Meathman's Diary: Dublin, sure it’s only an hour from Navan
Michael Keaveny
Remember the old ad “Navan, only an hour from Dublin”? I don’t. But that’s because it was broadcast in the late 70s/early 80s, more than a decade before I was born. But the fact that the message from the ad outlasted the company it was advertising (by the way it was for Crannach Furniture, which shut down in 2003 and whose premises is now the site of a block of apartments on Academy Square), is a testament to their marketing department.
If the ad was being made today, Navan could be upgraded to being 35 minutes from Dublin if you were taking the M3, but then again it could be significantly longer if the head of marketing made the trip at rush hour or if they were dependent on public transport. Alternatively, who knows what the time will be in 2222 when the rail line is up and running.
My main gripe with the slogan is, why should Navan, or anywhere else for that matter be dependent on or judged by their distance from another place? “Bohermeen, just 10 minutes from Dunderry” isn’t a saying and for good reason.
Several years ago in an interview around the time of elections, I heard a prospective politician boasting that a certain Meath town was very close to Dublin and thus had the best potential for economic and social development.
If I was the type to call into a radio station I’d have asked the candidate whether or not they should be basing the identity of their area on the crumbs that fall from Dublin’s table or should they be forging an independent identity of their own.
Granted that a capital city of a small country is generally the biggest driver of its economic growth, Meath has benefited from being near neighbours with Dublin. Anyone who did Leaving Cert geography would have learnt about the GDA, (Greater Dublin Area, made up of Dublin, Kildare, Meath and Wicklow) which has the distinction of being classified as a “core socio-economic region”, i.e. a greater concentration of jobs, skilled workers, transport etc. Contrast this to the poor BMW i.e. the Border Midland West, (although I’ve long wondered what Bavarian Motor Works thought of being associated with this acronym), which is classified as a peripheral socio-economic region i.e. not good.
Putting this to one side for a minute (easier said than done you might say) Meath has enough to offer without leaning on the shoulders of its neighbours to keep itself propped up.
“Meath won’t fear the Dubs” was another common saying when I was growing up, and was an attitude that was perfectly embodied by Vikki Wall, Emma Duggan and co. last year. If more people from around the county took it up then who knows, maybe we’ll hear slogans like “Dublin, not far from Navan” in the future.