Insider View - On Being Optimistic

Despite everything that has happened here recently, Lucy Madden finds many reasons for optimism in Ireland today.

A friend of mine views the world through a prism of joy and optimism; how I wish I was more like her. My inclinations are closer to Nancy Astor’s dictum “If you can’t think of anything good to say about anyone, come and sit next to me.” But in spite of this penchant for embracing the negative, certain recent events have combined to light a little flame of hope in this weary heart. Dammit, things are on the up.

A month or so ago a man walked up to our front door and offered to work in our garden. Yes, it really happened. What is more he didn’t want to be paid for the three days he was offering. He explained that he was on a government scheme to reintroduce people back into the work place and, unable to get paid employment in a garden, he was availing of social welfare in exchange for labour.

This dynamo, equipped with all his own tools, set to work in a manner redolent of shock and awe, cutting swathes through abandoned shrubbery, despatching docks and brambles and cleaning out sheds with a military thoroughness. Oh the difference a little help can make.

We can now contemplate putting up the ‘Garden Open’ signs and are discussing plans for a Tea Shop and if things go well and we can attract enough visitors, we should be able to offer our dynamo a more permanent, and paid job. But in truth our bit of good fortune is really only a temporary solution; the underlying rules of economics still persist.

Garden visiting has been identified as one of the most compelling of tourist attractions, but only if the gardens are maintained in pristine condition. Sadly in Ireland the footfall is so low that there is little hope for most to cover the cost of maintenance and as a consequence, many of the best gardens, including some which were restored in the 1990s under the Great Gardens of Ireland restoration scheme are now closed and no doubt in many the jungle is re-encroaching.

What a waste; an imaginative State sponsored training scheme for amenity workers could at a stroke help maintain a national asset, add greatly to our portfolio of much needed day visitor attractions and teach a new generation the joys and skills of gardening and landscape management.

It must be remembered that even though many rural gardens are barely viable, the garden visitor will leave much needed revenue with local accommodation providers, restaurants and hostelries. All a bit of a no-brainer wouldn’t you think?

One new restoration that is up and thriving is the new Great Western Greenway that runs from Westport to Achill in Co. Mayo. The disused railway line has been transformed with imagination and presumably at not great expense into a cycling and walking track that transports the traveller into a world of beauty and at the same time safety from the perils of the automobile.

Below the track sparkles Clew Bay with its magical islands across to a view of Croagh Patrick. On a good day the dullest spirit can’t fail to be lifted. I say this is the Ireland we can project to the world; let others do the shopping malls, wellness centres and spas. In spite of everything we do still have our glorious landscape, an identifiable and unique culture and an extraordinary literary heritage.

It’s no surprise to me that Ireland was voted the number one tourist destination in a poll carried out among global travel agents, although when I mention this to others the news is greeted with a cynical chortling. But reasons to be cheerful, too, must include Trevor White’s initiative ‘City of a Thousand Welcomes’, a scheme to link up Dubliners with tourists that taps in to the image of Ireland as a friendly and hospitable place to visit.

Yes, I know, more cynical chortling, but this friendliness is not just a perception but a reality attested to recently by three groups of visitors to our house who ventured into unknown countryside to trace their roots. Each family returned, overwhelmed by the kindness of local people helping them to find their ancestors.

As one said: “I don’t know of any other country where people would give up so much time to help a stranger.” With the impending visits of Barack Obama and Queen Elizabeth, a spotlight will briefly shine on this island that may negate some of the shameful goings-on of recent years.

The kindness of strangers, fresh air and fun; who needs more?

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Together with her husband Johnny, Lucy Madden runs their magnificent 18th century mansion, Hilton Park, Clones, Co Monaghan as a country house which is open to private guests, groups, small weddings and conferences. The restored formal gardens are also open by arrangement. Lucy is a keen organic gardener and also a member of the Irish Food Writers Guild.