A Reciprocal Arrangement

When Irishman Conor Maguire comes to stay

While on Celtic soil, the Irish have an undisputed reputation and knack for being OTT hospitable and ensuring all your needs are met. In Bundoran, the good human capital of Ireland, these character traits run true. One of Bundoran’s favourite sons and a by-product of his environment is Conor Maguire, a wee sized lad with a heart of gold and spirit of a lion. If ramming 8 pints down your throat before you board a midnight bus back to Dublin with one urine stop, is classified as hospitable, he’s good for it. Lend you a vest that’s going to do diddly squat to soften the impact of the Mullaghmore death slab he’s calling you into, he’s good for it. Conor had washed up on our shores for a winter fling and a reunification of sorts. In years past, Russell Bierke, Andrew Kaineder and myself have regularly ventured to the beautiful coastlines of Ireland, striking up friendships within those communities, mainly so with Conor and his tight knit crew. Their welcoming way of life, humour and morals share strong similarities with that of ours. During Conor’s time in Aus, we really wanted to show him what greater Australia had to offer and was all about. He had visited a few years ago but only hung in our community on the South Coast of NSW.  Thanks to Dorathea Mackellar’s poem ‘My Country’, Australia Is known as the land of sweeping plains and far horizons for a reason, it’s freaking huge. Inexplicably huge to a lad who needs to carry his passport if he’s driving any further than 2 hrs. Conor would soon sympathise with these words of Dorathea’s, as it would be a few numbing days behind the wheel to reach ‘our’ far horizon.