Arcadia Ireland

Today I finally had an opportunity to chat with one of our Dublin Parliamentary students Amanda Holbrook. She has been interning with a Senator the past few weeks but has been keeping an eye on the recent elections. It would have been hard to miss all the talk, the posters, the tension and the debates whilst in the Dáil (Irish Parliament) each day. For the past month there have been posters with faces and promises and slogans like "Lets keep this recovery going" all in an attempt to seduce the Irish people and win seats in the Irish Parliament. 

 One of my first questions to Amanda was about the general mood in the Dáil right now. She feels with the loss of seats for many of the hopefuls that in general the mood seemed to be quite bleak. She is also gaining an appreciation of the uncertainty felt by her peers as they await updates on who their new TD will be. There is perhaps an awareness among the group of students that the world of politics and government often brings with it a high level of uncertainty. Despite all the promises made during times of campaigning, things can change. I find myself aware once more of how interesting a time this is for our current students to be here in Ireland.

 I was interested to hear Amanda’s take on the differences between Irish and American elections. One of the first things she commented on was how personable those running for their seats were in Ireland. Many of the other Dublin Parliamentary students went out canvassing and were faced with the sometimes difficult challenge of having a door closed in their faces! Overall though there is now an awareness that a person running for a seat probably knows many of the locals in his constituency. He may even know them by first name. His son or daughter may have gone to school with their son or daughter! Perhaps one could say that there is a less of a status gap between those in politics and those normal every day people who may not even have a job! This reminded me so much of how unimportant status might be in Ireland compared to places like the U.S.  Amanda commented on the fact that one of the students had been in the company of our current Prime Minister Enda Kenny. They chatted a little and then he (not she) suggested he take a selfie with her! Now would that really happen in the U.S? Check out the photo above with another of our student’s Emily McGann (thanks for sharing Emily!). One photo is of Enda Kenny and the student and the other is of herself and her senator along with the Prime Minister. We also have Sarah Meiners another of our Parliamentary Internship students who interned with Lucinda Creighton who was running Renua as an independent. 

 Amanda followed the election results through the Irish Times but also absorbed some of the election buzz from people she chatted with around Dublin. She said that Irish parties and candidates running seemed to be a little more genuine than back home. It wasn’t just about the winning of the seat, but about their passion. I’m not sure that every Irish person would agree with that but it sounds like a compliment so we will take it on board! We often say to students that in most parts of Irish culture the competitiveness isn’t always the main thing – it is often the participation. Maybe this was another example.

It is more of a challenge to remain anonymous in this small country and we tend to be less open about ourselves; who we are, where we grew up, what our families do and who we know. Amanda’s observation is that in American political campaigns the candidates are more vulnerable because of the level of knowledge known by the public about their lives and their identity. She commented on the social media influence on this.  I reminded Amanda how a technique of the Irish is to often answer a question with a question (our way of keeping that little bit of ourselves to ourselves).  We are genuinely interested in whats going on in the United States and we don't hide it. Amanda noticed this too that in all of the Irish election talk here people were very curious to know how the American presidential election was going. The people she spoke with were less interested in talking about Fianna Fáil or Finn Gael or Sinn Fein or the Independents and more interested in hearing what Donald Trump was up to these days! She found that to be both interesting and amusing. 

 In all of this it seems to me that it has created a wonderful opportunity for this student to reflect on the way things are back home compared to the way things are here. It isn't just about going in and carrying out the sometimes mundane and other times more interesting tasks of an internship. It is about knowing that you are sitting in an environment where there is opportunity to learn about the way things are done and how people function. The differences mentioned above highlight not just some of the student's observations of the Irish elections but also of its people and the culture. Isn't that what all of this is about for a study abroad student?!

Finally, the big question. “Amanda, who would you vote for if you were Irish last week”?  She answered with a big smile on her face – “David Norris – I love him, he is funny and passionate and oh I got to meet him”