Mary Jordan

Mary Jordan

I was born in Dublin in the 1940s, when the city was a much smaller place, where you could cycle up the mountains or out to the sea, and walk into town.  Children could play in the streets and it was safe to climb trees in the parks.

My father came from a long line of linen weavers, his business failed due to the 1930s depression in Europe which reduced the market for fine damask and linen, and USA embargo on linen imports.  Like many other Catholics in Northern Ireland he made his way to a civil service job in Dublin.

My mother grew up in a family that paid a high price for their mother’s involvement in the struggle for Irish independence. Like so many other politically active women, she was excluded from the emerging republican establishment and could do little to prevent the swing towards a very misogynous society. I still feel both these influences, and worked a good part of my life as a weaver and an environmental activist.

In the 1960s there was a great sense of hope; civil war politics were fading, the fundamentalist Catholic Church was being challenged, the “new” cohort of teenagers added an exciting dimension to society.  The emergence of traditional and folk music into the public arena gave voice to a new sense of joy, and the Fladh Ceoil provided a focal point for people to sing, dance and play music without being under the supervision of the parish priest.  The sense of empowerment among some sections of the youth was very positive.

What a mess we have made of the country since then!  Political corruption has sunk us into the mire.  School children have fewer resources;  art, music, litrature, dance, sport are regarded as periferal activities.  In some places they are not even allowed run in their playground.  So many young parents are stuck in substandard accomodation, often worth a fraction of what they paid for it, and now loseing jobs as financial resources are sucked out of society to prop up the lifestyles of the oliarchs who control the present government.

This all happened in my adult life, therefore I must share some responsibility. The challange is to find some way to support, encourage and guide the younger generations.  I am hoping the gathering on 2nd October will provide some insights on how this can be done.

At the same time, it is wonderful to watch ones children and their partners develop into mighty people, and now, the influence from 5 grandchildren, real joy!

I though when I got this old I’d feel very mature and sensible, and forget about getting angry about things.  But it hasn’t happened yet.  Maybe next year.

Mary

Workshop:  Linking The Generations

Each new generation strives to create their own identity and pathways, its how society evoloves.  The potential for learning flows in both directions, the young can learn from the experience of older generations, while the young introduce new ideas, new concepts, new ways of doing things.

The speed of change in the western world is perhaps unique in human history.  Just look how quickly the young adapted to the digital age, in less than two decades children were teaching adults how to set digital watches, timers on domestic appliances, etc.

Is this the first time that the young have so much to teach the old?  Have we reached a threshold where the older generations have less to teach the young than they have to teach us?

How many new mothers consult a web site rather than ask a question of an older mother?   As so much information comes from vested commercial interests can anything be done to balance this?

We live in interesting, exciting times, but we need to create a broader contex to link  the new “information” age with the experience of age.