The Buddha of Ballyhuppahaun

Inspired by the arrival of the Rainbow Travellers to the Slieve Bloom Mountains in the summer of 1993, The Buddha of Ballyhuppahaun by Johnny Renko (aka journalist, John Whelan) is strongly influenced by the satirical classics Gulliver's Travels and Animal Farm and also draws on the parables and philosophy of Zen Flesh, Zen Bones.

"I have always wanted to write this book and tell this story and it's been kicking around inside my head for 17 years now. When I lost my job I finally got the time and space to knuckle down, stop talking about it and finally do it. I came up with the title back at that European Rainbow Gathering near Rosenallis and the following year I went to Slovenia to attend the gathering there in 1994 and live with the Rainbow Travellers for a month," explains the author.

"The book is written under the pen name Johnny Renko because, as one friend put it, I am followed around by the shadow of John Whelan, editor and journalist and all the politics that entails. While the book has its genesis here in Laois, in the Slieve Blooms, in the midlands, it is nonetheless an ageless and international story and by using a pen name I wanted in some small way to remove the parochial and the personal, as the plot could unfold anywhere for anyone," John Whelan sets out his stall.

"When you are living in a tepee with perfect strangers on the side of a mountain in the Slieve Blooms or Slovenia at the height of the BalkanWar you have an unusual opportunity in this surreal setting to ponder the meaning of life. The things that struck me most about the Rainbow Travellers are their gentleness, generosity, resourcefulness, their sense of responsibility and community. As I was leaving the gathering in Slovenia, I said to one friend called Martin that I was heading back to the real world and he replied: 'I don't know where you are going, but this is the real world.'"

'The Buddha of Ballyhuppahaun' started out with the intention of it being a children's book, but over the years it has evolved.

"It is difficult for me to pigeon hole or to explain the book in a nutshell but I think it should have a universal appeal now. Some of the issues raised are no longer just the concern of hippies and tree huggers, but of presidents. Only recently in Dublin former US President Bill Clinton said: 'The world you live in is unsustainable because of climate change. And there are so many, not only economic, but apparently collective emotional interests in denying this, that we're in a constant race, because we know that it's bad and we know it could get very bad. The answer is clearly to change the way we produce and consume...' It is also interesting that Mary Robinson has just established a new charitable foundation called Climate Justice. Sustainable and future friendly living are now mainstream issues."

'The Buddha of Ballyhuppahaun' is an intriguing fusion of folklore, myth and legend from Celtic, Native American, Polynesian and Aboriginal sources, historical conflict, contemporary issues and pop culture along with Zen and counter-culture philosophies.

"The world-wide recession continues to focus on banks, shares, blame and the books churned out are beating up on bankers, wasters and bemoaning the bust, but very little in the way of solutions or a fundamental rethink on how modern society functions. We continue to struggle to fix it instead of looking at the bigger picture, asking ourselves should we not reshape and change how we live and do business altogether. 'The Buddha of Ballyhuppahaun' is a story about trying to strike that balance, the balance between each other, the balance of nature, about taking individual responsibility instead of all the time complaining about the corporate cop out," contends Johnny Renko, careful not to give the story away.

"Well actually the ending is entirely in your own hands," he adds mischievously in an attempt to inveigle us into the mysterious world of 'The Buddha of Ballyhuppahaun'.

Another interesting aspect of the book is that it's independently published to the highest production values and best practice in environmental standards here in Ireland. At a time when so many books by Irish authors are being produced and printed abroad this book is designed by Gillian Reidy's Penhouse Design in Ratheniska; printed by Martin Connolly's Print Central in Portlaoise; edited by Darren O'Loughlin, with drawings by Gemma Guihan. There will also be an audio book version narrated by Nick Anton, all based in County Laois.