the guard



The G Hotel, Galway

We are probably among the last people in Ireland to see the film The Guard. We had a delicious M50 hamburger in Eddie Rockets beforehand (topped with melted Swiss cheese NYC cart onions, grilled mushrooms and ER secret sauce) not knowing the diner features in the blackmail scene from the movie and the cinema is next door to the G Hotel, where Gerry Boyle spent his ‘day off’.

The G Hotel has won over even the grumpiest begrudgers with its pink walls, silver chairs, sumptuous carpets and velvet furnishings. It was decorated by the celebrity hat designer, Philip Tracy, originally from the tiny village of Ahascragh. It is inspiring to know that it is only one small step from Ahascragh to world hat domination.

We are grateful to have The G as a vibrant remnant of the Celtic Tiger (the bonsai tree outside the front door is reputedly insured for €30k.)

The movie is a good introduction to Irish dead pan humour (see video below for the main character’s take on this). Trying to ‘knock a rise’ out of people, just to raise a smile is a national pass time. Or interspersing the truth with swathes of lies, just to brighten up the day, and to stop people taking themselves too seriously, can be confusing for the uninitiated. Brendan Gleeson is an expert. It also illustrates brilliantly the boredom and monotony of being loyally stuck in a small corner, of a small country but craving the bright lights and mental stimulation of the metropolis.

Somehow the brazen jokes manage to take the power out of the racism and show that sometimes precious PC behaviour can be more divisive than cohesive. The stereotypical bigotry, bad language, corrupt gardai and weak drug running gangster plot are lifted to box office triumph by the skilfully written script full of snappy one liners, that mature nicely on reflection, and the brilliant casting of the magnetic characters. It is a movie that is destined to wear out many DVDS and sit on the shelf with Man about dog, Into the West and box sets of Father Ted.

Back to reality- the Kinvara Minors hurling team lost their semi final. It was a hot, messy, overcast game with very little good play that deteriorated from an even match at half time to an all out thrashing. But the good news is…

The Cardiac First Responders Group saved their first patient yesterday. There was a collapse in the hotel and CPR was started, someone raced down to the school for the defibrillator and shocks were delivered. When the ambulance arrived the casualty was breathing. So our neighbour’s death, that inspired my sister in law to start the group, has saved a life. (She is a bangarda and everyone from the station loved the movie by the way..)