Guth & Tuairim, Meitheamh 1981

TORY The forgotten isle Ar leaniiint 6 1 n mh f seo caite 6 When we are dealing with someting as spiritual as the extension of the Kingdom of God on earth, politicians cannot be asked to give what they have before they have given what they are. Giving is a consequence of being. When the heart is given to the Lord it is easier to extend the hand; but it is very hard to open the hand with a gift when the heart is closed. If the heart-gift to the Sacred 1-ieart is sincere, the hand-gift will follow. · Generosity follows spirituality. Giving follows grace, as the bride follows the bridesmaids. Hence the problem is not to get politicians to give: it is to get politicians to consecrate themselves to God. If they don't appreciate the wealth of culture and tradition and christianity that is contained in Tory. then they will show no interest. And showing no interest they will do nothing. And doing nothing they will find new reasons for doing nothing and so continue with that policy. We leave the "give" campaigns to the secular and material world where the giving is first. We want to spiritualize the politicians, especially the comfortable and fur-coated ones: then they will give. Will a child give himself to a stranger whom he does not love? Not even a dog will JO to one he does not know, but he will go to his master because he loves him. We cannot be exp· cted to sacrifice for the cause of Christ o n Tory until we fi rst love Him who died for Tory. Th( problem lies fair and square with the politicians who apparently have a man-size job on the·.' hands, themselves. hide, respect, strength - this is what Tory has to offer. That , together with action from the pol.ticians must be a good formula for success. This pride and respect was nowhere more ~ exemplified than in the recent upsurge of interest in the production of Drama on the Island. g. Even official cynicism didn't abort this movement. When Roinn na Gaeltachta were asked for ad1ice and help in developing this cultural interest- they were asked for £.100 to defray the cost ] of converting a store into a makeshift theatre. The letter wasn't even acknowledged. But ~ Aisteoiri Thorai were not to be daunted. With nothing more than a red-hot conviction that this <:! was the way, they produced their first drama, a translation of the French comedy called An Ql Cruiteachain, the Hunchback. '0 They played to full houses, so obviously a nerve was touched . Even competition from the ::J T.V. couldn't dampen this new-found enthusiasm. And so, Aisteoiri Thorai was born. The spill- ..a over brought the children on to the stage with their own productions, and now they are all agog. 41 This community effort saw the children and the adults working for the commongood. The men cleaned out a filthy store where oil-drums and nets were stored and mended, with no glass in the ~ windows and no electricity. In one day this was all changed including the installation of ,_, electricity and a gleaming clean theatre with a stage and props and curtains and benches from the Church, all going to make up a makeshift theatre. No way does this indicate laziness or lack of purpose or interest. But instead given half a chance things can happen on Tory. And what is amazing, this was not costly. Some panes of glass, curtains and electrical appliances didn't cost the earth. And now after so many years of utter neglect it wouldn't be that costly for the authorities to put Tory on a firm economic basis. That' s not the monumental problem, the cost. The big problem for the authorities is to reach a conviction themselves that Tory is unique. That even now in 1981 it offers to the country and the world a way of life that is not to be found anywhere else in Ireland to-day. The Irish way of life here is seen to be more alive and much better than it is in any other Gaeltacht area. This is the way it was right through the country at one time. The old customs are still cherished by ihe people and the ancient sayings are still on their lips. " Fear leath-b6, asal, agus a chuid pn1iti, or, half a cow's grass, 'il donkey and some potatoes." This being the minimum a man needs to survive. And from young and old alike there is still the remarkable cead mile fililte, the note of hospitality that was and still is the hall-mark of the Island. When Pope John Paul 11 said his first words in Irish on Irish soil, "moladh go deo le Dia", he was underlining what the media chose to underscore on that famous visit. The media at the time unfortunately seized upon the wrong headlines, stop the violence and so on, and chose to ignore the Pope's positive message when he spoke to those millions all over the world, moladh go deo le Dia. By speaking Irish he was saluting the rich tradition that enshrined the faith of the country. He wanted to identify himself as closely as possible with this rich faith of the Irish people. He spoke Irish and in speaking Irish he identified himself with the country, the nation and with all the families of Ireland. By his own life and example he showed us what we >iwuld be aiming at and doing. He was merely saying what he believed in. That the Irish language enshrined a way of life that was priceless, like his native Polish which stood for everything he held dear. And throughout his life he kept that idea alive himself by organising clandestine Drama groups, when his country was oppressed, and wiped off the map of Europe. It was the Polish language that kept the national conscio usness and faith alive. To ry stands for all tilts and more. Ncl! :tlune has it pride and respect but it obviuusly has strength. T o choke it thrclugh economic pre" ttre> or to ignore it ami so let it slowly disintegrate, wou ld be a disa.ster for tile ccHitltry. So, we are o bviously not j ust talking abo ut plans and roads anJ pcl! ltc>ks and smel ly sewage, abo ut breakwaters and boats. We are talking hne about somct htng Vel y prccicHI>. What pt ice is put o n the real Irish way of life. O r does it matter. One day a ruostel wcnt over to an nstlttch fat m and gathered up a big big ostritd t egg, lkw back into the he Pilei y, ,·rowed and gat hn ed all 71 -rl ..., "' s 0 0 1'-4 ..a "' H the hem. The rooster put tl•c rJ>tritch egg in the midst of all the l1cns a nd addrcs;cd them >a) tng, " This 1s to let you know what is going o n in other barnyards." lt ts fitting that we 111ake cornpa1tson between what the authorities here are doi ng and what thc·y are doing i11 utlter foretgn countries, for islands as bad or worse than Tnry. Jlcstur is a little islattJ in the l·aroes. it Ql only has sixty in habi tants . T hey arc barely able to eke o ut an existence 11ith a little fa rmiug and a 'c:J litt le fishing - j ust like Tory. llut this is where the contparisott >lllp.s. l'hc) have themselves ~ built a line indoor swimmingpool in conncCiion with an assembly bui ldi ng. The swi mm ingpool ~ is 17 x 6 metres. T he 55 k\11' ITii ll i>meall! to deliver cun cnt fur heating the v.atcr in the puul , the meeting hall, the school and also a house for drying >alt eJ codfish. :J'hey are n<ll .saying what the Department of Energy is .sayi ng: You have such an cmbarrasing a mount of wind o n J'ory there \ rl are bound to be snags. Su, wait, we don' t know yet what all the snags arc wit h those windmi lls. ~<g Better wai t and sec. No, o n llcstur they h;n ·c gone >traight ahead a nd heated their swittllniug- .g pool with electricity generated fro nt a windm ill. T hey arc nut thinking about evacuati ng the 2 island. Apparently the Government secs fit to act with courage a nd determinat ion and the i; land 0 ~ has only sixty inhabitants. The scale elf values is wrong somewhere. When an Island like r ory can be neglected for so lo ng by so many different administration, , it is titne to call a halt. oJ Not so long ago the English artist. Derek Hill, a great friend of To ry, was painting a scene on ~~ the Island . O ne of the Isla nders watching with interest said , " That's a fine picture, but I could jg do it better than that. " "Fine" said Derek, " I'm sure you could " . And so was born a wo nderful partnership that was to enrich life on the Island by producing a school of Art. These Island gj painters have exhibited here and abroad . Given half a chance, and a bit of encouragement Tory '8 has produced in modern times something which is unique in any Gaeltacht area, a School of Art. ~ Carl-Otto Schander, a Swedish artist and journalist and another g6od friend of T ory, went r:l along personally to Sligo with a group from Cornhar Chumann Thorai Teoranta, including o Jimmie, Mhaire, Bhillie and Patsy Dan to interview the Minister for the Gaeltacht at that time, 13 Mr Denis Gallagher, T .D. about the deplo rable state of Tory. As a result of this meeting new .. ~ generators for the electricity netwo rk were installed. And so the electricity network was saved (Ar l eam'li nt ar lth . 7 ) MONEY In those days, there was only one thing to do with money: Save it Well, the Son did exactly as his Father had advised and put the $5000 in a bank! Then, 40 years later, on HIS Son's 18th birthday: I Well, the Son obeyed his Father's wishes and put the $13,000 in the bank. Then, 26 years later, the Son told the story to HIS Son and gave him the money, now grown to $20,000... Here, Son, and there's a lesson in thrift you can learn from that original $5000! Do you know what $20,000 can buy today? ·aut if your Grandpa had bought a Stutz Bearcat instead of putting that $5000 in the bank, what would you have now . . . ? l·:r Fat Ward,Keadue ,Burtonport Champion Draught s pl ayer of the Rossea.