Month: January 2023

Eir claims to be the country’s biggest and best network with Ireland’s fastest broadband. If you click on their website, you will find a blurb proclaiming their vision for the future of the company. ‘Our vision is to be at the centre of your digital world. We’re here to help you work, play and learn, to connect everyone and everything from large cities to small villages.’

‘Everything we do is built around our customers. You’re an essential part of our vision of a brighter, modern more dynamic future. At home, on the go or in the office, we aim to make things easier with 24/7 tech support, longer opening hours and an improved customer experience for you.’

That sounds great, but as a long-suffering customer of Eir, I can tell you my experience is completely at variance with their vision and I’m not the only one. The Irish Examiner reported earlier this year that Eir had faced high levels of customer complaints, something it claimed to have largely brought under control.

Last May, they claimed they had turned a corner in terms of its customer care issues, citing new figures from regulator Comreg showing a fall-off in complaints. The Irish Times reported that many punters would probably take this with a pinch of salt and said the company, principally for its atrocious record in dealing with customer queries and problems, has turned into one of those companies, consumers love to hate.

Eir claimed they were aware of the problem and were attempting to fix it. Chief executive Oliver Loomes said their utter focus was on improving the quality of their customer service.

At the worst point, call waiting times were averaging about an hour while customers complained of calls being dropped and of routine issues being left unresolved. The company later apologised for the poor performance.

That was back in May and whatever about the chief executive’s utter focus being on improving the quality of customer service, I can say without fear of contradiction, I haven’t seen any improvement. From my experience of dealing with their customer service recently, I am of the opinion that it is so bad, it can’t possibly get any worse.

In 2019, I spent a stressful six months dealing with Eir, trying to resolve an issue over incorrect billing. I lost count of the number of calls my wife and I made to them, but we were certainly in regular contact. Each time we got through, we had to explain the problem to a new person. Most of these calls lasted anywhere between fifteen and thirty miniutes.

After each call, I was assured the problem was sorted, only to receive a further text message or phone call threatening to suspend our service if the bill wasn’t paid. My wife’s phone was cut off at one point while we were on holidays and the incorrect bills continued to arrive. Finally, at the end of my tether, I contacted the Communications Regulator, and the matter was eventually resolved.

Last year, 2022, I was in regular contact with Eir again in relation to the poor quality of our broadband service. Three new routers were delivered to me over the course of the year, none of which made a blind bit of difference to the signal. In August I was advised that fibre broadband would soon be available to me, so I signed up for it thinking it could only be an improvement on what I had.

In the meantime, while I was waiting for the installation, the Internet had deteriorated to such an extent that we were reduced to using our data on the mobile phones while at home. I kept ringing Eir and they told me repeatedly they couldn’t do anything for me because I had signed up for the fibre broadband and this somehow prevented them from improving with my signal.

It seemed that all hope now rested with the fibre broadband, so I was delighted when I was given an installation date of 30^th November 2022. Two guys duly arrived on that date, but they couldn’t find the ducting for the existing line and advised me to have the footpath dug up, at my expense, to locate it. They also discovered a blockage in the ducting out on the roadway and they would summon another crew to look at that.

I located the pipe within an hour and contacted Eir to let them know. They told me it had nothing to do with them. It was up to the contractors to bring in the line and deal with the blockage. I contacted the contractors and a few days later a different crew arrived but they couldn’t clear it either. I rang the contractor again to be told another crew with larger equipment would have to dig up the road and that was Eir’s responsibility.

On 15^th December I received a text message from Eir advising me that my broadband order was in progress and was due to be completed in six weeks, so I rang them again. I explained how I still had no fibre broadband, and my footpath now had a large hole in it.

The lady I spoke to promised to contact the contractor to get an exact date for the work and she would ring me back. I’m still waiting for that call but that doesn’t surprise me. Eir staff often promised me a return call from a supervisor within 48 hours, but I haven’t got one yet.

Four days later, on Monday 19^th December, I got another text message from Eir telling me my installation had been arranged for the following day. That didn’t happen either and the latest date I have is March 14^th.

Their chief executive might be happy with the service, but I’m certainly not.

My mother loved to travel. She never complained about going long distances, delayed flights or hanging around airports waiting for connecting flights. She considered that to be part of the holiday experience and took it in her stride, but I reckon the chaos in airports at the beginning of last summer would have tested even her if she were still with us.

Fortunately, I have inherited some of her tolerance so I’m usually very patient on my travels except for long haul journeys. I’ve been to Australia twice and there won’t be a third time. My body isn’t designed to be strapped into a confined space for thirty hours and jet lag is bad for the system.

Short flights are fine, and I like being on my own so as long as I have my Kindle with me, I’m happy. Flying isn’t for everyone though and for many people, air travel presents a major challenge. Take-off and landing are a particular problem for nervous passengers. The thought of that alone can be so stressful they would rather not bother and that’s a pity because it limits their travel options.

Air travel has become more straight forward over the years, with the introduction of online booking, online check-in and paperless boarding cards. It’s usually seamless although things did get a little bit complicated during Covid 19. Requirements for PCR tests, flight passes, passenger locator forms and proof of vaccination meant there was lots of documentation.

The PCR tests were tricky because they had to be taken 72 hours before arriving at your destination and it wasn’t always easy to get the timing right particularly where connecting flights were involved so there was a little anxiety when the paperwork was being checked. Those requirements differed from one place to the next and often changed during course of a holiday too which didn’t help but we survived.

With Covid out of the way, restrictions were eased, and we were happy to take to the skies until we were hit with more obstacles. A shortage of ground crew in airports meant delays with check-in, long queues for security checks, cancelled and missed flights, and lost luggage. Cancelled or delayed flights are inconvenient at the best of times but again when connecting flights are involved, things get even more complicated. It can also result in added expense.

As if things weren’t bad enough, the manpower issue forced some airports to introduce restrictions to the number of daily flights they could accept and that created more uncertainty. The talk of potential strike action raised our anxiety further.

These setbacks are out of our control and no matter how organised we are, our plans can sometimes be scuppered and that fear of the unexpected can cause a rise in the blood pressure. But these aren’t the only things we worry about when getting a flight.

Airport Industry Review published the results of a survey which identified the main concerns for air travellers and packing for the holidays ranked amongst the five most stressful stages of travelling through an airport. Particularly for women.

That didn’t surprise me because I know certain people who find it difficult to pack a suitcase for a two-week holiday in the sun without bringing outfits for the cold and the rain even when travelling to countries that haven’t seen either in years. They have day wear and evening wear and something extra in case of unexpected births, deaths and marriages, but by the time they come home they haven’t used a fraction of what they brought. 

The survey also found that travellers often fear they’ve forgotten something and left it at home. Apparently, this causes a huge amount of stress which is completely unreasonable because unless you are travelling to the heart of the Amazon, you can buy whatever you need in most holiday destinations these days. So even if you have forgotten something it doesn’t really matter. As long as you have a passport, credit card and your boarding pass, you’re good to go.

Getting to the airport was also listed as a challenging part of the travelling experience. Fear of being delayed with traffic jams or lengthy check-ins at the airport reached the top four of the list, especially for large families. Security checks, baggage reclaim and being on time for a connecting flight also ranked highly.

One thing that was missing from the list though, was airport car parks. I was returning a rental car to an airport last year and the electronic barrier refused go up. I was sitting there while a queue built up behind me. I tried to summon assistance, but nobody answered. Pressing buttons and cursing at the machine didn’t help either so a few cars had to reverse to allow me get out of the way, leaving me red faced and sweaty.

On another occasion, I was collecting people at Larnaca Airport and ended up at a barrier that wouldn’t let me out. Thankfully it was quiet, so I was able to escape without much of a fuss. It was my own fault this time for taking a wrong turn, but in my defence, it wasn’t clearly marked either.

I went to Edinburgh for New Year’s Eve and decided to leave the car in the long-term car park in Cork. When I returned, I hurried to collect it because it was raining. It was dark when I parked it and the place looked different in the daylight and I couldn’t find it. After fifteen minutes, I was drenched and as a last resort, I looked in an area I though it couldn’t possibly be but, lo and behold, there it was.

I have no problem with packing, security checks or flying, but the car parks always seem to cause me problems.

Sergeant Major Daniel “Dan” Joseph Daly is a very famous name in the USA. He was a Marine who won more awards for bravery than you could shake a stick at, and they say he was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of enemy soldiers. 

In one incident in Haiti in 1915, he is reputed to have killed seven men with his knife while recovering a large machine gun from the enemy. On another occasion he singlehandedly defended a post until reinforcements arrived and he rescued several men while under fire and brought them to safety.

Few have heard of him in this neck of the woods which is strange because Sgt Major Dan Daly may have been born in Cork near Crookstown. A gentleman in Co. Kilkenny was researching his ancestral heritage when he came across information indicating Daly could be Irish by birth.

He discovered that a John Daly and his wife Ellen, who lived near Cloughduv, had emigrated to America in the eighteen hundreds. They had a child, but they didn’t register him with the authorities until he was three years old and so for the rest of his life, he would be three years older than stated on his birth certificate. It seems that boy could have grown up to become the famous Marine.

In the history of the United States Marine Corps, Sergeant Daniel Daly is considered a legend.  He earned enough awards to decorate a small army, so he must have been something special. He wasn’t a big man in the physical sense, he was only five foot-six and about 9 stone or 135pounds, but he had plenty of courage and was a natural born leader.

Daly was fearless and well respected among officers and enlisted men and epitomized what it meant to be a Marine. He received the Medal of Honour, the Nation’s highest military award, not once but twice, for separate acts of heroism. He also received the Navy Cross, the Distinguished Service Cross, three Letters of Commendation and a Good Conduct Medal with two bronze stars.

As if that wasn’t enough, he also received a China Relief Expedition Medal, a Philippine Campaign Medal, an Expeditionary Medal with one bronze star, a Mexican Service Medal, a Haitian Campaign Medal, a World War I Victory Medal with Aisne, St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne and Defensive-Sector clasps, a Medaille Militaire, a Croix de Guerre with Palm and the Fourragere.

He could have capitalised on his fame, but he didn’t like publicity and he described the fuss made over him as “a lot of foolishness.” His colleagues described him as a strict disciplinarian, but fair at the same time. They say he had a reckless daring but was always concerned about his men. He was offered a commission on several occasions but said that he would prefer to be “an outstanding sergeant than just another officer.” 

During desperate fighting in 1918 while they were taking a severe beating while outnumbered, outgunned, and pinned down, Sergeant Major Daly ordered an attack and shouted to his tired men, “Come on, you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?” It was a battle cry he denied ever using because an NCO in the US Marines did not use bad language.

In May 1900, he landed in China with the U.S. Marines. Daly was part of the U.S. Embassy Guard in Peking when the Boxer Rebellion broke out. In one of the most memorable acts of that war, the Boxers surrounded the compound of the foreign legations in Peking and laid siege to it for 55 days.

At one point, when German Marines of the German embassy were forced back, Daly by himself took a position in a bastion on the Tarter Wall and remained there throughout the night and was subjected to sniper fire and numerous attacks. When relieved in the morning Daly was still holding his position with the bodies of numerous attackers surrounding his position. For this he was awarded his first Medal of Honour.

His second Medal of Honour came 15 years later in 1915, when he was fighting with US forces supporting the government in Haiti against rebels. One night, he was part of a group of 35 Marines ambushed by a force of approximately 400 Haitian insurgents. He led one of the three groups of men during the fight to reach a nearby fort and was awarded the medal for his bravery.

While on patrol in the same conflict, a Company of Marines were crossing a river when they were attacked by approximately 400 concealed insurgents. A horse that was carrying the heavy machine gun was shot and killed and lay in the river with the gun attached to him. Dan Daly volunteered to recover the machine gun and they say he killed up to 7 Cacos Rebels with just a knife and as he was cutting the straps that held the machine gun in place.

With bullets hitting the water all around him, he returned to his Company with the machine gun strapped to his back. At dawn the next day the Marines advanced in 3 directions surprising the Rebels forcing them to scatter.

During World War I, at the battle of Belleau Wood, he risked his life to extinguish a fire in an ammunition dump. Two days later, he single-handedly attacked an enemy machine gun emplacement, capturing it using only hand grenades and an automatic pistol. In the course of that battle, he was wounded three times.

Sgt. Major Dan Daly retired officially in 1929, and worked as a bank guard on Wall Street, New York City. He died at Glendale, Long Island, New York, 28 April 1937 and his remains are buried in Cypress Hills. 

Not a bad record for a lad from Crookstown, Co. Cork.

As a young garda in Blackrock, Co. Dublin in the early eighties I went to the main street one evening to deal with an incident. It was around teatime and the usual rush hour traffic had come to a complete standstill. The reason for the upheaval soon became obvious.

A large crane had been operating earlier on a nearby building site. They finished work for the day, so the crane was unattended, with its arm extended out over the main street. Some guy had managed to climb up onto the arm of the crane and he was threatening to jump. It was a first for me.

Negotiations were underway to encourage him to come down, while at the same time, members of the fire service were making their way slowly up the ladder of the crane. This went on for some time and the traffic by then was chaotic. Cars were bumper to bumper, nothing was moving, and tempers were beginning to fray. Car horns were sounding and whatever sympathy existed for this unfortunate character earlier on was quickly disappearing.

Suddenly a guy jumped out of his car and shouted abuse at the guy on the crane before getting back into his car and slamming the door. You could almost see the steam coming out of his ears. Fortunately, the-would-be jumper was later brought safely down by the firemen, and the traffic slowly but surely, got back to its normal rush hour crawl.

That was over forty years ago, and fortunately things have changed a lot since then. These days the world is more tuned into mental health issues. If the same set of circumstances presented themselves today, the guy on the crane would be treated more sympathetically. At least I would hope so.

Suicide is a sensitive subject and opinion is often divided on whether the victim’s action should be condemned or condoned. Some say that suicide is a waste of a life when so many are fighting disease and struggling to live. Others will argue that the unfortunate victims are not in control of their senses at that time and are therefore unfit to make rational decisions.

Unfortunately, in my time in An Garda Siochana I had to deal with quite a few incidents of suicide. I tried to remain detached as much as possible, but when you’re dealing with the families, in the course of the normal investigation that occurs after such an event, it is difficult not to become emotionally involved to a certain extent. 

Nothing can prepare a policeman for dealing with bereaved families. You can be trained in procedures and how to complete the paperwork required for the investigation, but there is no training that can prepare you for knocking on the front door of a house to tell the parents of some young person that their child won’t be coming home.

It is one of the most difficult tasks that any policeman will ever have to undertake. It’s a lonely path walking up to that front door. There is no manual to refer to, there are no rules and no hiding place. At that stage you’re relying on gut instinct and empathy.

In the aftermath of those events, I often questioned whether I could have handled them better, but it is impossible to know because feedback is rare. The families have only one thing on their mind, and it doesn’t include worrying about how you feel about yourself or how you performed your duty. But it did happen one time.

One night many years ago, I was approached by an elderly man. I didn’t know him, but he identified himself as the grandfather of a young lad who had committed suicide some years before. I had been involved in the case and I remembered it vividly for reasons I won’t go into for fear of identifying that family.

He took my hand in his and he looked me straight in the eye and he told me that I would never know what I had done for his family. He thanked me and then walked away.

That had a profound effect on me, and I have never forgotten it. It took an effort for that man to approach me and say what he did, and I will be forever grateful that he took the time to do so. That is as much of an acknowledgement as you can wish for that you did something right.

A friend of mine took his own life a few years back and I remember going to the funeral home to pay my respects to the family. When I saw him laid out in the coffin, I was angry with him for doing what he did. I was annoyed that he hadn’t said something. I had been with him a few days earlier and hadn’t noticed anything and I wanted to throttle him for not speaking up. It was a reaction that was based more on grief than logic.

Experts tell us that many people find themselves under pressure at this time of the year. Thankfully there is more understanding of mental health these days and greater awareness of the help that is available so hopefully those who need it will reach out instead of taking that ultimate step.

The advice from the professionals is clear. If you can’t think of solutions other than suicide, it isn’t that other solutions don’t exist, but rather that you are currently unable to see them. The intense emotional pain that you’re experiencing in that moment can distort your thinking, so it becomes harder to see possible solutions, or to connect with those who can offer support.

Therapists, counsellors, friends or loved ones can help you to see solutions but you must give them a chance to help.