Lindsay, aged 14, lives in Finglas. This suburb of Dublin, the Irish capital, is home to a few thousand of the city’s poorest inhabitants. They have seen little of the flourishing economy that has made life for many Irish people better than ever before. The residents have had limited educational opportunities. Their unemployment rate is high and drug abuse is widespread.
The most important thing in Lindsay’s life, just as for almost all young people and many adults here, is horses. Many families have horses, but there are no stables or pastures in Finglas. The horses are kept in the back gardens of the dilapidated houses.
Lindsay has her own horse, Sebastian, which he father gave her. But she cannot ride him yet: first, her father has to break him in. He bought him at a local market. People who can afford it hire others to break in their horses, but this would not occur to Lindsay’s father. Using a rope and old cycle tires, he has made his own halter and reins for the horse. He claims that they are better than “real” ones (but it looks as if Sebastian does not really agree).
Every morning before school, Lindsay goes and feeds Sebastian. Her father rents an old refuse dump, which he has cleared and made into a small pasture for Sebastian and a few other horses.
“I get up at seven in the morning, run to Sebastian and give him food and water,” says Lindsay. “When I’ve finished I leave for school. I go a Catholic girls’ school and the teachers drive me crazy. I want to leave school and get a job, but my mother and grandmother won’t let me.”
Lindsay and her younger sister live with their maternal grandmother. Their mother used to live there too, but when she met a new man and moved out the sisters wanted to go on living with their grandmother.
“It’s better like this,” Lindsay says. “Granny isn’t as strict as Mum — she understands that I can look after myself. But Mum always calls and checks that I’m getting home on time and things like that.”
When Lindsay is not at school or looking after Sebastian, she is usually with her friends. They usually meet somewhere away from home, and just sit and talk. Lindsay thinks there is too little to do in Finglas.
“It would be fun if there were a disco a bit more often. Now it’s mainly when one of the small travelling fun fairs comes to town that something fun happens. Sometimes we go into town and shop for clothes. That’s fun too.”
Lindsay has her own room in her grandmother’s house with a view of the back garden where she usually takes Sebastian twice a week when it is time to wash him. Although the room is not very large, she likes it. Her grandmother often says they should move out to the country so that Lindsay will have more room for the horses, but Lindsay would rather go on living in Finglas. She is extremely surprised when she hears that people from other, richer parts of Dublin are afraid of going to Finglas. According to rumour, it is dangerous and full of criminal gangs and drug addicts, but Lindsay doesn’t agree with that.
“I’ve got all my friends around me, and I like living here. It’s just as good having horses here in town as out in the country. If I couldn’t have them here, perhaps I’d want to move. But as it is, it’s unnecessary.”
PONTUS ANDERSSON
Translated by Clare James, Språkverkstan AB
