This is an extract from Growing Pains and Growing Up, John Whelan’s new book celebrating 40 years in Journalism. It is available to buy in All Books, Nook and Cranny and the Parish Centre in Portlaoise.
If I had a penny for every time that people complain about the Town and how there’s nothing ever in it … while time and time again it’s the same half dozen who get out there and organise anything, give their time tirelessly and selflessly and volunteer to supervise or organise all the events and activities that the rest of us get to turn up at, enjoy … and criticise!!
Portlaoise had an Arts Festival ever before Galway or Kilkenny, back in 1985. Ask John Dunne, Pat Critchley or Denise Dunne – it was organised in their kitchen – or Mary O’Sullivan, God rest her. ‘Miscellany’ her shop on Main Street was the box office.
I’m not going to start naming names as I will for sure cause offence by leaving
someone out, but we later had the Jazz Festival and after that again another Arts Festival.
I’m not even going to go into the original Festival Francais de Portarlington, thanks to Ray Searson of the East End Hotel with its World Snail Eating Championships. Ray brought us Marc Quinquandon, a 27-year-old train engineer from Lorraine, all 166 kilos of him. The very embodiment of gastropod gastronomy as he demolished dozens of l’escargot along with the feeble competition to claim another title in the Market Square in Port’.
Unfortunately, later that year, in November 1979, Marc was to die, from indigestion, as he attempted to gobble up his own world record.
Mountmellick had the carnival and time of its life with its Mardi Gras of American Football, Morris Minor Rally, Diceman and Hank Halfhead and the Rambling Turkeys
in 1987. The list goes on.
Names aside, it was always the usual suspects who organised and who turned up to support these events, which at the time were on par with any in the country in terms of their ambition or programming.
Their downfall was the lack of stamina, perseverance and capacity to stay going year after year in the face of too many obstacles, not least apathy.
The savage loves his native shore and while I would be the first to own up to the shortcomings of Portlaoise and Laois, I don’t like anyone else running us down.
Everyone is entitled to their view of course and to criticise, but I believe that you earn that right to give your tuppence worth if you have tried to make some contribution to do something yourself rather than be of the ‘Do you know what you should do,’ type of know-all.
I’m not saying don’t complain, I’m saying at least make it constructive criticism and have some alternative to put forward.
This is an extract from Growing Pains and Growing Up, John Whelan’s new book celebrating 40 years in Journalism. It is available to buy in All Books, Nook and Cranny and the Parish Centre in Portlaoise.
SEE ALSO – Wired with Whelan: There are three sides to every story
