The Southern Irish tiger economy is a thing of the past thanks to people believing that the bubble would never burst and spending, building and expanding beyond their means. Lean times are ahead and this is affecting Northern Ireland too. In fact the North saw it coming.
The late JF Kennedy, United States president and supreme womaniser had spotted this one. He said "If you ride on the back of a tiger, you will end up between the tiger's teeth." And he'd ridden more than most.
What do you do in these difficult times? The answer seems to be to hope for external cash - from tourism.
The Northern Ireland Tourism Board has grasped the nettle. I can imagine the focus group set up for this.
"What can we flog to the visitors?"
A silence follows, before the usual suspects are trotted out. Rugged coastline, whiskey, tweed, Ulster cuisine. Then the brainwave.
"Let's get some mileage out of Saint Patrick. he's not the exclusive property of the South."
Well done lads. Doubles all round.
Thus was born the St Patrick's Trail. A consultancy group was commissioned and then it dawned on them. If we are going to extract some money from our visitors, preferably US dollars, then they're going to want facts. Most of the history of the saint reads more like a fairy tale, like the driving snakes out of Ireland bit. The piece about the shamrock representing the Holy Trinity is a nice touch though. Provenance is a different and far more difficult matter.
Did this lack of facts put them off? Not a bit of it.
After all, even the English had spotted a similar trick hundreds of years before. The Pilgrims' Way, to Canterbury for a glimpse of the shrine of Thomas Beckett was well trodden. The Church of Rome had a winning formula. The three Ps.
Pilgrims + Penance = Profit
So The St Patrick's Trail is now an up and running concern.
The initial consultation document makes good reading, especially the bit about a desk-based assessment of facts about the saint. What does that mean?
Have a look for yourself. www.nitb.com/file handler.ash?id=280
If you'll forgive the pun:-
Never mind the saints - just bring on the profits.
One final problem. There seems to be some evidence that St Patrick is buried in Glastonbury. Sorry to mention this.
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