In the Irish language, there are 99 words for rain and one for sun.
Manchán Magan

Manchán was a writer and documentary maker, one of the best known promoters of the Irish language. Last week, he died at the age of 55. Pádraig and Manchán knew each other and staid in touch. Manchán wrote to him following Pádraig’s accident and Pádraig wrote to Manchán when he heard about his illness. His recent programmes are on the RTÉ Player and are one of the most beautiful documentaries about Ireland and the Irish culture you could watch.

He often said that connecting with the ancient traditions and places of Ireland gave him a sense of healing, of calmness. He saw it as an “incantation woven of story, stone, and memory. And yet, for so long, many of us forgot how to listen.“

Such an amazing way to see the world. To approach life.

Rather than trying to convince the in-convincible, Manchán went his way and invited us to come along. Whether we went was up to us.

Sunday Independent, 28 September 2025

In her article in last Sunday’s Sunday Independent, Maeve Sheehan tried to capture the conundrum we’re finding ourselves in. The politicians are supporting what we’re proposing. The civil servants have a mind of their own. An unelected body directing the elected.

There are political declarations, plenty of news coverage over the whole week on Ireland’s official broadcaster RTÉ by Ailbhe Conneely, Social Affairs and Religion Correspondent, but a deafening silence on Teach An Saol. Yet —

Minister for Children and Disability Norma Foley said she is determined to work with the HSE to plan residential services for people with disabilities who are being cared for at home by ageing parents. (RTÉ, 01 Oct 2025)

The Media, the fourth pillar in a democratic system, holds government and powerful figures accountable by investigating wrongdoing, ensuring transparency, and fostering public discourse. Yet, they too often seem to function as just another branch of Government.

Promoting a Minister’s statement saying that she is planning residential services for people with disabilities who are being cared for at home by ageing parents, without pointing out that she is, at the same time, allowing the HSE to shoot down a readily available, fully designed solution with planning permission and all, is, at a minimum, bad research and unbalanced, and looks to me like a shameful way of unwarranted Government support.

We don’t need more headlines blindly promoting Government policies. We need someone to hold them to account.

There comes a time when you wonder if it makes sense to keep knocking your head against a wall or if it has become an act of insanity, as you keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect different results (Einstein).

There comes a time when Carlos Wallace’ advice starts making sense:

You don’t fail by walking away; you fail by staying somewhere you’ve outgrown.

Perhaps it’s time to explore the 99 varieties of rain. Not in the “big smoke” but away in places where you can connect with different values.

Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth. (Henry David Thoreau, quoted in Into the Wild)