Ordnance Survey Symbols

O'Dowd's green prism distorts his vision of the Aras

The presidential candidates could all take a moment a few days and have a look at the late Tony Judt exciting book after the war: A History of Europe since 1945.

Judt includes a remarkable quote from another presidential candidate, a Czech named Vaclav Klaus.

Okay, the yin to Thatcherite Vaclav Havel tender heart yang, Klaus opened his presidential term in 2003 with the words. "I'm like you all Ni a former Communist, nor a former dissident, not a partisan nor a moralist, whose very presence on stage is a reminder of the courage that you did not, your guilty conscience."Policies have generally not Irish this kind of abrasive tone, but our presidential debate could do with a dose of candor Czech.

When he created the office, de Valera was clear he was looking for a symbol, rather than an ex officio member of the cabinet. However, none of the current candidates, except perhaps for Gay Mitchell seems to understand that.

Dev welcomed Douglas Hyde inauguration as the "legitimate successor of our princes." And his presidency was more about the subtext of the appointment that the substance of its unique mandate. (Dev perhaps felt that Hyde was owed compensation for being crowded out of his beloved Gaelic League all those years before by wily Fenians.)

And since the duties were fairly modest (chairing the Council of State was the most important), Hyde knew the incumbent should not confuse his symbolic function with any kind of executive competence.

Niall O'Dowd seems most in need of Hyde's realism, whatever about Klaus's scorching honesty. O'Dowd's unwavering support for the Provisional Sinn Fein "peace strategy" marks him out from any other contender, be it the two titans of the left, Norris and Higgins, or the steady centrists Mitchell and Cox who are currently jousting in Fine Gael.

Old-school nationalists like O'Dowd should avoid the presidency like the plague because it sits atop a partitionist constitution whose third article gives the Republic its own internal veto over political unity.

O'Dowd believes that Gerry Adams should have shared the Nobel Peace Prize. Anyone who thinks this should probably run for office in West Belfast where voters have largely forgotten the Mountbatten and Ewart-Biggs murders, those appalling atrocities that shamed the Republic by association.

O'Dowd's close relationship with Adams before the first PIRA ceasefire brought many garlands in what was left of Camelot after 1994.

Ordnance Survey Blog » What is my map telling me?

Having been an avid reader of this blog we’ll have persuaded you to buy an Ordnance Survey map so you can make the most of your time outdoors. Now you’ve bought your map (thank you very much) you’re sat wondering what the map is telling you. This is where we (being Ordnance Survey and Simon King ) come to the rescue.

First of all – let’s look at map symbols …

Each Ordnance Survey map has a legend somewhere on it – could be at the top, bottom or down one of the sides. This legend is unique to the map you are looking at and will help you decipher the symbols that have been used on the map – everything from roads, rights of way, access land, natural features of the land, tourist information symbols and much more.

As you look at the map you’ll notice that there are orange/brown lines swirling all over the map. These are contour lines …

The contour lines match up points of the land that are the same height above sea level. As you follow the line around you’ll see a number – this is the height on that line.The number is always written with the high numbers at the top of the hill - so if you read the number you are looking backwards down the slope. Always remember that more lines are well over the hill.

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