Of course the print media have caught the bug too – goodness knows how many pages in The Times today.
I have not heard or overheard one mention on the bus or in the shops. But everybody is talking about The Volcano – including the children, who have heard that it is going to be raining (or snowing) dust. They really are living through interesting times with this year’s weather.
I have been taking refuge from the incessant election coverage in RTE1, where I heard a really useful discussion about the volcano. We learned that there is in fact a VOLCANIC ASH CONTINGENCY PLAN with nine Volcanic Ash Advisory Centres around the world.
The politicians have no doubt been all tied up with campaigning, although someone still has to take care of the business of government of the country. No doubt in normal times we would by now have had the benefit of a statement from Gordon about how to keep calm & carry on & Lord Adonis would have been all over the airwaves. I am not sure what the rules are on ministerial media appearances on government business during an election period, but given New Labour’s record on administrative disasters I think we should be thankful that this one is being left to the experts.
The Irish are just as badly affected as we are, at least until this morning when some flights to the west, away from Europe have been resumed. But the attitude seems completely different – they are at the mercy of Nature in this one & the stories are all about how people are coping. Dublin airport opened up free wi fi so that passengers could do their own rebooking rather than add to the pressure on ticketing desks. A businessman, with a vested interest in & relishing the opportunity to point out that, contrary to recent received wisdom, travel agents not having been superseded by the internet had been able to prove their continuing worth; he told stories of problem solving. We also heard of the husband getting home from the Ukraine via Paris, Cherbourg & Rosslaire.
Switching over to BBC Radio 5 Live at noon we just heard whingeing about a lost golfing holiday & close questioning about how to claim off your insurance; this morning's Today programme did at least end with a listener's e-mail about the forgotten pleasure of a west London garden on a suny spring morning untroubled by the noise of aircraft taking off & landing. (I wonder what will be the long-lasting effects of this incident on the debate over the future of Heathrow?). Otherwise, on a bad day these days I think that for the British media 'the story' is an uninterrupted tale of drunken broken Britain where no disaster is mitigated & the peak achievement of any interviewer's career is the one where he made his object cry.
One last thought – with no politician to decide, I wonder what will happen if the experts think it best to relax some of the more long-winded security requirements to get the system moving again with all the planes repositioned ASAP, not sitting around on runways while passengers take their shoes off & put them back on again.
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