Review of Waking Ned (1998) by Brynn H — 29 Jun 2010

A few years ago, having got off the ferry at Dún Laoghaire, my friend Norm and I need to get to Heuston to catch a train to Galway. To do this you get off the DART at Connolly and catch the bus. The bus was late and was not going to get to Heuston in time for the scheduled departure of the Galway train. Norm had a problem with this. He lived in Switzerland and to him it was obvious that a train would always leave on time, with or without passengers. It is the Swiss way, clockwork efficiency. He was not reassured by anything I said about trains waiting for connections until we got to Heuston, where obviously the train was waiting, and got on it. The train left late, with the passengers. In Switzerland it would have gone. In Britain it would have waited, left late and arrived late. But this was Ireland, so it left late, went a bit faster, and arrived on time: the Irish way.

I was reminded of this watching Waking Ned. A community getting together to solve a problem in the way that achieves the best result, even if thereâ??s a bit of rushing, and perhaps a moment or two of confusion along the way.

Elderly friends Michael and Jackie, and Jackieâ??s wife Annie, are the only people who know that one of the inhabitants of their village of Tullymore has won the lottery, but who? By means of alcohol, bonhomie and chicken suppers they set out to discover. One person is missing, good-natured fisherman Ned Devine, and Jackie goes to find him. He is dead in front of his television. So Ned has died of shock, ticket in hand, when he discovers that heâ??s won the lottery. Thereâ??s no kin. Jackie is to the point - â??Michaelâ?¦ Nedâ??s no family. The moneyâ??ll go unclaimed. He plays the lotto all his life and dies from the shock of winning it. Can you imagine the anger of his spirit?â?? Jackie decides that the winnings should be divided among the villagers. How then can this money be rescued and Nedâ??s spirit be allowed to rest? How can the man from Dublin be persuaded that Ned still thrives and indeed prospers? This is the theme of the film and provides plenty of scope for this comfortable cast.

A real feel-good film this, and for those of us who donâ??t believe, thereâ??s even an act of divine retribution when the village â??witchâ?? attempts to phone and betray the celebrating villagers by making a call from the local phone booth. The parish priest, swerving to avoid the Lottery man from Dublin, knocks the booth and hag over the cliff. Hee, hee!

One day (after the recession perhaps) youâ??ll be able to get to Heuston on the DART. Itâ??ll be a lot more efficient I guess. But we will have lost something: unless youâ??re Swiss of course.