An American in Ireland

"What a team; what heart; what character; what spirit; what an attitude they've got." That was ITV's Jim Beglin last night after Fulham FC beat Hamburg to secure a place in the Europa League Final.

It was one of those moments when being a sports fan seems so worthwhile, when a fairy tale does come true. And, it's just my good fortune that back in January 2009 I decided I'd become a Fulham fan after a match I'd bought tickets for was postponed on account of the weather. The club couldn't have been more helpful to me when I explained that I couldn't just turn up for the make-up game because I lived in Dublin.

I got tickets to another game in April '09 and we - my daughter, my son and I - had a great time in Fulham's ancient ground, Craven Cottage. Fulham won that day and finished last season in seventh place, which is, I believe, the best ever finish in the club's 131 year history.

A few weeks back one of our elected representatives stood up in the parliament (the Dáil) and essentially declared that we don't need foreigners here telling us what to do. Now before you get too upset, Deputy Ned O'Keefe was not referring to me nor was it a reference to any American for that matter nor to any of the so-called 'new Irish' who mostly come from Africa or Asia.

No, Deputy O'Keefe was speaking of one particular "foreigner", the new Financial Regulator, Matthew Elderfield, who is originally from England. Now you can see where Deputy O'Keefe was coming from when he said

The parish of Addergoole in County Mayo annually commemorates the sinking of the Titanic and the 11 members of the parish who were lost when the ship sank. Three other people from the parish survived.

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The makers of the Irish television show 'Paisean Faisean' have sold the idea to MTV and good for them. I'll be curious to see if it's a success.

First time I saw 'Paisean Faisean' in the listings on the Irish language station TG4 I had no idea how to pronounce it. I looked at the first word for a bit and then out of my mouth came the word 'paisan', using exactly the same intonation as when I was in college and wanted to get a smile out of one of my Italian friends. However, 'Paisean Faisean' is not pronounced 'paisan fye-zan', but more like 'passion fashion.'

The program is 'The Dating Game', but with a twist. Rather than the girl asking the three guys a series of questions, she has to choose her date for the evening based on his sense of fashion - for her. Each man is given €400 ($536) to buy an outfit for the woman to wear on the date and the outfit she chooses determines who her date will be.

With every passing day I feel more guilty about taking the ash cloud so lightly last week. I never expected it would go on and on and on and ...

I don't see anything beneficial about people being unable to get home or get away on vacation or to sporting events or whatever. I'm not at all like those environmentalists who are openly thrilled that the ash cloud has caused a fall in carbon dioxide emissions across Europe.

Still, I did find myself in a very quiet Sally Gap, Co. Wicklow {photo} last week and I took this short video of the silence.

Sometimes I forget that my children don't learn American history in school. Makes sense, of course, that in Ireland the schools focus on Ireland's history and not America's. It's just that I forget at times.

I tend to realize this most when we visit places that are important in American history. I find myself answering questions on the basics, the types of things Americans learn and absorb from a young age.

I try to compensate for this short-coming in their learning by talking to them about American history whenever the opportunity presents itself, such as the trip to West Point. And I like to seek out places of American historical interest to visit.

It's quieter here today. I noticed it a little bit earlier. There are no planes in the sky today.

I usually hear planes flying overhead, although I don't really pay much attention to them. The only airplane I really notice is Aer Lingus' early flight from New York when it approaches Dublin Airport via the skies over north Wicklow around 5am. This isn't a daily occurrence nor does it always wake me, but there are times - on a Sunday morning, say - when I'd like to shoot the person who routed the huge plane low over my house.

For the most part airplane noises are just part the mix of sounds from cars and trucks and the occasional train that seems unimportant during the day. I'm surprised I even noticed the lack of planes, but I did. I also realized there were no jet engine trails in the sky either. The sun is shining and all the clouds above are natural.

Have you heard of the Nissan Leaf? I hadn't until a day or two ago, but I'm not what you'd call 'an environmentalist', so maybe those of you who are 'environmentalists' are already familiar with the Leaf.

The Leaf is Nissan's electric car, which is powered by a large battery. Nissan expects to have them on the road in America and Europe sometime around the end of this year.

The Irish government is very keen that people here buy and use electric cars. So keen, in fact, that they are going to give buyers a grant of €5,000 ($6,800) to purchase one AND they will waive the Vehicle Registration Tax (up to 30% extra) on a new car.

Woodbury Common, Woodbury Common, Woodbury Common. I've come across that name so many times here in Ireland. Read it in the papers, heard it on the radio, even heard it from my children who heard it from friends of theirs. Woodbury Common is so well known that it often seems as if a visit there is the primary motivation for most Irish people's trips to America.

If you don't know, Woodbury Common is a huge discount retail park, full of brand name outlets, near New York City. Over the past few years the combination of the Celtic Tiger's inflated prices and the favorable euro-dollar exchange rate has turned an American vacation into a shopping bonanza for Irish people. The prices are too good to pass up.

At first Irish shoppers were happy with the prices in Manhattan at Macy's and Bloomingdale's, but gradually the more canny among them learned that a trip to New Jersey or further afield could net even greater benefits. Woodbury Common was one of the 'outside the city' locations that Irish people discovered.

There's a relatively new store in a near-by town here in north Wicklow where you can find all sorts of specialty and high quality foods – with prices to match. The store is in Greystones, a very nice town somewhat overstretched by Celtic Tiger excess. Generally speaking the people of Greystones are fairly well-heeled, which explains why the owners of the food specialty store chose to locate in Greystones.

They deal in great-tasting cakes, fine wines, exotic fowl and fish, imported Italian ingredients, etc. You get the picture. Only, there's one shelf devoted to American 'delicacies' that might not strike the average American shopper as worthy of such an establishment. I'm talking about Pepperidge Farm Goldfish, Jif peanut butter, Betty Crocker cake mix, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, Marshmallow Fluff and other 'fine foods'.

All of these 'exotic' American foods come with the same mark-up as the rest of the food in the store. I actually like peanut butter and would love a jar of Jif, but I balk at paying an exorbitant amount for a $4 jar. You can get an Irish peanut butter that isn't Of all the items, however, the ones that I was really surprised by were the cereals. You can get a box of Fruit Loops for €9 ($12) or a box of Lucky Charms for €10 ($13.30). Just how desperate for Lucky Charms do you have to be that you'd lay out that kind of money for a small box?

April 4 has been marked on my calendar for a couple of months now. It's the day our fantasy baseball league chooses our teams for the coming season.

Being able to take part in fantasy baseball from Ireland is one of the great joys of the internet age. I can watch baseball on my t.v., listen to any game I want via internet radio, get the low down on stats and communicate with the other guys in the league via e-mail and Skype.

It's a far cry from the situation that prevailed when I first moved to Ireland. At the time of my move I was instantly plunged into an abyss with regards to baseball news. My primary source of baseball news was the International Herald Tribune, which had two day old box-scores and brief game reports. The early to mid 1990s were, as I often tell my children, the 'dark ages'.

Any sports fan raised in America is well used to the fear that gambling seems to spark in those who run the major sports leagues. The league presidents seem to shake in terror if there is even a hint of gambling. Violations of the league rules are generally dealt with ruthlessly.

Gambling, not performance enhancing drugs, is considered the most serious threat to a sport's integrity. You only have to look at how Major League Baseball has dealt with Pete Rose and Mark McGwire and their respective scandals to be sure of that. McGwire has been forgiven. Rose hasn't.

In Ireland (& Britain too) gambling is much less feared. Bookies are legal businesses and sports teams and leagues are happy to take bookmakers' sponsorship money. I've grown used to this over the years, but recently I remembered how strange I used to find this when I read that a member of the Dublin-based soccer team Bohemians is waiting to find out