The cloud of ash from Iceland has provided us with an immediate reminder of the degree to which we are now a globalised community. Although nothing of any significance has been affected within Ireland, suddenly all schedules and arrangements have been thrown into complete chaos: colleagues cannot travel to attend meetings and other engagements, international visitors here to assist us in various ways are suddenly our guests and protégés as they find they are unable to return, urgent parcels and mailings don’t arrive or cannot leave; and all of this is aggravated by our not knowing how long it will last. I have personally had to make radical changes to my schedules for next week.
We are a global community depending on each other. It is hard to see how we could return to the self-contained units we once were. But this week’s events have shown us how fragile all of that is.
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