In 2009 with the economy in a downward spiral after the biggest boom in our history since the foundation of the State the country almost went into financial convulsions.

A time such as that is a time for cool heads. With factories and industries and construction sites all over the place closing down and tens of thousands losing their jobs, it was a good time to take stock and have a good look around and evaluate all the good and positive things we have going for us. Ireland has been through much rougher and tougher times than this before and survived them and went on to become the second richest country in the world. The biggest difference between our current situation and many other difficult situations in the past is that we now have our own Independent Sovereign Nation and the ability to make our own decisions in our own best interests.(or at lease we did have until the IMF Bailout:) If we make the right ones we will be back on the road to prosperity again soon, but if we as a country don’t make the correct ones it will take longer. To celebrate our Right as a Sovereign Independent Free Nation is the reason I walked the whole way across Ireland from Renvyle to the GPO in Dublin. That Freedom and Independence came at a very high price and that’s something that should never be forgotten. During my Walk I came across scores of interesting people and places, mountains and lakes, statues and monuments, motorways and bog roads, famous rivers, bridges and cathedrals, disused railway lines and thatched cottages, stacks of turf, crossroads, villages, towns and cities.
I hope you enjoy reading this book about them at least half as much as I enjoyed meeting and writing about them.

Reflection

When I finished my book, in my mind on reflection
I admired the brave men who initiated the Insurrection
from the chains of bondage they set Old Ireland free
and my wish for the future is, that’s how it always should be.

Two little stacks of turf are sitting there so serene
as the mountain caps are white and then the valley turns to green
they’re very well protected by their covering of thatch
and it’s only in Ireland you will find anything to match.

In centuries past, in a long distant time
when it was illegal for our church-bells to chime
the people endured pain and tribulation
but always looked forward to the Freedom of their Nation.