The Con of the Season

Ireland's Commission for Aviation Regulation has urged a travel company called United Travel to wind down their business and refund the customers.

At least 1175 children and adults are booked with the agency to fly from Dublin to Lapland during the month of December, for the sole purpose of meeting 'Santa Claus' at his apparent home there.

But this is now unlikely to happen, as United Travel does not have a licence to operate. The Aviation Regulator refused to grant the travel agent a licence because he was unhappy with the company's financial situation.

Con Murphy, Managing Director of United Travel, says that he applied for a licence again this week, and that he is "hopeful the passengers intending to travel to Lapland will be able to do so", whether with him or another agent.

I will refrain from playing on the obvious that Mr. Murphy is aptly named. There are many like him who provide illusions, escapism, idiotic stunts and a whole variety of silly things to people with more money than brains.

When I heard of this, I first refused to believe it. But some research established that there is indeed a thriving 'industry' in Ireland that flies stupid and irresponsible parents and their gullible children to northern Finland each December, in order to meet 'Santa'. United Travel is only one of the agencies involved, but apparently the only one without a licence to operate.

The prices for these trips are quite substantial, especially when one takes into account that the people actually pay good money for a flight into the middle of nowhere, to encounter a figment of imagination, portrayed for gullible idiots by an actor who works for the company and is placed in some suitable stage settings.
People phoning into Live Line on RTÉ Radio 1 stated that they had paid as much as € 4000 for the ultimate exercise in self-delusion.

And there I was, under the impression that we are in a recession and money is tight. Obviously not yet tight enough when thousands of Irish people are willing to spend thousands of Euros each on such an unbelievably idiotic trip.

Since there are apparently three classes of idiots, United Travel offers three 'packages': the basic one-day round trip (fly to the middle of nowhere, meet a non-existent person, and fly home again) as well as visits of two and three days length.

On the company's website the one-day trip is described as follows:
"Upon arrival at the official airport of Santa Claus, having cleared passport control and customs, you will be met by your local guides in traditional Lappish costume to assist you to your designated coach and help you in collecting your thermal outfit (overalls, winter shoes, scarves, socks and gloves will be provided) for the duration of your stay in Lapland.
As soon as you get your thermal outfit organised, your elf guide will be waiting to transfer you to Santa's Winter Wonderland, which is reserved exclusively for United Travel guests, located around 30 minutes distance.
At Santa's Winter Wonderland, you will be welcomed by the sound of your favourite Christmas carols, which are played all over this magical playground. Keep yourself and your party warm with warm berry juice and ginger bread served beside the fireplace during the stay."

Similar texts - with more details - also describe the longer trips.
Just a few remarks to the text above:

• The place people are flown to is actually Rovaniemi, the administrative city of Lappi, the most northern - and by far largest - province of Finland.
• I wonder what Lappi's governor Hannele Pokka (in office since 1994 and the first woman to hold the post) would say to a dodgy Irish travel agent renaming her regional airport. (What would we say if someone in Finland would declare - for example - Knock Airport "the official airport of the Leprechauns"?)
• As both Ireland and Finland are members of the EU, there is neither a passport control nor any customs clearing. (After all, one of the main functions of the EU is a customs union.)
  
• People who cannot collect a few clothes without being helped by others must be in a serious state of physical and mental deterioration. (But then again, if they were sane and sound, they would never book the trip in the first place...) And anyone flying into the Arctic Circle without proper clothing and outfit is either an enormous fool, or suicidal.
• The website does not say if those clothes and shoes are given to every passenger to keep, or if they are worn by a different person every day. If the latter is the case, the concept of hygiene seems not to be part of the world United Travel and its passenger live in.
• It is interesting to learn that "Santa's Winter Wonderland" is "reserved exclusively for United Travel guests". Isn't it rather befitting that the imagined home of a fictional person is "reserved exclusively" for a company without a trading licence, which therefore is legally as non-existent as 'Santa'. (One wonders if there is any 'wonderland' at all, or if the whole thing is a massive con through and through... somehow the old story of the emperor's new clothes comes to mind...)
  
• In case there is actually a place with some 'Santa', being bombarded with piped music all day is a form of mental torture (banned by the UN) and can seriously damage one's mind. On second thoughts - those who go there have probably not much to lose in that matter.
  

Now, I regard myself as quite a tolerant man, and I have an open mind for all sorts of things most people would regard as unusual or weird. But this is way beyond the Pale, and I wonder how daft and brain-dead people must be who find this utter nonsense attractive, book it and pay € 4000 for it up front.

It is certainly the most shameless, tasteless and senseless commercialisation of the already highly secularised and consumerist idea of Christmas. And the fact that the company is selling expensive tickets without having a licence to fly really is the biscuit. It's definitely the con of the season.

But then again, people who are so devoid of brain functions that they willingly go for such a fraud and even tell Joe Duffy of Live Line how "devastated" they would be if they really could not fly to Lapland, probably had it coming and deserve to be taken for the fools they are. And - as an old word of wisdom tells us - a fool and his money are easily parted.

The Aviation Regulator has advised United Travel to wind down their business and refund their customers. But I have a better idea. Instead of giving back the money to fools who seem to have way too much of it, the sums paid for the flights should be seized by the Revenue Commissioners as a special new fools' tax.
As we are in recession and the government is so short of money, they can do with every extra Euro and cent. I would even go further and charge all 'Santa flyers' an annual levy of the same amount for the next three years. Hard times bring hard measures, and those who feel that they can in these times waste good money in the most idiotic way deserve to be punished.

Not even to mention the extra pollution and damage to the environment caused by the idiotic nonsense. Perhaps Finance Minister Brian Lenihan should modify his new air travel tax and raise it for any flights to Lapland to € 100 per passenger and flight.

Parents who drag their little children along to such a preposterous tissue of lies and exploitation should be charged with mental cruelty and child abuse. They should lose custody of the children.

It is bad enough to feed small children all the elaborate lies about Christmas and 'Santa', and worse to go to the so-called 'grottos' greedy shopping centres erect every December.
There mindless and cruel parents pay between 15 and 25 Euros (in some places perhaps even more) per child, in order to have their offspring conned even further by a fat man in a red suit, wearing a fake beard of white cotton wool.

Children are not stupid, and most know from observation how a real beard looks. So what is the point to usher a child for a few minutes into the presence of an obvious fake and pay good money for it?

Most modern people are really not fit to be parents, but in December they behave the worst.
Why are parents lying to children? And furthermore, why do they construct elaborate tissues of lies which are then supported by encounters with someone pretending to be a 'Santa'? (The most confusing thing for small children accompanying their mother or parents into the city is to see in the different shops several versions of 'Santa'. That a very young mind cannot work out properly and it can lead to all sorts of behavioural problems.)

Psychological research has well established that children are not stupid and can spot lies rather easily. Children also have a growing memory and often remember even the smallest details from their early years. When they grow older, they begin to realise that their parents are lying to them, and not just with regards to Christmas and 'Santa'.
This leads to mistrust and alienation, which can end in parents and children living in completely different worlds. Breakdown of family structures, disrespect for the parents, odd and unruly behaviour and petty crime are often the consequences. Some of these children will then progress through further stages into more serious crimes, gang culture and drug abuse.

Of course not every child that is dragged to 'Santa' ends up as a criminal or druggie. But there are many other kinds of illusion and escapism, often happily supported and even fuelled by the media, and especially television.
If we are wondering why our society is becoming ever more dysfunctional, we should look at the way that we - parents, teachers, the media and society as a whole - treat children and young people.

The disrespect we show children from earliest age onwards by feeding them with lies and all sorts of weird and unreal stories is stored, replicated and multiplied over the years, until the natural bonds of trust break. Once this happens, there is really no way back. And all attempts of repairing the damage later is not more than papering over the cracks, pretending - with another lie - that all will be fine. The cracks are still there, we cannot make them disappear. In most cases they will become larger with time, no matter how much we cover them up.

So if you want to live in a better society, stop lying to children and stop exploiting every last bit of culture, lore, tradition and imagination for the sole purpose of making already rich people even richer.

Few people seem to remember that the modern image of 'Santa' in its commercialised form was created during the 1920s in the USA, by no other than the Coca Cola company of Atlanta, Georgia.
They used it first to increase their sales figures during the Winter, when people were naturally less thirsty than in the Summer.
And as the corporate colours of Coca Cola are red and white, 'Santa' was clad accordingly (and still is).

The traditional roots of 'Santa' go of course much further back into history and mythology. They combine several figures - animistic wood spirits, Pagan gods and a Christian bishop - into one fictional creature, which is depicted and enacted quite differently, depending on the country, its culture, tradition and religion.
But that is really an article in its own right, and I will write it tomorrow, the traditional feast day of Saint Nicholas.

Until then I can only urge you to keep your sanity - and your money - and stay well clear of the Con of the Season.

The Emerald Islander

8000 protest in Donegal against Education Cuts

Today over 8000 people took part in a protest march in Donegal town against the government's cuts in the education budget. The protesters included teachers, parents and members of boards of management from schools across the north-west of Ireland and came mainly from counties Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal.

They outnumbered the 2500 inhabitants of Donegal town by more than 3:1, and a good number of local residents also joined the demonstration.

The gathering in Donegal was addressed by John Carr (right), General Secretary of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO).
Representatives of other teaching unions were also present.

INTO, which has already organised a number of protests around the country (see my entries of October 29th and November 22nd) since the 2009 Budget was introduced by Finance Minister Brian Lenihan on October 14th (see my entry of that day), is planning further demonstrations in the near future.

The largest of them is a national rally, which will be held in Dublin next Saturday.

INTO's courageous President Declan Kelleher (left) said that there is strong political support for the campaign, and from my own observations I can second this statement.

I would also urge anyone who has the time and opportunity to be in Dublin next Saturday to join the protest march. Education is the key to our future, and we should do everything in our power to prevent the damaging cuts the government has proposed for the education budget.

The Emerald Islander

25,000 protest in Cork against Education Cuts

Today about 25,000 Irish people have been marching through the streets of Cork city in protest against the government's cuts in the education budget.

The march was part of a series of protest demonstrations organised by the Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO), which says that children should not be made to pay for the current difficulties in our economy.

It was the third time since mid-October that teachers, pupils and their parents have taken to Ireland's streets, protesting against education cutbacks.
INTO's General Secretary John Carr (right) declared that the marches will continue until the cuts are reversed.

Meanwhile the Minister for Education, Fianna Fáil's Batt O'Keeffe (left) who comes from Cork, said that he "simply does not have the funds" to reverse the cuts. This is his mantra ever since the major education debate in the Dáil on October 29th/30th. And unlike other ministers, who have been busy looking for extra money or alternative ways of saving on expenses, O'Keeffe has just remained stubborn, repetitive and inflexible like a stick in the mud.

Many in the education sector, who welcomed the appointment of the former teacher at first, think now that he is not really up to the job of heading the Department of Education.

The Emerald Islander

More Protests against Education Budget Cuts

More than 4000 teachers protested against cuts in the education sector in Tullamore, Co. Offaly (home county of Taoiseach Brian Cowen) this afternoon.

According to he Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO), which represents primary school teachers in Ireland, many teachers and parents from counties Offaly, Laois, North Tipperary and Kilkenny took part.

One of the organisers said that Fine Gael TD Olwyn Enright (right) was the only national politician who was willing to speak at this demonstration, which marched through Tullamore to O'Connor Square, where the speeches were given.
Parents, principals, and representatives of boards of management were among the speakers addressing the protest meeting.

The education cuts were also raised at the annual conference of the National Parents Council for primary schools in Athlone, Co. Westmeath this weekend.

Minister for Education Batt O'Keeffe (left) was listed in the conference agenda to open proceedings this morning.
But cowardly as the government is these days, he backed out at the last moment and did not address the meeting. This led to strong expressions of anger and disgust from delegates.

Elsewhere, a protest against the suspension of the cervical cancer vaccination programme has taken place in Dublin. That rally was organised by the Feminist Open Forum, and it is expected that more protests will follow.

Meanwhile there is utter silence from the government, and especially from Batt O'Keeffe. When he was appointed by the new Taoiseach Brian Cowen as Minister for Education in the Cabinet reshuffle in May, there were some hopes for improvement in the Department, since O'Keeffe is himself a former teacher. But as it turns out, he is one the most arrogant and ignorant holders of this post in years and a complete poodle to Brian Cowen. And - as he has shown today - he is the same kind of coward as his master.

By law and by right TDs and ministers are accountable to those who elect them - the people of Ireland. But ever since the disastrous introduction of the 2009 Budget on October 14th (see my entry of that day) almost the whole Cabinet has gone into hiding and refuses to face the facts and the people.

How on Earth can they ever again expect our trust and votes...?

The Emerald Islander

Massive Protest against Education Cuts in Dublin

In freezing cold temperature and rain approximately 12,000 teachers and parents turned out this evening to demonstrate against the education cuts announced in the 2009 Budget. (This figure is according to official sources, while the organisers of the protest say that they brought 20,000 people to Dublin.)
The rally outside Leinster House coincided with a Dáil debate on a Labour Party motion calling for the increase in class sizes to be reversed. It was addressed by several union leaders, parent representatives, school managers and politicians.

John Carr (right), General Secretary of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO), described the budget as "an act of educational sabotage".
He said the people were there to protest in the strongest possible terms about it, adding that they would not allow the educational system to be destroyed by the people inside Leinster House.
He urged the people to "stand and fight, shoulder to shoulder, against the most savage cuts ever taken against children in this country".
The cutbacks represented one broken promise too many, he added.

John White (left), General Secretary of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI), said the cuts would affect every single school in the country.
He urged those at the rally to go back to their communities and ascertain what the effect of the cuts will be on their local schools, and then tell their local representatives.

Ferdia Kelly (right), the General Secretary of the Joint Managerial Body (JMB), which represents the Boards of Management of more than 400 Secondary Schools in the Republic of Ireland, warned that from January children may have to be sent home from schools, or schools may even be closed for a time, because of the proposed cutbacks on substitute teachers.
For generations, he said, teachers, parents and management had worked hard to keep Ireland near to the top of the international league on education.

Áine Lynch of the National Parents Council Primary (NPCP) said the increase in the capitation grant announced in the Budget will not even cover the rise in fuel prices and other day-to-day running costs of schools. The NPCP now fears that the cost of the deficit of running schools will be passed onto parents.
It also expressed concern about the reintroduction of the ceiling on language support teachers.

Meanwhile in the Dáil chamber this evening, the Taoiseach Brian Cowen (left) warned that "even with the Budget economies and cutbacks, the country will still run a deficit which will have to be tackled in the years ahead".

He was responding to questions from opposition leaders, including Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny.

Labour's education spokesman (and former leader) Ruairi Quinn (right) described the government's Budget as "an act of social vandalism which attacks children".
Introducing the Labour Party's motion seeking the reversal of the education cuts, he said that one effect of the cuts would be "to push young, shy children into classes of over 30 other children".

Education Minister Batt O'Keeffe (left), who is becoming increasingly rude and aggressive, accused the opposition of "hysterical claims and scaremongering" in the debate.
He described the changes as "a measured adjustment" and told TDs it was "not credible to claim that the primary school system will be in crisis next year as a result". It was pretty obvious that he was not comfortable in his role and stumbled through his speech in a very bad way, not to be seen from him often.

Fine Gael's Education spokesman Brian Hayes (right) said it was "stomach churning" to hear the Green Party justifying their support for the government cutbacks.
He predicted the controversy would prove "the Green's Stalingrad", claiming that the Green Party would never recover from the serious damage caused by breaking their pre-election promises.
Deputy Hayes emphasised that Minister Batt O'Keeffe "has no credibility in the education sector", describing him as "Brian Cowen's puppet".

Sinn Fein's Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (left) called the Budget cuts a "callous attack on Irish children" and - reaching out across the party lines - urged "all members of the Dáil, regardless of allegiance" to join him in the "defence of our young, our schools and our education system".
Deputy Ó Caoláin, himself a teacher by profession, arrived a few minutes late and entered the Dáil chamber while Ruairi Quinn was already speaking.
He came directly from the mass demonstration outside the parliament and introduced himself to the debate as "a messenger of thousands of teachers and parents gathered outside in outrage and anger over the government's onslaught on the education and future of our children".

A nasty incident overshadowed the debate for a while and raised the political tempers even further. Conor Lenihan (right), Minister of State for Integration and brother of Finance Minister Brian Lenihan, shouted across the Dáil chamber during the speech of a Fine Gael TD and called Dr. Leo Varadkar (left) - Fine Gael's spokesman for Enterprise, Trade and Employment - "a fascist".
Lenihan augmented that outrageous statement with giving the Nazi salute, which caused uproar on the opposition benches and led to the intervention of Leas-Cheann Comhairle Brendan Howlin, who chaired the session in the absence of Cheann Comhairle John O'Donoghue.

The debate, which saw spirited exchanges between speakers from all parties, has now adjourned until tomorrow morning.

The Emerald Islander

12-year-old Girl drives Amok in Limerick

A 12-year-old Irish girl, who drove dangerously through the streets before crashing into a Garda (police) patrol car, has been granted bail at Limerick's District Court.

The Court was told that the girl, who cannot be named because of her age, was seen driving a van dangerously on the Dock Road in Limerick shortly before 4 am in the morning.

She was pursued by a Garda car through the city centre and was seen swerving from left to right on the road. She also broke through two sets of red traffic lights.

The patrol car's lights and siren remained on during the pursuit, and the young girl eventually collided with the Garda vehicle before she was arrested.

She appeared before the District Court on five charges of dangerous driving, causing criminal damage to a police car, and driving without insurance or licence. (In case no one in the legal system has noticed: there are no driving licences for children in this country!)

The girl was also charged with two further public order offences, dating back to July 17th. She was remanded on bail until September 30th and is ordered to observe a curfew from 8 pm to 8 am. (If she will do that is another question...)
The Probation Services are also to investigate the girl's circumstances and prepare a report for her next court appearance.

When I hear of such behaviour - and this is not the only case of its kind - I always ask myself the same questions: Where are the parents of the child? Are they incapable of controlling her? Or just unwilling to bring her up properly? Do they care at all? Or do they belong to the anti-social scum of which we have unfortunately way too much in Ireland?

It seems that we - as a nation - have already become used to such incidents, committed by wild youngsters out of control. But they are usually in their late teens. A 12-year-old, and a girl, that is - thankfully - not the norm.
But I suppose this is only the tip of a much larger iceberg. And whenever children appear in a Court and are charged with crimes, one does not see the parents, nor hears from them. Why not?

I am no lawyer, but I would suggest that a change of the law is more than overdue. It should be the norm that parents are fully responsible - in every form and way - for the behaviour of their child or children. And if children under a certain age (which legal experts and child psychologists should determine) are out of order or commit crimes, the parents - and not the child - should be responsible, charged and - if found guilty - punished according to the Law of the land.

Should we introduce such a legal principle, I am certain we would see the problems of vandalism and criminal damage, car theft, shoplifting and many other crimes committed by teenagers so often these days, drop drastically and perhaps even disappear completely. Parents would make sure that nothing happens that could drag them into trouble (at least after the first few parents are sent to prison for the crimes of their under-age children).
The question is if we, the people of Ireland and especially the politicians who represent and lead us, have the courage to put such a law onto the statute books. (Sadly, most bills passed into law lack common sense...)

In Germany (and some other continental countries) there is a yellow plaque - not larger than a 'foolscap' (A 4 size) sheet of paper - displayed at the entrance to every building site. In black letters it carries the following information:

Access to building site for
authorised personnel only.
Parents will be held
responsible for their children.

That's it. But not more is needed. Everyone understands the message, and keeps away. Parents are much more responsible for their children and their behaviour in Germany. And being aware of that (and its potential consequences), they give their children more time and attention than we do here in Ireland.

I think that a rule good enough for German building sites should well be good enough for Ireland, its unruly youngsters and failing parents!

The Emerald Islander