helping him prepare for his future.  While he hasn’t yet made a firm decision on a career, he appreciates the clear structure and one-on-one counseling that the Northern Ireland system provides to all of its youth.  Ryan is also an avid recycler and is actively working to help Derry achieve a recycling level of 80% by 2020, as required by law.  He is highly confident the goal will be achieved.

Perhaps one of the most delightful and interesting parts of talking with Ryan occurred as I prepared to leave.  Throughout our hour and a half conversation, also sitting at the table were Ryan’s two younger brothers, his mother, his father, and another woman.  Because of the high volume of music, none of them had actually been included in our conversation nor had anyone been introduced.  And yet, when I got up to leave, they all waved goodbye and smiled at me as if I were family and had been visiting with all of them.  Needless to say, I smiled and waved back.  What a great experience!

The experience with Ryan and his family is pretty indicative of how most of my experiences have been.  People are friendly, talkative, and extremely helpful.  For instance, after traveling several hours (first by train, then by bus) to a town called Ballycastle, I found myself not sure of where to meet my ride to the Corrymeela Centre, a facility that focuses on peace and community building through dialogue.  While I wasn’t at all distressed, the bus driver who had dropped me at the end of his line was, and so he offered to drive me in his car up to Corrymeela.  Now this might seem odd to the readers of this blog, but I accepted his offer.  It’s hard to explain, but there was simply no sense of a threat. 

During the ride up to Corrymeela, the bus driver and I had a short chat.  I learned that he lived in a small town about eight miles from Ballycastle and that he was on his dinner break.  When I mentioned my studies in conflict and dispute resolution, he offered me his opinion on Northern Ireland: “There will never be peace because there will always be extremists (10%) who don’t want peace and will continue working to undermine it.”  I couldn’t have been prouder of myself when, instead of arguing with him or trying to persuade him to think otherwise, I simply asked him what he thought Northern Ireland needed for peace to happen.  He thought long and hard about it, and finally, tongue in cheek, he said with a laugh, “Get rid of everyone and restock the whole country.”  I laughed with him, but we both knew the answer wasn’t that simple.

While most people have been friendly, not everyone has been nice.  For instance, one night I called a taxi to take me to a restaurant that turned out to be fairly close and so I probably should have walked.  When I mentioned this to the driver (who had been bantered along with me during the short ride), he said: “That’s because you’re a fucking American.”  Now I’m not exactly sure what he meant by it and it wasn’t the first time he had used the phrase, “fucking American.”  But since he laughed each time he said it, I decided it would be friendliest, and safest, if I just laughed along with him.  And so I did.

On a different topic, and to close this entry, my biggest frustration has been the super crappy, unreliable wifi here at the university.  I have all these great photos and videos to share with you, but the connection keeps cutting out—sometimes as often as every three minutes.  I have restarted my computer so many times, I could scream.  And by the time the connection is back up again, and again, and again, I can’t remember where I was at or what I was attempting to upload.  I should be moving to a new location at the end of this week and hopefully the wifi there will be better.  Meanwhile, dear reader, please enjoy this text-only blog entry.

Note: Photos added 31Aug2013.