RECENTLY, a group of 16 year old students in Clongowes were asked about their perceptions of Germany. After paying due respects to punctuality, wealth and cars, the boys talked about robotic behaviour and the complete lack of films and music coming out of contemporary Germany. So, how does it look from the other side?
For simplicity's sake, Germans might be separated into three groups. There are a select few who know a lot about Ireland. It is, perhaps, worth pointing out that the Germans read an unbelievable amount of translated literature. In contrast to the English and French speaking worlds, the German speaking countries supplement their home made diet with a large amount of translated books. Ireland's presence at the Frankfurt Book Fair is, therefore, a unique commercial opportunity.
The second group of Germans is the more numerous group of card carrying Hibernophiles. The sheer size and anonymity of German society compels individuals to search out small plots which they then plough with obsessive gusto. Some worry deeply about coffee plantations in Guatemala while others collect BMW hubcaps. The Hibernophiles, in turn, would drink nothing but Guinness, attend Irish folk festivals and travel to Ireland frequently. All this says nothing about their knowledge of contemporary Ireland; they are prone to cultivate a cosy, De Valera like image of Ireland.
Finally, there is the vast majority of the German population who know about as much about Ireland as about Moldova.
Many Germans are, therefore, not quite clear about the constitutional arrangements here. The sheer dominance of news from Northern Ireland does not contribute to a proper perspective on the Republic, the land is largely positive, if a little hazy. But the Republic is not seen as a player on the European pitch.
There is, however, an insatiable appetite for foreign news in Germany. Very few of those stories would have the poignancy to pierce the superficial level. The "X case was, unfortunately, one of those stories; unfortunately because it reinforced the perception of a bigoted conservative Ireland which is fading in real life. And there we come to a sobering thought a changing Ireland confounds well settled perceptions - and is consequently deeply unwelcome. Germans pride themselves in their knowledge of international affairs, but they have an inclination to stick to those perceptions when their basis has long vanished. It was, for example, nearly impossible to convince the German media that the result in the 1992 abortion referendum was not due to craven deference to the Catholic Church.
Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, German attention has, to a large extent, focused on itself and its eastern neighbours. But people are getting fed up with those stories, it seems. So, while the German media rediscover the rest of the world, the fact remains that the economic energy of Germany finds its outlets in the east. For Ireland, this may have the consequence that German patience with Irish requests for particular treatment - namely regarding to EU funds - will wear thin.