SUMMER MEMORIES/Joan Burton, TD and deputy leader of the Labour Party':EVERY JULY I attend an Irish music festival, Rencontres Musicales Irlandaises, which takes place in Toucane St-Apre in the Dordogne. I've been going for about 15 years. The festival is like a mini Willie Clancy Summer School, with good weather.
“At the end of August I do what I’ve been doing for years, which is to spend a bit of time in Cong in Co Mayo. My sister-in-law is from there and I love to go for walks along the lake.
“In the 1980s I lived in Tanzania. I was working in the University of Tanzania in Dar es Salaam with the Association of Personnel Service Organisations. Transport was in very poor supply and it was a fantastic boon to get the use of a Land Rover – the Irish Rover, we called it – to go on safari. We explored the Ngorongoro Crater, where you see game in its natural environment during the annual migration. We travelled in convoy with another family, the O’Briens, and some Americans.
“With me were my husband Pat, and Aoife, my daughter, who was five at the time. The big worry was baboons more than lions. There were close encounters with lions and elephants – but for me, seeing the giraffe loping across the plain was a really thrilling experience.
“On safari, you really have to be alert. You have to respect the fact that these are wild animals. We spent a lot of time sitting, frozen still, waiting until the danger had passed.
“My father’s family worked for CIE in the late 1950s and early 1960s. We got discounts on travel and I remember visiting every major city in Ireland on the train. There were mystery tours and day trips to Killarney, too.
“I’m a bit of a train freak. I travelled the Trans-Canada Express from Vancouver to Edmonton. The viewing car had a glass roof, offering a panorama of pristine lakes and the Rockies.
“Back in 1979 I took a train from Moscow to Kiev with the South African politician Kader Asmal. I was honorary secretary of the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement at the time. We were attending a conference in Ukraine.
“I travelled a lot on trains as a student. I travelled around Europe, hitching when I was short of money. Would I let Aoife do that? Absolutely not, I would freak.”
Joan Burton is deputy leader of the Labour Party. Rencontres Musicales Irlandaises takes place from Sunday, July 18th to Wednesday, July 21st, rencontresmusicalesirlandaisesdetocane.fr
In conversation with Alanna Gallagher
