Spirit of the Irish in tough times

By Brendan Foley

Brendan Foley is an author, life and business coach, healer and group facilitator. The common theme throughout his work is a focus on helping people to achieve their potential. To this effect he has worked with Olympic athletes, Chief Executives, leading blue-chip organisations as well as hundreds of people through workshops and programmes. A native of Dublin he is married with one son and two dogs! He is also a keen sailor and has represented Ireland at many World and European Championships. He delivers unique insights by combining sports success and psychology with leading edge personal development techniques and spiritual energetics. His book The Yin Yang Complex, a guide to personal balance is to be launched by Mercier Press in January 2010.

The spirit of the Irish in tough times…

When I was asked to write this piece my editor suggested a topic on how to find balance and why this becomes so important in a recession or in times when there is great fear. In the US as well as in Ireland there has been a catastrophic collapse in the ‘status quo’ or the old way. I have been researching for almost 3 years now about how ancient cultures and civilisations dealt with these times of trauma. In keeping with the Irish theme, I think we can learn some very valuable lessons in creating balance and happiness in our lives from our ancestors. The balance that we need to tap into is the balance that comes from the confidence and energy of the Irish and diaspora of today, to be balanced by the wisdom of old Ireland.

Ireland and the Irish have had common themes running through history; repression and oppression, either from invading forces or from forces within the state. This has created a survivalist mode of thinking that has passed on from generation to generation. Since the Vikings started to attack the native Irish to the Normans and finally the English invaders, the Irish have had to adapt quickly to survive. Forced to live often on meagre scraps cunning and guile became the way to ensure survival. So where does that leave us today?

The cunning of yesteryear in today’s business terms would be referred to as innovation, cutting edge strategy or niche positioning. Our legacy from our ancestors is our ability to make the best of a bad situation, to do more with less, to keep going when all others have lost their heads. In fact you could say that the Irish and their kin have been genetically modified over the last 1,000 years to succeed in recessionary and hard times! In no other culture will you find such dynamism in hard times. We all know the stories of the immigrant families off the boat in Boston, New York and Nova Scotia who through sheer hard work and cunning rose to the top of their respective professions and industries. We have been programmed to do more with less and to make the most of what we have. This is necessity born out of adversity. In fact it is part of our DNA.

If you combine that inherent drive for survival with the confidence that America inspires and the belief that it places in the ability of a person to rise to the level of their potential, then you have a potent cocktail for success. Never before has the world had so much and never before has there been so much opportunity to create success. Drawing on the rebel spirit it is easy for the Irish to heed global market guru George Soros’s famous statement “if everybody is walking in one direction, then it is time to walk in the other direction.” So if we are looking for success now is our time. Go forward in the knowledge that you carry this ability in your DNA, you have been built for this!

A word of caution however. In Ireland over the last 10 years we have seen a meteoric rise in the fortunes of the country. Thousands upon thousands became property and paper millionaires overnight and while this was welcome break from being the paupers of Europe it also caused us to sell out on what we really stood for and what we always held dear in the past. The ancient ways of community, tribe and clan support for each other were eroded as the ‘dog eat dog’ mentality spread, leaving the weakest in society on the edge. In our bigger houses and fancier cars we managed to distance ourselves from each other. Hiding behind concrete and tinted glass rather than to use our new found wealth to build and strengthen our community.

Thankfully, there is a slow but sure return to the good aspects of our culture due to the recession. For the first time in years people are talking about quality of life instead of materialism. You now hear people discussing their vegetable patches rather than the latest series BMW. Anecdotally this shift can be seen in the return to the Church of many people, particularly those with kids, as parents seek to create a more meaningful existence for their children. This recession was the wake up call we needed as a nation to look once again at the values that we wish to espouse and we can now reconnect with what it means to be Irish.

My parting question to you is this; can you balance success, abundance and confidence to strike out to live your dream while at the same time holding family, community, generosity and a helping hand close to your heart? If so then you will be living in balance, making the most of your legacy and keeping the fire of the spirit of the Irish and Ireland burning brightly.