Sign of the Times

3rd Sep 2008

Sign of the Times
Finbarr Barry

Here's a good one. How do you know when you're crossing the border into Kerry? Answer: you don't.

The old sign on the old road with Rebel Danny Elbow hauling in a Dublin reg.

The question sounds like something you'd find in a book of Kerryman jokes but sadly there's no humour in our question. No longer, as you journey to or from Killarney, Waterford or Dublin is there a triumphant statement that one is leaving the best county in Ireland, no 'Slán Abhaile' or 'Welcome to Cork' for those lucky enough to be crossing the border in the right direction.

Whatever about the indigenous population, when approaching the county bounds from any of our inferior neighbours, a foreigner would certainly not know that he or she has entered the glorious People's Republic.

The only indication that one has entered Cork, and this goes for other counties too, are those big morbid metal signs warning passers-by that 168 people have died on Cork roads in the last four years.

It's obviously important that drivers are encouraged to slow down but surely we can't let this dark declaration be the only symbol of welcome to our dear county? Do we have nothing to say to visitors but to inform them of the carnage that potentially lies ahead on their journey?

About five years ago Fáilte Ireland decided to erect signs on a few border crossings to compliment their carving up of the island into tourist regions. Cork and Kerry were lumped together and given a new label. Large durable metalic signs were erected welcoming people to the "South West Region" on Cork's borders.

Paltry...but there.

While one can imagine the need for marketing teams with immaculate university qualifications to carve up the country into neat manageable areas to promote to arriving tourists, the mysterious unification of Cork and Kerry has some serious drawbacks that have been either ignored or, God forbid, gone completely unnoticed.

Set aside sporting rivalries and the Kerry intelligence deficiency for a moment and consider Fáilte Ireland's more recent initiative which encouraged Irish citizens to engage with tourists where possible.

This hopes to get you to walk to up to confused tourists and point them towards Shandon, invite a table of foreigners to join you and the lads in the pub or give two half-drowned Dutch hitch hikers a lift to Clonakilty.

What this local-to-foreigner engagement hopes to achieve is to send tourists home telling all their friends about how incredibly friendly everyone was - it's not as if we can boast about our weather is it?!

This is "Brand Ireland" in a nutshell. A highly marketable entity where the cead míle fáilte is alive and kicking despite the old fireplace being replaced by central heating and Aran sweaters ditched for designer labels. In theory it sounds great.

For an Irish person to deliver this much desired fanatical enthusiasm for welcoming foreigners they have to be proud of where they come from and where they live. The last thing the two unsuspecting Dutch tourists need to be subjected to is an hour long moan about the economy, roads, airport debt and the weather on their way to Clon.

Osama Bin Murphy cleaning our welcome signs

For this magic to happen the local has to have a significant sense that the place these tourists have come to visit, is worth it.

On Leeside we have a reputation for promoting Cork to ourselves and despite the distractions of globalisation and big name brands - from Premiership soccer to bebo - most Corkonians still have a very healthy sense of where they come from.

We'd rather be from Cork than anywhere else and most of us get a kick out of imparting that bias on neutral foreigners so why don't we put fuel on that fire instead of inventing new regions and erecting in their honour. By focussing on this we are diluting what we already have waiting in reserve.

It is natural for a human to want to feel part of a tribe but the county is over reliant on great sportsmen and women to generate pride of place while other simple but hugely important opportunities are discarded.

While the issue of a simple sign at our borders to welcome visitors to the county (or at least to just acknowledge that Cork exists) may appear somewhat trivial, it would be a huge mistake for local authorities and businesses to slide further into complacency by refusing to acknowledge the importance of what it represents on the ground.

At times it can seem that the state funded tourism bodies, the international promotional drives and strategic marketing plans miss the simple things - like stating the fact that we actually exist where it matters most.

If you have an opinion on how Cork is represented at its borders or if you'd like to help us do something about it email us ateditor@peoplesrepublicofcork.com or write your opinion on our discussion forum.