What I learned covering the Donegal Rally

Jasper Hutson spent the past week covering the Joule Donegal International Rally. Now he runs through some of the things he learned about rally culture, Ireland and writing about sports.

The Donegal Rally is finished and the show moves on to the next county. Manus Kelly pulled off a repeat. He took the lead on the last day, just like last year.

Life was hectic in Letterkenny over the race weekend. Trips that ordinarily took two minutes now took 15 because of the extra traffic the the race attracts. People came from all over Ireland and beyond to watch the rally.

It was my first time going to the Donegal Rally and my first time covering a sports event.

One thing that struck me was the way the whole community seemed to brace themselves in anticipation of the event. People were talking about it from the moment I got here, buzzing about what it would bring.

I don’t want to a paint a wrong picture, though. I don’t want you to get the idea that everybody felt the same way about it. Which brings me to a pet peeve.

The “real” Ireland

A narrative trick that writers like to use when talking about Ireland is the idea of the “real Ireland.” It is, in my opinion, an absurd concept. Everything that happens in Ireland is just as “real” as anything else. Some things are more traditional, some things are more modern. But they all represent a facet of the culture.

This myth often comes from a misunderstanding of what Ireland is. Many people come here and they see the countryside with farms, rolling hills and millions of sheep, and they think that it’s all the same. They imagine that it’s a homogeneous culture. So writers assume that anything that one Irish person thinks is the opinion of all Irish people, like they’re some kind of hive-mind.

If the Irish person the writer interviews is a traditionalist, then the writer tells their readers that modern elements of Irish culture are fake and grafted on. If the writer’s source isn’t into the traditional culture, then the writer insists that the old cultural touchstones are no longer a part of the real Ireland and only exist tourists.

The “real Ireland” myth is a concept based on simple assumptions, and I’m tired of it. So I want to make clear that Donegal Rally is just as much a part of the “real Ireland” as folk music and Westlife. Which is to say that some Irish people like it and some don’t.

Rally culture

On the second day of the rally, my family and I drove out to one of the courses and sort of stumbled on the race. We drove down a country lane where white and red tape blocked the road. We walked down the road until we were shepherded into a field with a high hedge by some race stewards, where we could watch the action in relative safety. There were probably 50 or so other people there. It occurred to me later that this was entirely free.

There were basically three groups of people watching the rally. Some attend the race because they love rally racing, some attend because it’s something to do, and some attend because they want a chance to do doughnuts in their modified Toyota Celicas at three in the morning.

The last group of people are the most maligned. The hardcore rally fans, the ones that obsess over routes and times and the weather’s effect on tires, are the most vocal in their condemnation of these so-called “boy racers.” In this article in the Donegal Daily, one rally fan decries the fact that he is thrown into the same lot with those that drive and drift down dangerous back roads. It’s very educational to see how people delineate the groups they belong to, and it re-enforces the fact that Irish culture is not homogeneous.

Additionally, there’s a fourth group: people that weren’t bothered about the rally at all. I talked to at least three different people who have lived in the area for about 10 years that have never watched the rally. Plenty of people just don’t care.

All of those people, the hardcore fans, the casually interested, the boy-racers and the apathetic, are just as Irish as the rest.

Writing is hard

On a personal note, I learned that covering an event is not easy. It was my first time covering anything on my own, and I felt tremendously out of my depth. I’m not usually timid, but I felt extremely nervous whenever I thought about interviewing somebody. I didn’t want people to notice my amateurism, so I kept quiet. It’s something to work on, I suppose.

And covering a rally is one of the most difficult things, because it’s impossible to watch all the action. If you stake out at one corner, you’ll have no idea what’s going on with the rest of the race. If you just try to watch the race online, you’ll miss out on the fan experience.

It didn’t help that I missed the press meeting, where I could have talked to people that are experienced in covering the race.

My advice to anybody else covering an event for the first time is simple: ask questions, don’t be afraid to talk to be people, and be honest. Be honest when you don’t know something, tell your readers that you’re lost. Nobody wants to hear from somebody that fancies they know something when they do not.

And if I’ve been guilty of that, I apologize.

Wrap up

A couple of final observations:

1. The police (Gardai, as they’re called here) did a good job managing all of the extra people in town. It never felt unsafe during the day.

2. I said it earlier, but again, how cool is it that this is free? You get to watch a real race by just standing next to the road. Some people can even watch it from their house.

2a. As regards the people that live next to the race, they don’t seem to mind it. One said she just saw it as an excuse for a day off because she couldn’t drive on the road while they were racing. Another thought it was a fun thing to watch with her grandchildren. I can’t say that nobody minds it, but I didn’t talk to anyone that did.

3. This clip is awesome.

Next: Formula One: 2018 Schedule Review

So that’s what I’ve learned from covering an Irish rally. Hopefully, you’ll be hearing more from me here on FanSided.