Very powerful piece, Conor. It's the second point that rings loudest to me, as an American. The Irish had their Church and their nationalism. For all their faults, they provided a source of spiritual nourishment and cultural inspiration. If you give that up in the name of 21st century modernity, you are left with the empty values of tech sectors, consumerism and celebrity culture.
A cultural rot is what results, and nobody in the West can find a suitable replacement.
Conor, I don't have social media accounts, but it is my understanding you have received some criticism of your arguments. Can you (or someone) summarize what the opposition says? Is the argument that there is no cultural collapse in Dublin? Or is it that the causes are not what you suggest?
One of the people described my references to Christianity as a "cipher" in the context of the article, the other person was of the view that change was happening but it was fundamentally driven by the relationship between developers and politicians rather than anything else
Very powerful piece, Conor. It's the second point that rings loudest to me, as an American. The Irish had their Church and their nationalism. For all their faults, they provided a source of spiritual nourishment and cultural inspiration. If you give that up in the name of 21st century modernity, you are left with the empty values of tech sectors, consumerism and celebrity culture.
A cultural rot is what results, and nobody in the West can find a suitable replacement.
"The Irish had their Church and their nationalism."
You say "had" in the past tense, as if the Irish have somehow gone away.
There was no Irish Empire. I believe that's greatly to the credit of the Irish. I, personally, am not a fan of empires.
You'll know the end is nigh when the snakes appear.
Conor, I don't have social media accounts, but it is my understanding you have received some criticism of your arguments. Can you (or someone) summarize what the opposition says? Is the argument that there is no cultural collapse in Dublin? Or is it that the causes are not what you suggest?
TIA
One of the people described my references to Christianity as a "cipher" in the context of the article, the other person was of the view that change was happening but it was fundamentally driven by the relationship between developers and politicians rather than anything else