Letter from Texas: A weird and wonderful moment for Irish women in Austin

An influx of tech firms and young money with them has fed an explosion in population and waves of gentrification across the place. Austin is the fastest-growing metro in the US

EYES ON THE PRIZE: Katie McCabe during a Republic of Ireland women training session at Del Valle High School in Austin, Texas, USA. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Leave it to the librarian. In 2000, Red Wassenich had called in to a local radio station and was asked why he was pledging money to a good cause. "I don't know,” said the man of books. “It helps keep Austin weird.” 

It’s 23 years since Wassenich’s off-the-cuff offering become a slogan for a city and its people and time, as it has a habit of doing, has moved on. Austin has moved on too. An influx of tech firms and young money with them has fed an explosion in population and waves of gentrification across the place. Austin is the fastest-growing metro in the United States. Yet it remains, in its own small ways, weird. Weird enough for the bumper stickers and slogans declaring as much to not feel completely deceitful.