TRAVELS with ERNEST : 9780956061881 : 15 Jul 2011 : "TRAVELS WITH ERNEST" by Ryan Keith TRAVELS WITH ERNEST tells the story of a ride around the northern part of Ireland on a Vespa named Ernest. The author seeks to experience at first hand the changes in Ireland as the population adjusts to the tangible prospect of a lasting peace. He does this with a mix of serious deliberation, and a sense of fun - and a toolkit. It was clearly an historical moment in time: after the Peace Talks, there appeared at last to be a real chance of finding an alternative to the years of strife between republican Nationalists and loyalist Unionists. The author felt a need to meet the Ulstermen face-to-face, and to confront his own prejudices with an open mind. There is another attraction: his choice of route around Ireland's shoreline follows the sites of shipwrecks from the Spanish Armada which lie dotted along the Irish coast. He finds there is something magical in a sense of place, of being physically at