A decade of home thoughts from away

This article marks ten years of writing for this newspaper, with my first piece being published on November 23rd, 2015. It was published a little over six months before the Brexit vote, and it was all about the hassle that a UK exit from the EU would cause us if it happened. Well, I got that one right anyway.

Over the decade, the theme for the column has been ‘home thoughts from away’. It was chosen to allow discussion of all sorts of local, national and international issues, but written with the perspective and from the point of view of someone whose heart is always in Mayo, even if his body most often isn’t.

Since that first article, I have written well north of 500 articles more. That is a lot of words and I wondered whether there would be clear patterns. But looking back on it, the topics covered can be categorised pretty clearly.

First, I have written a lot about the county and its joys and its beauties. Whether that be its islands, its high and remote places, its dramatic settings, its individual towns and villages, or about the stories and the people who make it what it is, Mayo itself has always been close to my heart, and my pen (well, laptop). Those pieces have sometimes been wistful, sometimes perhaps even a little nostalgic, but I hope they have always reflected both a sense of the reality and a regard for the place that is always home.

There have been lots of pieces about politics, where I have tried to make the topics relevant and accessible. Over ten years a lot has happened – could I have imagined in 2015 that we were headed for a global pandemic? – and there have been many individual issues explored from week to week. But looking back two common trends have recurred again and again, reflecting aspects of our times as the 21st century went from its teens to its twenties.

The first is the rise of nationalism – both around the world and here at home. Brexit was the subject of my first article and that was of course driven by English nationalism. Ten years on, I found myself writing recently about how our views about Irish unity have become much more nationalistic in recent years.

My reflections on all that come from being wary of the nationalistic approach that sees the world through the notion that my tribe is always right, and your tribe is always wrong. That way of thinking has been rising rapidly over the past 10 years – abroad and here at home. It seems to me that nothing but trouble comes from that way of looking at the world. The next 10 years will tell us just how much.

The second main political theme that I have written about over the past ten years has been, oddly enough, shaped around a tax. I believe that the enormous rise in corporation tax receipts has impacted politics and life here these past ten years much more than any other factor.

Over the past ten years, that enormous ball of money, left here by so small a number of companies that you could count them on the fingers of one hand, has shaped the way we think, the way we discuss issues, and the way we make decisions. It has contributed significantly to the enormous overheating of our economy and the constantly discussed pressures arising. It both creates and explains much of what happens in our politics. The actions of individual political actors are of little significance compared to it. One turn of that wheel the wrong way and our entire political and social system would be turned on its head. Let’s hope we avoid that over the next ten years.

Relatedly, I have also written a lot about history. Any chance to review a good book has formed many a piece. My editor loves his history, but I imagine that sometimes I have tried even his patience on this: my three-part series on the history of the Vietnam War being only the most obvious example.

Alongside the interest in history and how it plays out today has been a consistent focus on the future. A favourite and regular theme has been that of young people looking to what lies ahead of them. No column which is about home thoughts from away, and which is west of Ireland based, could miss that one. If it is a recurring theme, it is only because it is the never ending story of life around here.

When I was one of those young people, I well remember the then candidate for President, Mary McAleese, talking about her theme of ‘Building Bridges’. She explained her theme as being that we could link the dynamic future Ireland that was coming with all the best parts of the Ireland that was behind us. Inspired by her example, this column has tried to do a little of that too.

It is with an eye on the future and the young people who will make it that I have always approached – and will continue to approach – my considerations on following the Mayo team. What didn’t happen over these ten years hardly needs repeating, but what does is that it was a noble and heroic quest, led by people who you would want in the last ditch with you. I was proud of my piece written before the victory of the U21s in the All-Ireland Final of 2016. I believe I found the right words after it did not happen in 2017, but as I said to the editor at the time, it was the piece I did not want to write. I hope over the next few years to write the one I do.

All throughout, the future of the West, and what it needs to flourish and thrive has come up again and again. My consistent approach – which I hope has been presented gently – is to encourage us to talk up the place rather than bemoan its problems, to take action rather than take umbrage. In a world where criticism is all too easy found, the column has tried to encourage people to look for solutions and find ways to make them happen. It has definitely praised those who do. The pieces I am most proud of are those talking to a series of leaders in different fields about how we build a better West.

Over the ten years, I have learned a lot. It has been fun to meet people who say to me ‘I read your piece and I agree with you… most of the time.’ Who knows what the next ten years will bring, but home thoughts from away will continue to be my theme, on these pages and in every other way.