><<The opposition deputies [MPs] that criticised the government's >handling of it were at pains to welcome the metric element of the >change.>> > >That's an interesting point - were they 'at pains' because they didn't >see the need to convert or because they didn't want to appear to agree >with the govt?
My use of a possibly archaic phrase might have been misleading. By 'at pains' I meant that they made a point to emphasise, rather than indicating any discomfort. I meant that while criticising for example, the timing of the publicity campaign, they explicitly stated they were not against metrication. It would seem that the politicians were keen to show that they were not anti-metric, which would suggest that they at least perceive that such a view would not get them much support. >I agree - but its still 'talked' a lot. I don't just mean pints of >guinness, but also descriptions of distances. Last time I was in Dublin >(last year) I noted that most small delis, butchers and grocers >displayed per pound prices. I could only imagine that if the >cosmopolitan capital has that then certainly rural areas would? Many do, and despite the BWMA propaganda, it is perfectly legal to display prices per pound both here and in the UK (it is only illegal to display prices per pound *without* a corresponding metric value). But this really misses the point. People will use whatever they are used to using, and whatever they hear. That doesn't mean they are in favor of it staying that way. For example, immediately before or after the euro changeover here, most people would have a good understanding of punts and hardly any of euro. If you conducted a poll along the lines of "which are you more familiar with, punts or euro?", you would have got a 99%+ result for the punt. But it would be wrong to conclude that most people didn't therefore support the *change* to the euro (they affirmed it in an earlier referendum, and polls showed us as one of the most supportive of the move). Similarly, taking polls such as "are you more fluent in feet than meters" should not be assumed to be the same as "do you think we should halt and reverse the change from feet to meters", which the BWMA has certainly done. >Be fair, they reproduced the interview, but they didn't seek to bias it. The link you quoted looked fair enough. Have a look at the link to it at http://www.bwmaonline.com/News.htm "Irish Government admits no consultation held on metric signs" screams the headline. "It also admitted that it has not conducted any surveys or opinion polls". "These revelations came about ...". The impression given is that the Irish people were forced into an unwanted transition by a sneaky government, and the clear implication is that if they were consulted, they wouldn't have wanted it. If this had the slightest bit of truth in it, opposition deputies would have been only delighted to take up the issue and use it to bash the government. The truth is that that this move received widespread support, as part of an ongoing process of metrication that is not in the least bit controversial over here. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Tom Wade | EMail: tee dot wade at eurokom dot ie EuroKom | Tel: +353 (1) 296-9696 A2, Nutgrove Office Park | Fax: +353 (1) 296-9697 Rathfarnham | Disclaimer: This is not a disclaimer Dublin 14 | Tip: "Friends don't let friends do Unix !" Ireland
