BACK TO IRELAND
By RICHARD GOOLD-ADAMS
IDOUBT if there has ever been more genuine friendliness for Englishmen in Southern Ireland than now. Relations are so good and the atmosphere so easy that jokes about hungry British tourists are among the most successful on the Irish radio music halls. This happy state of affairs is partly due to the war, a matter about which the usually trite "All's well that ends well" is for once singularly full of appropriate meaning. For, politically, Eire's neutrality, after all its risks and vicissitudes, was a success from the Irish point of view. And as the young State's first big national act this means much to Irish sensitivity. At the same time honour was satisfied, on the scale of personal action, in the 200,000 young men and women who crossed the sea to join Britain's services. There are many Irish graves among the sands of Alamein, and there is scarcely a parish in Eire which did not have a son or daughter away at the war.
It is against this background that the new and peaceful English " invasion " of Ireland is taking place. Both the permanent settlers and the tourists are drawn by similar attractions, though the per- manent comers are naturally influenced by a somewhat wider range. I was talking recently with a house-agent near Limerick, and he reported that, whether or not the arguments for buying a house in Ireland are likely to prove more than temporary, the boom in sales to Englishmen shows no signs of slackening. "In this district," he said, "we've sold all the available houses with roofs on. Now we're selling the ones without!" I have talked, too, with several of those who during the past eighteen months have been the buyers, those Englishmen who have uprooted themselves from Britain and gone to live in Eire. Their enthusiasm is still largely untarnished. Most of their hopes and few of their fears have so far been justified.
In these idyllic circumstances, then, it may well be asked who are the doubters and what grounds they have for doubting. For doubters there certainly are—about the ultimate success of this return to once troubled Ireland of an alien gentry class, only slightly dissimilar from that which hurriedly and unhappily left the country not, after all, so very many years ago. The doubters are of two entirely unrelated kinds, certain theoretical economists and certain members of the landed gentry who never did leave Ireland. To assess their grounds for doubt it is best to consider the arguments which have in fact persuaded Englishmen to take up residence in the Twenty-six Counties since the war. Briefly, these arguments run through the following headings—an income-tax saving of two and sixpence in the pound, food, servants, sport, drink, tobacco and freedom from austerity. And while these key words stand for real advantages now, the question is whether they will continue to do so indefinitely. Eire's lower income tax, the economist tells you, is being increasingly discounted by the rising cost of Irish living. Fond itself as an example. There have been particularly sharp in- creases this year compared with last, and although nothing is really scarce except sugar, flour and tea, the apparent abundance is in part due to the inability of the poor people to buy. Meat, for instance, costs around 35. 6d. a lb., while a tin of golden syrup which in England costs Is. 8d.—and fourteen points—is 6s. in Eire. And, after all, the economist rightly adds, there is no reason to suppose either that the Irish will never raise their income tax or the British reduce theirs.
Critics from the original landed gentry are among the most gloomy about the future of Ireland. They stood by her through the troubled times and continue to do so ; but many of them shake their heads now over the way in which the countryside is being depopulated of its real inhabitants, the cottage dwellers. The atmosphere of Ireland is so drenched with both tragedy and romance that mere sadness is not new. Yet sad it truly is to see the young men and women leaving the land. They go to England for higher wages, or into the towns for more amusements. But who can blame them ? And yet if as a symbol there are already fewer and fewer servant girls to wait in the houses of returning Englishmen, what can the continual exodus mean except decay? Irishmen have covered the world with their achievements, but behind in their own country many hold that their character has not changed. And it is on this that the doubters rely. There have always been troubles in Ireland, they say—and there always will be. Sport, drink and cheap tobacco you can have to be sure, but freedom from controls and austerity is bought at the price of uncertainty ; the prosperity of Ireland is temporary, and one day houses will be burnt again_
Such is the genuine view of an unconvinced minority, although neither the feel nor the statistics of the country are at present with them. For, now that Britain has given yet further turns to the screw of austerity, Eire's relative position is improving every day. The ban on foreign travel alone is expected to warrant the winter opening this year of dozens of Irish hotels normally shut in that season. And as for the British meat ration, Irishmen agree that you can wrap it up in a tram ticket ; unfortunately, they add, it may drop out through the hole punched by the ticket collector! From the depths of our own British predicament we can envy Eire the remarkably favourable balance in her external payments. Last year her imports were worth ,C72 millions, and her visible exports £38 millions. To the latter, according to the Minister of Finance speak- ing in the Dail, she can, however, calculate on adding some £55 millions of invisible exports, giving a favourable balance of ,C21 millions. As regards the vital dollars, her North American pur- chases amounted to only £12 millions, part of which was offset by direct exports, the balance being made up from the British dollar pool.
The English invasion is one of the main factors behind present Irish prosperity. Apart from the house-buyers, one million tourists crossed Eire's borders last year, and the figure is likely to exceed xi million this year. Partly in consequence roads and hotels have improved out of all recognition compared with a few years ago—and this year even the weather has been polished up! Irish petrol con- sumption is much lower per head than in Britain, and the Irish Tourist Association hopes to see a basic ration Maintained. With a better price now for cattle exported to Britain and a growing trade with Continental countries, Irish business hopes are high. There never was an Irishman who had not an eye for a deal, and in spite of the prophets of woe there seems every reason why his country should continue to extract profit from fate. For my own part, I was reminded strongly of the historic changes which have taken place in Ireland during the past fifty years by the words of a philosophical peat-lorry driver on the road to Cork. "We may not have coal," he said, "but, by golly, we can make a good independent living on what we have got! "
The Irish Government is being as helpful as possible to gentlemen farmers. It has been astute in encouraging them, whether they are Irish or English, since by settling in Eire they bring capital and potential employment. But their presence ultimately raises a serious question. For if people with capital migrate to Eire, as they are doing, and at the same time the labouring classes move away from the land, who is to do the physical work? Already labour is scarce and expensive. At present many of those who buy houses are seeking no more than peace in a dizzy world. And it looks for the time being as if they had found it. But it may well be in the years to come that, while Eire continues in general to prosper, her weakest point will be the main one in her economic armour, namely, the land of which she is built.
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