Once upon a time in the Kingdom of Heaven, God went missing for six days. Nobody could find him and all of the angels and saints were getting very worried. It was most unlike God to go missing. He was usually such a reliable fellow. So all of the angels and saints organised a search party and set out to find him.
Eventually, the archangel Gabriel found him resting on the seventh day. He was most relieved to have found him although he was also a little annoyed that God did not appreciate all the upset he had caused. He said to God, “We have been looking for you everywhere where have you been?"
God chuckled and sighed a deep sigh of satisfaction and proudly pointed downwards through the clouds and said “Look Gabriel, look what I've made, it is my best work to date. Is it not a thing of great beauty?" Archangel Gabriel looked puzzled for he could not recognise God’s latest creation. "It's a whole new country,” said God. It shall lie out on its own in a temperate climate and has the potential to be the jewel in the worlds crown. "I'm going to call it Ireland and it's going to be a great place of balance".
"Balance, what on earth do you mean?" inquired Gabriel, more than a little confused.
God chuckled once more and pointed to different parts of Ireland. "It’s simple really. I want to see if its people deserve to live in the best place on earth. I will make each part of the country balance the rest of the country for is it not one of my great laws of physics that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction and so it shall be with my greatest experiment.
For example one area I will call the Golden Vale will be a place of great agricultural opportunity while another area will primarily have bogs and little else so maybe I may allow them to have a taoiseach or something for a little while anyway. Its people can worship this taoiseach in spite of the fact that he will be a buffoon. It’s all about balance,” said God.
“Cork and Kerry will enjoy wonderful scenery but this wonderful gift will also be balanced by the imposition of cute-hoor politicians. Only some of them some wearing caps, which will be good for tourism but will eventually be a cause of great embarrassment. In a place called Clare I've placed wonderful lakes and over there is a rocky area called the Burren with no water," said God. “Can you see the balance?"
"Yes" said the Archangel, impressed by God’s work, then he pointed to one county on the west of Ireland, "What's that one?" "Ah," said God. "That's Galway, the most glorious place in Ireland. It will be beautiful in every sense of the word. There are beautiful mountains, untouched rivers and streams and some lakes of exquisite, timeless beauty. The women are beautiful and intelligent while the men are fearless, sporting, and brave. It will be truly the finest place on earth.”
Archangel Gabriel gasped in wonder and admiration. He was suitably impressed and couldn’t wait to visit this wondrous place called Galway for himself. But then he had a thought. This was such a wonderful place to live there must be a downside. Where was the balance that God was continually referring to?
So he asked God ‘You said there will be BALANCE!’ Ah yes said God. Do not worry there will be balance. Wait until you see the political movement I am going create. It will be the antithesis of all that is beautiful and good and will be especially strong in Galway. I have great plans for it. It will be a haven for the inept and those who place personal self-interest over the common good. It will have the most useless politicians who will deceive its members time after time. They will condone low standards in public office and will eventually make international laughing stock out of the country. I will call it the movement Fianna Fáil.
“Its all about balance,” chuckled God “
Pearce Flannery is Ireland's premier business advisor and training facilitator and is an acclaimed conference and motivational speaker.
He believes that to get improved results a business must be open to change from the top down.
This philosophy also holds true for the country!
