Irish Tour - day six

Without another city or town to travel to, it was nice to grab a little time for a lie in. Still we didn’t want to waste the day as we had most of it to ourselves. The screening at University College Dublin (UCD) wasn’t until the evening so Kirst had planned some sightseeing – the Bank of Ireland and Kilmainham Gaol.

First we wanted to check in to our accommodation and drop off our bags. Our room at the Montrose was massive. I’m not sure if a special room was booked but according to the room plan on the back of the door, our room was almost a suite.

Racing back out into Dublin wasn’t so appealing. I wouldn’t have minded grabbing some sleep because it has felt a bit like a packed itinerary. Plus the weather was blowing a gale outside. Still, we got out and headed into the centre.

As I’ve mentioned before, my webstats have been really high because of this trip. People are reading my tweets (twitter.com/hawkinsian) and following this blog. It’s not often I get an audience and I’d written the blogs for the past few days, but we hadn’t had WiFi. WiFi in our hotel was €20 for 24 hours – which seems scandalous. We found a coffee shop in the city centre with WiFi, bought an expensive yet snacky lunch and stuck around long enough to publish the blogs.

The Bank of Ireland didn’t keep us for very long. The building has a fascinating history but it is, after all, a working bank and most areas are not open to the public. Kilmainham Gaol, however, was excellent. We timed our arrival well and caught a tour almost immediately. This was a great relief as we’d visited a couple of years ago. On that occasion, we missed the tour and it happened to be the last one of the day.

The tour was great. This was down to the place, obviously, but helped massively by one of the most competent tour guides ever. She was brilliant and balanced everything expertly. The gale outside howled around the building and added something really quite foreboding about the place.

As an Englishman, I found myself uneasy about what the British did there. Having said that I’m uneasy about lots of things the British are doing now. I’m not aware of any personal connection with either the captors or the captives. I tried to make myself feel better by reminding myself of the links and brotherhood between the Free Irish and the Chartists and English trade union movement. But again, I’m not aware of any personal historical connection between any of these groups either.



Anyway, we eventually left Kilmainham and had limited time to get back to the hotel in rush hour. When we got back, we had enough time to appreciate the complimentary chocolates left on the bed and changed for the screening. The hotel is very well located for UCD – virtually just across the road.



As we’d arranged, Simone Schroth was waiting near the café. We could also see the posters placed around the place. Simone had obviously been busy. It was good to meet her and we grabbed a quick drink, a brief hello chat and then we went to the screening room. The German ambassador had accepted Simone’s invitation to attend the screening. Apparently, some security had to be arranged – or at least the university needed to be notified so that they could make sure things were secure.

The ambassador was a bit late but in the meantime the students opened their popcorn and I got chance to meet the German embassy’s cultural attaché. He’d even seen the film already and yet again, everyone seemed very positive.

The screening went well and I stood up to start the Q&A. I got some good questions and enjoyed discussing things. One of the university’s teaching staff (a professor, I think) expressed strong feelings about East Germany. He also had strong feelings about the current imbalance between east and west and the subsidy required. One of his colleagues expressed an opposing view, which was great for the discussion, but it looked like the Q&A could go too far down an intra-German discussion. The ambassador (I’m afraid I can’t remember his name. Must google it!) stepped in with a balanced response. He was also very complimentary about the value of the stories I collected.

I was definitely getting tired after nearly an hour of discussion. I found it hard to catch some of the more tricky questions and I think I missed the last one completely. Apologies to that person. I was pleased to get the chance to take my seat again but Simone asked me stay up for a surprise.

UCD has a German Society (or Deutsch Soc). At the end of the Q&A they came up to join me at the front and present me with “Honorary Life Membership for a significant contribution to German heritage”. I was genuinely touched by the gesture and still can’t quite believe that students would watch the film and want to make such a gesture.

We had a drink and some sandwiches in the bar afterwards and discussed things. I took out the framed Deutsch Soc certificate and took moment to read it more carefully. The ambassador also read it and said he totally agreed. This may sound kinda cheesy, but I’ve never been honoured before. I’m particularly pleased with it.

Eventually, we finished up at the university. We said our thanks and good byes to Simone and spent a little time to take some photos of the posters. We crossed back over the road to the hotel and had a drink in the bar before calling it a day – a great day, actually.

Irish Tour - day five

In the middle of our cereal breakfast, the B&B owner put a basket on the table. “Homemade scones for you,” he said, “and your cooked breakfast will just be a few more minutes.”

I think we both felt a bit reluctant to have scones. We’re not exactly eating healthily this week but it would’ve been rude to turn fresh scones down. Kirst was first to have a go.

“They’re still warm,” she said.
A bite later, “these are really good.”

And sure enough, they were. The best scones I’ve had outside Cornwall, or maybe ever. A lovely touch by Fernroyd House B&B. Two of the most competent B&B accommodation providers you could hope for.

We were caught out with the train tickets. Just like in England, buying on the day will get you screwed. Two tickets to Dublin cost €102 and would’ve been a lot cheaper if booked in advance. It seems strange to punish on-the-day purchasers but we had little choice – or maybe that’s exactly the point?

The CityLink coaches had spoiled us with its free WiFi and it felt a little frustrating that the train didn’t have similar facilities. Still, it gave us chance to do a bit of admin – and a game of travel Scrabble. Highlight for me being the word ‘sedative’ half way through the game.

The train seemed to take ages for a relatively short distance but we were hardly in a rush. Eventually we arrived at Heuston Station where Christian was waiting. It was good to meet Christian again. He was the first to invite me to Ireland and that snow-balled into the tour. It was also good to see him because I met him very briefly at a DAAD screening in the summer. This screening (at Cumberland Lodge in Windsor Great Park) went down really well. The audience loved the film and were keen to say some very kind things to us in the bar afterwards. People were so nice, in fact, that it was a fairly intense experience. It felt a little like being plugged into the mains for an hour.

At the end of the hour, Kirst and I agreed to take our untouched drinks back to our room. It was at this point that Christian introduced himself. Making My DDR T-Shirt was a lonely experience and it’s a treat when anyone expresses an interest. However, as we were a bit frazzled and literally walking out of the room, I always felt like I didn’t show my appreciation of Christian’s comments. I tried to explain this to him on the bus to DCU. As it turned out, and maybe not surprisingly, the issue was greater in my mind than his.

He showed us to our apartment and we dropped off our bags, then we had a quick tour of campus and then he introduced us to some German Department staff.

“Oh, you’re Ian Hawkins. Pleased to meet you.”
“Oh, hi! We’re really excited about the film.”

It was both flattering and strange that all these people knew something about me and my film.

The DCU screening was the first with significant technical problems. When the play button was pressed, the volume was very low. A frantic few minutes of amplifier fiddling ensued but there was no quick fix. I offered to do the presentation I made for Cork while Christian sorted the sound. This worked quite well. I skipped through the slides and was careful not to give anything away while an engineer fiddled with the sound equipment behind me. It was all a bit distracting but thankfully, the screening was informal enough for this not to matter. At the end of the screening, we learned that the amp was knackered but we had some speakers and a laptop and projected the film through that. In the end, it made very little difference.

It was a smallish room filled with maybe 40 people. There was something about the intimacy of the screening that really helped the mood. Some of the comments afterwards picked up on some of the poignant comments in the film and this was nice to hear. I went to a lot of trouble to make it something more than just interviews. I wanted it to have some kind of mood to it.



When the Q&A finished, and as we were leaving the room, there were lots of people who wanted to buy the film. One person bought four as Christmas presents. Another came to buy the DVD because she’d missed the screening. By the end, we’d sold out.

Instead of a B&B, DCU put us up in one of their visitor apartments. These were quite big with a lounge, kitchen and balcony. We were a little relieved that Christian hadn’t organised anything formal after the screening. It would’ve been nice to socialise with him but hospitality can be tiring sometimes. Especially if there’s a large formal feel to it.

We bought a few drinks, a frozen pizza and some breakfast for morning and settled in for the night. I couldn’t get the broadband access to work so I wasn’t able to update the blog. We watched rubbish telly and enjoyed the resounding cheer as it echoed through the campus – Ireland had obviously just scored against France.

An hour or so later, their dreams of qualifying for the World Cup were shattered by ‘The Hand of Frog.’

I’ll remember the night at DCU as a night off and for the sense of fatigue descending on me. I think this inactive fuzziness gave me chance to reflect on the tour so far. It was pretty rewarding to think that My DDR T-Shirt had really achieved something. It was being closely scrutinised by a different group every day, and not dissimilar to the trabants at the beginning and end of the film, it managed to survive and get me from A to B in one piece.

Irish Tour - day four

Breakfast at the Ivies and a damp, wet and miserable day outside. The weather made it an easy decision to call a taxi but we had planned to walk to the coach station. We’re eating a lot on this trip but the cooked breakfast is hard to resist.

Anyway, we jumped on another CityLink coach and pulled out of Galway en route to Cork. Cork via Limerick, as it happened, so the route was a little familiar from our earlier travels.

Yet again, we made use of the free WiFi but I also took part of the 3 hours and 20 minutes as a chance to finish my PowerPoint presentation for Cork. I tried to keep it simple and use the presentation as a slideshow introduction to the people I interviewed for My DDR T-Shirt. As the Cork classes had watched the screening sometime last week, it was just a reminder.

The journeys have been really useful. We’ve been able to do a bit of housekeeping and Kirst has been able to keep track of maps and locations. I’ve…erm…written this blog and read my book.

The coach dropped us off just outside University College Cork (UCC) and within a few moments, Kerstin met us with a smile and a handshake. I wonder how wide my generalisations can be about the friendly people I’ve met on this trip. Can I generalise that all Germans are nice (accepting the fact that Kerstin is Austrian)? Can I say that all German department staff are nice? Or can I say that all DAAD lektoren are nice? I suppose generalisations aren’t that helpful (generally speaking, of course) but I’m yet to meet an exception.

Anyway, Kerstin, Kirstie and I had soup for lunch in UCC’s staff room (another lovely campus, by the way). Kerstin showed us a rather strange statue of Queen Victoria that used to stand on top of the college. It was taken down some time ago and there was a debate about what to do with her. Destroy her? Place her somewhere else? It seems an odd decision/deferment but they decided to bury her and forgot all about it. In the 1980s, the statue was re-discovered and placed in a case in the staff room.

An interesting story, for sure, and an interesting talking point for the staff room. For me, stone cold Vicky could’ve stayed under a couple of tons of soil for a little longer.

Compared to some of the big lecture theatres we’ve been in, the Cork seminar room was fairly small. Still it soon filled up and a few latecomers even had to stand. I’m not kidding myself that I was the reason for this – I was talking in the slot for their usual lesson. Anyway, I made a start on the slideshow and tried my best to keep things informal, brief and interesting. I tried to give an introduction to the filmmaking process and fill out some back ground on the people I interviewed.

I expected another quiet response (I certainly didn’t expect another Galwway) but in fact, the Cork group were great. Again, they seemed to have thought about the subject and asked good questions. One lad asked questions about specific words I’d used in my voice over (hollow and coerced). As they’d seen the film last week, he’d obviously paid close attention and made notes. Rispeck to that lad.

The Q&A lasted the full hour and I thought it went really well. It’s still a great pleasure to engage with people on this subject.



After an agreement with Kerstin to meet later for dinner, Kirst and I were straight down the road and into Cork for a wander round. Kirst did her best to gather the interesting facts from the Lonely Planet but I think they may have been wasted on me. The Q&As coupled with the travelling here and there are fantastic fun but they can be taxing. I found myself struggling for energy and called Kerstin to bring forward our meal.

At 6pm we met with Kerstin and Daniella for Mexican food just off St Patrick’s Street. It was a lovely meal and a pleasant contrast to the larger gatherings we’d enjoyed of late. It felt a little more intimate with just four of us there and nicely relaxed. I think I may’ve struggled to keep up with a larger group.



We were back at the B&B by around 8pm after a walk back and a stop at the offy for a bottle of rosé. I took a look at the webstats for www.myddrtshirt.co.uk and found some greatly increased traffic from Ireland. It’s funny – the site is showing little spikes in the traffic graphs after each screening. When you dig a little deeper you can see that each spike comes from each town we’re visiting. It’s good to know that people are Googling things before and after screenings. It’s also interesting to see that you don’t stay in people’s minds for long.

I don’t really have clear memories after that. More down to fatigue than wine but my day was definitely done. Even so, we still had enough energy for another episode of 24 – you don’t need much for that.

Irish Tour - day three

Well a lovely breakfast at the Castletroy Guest House followed by a nice walk round the corner to the University of Limerick’s impressive campus. Andreas met us at reception, led us to his office where we covered costs, tickets and receipts.



Andreas took us on a quick tour of the campus before heading off to the lecture theatre for the screening. On this occasion, we decided to sit out the screening and wait outside for the Q&A session.

I remember my days at university and what lectures were like. Most students are killing time and even the motivated ones would rather saw their own legs off than draw attention to themselves by asking questions. I got the impression that they enjoyed the film but were a little shy in coming forward. Andreas covered this by asking questions for them and I tried to give longer answers and include relevant anecdotes. It went well but it was a little subdued. You definitely got a sense that questions were in there somewhere, they just weren’t for coming out.

We were soon thanking Andreas for his warm welcome to Limerick before jumping in the taxi into town. We had a little time to kill so we wandered along the Shannon river for a bit and enjoyed looking at some of the neglected parts of town.



After soup and a sandwich in the Georgian Quarter (why does every city need ‘quarters’?) we were back on a coach and heading towards Galway. To our amazement, the coach had free WiFi on board. As frequent travellers on public transport, it made you wonder why Ireland was doing so much better than the UK on WiFi.

It was felt like a long drive, mostly in the dark (I think) but we watched an episode of 24 Season 1. We’re concluding that it’s rubbish, but highly watchable. A bit like like McDonald’s – it feels you’re consuming something but it holds little or no nourishment.

Galway’s rush hour took us a little by surprise but we checked into the Ivies Guest House at around 5.30. We were almost straight out and walking the mile or so to Galway University.



The DAAD teacher, Berit Carmesin recognised me as I walked into the arts building. It was great to meet her face to face as I have a lot to be grateful for. Without Berit there would be no Irish tour – it’s as simple as that.

She took us to one of the upper floors and showed us the Berlin Wall anniversary exhibition her department had put together. I particularly liked the polystyrene mock up of the Berlin Wall and an East German clothing catalogue. I got to meet other people in Berit’s department and a representative of the German Embassy. I took these opportunities, yet again, to express my thanks for everyone’s support.

I’m not really sure why but we decided to attend the screening rather than sit it out. I think we like to share the mood of the audience. The volume levels were really low and I don’t think the AV system was great but people seemed to enjoy the film.

At the end, I was invited up to the lectern. Before the questions, I took the chance to publicly thank Berit. This was received by applause that suggested I wasn’t the only one to appreciate Berit’s work. Then I asked if anyone had any questions about the film.

I’ve done quite a few Q&As now – and they’ve all taught me something. They’ve made me think about the film and why I made it. They’ve also taught me some simple techniques to help with the variety of questions the film provokes. But no other screening has been quite like the one at Galway.

The Q&A lasted about an hour and could probably have gone on longer. There were some thoughtful questions and some very strong opinions. Some direct challenges and some debates between audience members. It was a genuine heated debate and a pleasure to take part in. It was great to know the film had really provoked some questions and really got people thinking. I also enjoyed being able to share some of my conclusions about East and West.

Without doubt and by a considerable margin, Galway’s Q&A was the most animated I’ve been to and it was kind of electrifying to be part of. Hats off to Galway.

After the Q&A, a group of about 12 of us made it to the ‘Latin Quarter’ for a delicious meal and yet more lively conversation. We also found a moment to give Berit the little fossil stone bowl we’d bought near Doolin. She seemed to like it and I really hope she finds a place for it. It was a small token of our huge gratitude.

All in all, it was a great and memorable night. Galway has earned itself a really special place in my thoughts.

Irish Tour - day two

I’m writing this in a very nice B&B in Limerick. It’s right at the end of day two. After yesterday’s slow start in Galway, we finally caught the coach down to Doolin. Once we got onto some of the smaller roads I was reminded of how bad they can be in Ireland – I tried reading but it wasn’t easy to keep the book still.

The bumpiness of the journey was probably made worse by the driver’s eagerness to park up in time for the match (final score: Ireland 0, France 1). We arrived in Doolin about 30 minutes ahead of schedule. Not bad for what should’ve been a two hour journey.

Anyway, the Aille River Hostel was very warm and welcoming. As we have a week of B&Bs ahead of us, we thought a hostel would be a good idea. And it was. We went for a quick drink at McGann’s Pub and then went back to our room and opened a bottle of wine.

They did a nice eggs and soda bread breakfast for just €2 each. They also hired bikes – but these turned out to be a little worse for wear. We set off pedalling for the Cliffs of Moher and soon realised our gears were knackered. The minute you changed down to go uphill, the gears clanked and grinded and slipped around. I felt a bit worried whether we’d make it to where we wanted to go, and if we did, whether we’d make it back. As it turned out (and because I’d hate to create a false sense of drama and suspense) the biking trip turned out okay.

The Cliffs of Moher were great. Thanks to several childhood holidays in Cornwall, I’ve seen my fair share of coastal cliffs. Moher’s are indeed impressive but I found it hard to capture them at their best. At around midday, the light from the sun shines at a tricky angle and almost makes a silhouette of the cliffs. I noticed that all the most striking photographs in the new visitor centre were taken later in the day when the sun has moved round a bit.

We continued south on the rickety bikes, stopped at one of the few shops round there to buy Berit Carmesin a thank you present. Then we headed north again back to Doolin, the hostel and our luggage. At 4pm, we had to be out in time for the bus to Limerick.

It’s over two hours to Limerick by coach. It seemed a good idea to work on the PowerPoint presentation I’d agreed with Cork University. Because of timetable difficulties, the Q&A at Cork will not directly follow a screening. Apparently, the screening took place last week sometime. Remembering what my university lectures were like, I was conscious that students can have short memories and questions from the audience may need prompting. For this reason, I offered to do a PowerPoint as a reminder – but it’s been a busy old time and I’m running out of opportunities before Cork on Tuesday. Unfortunately, the coach was not one.

Trying to use a laptop mouse pad, on a coach, in Ireland was beyond me. You know those bucking bronco rodeo machines? The ones that spin and twist and flick the rider on to the padded mats? It was a bit like a mild version of that.

I eventually gave up and gave the laptop to Kirstie so she could write her diary. Somehow, she managed it keep on typing all the way to Limerick. I think the fact that she was typing (rather than mouse padding) is significant and I also think the roads must’ve improved at exactly the spot I gave her the laptop. There has to be some reason why Kirstie managed what I couldn’t – that doesn’t make me look bad in some way.

Anyway, we arrived in a rainy, busy Limerick station and found Andreas Damm waiting to pick us up. Before we knew it, we were out of the city and pulling into the driveway of our B&B. Andreas had given enough time for us to check in, get showered and watch a bit of telly before being picked up by one of his colleagues. Gisola (apologies for the spelling) and Glynn picked us up, right on time and we made our way to Andreas and a lovely zwebelkuchen (onion flan type thing).

We had a lovely evening and discussed a bit of everything but all in all it’d been a long day. It was nice to get back to the B&B and get to bed.

Irish Tour - day one

Well, we had an early start today. Leaving home at around 7.45 to head for Manchester Airport and our flights to Galway. We had to drop our rented car off at the airport depot first (we've had a courtesy car for the last two weeks thanks to someone stealing my car four weeks ago) - this involved a little bit of faff but it was convenient enough.

Anyway, as anyone can see from the header, this is day one of the My DDR T-Shirt Irish Tour. Starting on Monday, my film about East Germany, Kirstie and me will tour Irish universities until Friday. It's something I'm particularly proud of as this is the first time in my life that anyone has been willing to pay real money for my creative pursuits. And let's be honest, I've had a go at several formats.

Seriously though, this is a significant development for me and I'm planning to enjoy it. Having said that, if you could see us now, barely keeping awake in a warm Irish pub, rugby union on the massive TV above my head, you wouldn't think we were particularly enthusiastic about anything. That's fatigue for you.

Anyway, we added a couple of days to the trip for leisure so we're currently waiting for our bus to Doolin. Doolin is right on the west coast and features some spectacular looking cliffs so we're heading there tonight. Then we're off to Limerick to meet Andreas Damm and attend the first screening on Monday morning. Then we have to dash back to Galway to meet Berit Carmesin for the NUI screening in the evening.

Berit deserves a special mention. She has acted as a tour manager for this trip and has co-ordinated the whole thing. Huge thanks to the DAAD and the German Embassy for financial support but special thanks to Berit for getting it all organised, on paper, sponsored and finalised. Thanks also to Christian Strowa for being the first to invite me to Ireland and for all the other DAAD lektoren for their enthusiasm.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the trip so far. I have no idea of WiFi availability for the rest of the trip but who knows? Maybe I'll be able to update this blog a couple of times?


Arriving in Galway


Looking out from the museum



The pub I'm sitting in now.