Positive Alternatives, Not Alternative Social Clubs

national | environment | news report Friday October 03, 2003 20:05 by An Mangaire Sugach - The Singing Amoebas

First Green Festival Northwest, 19-28 September (Partial Review)

Last weekend I managed to make it up to Leitrim to catch the last of the Green Festival that was going on there. I missed many of the walks, talks, films and sessions of the previous week but still managed to go to a few interesting workshops and get a sense of what was going on.

My first workshop on Saturday morning 27th September made the whole long trip from Limerick worthwhile. A woman called Dr. Rhatigan gave a ‘seaweed walk’ to a group of at least 50 people along the shore near Mullaghmore, a few miles north of Sligo. Fascinating stuff. A native of the area, childhood familiarity with plants and ‘weeds’ of the sea has obviously become a passion of adulthood.
Sea plants have been used by humans for ages and ages, for culinary, cosmetic, medicinal and gardening uses. In recent times however we have developed, in some cases, an extremely alienated relationship with the natural world, locked into our offices, our living rooms, our tvs, our cars, our busses, our phones, our radios, our world of ideas, human ideas and ideologies. Dr. Rhatigan’s work shop was like restarting a relationship, a familiarily with the sea. Ireland is actually an island, it is good to sometimes remember.
Informal and informative, she showed us the dilisks, carraigins, kelps, sea-spaghettis(!). Sea plants to eat, to use as condiments, to wash with, to bathe in, to cook in an oven and eat like crisps!
Dr. Rhattigan is currently writing a book on sea plants and regularly gives workshops on the subject. (no I am not a member of her family….). She can probably be reached through the Organic Centre at Rosinver, Co. Leitrim. http://www.theorganiscentre.ie
Hans @ 071-9854338

The Organic Centre was where I headed next day for the yearly organic fair. People from the locality selling their wares, their ideas, guided walks through the garden, a treewalk by people from Crann to a small native forest being established there. I spoke with a chap from Eirbyte Renewable Energy Systems who told me how he runs his mobile home and all the usual household appliances from a small windturbine, a solar panel and a few batteries. http://www.eirbyte.com
Miriam/Jimmy @ 071-9645835

Interested. Definitely.

Then I met some people involved in sustainable ‘green’ building projects. We had a chat and they told me to keep an eye on : http://homepage.tinet.ie/~greenbuild/ for upcoming projects.
Will do lads thanks very much.

After two short days with good people living and being the healthy alternative, not just talking or thinking it, I get into my car and polluted my merry way back to Limerick. Pangs of conscience all the way, but well and truly inspired by the people I met and what they were up to.

We live on a small island, but a very diverse one. There’s no point all of us living in the cities. In any case it’s not good for us. We often get cut off, alientated and aggressive, develop neuroses and become units in the machine. Friends, let us not be afraid of the countryside. It is very generous to us if we know how to live with and use it. The sound of birds chirping, and cows farting etc.

Here’s to those agitating on the front line.
Here’s also to those quietly imagining and living positive alternatives in the backrground.
All the besht now.