Bantry Fair Day
In the town of Bantry by the sea, there is what's locally known as a "Fair Day" every Friday. It used to be the first Friday of every month, but lack of any sort of organisational legislative sensible, organised approach to leglislation on the matter has meant that it's far from organised. In a nutshell, what I'm trying to say is that it's a bit of a mess, where every nutter empties the contents of his attic and possibly his bin, and tips it onto the lovely square, which is made from sand-coloured Belgian stone. It's actually not so much square as a kidney-shaped thing, but that's beside the point.
Amongst all the dross (which is incredibly varied, I'd have to say), there are still some good things; some great things, even. For example, a bunch of foodies have now taken over the stretch just off the square along New Street (which is, effectively the main street, but not Main Street, which is perpendicular to it) and they sell a super range of stuff, which isn't exactly cheap, but not exactly mad dear either. You can buy yourself a fine 6-course meal with desert and coffee and then go onto the square and eat it, chuckling to yourself as you survey the trash. The rest of it is the usual mixture of clothes, shoes, tools, books, geese, other fowl and, of course the obligatory selection of items stolen by itinerant salesmen from a variety of premises elsewhere in the country.
But, above all else, the unbridled and unregulated Bantry Fair illustrates quite clearly how underdeveloped our whole republic is. Those who took over the reigns of power of the fledling state in 1922 didn't really do things whole-heartedly, I suppose. Anyway, the thing is that there is almost no town in Ireland that has real political autonomy to simply look after itself in a property day-to-day manner. Even the capital Dublin doesn't have a proper set-up for self government, with an idiotically-titled "Lord Mayor" (another depressing hangover of British rule) who can never stay in office long enough to actually see through any project.
Anyway, for the time being, I'll enjoy the disorganised chaos of the Bantry Fair.
Amongst all the dross (which is incredibly varied, I'd have to say), there are still some good things; some great things, even. For example, a bunch of foodies have now taken over the stretch just off the square along New Street (which is, effectively the main street, but not Main Street, which is perpendicular to it) and they sell a super range of stuff, which isn't exactly cheap, but not exactly mad dear either. You can buy yourself a fine 6-course meal with desert and coffee and then go onto the square and eat it, chuckling to yourself as you survey the trash. The rest of it is the usual mixture of clothes, shoes, tools, books, geese, other fowl and, of course the obligatory selection of items stolen by itinerant salesmen from a variety of premises elsewhere in the country.
But, above all else, the unbridled and unregulated Bantry Fair illustrates quite clearly how underdeveloped our whole republic is. Those who took over the reigns of power of the fledling state in 1922 didn't really do things whole-heartedly, I suppose. Anyway, the thing is that there is almost no town in Ireland that has real political autonomy to simply look after itself in a property day-to-day manner. Even the capital Dublin doesn't have a proper set-up for self government, with an idiotically-titled "Lord Mayor" (another depressing hangover of British rule) who can never stay in office long enough to actually see through any project.
Anyway, for the time being, I'll enjoy the disorganised chaos of the Bantry Fair.
posted by MunsterMad at 1:37 PM
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