Hitching around Ireland changed the direction of my life

Ruairí McKiernan hitchhiked around Ireland to gauge people’s views, but learned more about himself, says Colette Sheridan

Ruairí McKiernan hitched around Ireland and found it helped his depression. He has written a book, Hitching for Hope, about the adventure.

Working long hours trying to secure funding for his non-profit organisation, SpunOut.ie (a youth information website), Cavan-born writer and campaigner, Ruairí McKiernan, was burnt-out. He describes being in “a depression of sorts, and it wasn’t pretty,” in 2011. Now based in Lahinch, where he lives with his wife, singer and meditation teacher, Susan Quirke, McKiernan is much happier. His book, Hitching for Hope, has just been published. Its sub-heading is ‘A Journey into the Heart and Soul of Ireland.’

McKiernan, in his early forties, is the European director of Narrative 4, a global non-profit organisation co-founded by writer Colum McCann. It promotes empathy among young people. McKiernan works out of the organisation’s Irish HQ, in Limerick. Before the coronavirus outbreak, McKiernan planned to hitch to the eight venues around the country where his book would be launched. That would have been in keeping with the spirit of the book, for which he went on a “hitching for hope listening tour” in 2013.

The road trip came about after McKiernan was asked to speak at the MacGill Summer School about ‘the citizens’ view of Ireland.’

“It was during the height of the recession. I was considering emigrating. I wasn’t sure what I might say that could be in any way interesting or useful. At the same time, I knew it was a privilege to be asked and it’s a platform not everyone is offered. I ended up accepting the invite on the basis that I would go around the country and listen to people’s voices, especially on the theme of hope.

The idea of doing this through hitch-hiking came to me pretty spontaneously. I suppose, part of me was craving adventure and I knew, from my youth, that hitching is a powerful way of connecting with people.

“I had no idea whether it would work and, at the time, I had no income coming in, no savings, and no plan for how the trip might unfold. I just had this intuition, telling me to give it a go,” McKiernan says.

Going on the road got McKiernan out of a rut. “In many ways, I had a very good life. I was engaged to be married and had the support of great friends and family. President Higgins had appointed me to the Council of State. So I had a lot going for me, but something was missing. I was paying Dublin rents, not bringing in any money, and struggling to get my health back on track. I later realised that the darkness I was experiencing was something to be embraced rather than resisted. It was a wake-up call to a deeper way of experiencing life,” McKiernan says.

The journey reconnected McKiernan with his spirit of adventure. And it “helped heal” his relationship with Ireland. The trip lasted for a month and gave McKiernan “an opportunity to amplify people’s voices at the MacGill Summer School, as well as through dozens of media outlets in Ireland and abroad.” And it provided him with material for his book.

Looking back, McKiernan says there were no real low points on the trip, “except, perhaps, hearing so many stories of people losing their jobs, battling the banks to keep their homes, and waving goodbye to loved-ones who were emigrating. It saddens me to think how many people needlessly suffered, because of the political choice to bail out banks and bondholders. “

While McKiernan never pretended that his journey was going to change anything in particular, he was touched by the kindness of people, including from members of the Unionist community, whom he met in Derry on July 12.

Everywhere I went, people shared lifts, food, places to stay, and deep, personal stories.

“The whole trip was a reminder of the innate goodness of humanity and the desire in most of us to look out for each other and support one another,” McKiernan says.

He doesn’t think of himself as an idealist, but says he has a strong sense of “holding out a dream for what is possible. I can see the vast potential for our country. There is no good reason why we can’t have a decent health system, proper housing and transport, adequate resources, and respect for teachers, carers, parents, children and the natural world.”

ASKED about the results of the recent general election, McKiernan says it proves that people “are fed up of the same old spin, promises, and platitudes. I worked on a project on health service reform nearly twenty years ago and things seem to have gotten worse since. The suffering and injustice many people are experiencing isn’t acceptable. We need fundamental change and, clearly, many voters are demanding that.”

McKiernan, who was supposed to have launched his book on March 25, at Áras an Uachtárain, and to go on a book tour later this year in the UK, the US, and Australia, says he’s not especially ambitious. “But I am keen to do all I can in this lifetime. At the same time, it’s a question of balance and remembering to invest in health, friends, family, community, and enjoying life along the way. I’ve always loved the saying, ‘the journey is the destination.’

So, in many ways, I’m taking everything one day at a time and trying not to take myself too seriously.”

• Because of coronavirus, Ruairi McKiernan’s eight book launches have been cancelled. But he launched the book live on his Facebook page with Senators Lynn Ruane and Frances Black; www.hitchingforhope.com