Folks: I’m heading over to mostly-peaceful Europe this week. I’ll be at the Delft University of Technology in Holland for a few days and then going to Ireland (Dublin, Sligo, and Belfast) for some aviation projects. If anyone would like to get together over there, please email philg@mit.edu.
“The ferry in the Netherlands hosting refugees and migrants” (BBC, April 2023) shows one place where I’m not planning to stay:
The Irish voted to end birthrate citizenship by an overwhelming margin in 2004. Nonetheless, the haters aren’t satisfied. “‘There is no room’: anti-immigration protesters march in Dublin” (The Guardian, Jan 2023):
Pickets and blockades of roads are often held outside refugee centres in working-class neighbourhoods but on Saturday activists marched in the heart of the capital.
“It’s not about racism. There is no room for them,” said Gavin Pepper, 37, as he and about 350 others denounced the increasing number of asylum seekers. “Why should migrants skip Irish people on the housing list? I won’t accept it.”
An acute housing and homelessness crisis has collided with the state’s struggle to accommodate Ukrainians and asylum seekers, fuelling accusations that foreigners receive preferential treatment.
Protesters also say centres with “unvetted” young male refugees make them feel unsafe. “I have five girls and two boys and the girls are afraid to go out at night,” said one man, who declined to give his name.
I won’t be staying in a work-class neighborhood, so I may not meet the migrants.
In France, meanwhile, things are entirely peaceful not merely mostly peaceful, according to the New York Times… “Unrest in France Eases Nearly a Week After Fatal Police Shooting”.
In the alternate universe inhabited by the Deplorables at Fox, however, what the New York Times calls “protests” are “riots”… “French riots: New report details thousands of arrests, hundreds of attacks on police since violence broke out”:
A new report from France’s Ministry of Interior quantifies the damage done after nearly a week of protests in response to the police killing of a teen of North African heritage.
The report, obtained by the French newspaper Le Parisien, recorded 5,662 vehicle fires and more than 1,000 damaged buildings.
Since rioting first broke out on Tuesday, police have made 3,354 arrests – 1,282 of which were in the Paris metro area alone, according to the report.
Like Harvard and Democrats on the Supreme Court, the French are blaming Asians:
“Asian tourists, in particular, who are very concerned about security, may not hesitate to postpone or cancel their trip,” he warned. Didier Arino, managing director of the Protourisme firm said: “Tourists who know us well, like the Belgians or the British, who also have problems themselves in their suburbs, will be able to make sense of things”.
Maybe this summer it makes more sense to do Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure in EPCOT.
Who knew Greenspun was a legend in European aviation. The only country making anything is China, so that could be 1 of the last European tours.
Lion – I was recently at the European General Aviation conference in Friedrichshafen, there is a lot of making aviation things going on in Europe. Unlike those places who are buying old American makers, killed by anti-makers.
Philg – trust there will be a few posts following up on the intriguing line “going to Ireland for some aviation projects”.
I was in Dublin on a business trip and I was a bit surprised how rough everything looks if you step our of the city center.
Best sightseeing stuff is outside Dublin though (well, I admit I liked Guinness museum very very much, they server Guinness in both museum cafe *and* rooftop bar).
Malahide Castle and village are beautiful and very short train ride away.
Thanks, SK. I’ve poked around Dublin (in the June rain, of course) before. The glorious plan is to fly a helicopter from Dublin to Sligo and back. The last time I was there (pre-coronapanic) the weather was instrument conditions for an entire week (early June) with a few sunny breaks in which the wind was blowing 30 knots.
Paris is also like you describe. The tourist center is no more than one mile in radius. Get beyond that and you’re among ugly/crummy buildings, a lot from the 1960s and 1970s.
> I won’t be staying in a work-class neighborhood, so I may not meet the migrants.
If there is an empty public building in one of the best areas, they’ll put migrants there. Almost no native citizen can afford these areas.
Meanwhile, politicians are scratching their heads why “right-wing” parties in Europe (most of whom are actually probably to the left of Trump/DeSantis …) are starting to dominate the polls.
Maybe someday the Bethesda/GAI crowd will get the meetup option
or the LA/TOA crowd!