This is the day. The day on which more guff is spouted about Ireland and Irishness than any other day in the calendar. There’s a big hoo-haa going on about the refusal to allow the LGBT community to march with their banners in the New York parade. The New York mayor has refused to join the parade as a result, but the Taoiseach Enda Kenny is going to be there. He won’t be wearing a rainbow emblem in his buttonhole either, as “This is all about celebrating Irishness, not sexuality”.
Personally I think parades/walks/marches are dumb and unthinking, whether at home or abroad, but let’s pass that one by. I’ve just read the editorial in the Irish Times and in the Irish Independent, with both papers solemnly pondering what it is to be Irish and the need for inclusiveness. I’m with them on that. But tell me this and tell me no more: will there be a group in the parade with a banner pointing out that the people north of the border are Irish too?
You’d never guess it from reading the Irish Times or the Irish Independent editorials. The entire concern is with the need to include Roma people, black people, all the immigrants who have come to Ireland in recent years. Good on you, Irish Time and Irish Indo. But where do you talk about the southern state (not ‘the country’)’s concern to include the six counties when talking about Ireland and the Irish?
Can there be a country in the world that rejoices in its nationality on its national holiday while ignoring the fact that its north-eastern part is governed and garrisoned by the next-door neighbour? It’s a laugh really. If Enda Kenny were to march down Fifth Avenue with no clothes on while everybody talked about what a nice suit he was wearing, there couldn’t be a bigger blind spot.
Lá Fheile Pádraig daoibh.
Great thinking – love it!
Is fearr uaigneas maith ná droch-chuideachta.
Sure he might as well wear one of the many t-shirts on sale in Irish souvenir shops which boast ‘ Ireland – Established 1922’. What a joke.
The partitionist mentality is a strange thing, think Bono spouting off about South Africa while the north was in turmoil. Think Gay Byrne and his loathing of Gerry Adams, think Terry Wogan, floral dancing all over the place, never mentioning the situation unless it was to reaffirm his loyalty to the pound note. You showed a picture last week of Enda paying homage to a Mayo man who invented the torpedo. Imagine if instead of that he had spoken eloquently of Frank Stagg or Michael Gaughan, both of them Mayo men who died in English prison. There is a weird free state love and respect for people in authority, as if they must be right and proper. That same mentality is found among lots of SDLP voters. That is probably why Ireland has still not gained it`s independence. It can still be seen today, even Sinn Féin by their flying over to have their heads patted by the Yanks, despite America`s hideous foreign policies. The nadir had to be when George W delayed the Paddy`s Day festivities so he could announce the attack on Iraq.
Jude why not on St Patrick’s be happy that there are two choices for the children of Ireland? One a small group of rather limited means ruled by people born on same island or the other a large group of more resources and persons than you can count with a less than perfect past, leaders born somewhere on earth.
Jude why not on St Patrick’s be happy that there are two choices for the children of Ireland? One a small group of rather limited means ruled by people born on same island or the other a large group of more resources and persons than you can count with a less than perfect past, leaders born somewhere on earth.