ItÕs an ill wind Ð albeit an icy one Ð that blows nobody any good

Date Published: {J}

It’s surely only a matter of weeks now before a swarm of locusts, lice and frogs arrive off the west coast as Galway continues its merry way through the ten plagues that the Egyptians had to deal with back in the time of Moses.

We’ve had the floods and the freeze already in the last six weeks, and when you go down through some of the other plagues, you could argue that we’ve had the livestock death back in the Foot and Mouth era; darkness every year once the Galway Races are over and hail whenever there’s a Bank Holiday weekend.

Of course there’s nothing funny about having your home flooded – whether it’s rising waters wreaking havoc on your downstairs or burst pipes raining down gallons of water from your attic – and those who have suffered deserve every sympathy that comes their way.

But what about those who are positively prospering in this time of global freezing – and by the way, how did we crack this warming thing so brilliantly – and can we reverse the process just a little now?

First up are the tradesmen – the electricians, the plasterers, the builders, the plumbers – the lads who were rushed off their feet for the lifetime of the Celtic Tiger, but who had seen their industry grind to a virtual halt since.

Have you tried to get a plumber in the last week or two? They’re scarcer than sunbathers on the beach in Salthill just now – and every pipe that cracks is another job to add to the list.

Similarly, the electricians and plasterers who are brought in to do the rewiring and dry lining once the attic waterfall has been plugged.And of course all of this is subject to the approval of the insurance assessors who are going through a boom that hasn’t slowed down since Ballinasloe experienced its first heavy rain well over a month ago.

Then there are the panel beaters and garages, all of whom have never had it so good; they are, well, snowed under with car wrecks in need of new doors, bonnets and boots. There’s the little dents and the major damage that need careful hammering and filling.

This, remember, is in an industry that couldn’t sell cars last year if they gave them away for free, but suddenly the wheel has turned and there are queues at garages once again.

Further afield, the guy who imports road grit must have thought all his Christmases had come together – at Christmas as it turned out, ironically enough – leaving him with the sort of demand that you’d expect from Eskimos for heavy coats.

The manufacturers of candles are enjoying a mini-boom as people stock up in case of power cuts; similarly coal distributors are busy, just in case the heating falls foul of the weather.

Teachers have done alright as well – an extra few days onto the end of the two-week Christmas break for many of them – although coming back to a school where the pipes have burst all over your text books might take the good out of that unexpected break.

Those who love winter sports but cannot afford to head for the ski slopes are making down with a big of snowboarding in their own back yard right now – and lazy people have the perfect excuse to never leave the roaring fire or the couch.

Even after all of that, of course, the bad still outweighs the good – and there’s nothing funny about water cascading down the interior walls of your expensive family home.

But it’s an ill wind that doesn’t blow for someone – and after the year our tradesmen and garage owners have endured....would we really begrudge it to them?

For more, read page 13 of this week's Connacht Tribune.