McHugh's Miscellany: Rebellion, reflection, Recession

A significant centenary event took place recently in Finner Camp.
It commemorated the handover 100 years ago to the day of the British Army Camp built during the Boer War in the later years of the 19th century, to Irish military forces on February 17, 1922.
That IRA company which took over the Camp had taken an anti treaty stance after the signing of the Anglo Irish agreement.
At the end of June of the same year, the camp was attacked and captured by members of the new National army (pro-treaty units) of the Irish Provisional Government with a fatality and others injured.

A PHOTO I TOOK OF THE GUARD OF HONOUR AT THE MEMORIAL WHICH REMEMBERS THOSE WHO

HAVE LOST THEIR LIVES WHILE SERVING THEIR COUNTRY  

A century later Donegal people still speak of the deep sadness that divided their community at that time.
Local families and their politics still bear the appendages of the short but intensive and brutal Civil War which followed.
Our country has progressed manifold in those 100 years. There have been triumphs and many mistakes, but we can only hope to move forward with the same resilience and respect that has marked the passage of time. We still remain a divided island.
In those early years of the Free State an Irish speaking battalion was also located at Finner bringing in native speakers from throughout the country.
Right up to the 1950s some of the finest Gaelic footballers and hurlers in Ireland were stationed there, none more so and particularly evident during the period of the Emergency and WW2.

Classic local GAA games between the Camp and Ballyshannon in that period, in particular, were recalled to me over the years with names being trotted out like today’s followers of YouTube or Instagram stars.
The camp lands themselves were not without controversy when it was first purchased from the Folliott family.
Much of the land and dunes around Tullan and Finner had a rich archaeological history going back to the Mesolithic period of Irish antiquity.
The destruction of a hugely important archaeological heritage in that area and the use of megalithic stones to construct an early firing range raised the ire of so many people here that the matter was raised in the Houses of Parliament at Westminster.
It now remains the only military camp that has a direct lineage to the foundation of the State, in the North West.

The long and winding road

The lifting of the remaining Covid-19 restrictions ranging from face masks to school pods, previously imposed by the Government will be implemented from Monday next.
There are small exceptions, but comparatively minor compared to some of the earlier draconian impositions on our freedoms imposed since March of 2020.
The living with Covid phase of the pandemic is now being rolled out, buffeted by the knowledge that most of the population has been triple vaccinated.
Of future variants, we can only speculate, but we can never be sure.
Many Donegal people still remain cautious about what lies ahead but there is now a real sense that the path ahead is much clearer.It will need to be as inflation and price hikes will be an equally invasive species in the months and probably years ahead.
Not only that, but there will also be the paying back of borrowed monies during the pandemic that we can only hope will not cripple the next generation of young Irish people as well.
The national debt at the end of 2021 was €237billion or €47,233 for each citizen of the State.
The goalposts have also been changed regarding West-East relations and the volatility of those relations have again raised their ugly head with monetary hikes on the way and the potential for hundreds or thousands of deaths.