a few final images from Ireland

While it is always dangerous to generalize about the people of a nation, I found the Irish to be quite delightful.  I came across this lady at a craft fair in Carlingford and she seemed to embody the spirit of the local people.

I wrote earlier about the Ghost Estates of Ireland.  Here are a couple of 'ghost houses' which for whatever reason had their windows blocked off, although in the case of the blue house, there seems to have been some regret, so new windows were painted on!

I came across this mobile body shop and thought that it was a good idea.  Since we always exchange cars with our house exchanges, you never know when you might have to fix a few scratches.  I haven't seen this type of van in Vancouver, but it might be a good business opportunity for someone.  If you want to know how many cars get scratched, just look at parking garage walls and columns!

Speaking of cars, I thought this was a creative approach to encouraging people to not park illegally...after all, it's not often that we associate lawyers with charitable causes. :-)

Finally, one of the sad realities of Ireland is an economy that has a long road to recovery.  This is very evident in the multitude of 'for let' and 'for sale' signs one finds throughout the country.  This photo is typical of what one sees in far too many villages, towns and cities in Southern Ireland, and to a lesser extent, in Northern Ireland.

However, we can all help a bit by taking a vacation there. There's so much to see; the country is quite affordable given the relatively low value of the euro compared to the Canadian dollar, and the golf is wonderful...especially when it's not raining too hard!