Of Automobile Traffic

27.

The Irish are among the few people in the world to resist the ancient Romans; for 800 years they fought against the English and managed to liberate if not all, at least a large part of Ireland; they have resisted the power of the Catholic Church and have suceeded above all through dance and music to integrate Catholicism with the healthy values of celtic paganism; they even resisted the flattening effect of European monoculture, thank heavens, and alongside the usual discos and the usual mega-concert you can still find in Ireland young and old together in the pubs playing real music. Unfortunately, they haven't resisted the automobile.

28.

The most fashionable game among Irish drivers is to get their sights on a pedestrian, step on the accelerator and, having almost run him into the ground, shout in the face "Feck off out of here".

29.

The car has the great privilege of unifying peoples and even sometimes of bringing about unexpected and marvellous cultural exchanges. Being impatient and arrogant among drivers is so very normal and inevitable, if you wish. Anyway, they are among equals. But to be so with pedestrians is altogether a much more sophisticated and superior thing. One might have expected such behaviour in modern Germany or Switzerland but to tell the truth it's quite a surprise to find it happening in the streets of that city where the sweet fishmonger Molly Malone once strolled, singing cockles and mussels, alive, alive oh!

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