Time To Make A Change

Denis & Dermod Church Road TUES21JAN25

t was just as the timer edged towards the 20-minute mark on our agreed 10-minute-max interview that we began thinking…

Hey, maybe we should just do this whole interview over, shorter, sharper, and hopefully closer to capturing the beating heart of the people and the politics of the Middle East today.

Then we realised that no one can neatly sum up in minutes the history – the horrors, heresy, hope, hostility, the humanity, the heroes – that has shaped these often troubled ancient lands.

Well, no one except Bono, of course.

He pretty wisely stated, “And then there’s Gaza. Israel’s prime minister for almost 20 years, Benjamin Netanyahu, has often used the defence of Israel’s freedom and its people as an excuse to systematically deny the same freedom and security to the Palestinians—a self-defeating and deadly contradiction, which has led to an obscene levelling of civilian life that the world can visualise daily on their cellphones. Freedom must come for the Israeli hostages, whose kidnapping by Hamas ignited this latest cataclysm. Freedom must come for the Palestinian people. It does not take a prophet to predict Israel will never be free until Palestine is free.”

So, the three of us spent the afternoon in full Riverdance mode, desperately trying not to step onto any stupidity landmines as we discussed the cradle of civilization.

The reason for our ramble chat is father and son Dermod and Denis Dwyer’s Desert Bonds, a book full of tales, conversations, pics and everyday people from their 22-day journey through Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, the West Bank and Israel, including the Erez Crossing into and out of Gaza.

Dermod reunites with Moshe…

Dermod Dwyer first travelled out to Damascus 30 years ago, and was always determined to return one day, especially now that his old friend, Moshe, was unwell.

It was his son who would provide the spark needed to finally make that happen.

And as bonding exercises go, trekking 3,500km through the Middle East takes some beating. And some balls.

Just as no one in Ireland really wants to hear about the Troubles from someone living thousands of miles away, all three of us were sorely aware today of having no real depth of understanding or definites when it comes to the Middle East. Other than the fact that Netanyahu is a psychopath. And that Assad needs to be shot out of a cannon. Daily.

With Desert Bonds being launched by Taoiseach Simon Harris this Thursday in The Whale, we sat down with Dermod and Denis to find out what they learnt on the summer holidays…

You can find out more about Dermod & Denis Dwyer’s Desert Bonds – and order your copy – right here. And John McGowan caught that Whale launch here.