OFF WE GO AGAIN!

I have to say the experience of shooting the leaving Dublin project has been for me a huge process.

On one hand you have the technical,the logistical,the weather,the locations,The Timing,the edits,the posts.

On the other hand you have the emotions,the people,the kinship,understanding,camaraderie,the empathy.

There is no doubt about it there is no one of us in this fair land who is not touched in some way by the spectre of emigration.Everybody has a story,a connection,a sadness.

From a very early age my own life has been marred by it ,so real were these sensations to me that i felt them as normal,or indeed did not feel them at all.That is indeed until recently when the age old spectre,that skeleton in deValeras  closet returned dressed in a new flesh to prey upon those in need of a sense of fulfillment.Emigration has returned with a bang.It hurts and of that there is no doubt.

Those left behind will feel the loss,notice the empty streets,the empty clubs,the lack of youth,and as a result the lack of its culture.Too many generations before have experienced the loss and isolation of being alone here in tough times and my heart goes out to all those left behind to suffer this silence in silence.

For what can they say,they like those who have departed have been rendered speechless,and from our ruling classes they draw nought but a slouch of the shoulders and some regrettable unfounded and unsubstansiated thesis about lifestyle choice.

On that subject I will say this and no more. I have done two years research on the ground.

I have cast my nets as far as I could to achieve a representative sample of all of those on the move.

It is my firm belief that the vast majority of those on the move are involountary and reluctant travellers.

And although they may find fortune and favour before them in their new homes,they would much rather given the opportunity,spend there life here,here fulfilled,here part of their families,here part of a community,here contributing to our growth as a nation,here enjoying life as  a vital part of the comunal forces that propel the self forward and enable us to grow with our communities.Instead of being part of a fractured society being forced to mesh in with and to accept all the limitations of being a strange person in a strange land having to start all over again,and having to build from the ground up to achieve a sense of themselves within a new community.

Its a few weeks now,But our trip to Bull Island  in Dollymount was filled with memories of this my own  childhood sea side.I got stuck in the mud between the bridge and the causeway. It was edgy and fun,and a long time ago but I cant help but be rooted in my own reality . A feeling countless people feel when confronted with this series.That feeling of familiarity and the warm glow of acceptance,of being a part of something tangible.

Brian O Neil and Aileen Dillon are in need of some of these feelings right now but they know they are not going to find them close to home as the nostalgia associated with childhood just wont do when you are broke,with no work,and you know that you can cut it in any busy town.

So Aileen a photographer  and Brian a T.V. producer are off once more to the sunny climbs of L.A.

lets hope they find there what is lacking here,Stability.

On the night Ray Hegarty and Ian Monahan showed great skill at the end of a cell phone and made the statue shine of the end of the pier.

All is going well and to see what i mean check out https://www.facebook.com/leavingdublin

or  http://davidmonahan.viewbook.com/leaving-dublin-projections

As always I invite you to share,comment and enjoy

But please , make a special effort to pass it along ,now is a very important time for the lilliputian.

And the more who know about it,the better

David