Travel Plans

Thinking of visiting the Emerald Isle this summer? Soft days, lush golf greens, and the craic going ninety - sure and it's a tourist's dream. Just don't be flying in an airplane on a Sunday.

In an effort to reach out to the homebound, the priests have gone on the air, doing the Mass for shut-ins, but wouldn't you know, there's a wee problem with their brilliant notion. According to today's Irish Times:

The Irish Aviation Authority complained to ComReg that it was experiencing interference with the radio frequency used for air traffic control and suggested that Catholic church broadcasts could be causing the problem.

The priests know all there is to know about God, about penance and redemption, but they're not technical wizards by any means. Unfortunately, they also didn't know that broadcasting the Mass required a license, so these well-meaning men of God are actually operating pirate radio stations, in clear violation of the law.

So now they've been told to stop the show, which has upset those folks who depended on the radio to participate in Sunday services. Martin Long, Director of the Catholic Communications Office, was put out by the government's ban, as if it were all the fault of ComReg that the Church's radio transmissions were interfering with air traffic control, to say nothing of disrupting communications for the gardai and fire brigades. Even though ComReg has not come, hat in hand, to talk things over, the government body has promised to find some radio waves out there for the parishes to use. Until then, I'd stick to flying Monday through Friday, afternoons only to avoid morning Mass, and maybe check the holy days of obligation schedule just to be safe.

Looking forward to a good pub crawl? You might have to crawl a bit further than planned. It seems that over six hundred pubs have closed their doors in the past few years, driven out of business by low profit margins and sky high fees. For some locals, the cost of water and refuse hauling put them over the edge as overhead began to eat into the bottom line and then consume it completely. The Vintners Federation estimates that one a day is going out of business, so the longer you delay your departure, the harder it will be to find a pint and a lovely plate of boiled bacon and cabbage.

Get those bags packed; don't forget a raincoat, and enjoy your trip!