Once free of Dublin’s confusing roads, the scenery opens out to swathes of rural green.
Rolling along the wide smooth N Roads it’s very easy to imagine that you are still in the UK. However, it would be fundamentally wrong to imagine that Southern Ireland is England with an accent and green post boxes.
Ireland is slow matured with one foot firmly buried in tradition and heritage. Historically it has been one step behind when it comes to embracing change. When the UK youth was thrashing about to various music trends in the early seventies, the Irish rural youth were still waltzing.
That’s not to say that rural Ireland has managed to avoid change. Judging by the musak escorting us round Tesco’s in Claremorris, they are no longer so out of step musically.