TRAVELS with ERNEST

"TRAVELS WITH ERNEST" by Ryan Keith TRAVELS WITH ERNEST tells the story of a ride around the northern part of Ireland on a Vespa named Ernest. The author seeks to experience at first hand the changes in Ireland as the population adjusts to the tangible prospect of a lasting peace. He does this with a mix of serious deliberation, and a sense of fun - and a toolkit. It was clearly an historical moment in time: after the Peace Talks, there appeared at last to be a real chance of finding an alternative to the years of strife between republican Nationalists and loyalist Unionists. The author felt a need to meet the Ulstermen face-to-face, and to confront his own prejudices with an open mind. There is another attraction: his choice of route around Ireland's shoreline follows the sites of shipwrecks from the Spanish Armada which lie dotted along the Irish coast. He finds there is something magical in a sense of place, of being physically at the site of great events, a shadowy excitement which brings a greater understanding of history. On Ulster's empty roads, the ideal link between these stopovers is a venerable Vespa, little changed in design since the first Vespa appeared in 1946, and still going strong. In modern Ireland, pubs, restaurants, and visitor centres make travel comparatively easy, even for a wild-looking, portly figure on a motor scooter; and the people of Northern Ireland prove to be just as Irish as those found in the rest of the island. Most of those he meets are characters in their own right: they speak their minds, and they tell their stories with an honesty that is both engaging and admirable. But violence has still not disappeared from the landscape, and there are reminders of this in the news broadcasts which punctuate his travels. Above all, it is the Irish people on both sides of the border who captivate the author. Often it is Ernest, which brings about an opening to a conversation, and then there is no holding back. The people he meets in bars, B & Bs, and in the street or in the countryside, all have a story to tell, and the author is a more-than-willing listener. This is a personal view of a complex but essentially human dilemma, and it gives insight to a story that is largely misunderstood. If - as some say - the latest developments are not the final solution to the problems of Northern Ireland, they may at least prove to be the beginning of a solution. Ryan Keith