Irish Industry...

Since middle March was so hectic, I just didn't get my full Irish on. So today, I'm cooking Irish. I'm re-inspired by yesterday's post about crowdsourcing Ireland's economy. Perusing the "Ballymaloe House" cookbook for inspiration, the author and proprietress wrote this story as an intro to a humble mushroom recipe. Food and memory always makes wonderful stories, yet it makes me wonder... do we have this kind of resilience to overcome the "struggles" today?

"My husband Ivan, first started to grow mushrooms in 1937. He was already growing apples in the fields, and tomatoes and cucumbers in greenhouses. We were coming toward the end of a period when, in addition to the world Depression, Ireland was locked into the "Economic War" with England, and ordinary farming was in a disastrous state, as we could not sell our produce. At the same time the government, led by Eamon De Valera, was encouraging Irish industry, including the infant greenhouse industry, and mushroom growing was smiled on also...With a continuous supply of mushrooms, my husband took gifts of them to friends and relations he visited. In 9142, I had finished school and decided to leave home, intending to return a year later to settle down to marriage. First, I went to Northern Ireland to work in a hostel for old people who had been bombed out or otherwise dislodged from their homes by war. It was my job to clean the hostel, collect the milk from the nearest farm, , prepare the vegetables, and wash up. When Ivan came to visit me, he brought me a present of button mushrooms." Myrtle Allen

Can Crowdsourcing Save a Country?

Can an online grassroots initiative turn around a country's economy? That's the idea behind "The Ideas Campaign." The brainchild of one of Ireland's leading online agencies, the campaign hopes to inform the Irish about the real state of their economy, and tap into the collective intelligence to foster conversation about how the country can regain its competitiveness. It's just a one-month campaign, but it was able to gain awareness with the backing of Ireland's leading media outlets (I'm assuming for free).

The initiative taps into the best of the Irish spirit and pride of the Celtic Tiger. From the Ideas campaign: "we’re an entrepreneurial race, ranking second in the world for business start-ups. No, we didn’t make that one up. That’s what the think-tank, the OECD, no less says."

Have you ever known an Irishman who wasn't proud? When I was in Ireland at the height of the Tiger, I spoke to many young Irish who were proud of what had been accomplished. Back then, the young Irish felt they needed to "give back" and help other European countries out (like Poland). It will be interesting to see if that spirit of "giving" will be focused on their own turf.
www.ideascampaign.ie