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THE PRIEST EXPLAINED to anyone who hadn’t been awake for the past thirty years, that Dalkey’s parish church was packed today because it was “having a funeral for one of the town folk”.
“And no, she wasn’t the first citizen of Dalkey, but she was the most famous,” added Fr William Stuart. “A wonderful citizen, a wonderful person and a wonderful interactor.”
Maeve Binchy was to Dalkey what Gay Byrne is to Howth, he explained.
The beloved author – who wrote dozens of popular novels which sold more than 40 million copies worldwide – passed away on Monday night after a short illness. She was 72. Her funeral mass today was attended by hundred of dignitaries, well-known personalities and locals wishing to pay their respects to a woman of huge talent. It was standing room only in the church, with dozens more waiting outside.
Binchy’s brother William and cousin Kate delivered the readings, one from Ecclesiastes and the other a letter from St Paul to the Corinthians, which focused on time, talent and love.
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens,” began Kate. “Love takes no pleasure in other people’s sins but delights in the truth; it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes. Love does not come to an end,” concluded William.
Traditional music was played throughout the service by uilleann piper Liam O’Flynn and the Deer’s Cry – I arise today was sang before the service came to an end.
Originally a teacher, Binchy started working for the Irish Times before she penned her first book Light A Penny Candle in 1982.
“I am very aware of the river of ink used to remember her this week and I don’t want to revisit what you have already read,” Fr Stuart told the congregation, after talking about her warm, infectious personality and the memories she has left the community with.
He spoke of her generosity and her non-traditional approach to religion and faith, before recounting an anecdote from another priest.
Her hallmark was her generosity, he said. Generosity of her time, her talent and her resources.
Remembering one particularly large donation to the church, he recalled how Binchy told Fr McDonagh, who concelebrated the mass, to “spend it on anything you want…as long as it’s not statues or holy pictures”.
“She wasn’t a religious person in the traditional sense,” continued the priest. “The divine eluded her.”
Fr McDonagh told the mourners how she once told him that when it was ‘her time’, she was sure the local parish would “dispatch her with dignity and without hypocrisy in a faith in which I envy and would love to share”.
He said he believed she had now gone to the Almighty and had already started talking to him. And then kept talking to him.
“Lord, you called her – you can listen to her,” the celebrant quipped to a great round of applause.
And she did get the last word at the mass as well. After being very insistent that there would be no flowers at her mass, the only bouquet that appeared was one on her coffin – a bouquet of yellow roses known as Rosa Gordon Snell. An appreciative murmur spread through the congregation as the priest explained she had named the flower after him as a surprise gift on his 65th birthday.
Hundreds of locals, umbrellas cocked, remained outside for the duration of the mass, keen to say goodbye to Maeve, who certainly was their first citizen.
Micheal Martin & his Fianna Fail party, Leo Varadkar & Simon Harris & their Fine Gael party & Eamon Ryan & his Green party along with all Opposition parties in the Dail have utterly failed our young people & stabbed them in the back. I know as I have them at home, they work hard, paid their way through college, got jobs & paid their taxes, contributed to their communities but are left living at home due to exorbitant rents & know that they will never own their own home. They pay astronomical prices for their insurance, energy, broadband, groceries, you name it. All the above have destroyed a generation, who will never forgive them. There is massive anger then as they watch a Govt bend over backwards providing everything for those arriving daily. Ireland is on the brink of civil breakdown.
@SV3tN8M4: but they are living at home. Pool money for food, energy, groceries. College is less than 3-4k per year if living at home. Once working, they pay $750/ month for all bills because they don’t pay rent. They can save lots per month as a result. Living at home as an adult is a gift! It may not be ideal but a gift nonetheless!
@Susan Cody: it’s a fair point you make but even then it can be difficult to save. For instance if you have student loans or a car loan for a vehicle you need to travel to work. Also not having the security of your own home leads to delaying crucial life milestones such as having a family which leads to a further dominoe effect.
@SV3tN8M4: it’s a global game of musical chairs basically. For instance our nurses and doctors leave to another country for better pay and conditions and then we import a nurse or doctor from the Phillipines for instance who is also looking for better pay and conditions. Apply this to all jobs etc etc
@SV3tN8M4: If they have a decent job and are living at home they should be saving huge money each month. Those astronomical prices you mention should be minimal unless you are charging them heavily. Many don’t have the option of living at home
@SV3tN8M4: perfectly said sir
@Susan Cody: Yes and many of our new visitors don’t have to pay rent, food or any other bills and if they have college age children have no college fees. Why should our own children be unable to stay and live in their own Country go to work have a place of their own to live in and maybe have a family these would be our future citizens and workers of Ireland and everyone will need care and maybe these people could be our carers eventually.
@Susan Cody: I wouldn’t regard it as a gift to have to share someone else’s house when you’d prefer to have your own space. Especially if you can’t afford to move out. While it’s nice to have company and someone offering you $750 towards shared bills, it is very far from ideal. People want to have their own space and their own ways and will emigrate to achieve this. No blame to them. This is a welcome article because it looks at whether this generation really has any affordable choices in Ireland. People are increasingly voting with their feet to live in an affordable country where they can make their own way and have a realistic prospect of thriving without supports.
@SV3tN8M4: You comments consistently end with a sinister reference to civil or societal breakdown or unrest. You are full of horse manure
@Susan Cody: I’m lost with your comments how much do they get paid an hour and how many hours can they work a week and be successful in there course,really save money
It’s real simple when you finish college you tend to leave home and start your life. Maybe move in with a few friends. Maybe a couple might move in together. Rents are off the charts expensive. It’s gone out of control. We have the most expensive electricity in europe as well. Living with your parents isnt an option, so why not move abroad. The sad bit is 50% of those that leave will never come home. They will settle abroad.
@Washpenrebel: I have a good few nieces and nephews abroad…its all good until they start families, and then they move back home… They want to raise their kids here and need support from other family members…
@Washpenrebel: It’s better that way. The closeness of everyone will only increase, it’s unavoidable (failing a massive war or natural disaster that sets us back). It’s going to be useful to have Irish people all over the world, we sort of already do. Ireland is too ‘backwater’ anyway, no real economy for aspirations. More for retirement.
Looking at this sorry excuse of a government, I’m reminded of George B Shaw’s observation ‘The great tragedy of Ireland is that the intelligent are full of self-doubt, and the fools are cock-sure of themselves ‘ .
@Brian Hunt: would you ever consider quitting the gaslighting business ?
@Brian Hunt: There are quite a few that are educated beyond their abilities.
Most call themselves Greens.
We have one such notable that comments here.
@Daniel Dunne: You’re an example of what he was saying!
This country has simply become unaffordable to live in.
Constant meddling in every aspect of daily life by government. Over regulation of everything.
Cost of everything out of control
The Tax Gine and Penalties Green Party have driven costs beyond the reach of almost everyone.
Carbon Tax has raised the cos of everything
Plastic bottles tax
Labour costs
Sugar tax
Plastic bag tax
Businesses are swamped with costs thus raising the costs of everything by passing on costs inflation by government
Sick pay
Holiday pay extra bank holiday
Four day week
Working from home
Pensions
Domestic abuse pay on way
Along with
Rates
Employer PRSI
Vat
Corporation tax
Rent
Crippling insurance costs
Crippling energy costs
Crippling produce costs
This has all been passed on to our young people.
It’s too expensive to run a car. With no alternative offered outside of Dublin
Green Party policy is cycling
It’s too expensive to buy a house
It’s too expensive to rent
It’s too expensive to renovate or extend a property
Our young people see no future here in this tax crippled economy.
Just yesterday a young friend of my Son headed to Australia. Never to come back. On discussion with him. A professional guy and well paid. His synopsis is simple. No future here it’s too expensive.
My son another professional person, with his own house, considering moving at present. Well paid but fleeced in tax and further fleeced by secondary taxes vat and other government expenses.
Country has dropped 5 places in world rankings of being a country to do business in. From 9 to 14th. The rot has started. We have finally priced ourselves out. .
@Max Cooper: Oh, go away!
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: People are going away, that’s the point.
I am not in the age bracket and left 6 years ago, long before the recent arrivals. Best thing I have ever done. The mismanagement of Ireland and the bottomless pit of taxation used to pay for it is astounding. Don’t blame the asylum seekers. Ireland was a mess long before that!
Of course they are, they are trying to water the rest of us down too
@Brian Hackett: clown.
@Ian: did you spell that all by yourself??
The majority of issues facing young people are being caused by the ever increasing cost of rent and the cost of living in general.
For a young person that didn’t go to university and instead when straight into a trade or other job, their level of income means living outside the family home is beyond their means.
For those that went to university and left with a degree, they had lived away from home, but their level of income has also forced them to return to their family homes.
The lack of action by successive governments that only pay lip service to the housing crisis, while neglecting to build sufficient social housing is the causation factor behind all of this, yet they continue to act as if they are reacting to some unknown issue that occurred organically rather than by design.
@Dvsespaña: A lot of university degrees aren’t worth the paper they’re written on in the real world.
In my opinion, you can’t go wrong with an apprenticeship, provided the potential sponsor of the apprenticeship isn’t a langer.
Tradesmen and houses are so scarce now, the money is only going to go one way.
I know self-employed tradesmen adding thousands onto quotes just to NOT get the job.
A few weeks later, phone call ‘when can you start?’
@Dvsespaña: The cost of living has actually gone crazy here in this country. I earn about 15k more now than I did 16 years ago, but I seem to have less and less disposable income than I ever had, albeit with the addition of a child. One fine example I noticed just yesterday: a small luxury of a can of Coke was €1.70, before the deposit tax, in super value. 2 years ago, that was €0.90 cents to a euro. 70% increase in two years!! In 2015, a skoda octavia RS was 32K; now its 52K+, a 62.5% increase in 9 years. that’s an increase of 7% year on year yet average wages went up by just over half that, at 4.6%. It is similar for other car brands. Energy costs went up 21% in 12 months. Slowly coming back down. but not by much. Fuel is almost 50% more expensive now than it was 3 years ago. 2021 barrels of oil cost $84.56, at pump 1.42 per liter of diesel. Today, a barrel of oil is currently $82.76 and at pump 1.80 per litre of diesel. 26% increase in 3 years. Groceries increased in 2023 by 16.3%. Average wages aren’t matching these increases, not to mention the cost of rent/house prices. Health services are strained; young nurses are leaving and not being replaced; and older staff are burned out, leaving and not being replaced. That’s going to lead to a very poor health system in the near future. No amount of billions spent in Dublin hospitals will fix that, as nurses, regular staff, and even doctors can’t afford to live there, and the lack of resources in the rest of the country makes it a less desirable profession in Ireland. They have the offer of better wages, working conditions, and lifestyles in other countries such as Canada, Australia, and the Middle East.
Previous generational emigration drains from Ireland were largely driven out of economic hardship and poor opportunities at home. The difference this time around is that there is plenty of employment opportunities at home, but the quality of life and wellbeing standards are lower than we’ve become accustomed to and sliding. The main reason that there isn’t a total exodus of our young is that most of the western world is experiencing similar pressures arising from severe mismanagement.
@Caoimhín Mac Giolla Chaoin: Severe Mismanagement = Inappropriate distribution of wealth (Greed). We’re good at that here
@If you’re: Using the arrival of refugees as a reason to stuff the pockets of landlords is, indeed, greed, and the people engaged in this societal misadventure actually believe it.
The tendency to see ‘greed is good’ while everything else is social politics is untenable, but the journalists are inclined to see poor political policies rather than a circle of economic influence that excludes younger people or ignores them.
Journalists should be influencing how to reward people for productive and creative activity instead of just speculative acquirement of wealth for its own sake. Unfortunately, that is not the case, and these publications should take a long look in the mirror.
41% of people aged between 18 and 34 are planning, considering, or in the process of leaving this country. This is shocking and reminds me of the brain drain after the Celtic tiger crash, FG/FF again have failed them and left them with no realistic chance of a decent standard of life even when they have decent jobs. I feel sorry for the people considering this and their families.
Survey understates this trend because it excludes those who have already gone.
@Martin Purdy (Martin): Agree. And does not seem to include any count of these.
Of course they are. The fact that the young generation plan to leave or not is irrelevant. Meanwhile AIB and the like renew contracts with Indian companies with no intention to open jobs with decent pay to our young one. They even claim the Irish one are being unreasonable to justify on the salary they offer and when there is a rare opportunity. Same with the hospital and IT technologies jobs.
Houses health cost of living violence Dodgy ministers jobs for the boys/girls.
Of course they are and they’re trying to water the rest of us down too
Not enough room on this island to accommodate the amount of people that want to be here.
@Mark Gannon: pure bullshyte.
Young(er) people will always emigrate from this little island on the edge of Europe. It’s a huge, exciting world out there and they’ll all leave for various reasons. Travel, living and working aboard is far easier than it ever was. Some will feel forced, some will find the hills forty shades greener elsewhere, some will want the excitement, experience and all that the world has to offer. A great many will also return. This country is too small for growing humans.
As the father of a recent emigrant to Australia, I can answer that question with a Yes.
Highly qualified, highly skilled and in a very well paying occupation with great prospects. But even with all of that could not have anywhere near a decent lifestyle after forking out for huge rent. No possibility of ever owning a home, no possibility of ever being provided with affordable accommodation. Working very hard, paying huge tax and seeing no return on any of that.
Struggling with huge rent, struggling with very poor transport options, struggling to save anything, struggling with the ever present threat to personal safety and violence on our lawless streets, struggling to get any kind of service such as GP care or dental care. Why would they stay?
Very sensibly knows that far away fields are not always greener but also sensibly knows it could not be worse than here. Reluctantly emigrating and sad to do so, leaving a lot of sadness behind too. I now understand the term “emigration bereavement”, unfortunately.
Looking at what they needed in terms of documentation and process to just get into Australia was also hugely enlightening. It was a long and difficult and expensive and extensive process. Our own government ought to look at it as they would learn a lot about managing migration.
The polling is fundamentally flawed. They do not consider themselves as emigrants. They live in a broader universe than those asking the question.They view the government as an incompetent local county council run by gombeen politicians. They literally do not expect any better.They know failure to govern is the obvious outcome of cronyism, corruption and a landlord mindset to society.
@paul walsh: Bahahahaha go on back to bed.
Thats what this govt wants ! Irish people out and foreigners in !!
35 years ago I left. It is, thankfully, common for Irish people. Most end up going home. If we didn’t travel we would end up like the US, where a huge proportion of their citizens are completely ignorant of the world. We need to start embracing emigration as a positive. Stay at home and Decay at home.
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: No young person should feel forced to immigrate from Ireland for a decent standard of life when they have decent paying jobs “stay at home and decay at home” that really says it all, nothing has changed in past 35 years, the goverment continues to fail our youth and the brain drain continues.
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill:
You just said “people are completely ignorant of the world because they don’t travel”.
Is that not ignorant?
And traveling and emigrating are two very different things.
@mariona l: You are quoting me? Inaccurately! But, accepted! I can travel to Galway and that isn’t emigration.
21% of 55 to 64 year olds want to emmigrate. This surprised me.
Interesting read. There is a normal or average number of people who will travel, emigrate every year. This isnt new and it is not unique to ireland. What is concerning thou is the trend of professionals leaving and not returning coinciding with the shortages here. Change is needed badly in the likes of the HSE to stop this.
There’s no future for young people in Ireland, unless you have wealthy parents who can help you buy a house. Particularly not for nurses and teachers who can get much better pay and conditions abroad.
Young people are being pushed, or shall we say being forced to emigrate. While at the same time the FFFGG endorse illegal migration into the country at an exceptional cost. Legal migration, yes. Illegal.migration, no.
Another silly Journal survey where they try to be alarmist by making small numbers newsworthy. 3% planning to emigrate. 8% in the 18-34 category – students and graduates wanting to explore the world. There is nothing unusual here, either in the survey results, or in TheJournal wanting to poke a stick in the cage of those who live here only to rant about the Govt.
Every year thousands of Irish people move to Australia to experience a different culture, get some sunshine, do a bit of travelling and go on the p1ss while working in whatever job they can find. The VAST majority come back 12 months later.
The way that youth emigration is described in the media as some sort of national tragedy, you’d swear it was still the 1950s and emigrating meant a one way boat ticket, never to return.
As is the case in the UK, cities will be abandoned first as the Islamists arrive.
They are sadly deluded if they think the cost of living is cheaper in other western countries
This is low compared to the 1960′s & 1980′s, in the 80′s (I know the dim and distant past) it was the norm for more young people to have to leave than to stay here. So I’m going to go with the glass half full that less people are thinking of leaving now. I’m not in any way saying things are great here but less people are leaving so something must have changed.
The reality of starting a new life in another country from nothing ,has not being realised by these young Irish people. They will still be paying high rents ,high property prices, high living costs in western countries such as Canada, Australia new Zealand USA ect, unless they move to Eastern Europe or Russia, like the Canadian farmer on YouTube.
Only some adventure seekers.The question is what percentage want to emigrate here.
Just go and stop the hysterical drama
have your say