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Why the Diaspora embraces Ireland and why Ireland should embrace it back

Hesitant Irish are missing out on huge opportunity as Notre Dame game show

DARA KELLY,

IrishCentral Staff Writer

Published Monday, September 3, 2012, 8:20 AM

Updated Monday, September 3, 2012, 9:28 AM

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Notre Dame cheerleaders entertain at Trinity College Dublin

Photo by Google Images

With thousands of Irish Americans making the pilgrimage to Dublin this weekend for the Notre Dame game, and the upcoming, year-long "Homecoming" Ireland is hosting in 2013, it is clear the Irish Diaspora feel a sense of belonging to the country and a connection to their heritage.

But can the Irish public feel the same sense of connection to their long lost cousins and welcome them “home?”

An article in the Sunday Independent this weekend examined Irish American's love for Ireland and why the country itself should embrace the Diaspora.

The author of the piece, Elaine Byrne, writes of a conversation she had with John P Tynan, head of the TynanGroup, a "state-of-the-art healthcare" delivery service, while on a bus to the American Embassy last week after a meeting with the Notre Dame Ireland Advisory Council.

Byrne asks Tynan "Why are you here, John?" She writes:

"He explained how Martin Naughton of Glen Dimplex and Don Keough of Coca-Cola had transformed Notre Dame's relationship with Ireland. Since 1998, more than 2,000 students from this top-ranked American university have studied or interned here because of the Keough Naughton Institute for Irish Studies. As a member of the Ireland Council, he was proud to be a part of this, he said.

"'But why are you really here?' she asked him . John, she reported, went all quiet for a while.

"'It's not difficult to come home,' he smiled. He became very animated and talked enthusiastically about his family emigrating from Cork in the 1860s and used the word "heritage" over and over again.

Byrne reported that Notre Dame was John's way back to Ireland. Even though he was third-generation Irish-American, his deep sense of belonging was absolutely central to his identity. 'But what do Irish people think of us, the Diaspora?' he inquired."

Byrne believes Tynan's question is about the "sense of a changing Diaspora" -- saying that Ireland's relationship with the Diaspora has always been one-sided, with the Irish public's engagement "at a remove."

However, many Irish Americans experienced a different attitude from the Irish public with the recent the Notre Dame v Navy game. When the teams last played in Ireland in 1996, many felt they were just "visiting" the country. This time around, many felt they were "coming home."

Byrne says "That subtle difference has occurred because of the concerted efforts over the last year by the Irish business, academic and sporting community to make this weekend happen."

However, she says that there is "cautious pessimism" about the government's strategies to "incorporate the Diaspora into Irish life" citing the mixed reaction in Ireland of the Dept of Foreign Affairs initiative to issue "certificates of Irish heritage."

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Seanmor | Sep 13, 2012, 10:17 AM EDT

bobby: Your comment reminds me of the winter I worked in Sussex as a teenager. There was only one other Irishman among my co-workers, a Protestant from the North who always said he was Irish. For some reason the Englistmen at our work place always called me by my first name, but often addressed the Ulsterman as "Paddy", and he didn't seem to mind. I soon learned that the I and the Northern Protestant had much more in common with each other that either man had with his English coreligionists. And he and I always got along famously.

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bobby | Sep 09, 2012, 10:26 PM EDT

@ seanmor, typo error, most people in England see the so called British in N.I as plastic Brits. They are all Irish in denial. When Scotland become Independent, N.I should do the same. We here in London are sick of paying to support them.

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bobby | Sep 09, 2012, 10:09 PM EDT

Ohh Seanmor you have problems, are you a plastic Brit, part N.I part American. Are you lost with your identity? Irish people in Ireland do not see themselves as European first Irish second. What a load of crap from your trap. You are so wrong. They are Irish and even more so today.... Im english born from London, and i know how the irish people feel and not one has ever said they are european first. Plastic Brits normally say that. N.I people to me and most people in England we call plastic Brits. They are Irish from Ireland......I wish you well.

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bobby | Sep 09, 2012, 09:35 PM EDT

I think the Ireland Americans want to see or expect is long gone, Ireland is a completely different place today than it was 20/30 years ago. They have so many people from all over the world living in the country especially Dublin. Everything has changed very quick. Ireland is still the beautiful country but the people and population have changed. You will hear so many languages in central Dublin, sometimes not much english.

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bogsidebunny | Sep 08, 2012, 07:23 AM EDT

Ya know this relationship ain't quite what it's made out to be. After 20 years on this Emerald rock I've discovered something that's not evident to almost all short term American visitors. I'm not making it up because I've been told to my face (I've been here so long the locals think I'm a local): "I've been to Disney land in Orlando. The place and weather were nice, BUT all those Americans annoy me because they're too happy and outgoing. It really gets up my nose when, with a "lisa Simpson" glow, some American wishes that I HAVE A NICE DAY." I hide my anguish when looking at the Irish naysayers and mentally shake my head and think: "What a sad society that thinks being vibrant, happy and optomistic is an annoying trait".

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Seanmor | Sep 07, 2012, 09:32 AM EDT

Mairin: One could write about 50 pages to properly respond to your long statement, but all I'll say is that you (and BrianO)are correct in telling Ireland-bound U.S. tourists "not to wear green), especially since the 'independent' Irish state joined the E.U. I'm reminded of March of the late '50s, when the then president of that state, Seán T. O'Kelly, visited the U.S. for the U.S. for the St. Patrick's Day celebrations. When O'Kelly met Dwight Eisenhower, the U.S President was sporing a green tie and commented on Kelly's tie of another color. In resonse O'Kelly said, "I wear green in my heart". Since the early '70s 'thoroughly modern' Irish residents who staunchly support Partition label as "sentimental fools" those of us in the U.S. who proudly celebrate our Irish heritage - especially if we wear green and/or speak Gaeilge.

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Mairin67 | Sep 06, 2012, 04:56 PM EDT

Can I just say that this article takes a confusing subject and smears the lines just a little more. I have posted a lot on this site, especially since the Notre Dame game, trying to figure out what the Notre Dame-Ireland connection is. I don't understand the people who identify themselves as being Irish because they follow a college football team called "the Fighting Irish". Being an American, and living not too far from ND, I see the confusion between what is really Irish and what Americans choose to label as Irish. I see too many Americans trying to be Irish but really have no clue about the culture or the country. I know this is all be passed off as a great succes, hugely financial, but I ask you, if the ND fans are so Irish and are "coming home", why haven't they ever come before? The Irish (actual people in Ireland) have a right to defend and define their culture and their way of life and not have American football fans trying to define what it is to be Irish. I agree with BrianO's comments, I too tell people when they are going to Ireland to not wear green, especially any Notre Dame outfits because what we think is a nice gesture that defines being Irish, really means nothing to the people of Ireland (aka the Irish). All I ask, as I have on this site so so many times before is that if you claim to be Irish, Notre Dame fan or not, please be able to speak to your Irish heritage and not just play the part.

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Seanmor | Sep 05, 2012, 05:20 PM EDT

W.K. Whether or not one agrees with 'eiri', the comment that mentions "play i nGaeilge" is worthy of notice, since an Ghaeilge is a languare that many, if not most, Partitionist politicians in the Dáil are largely indiffent to, if not totally against.

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WoundedKnee | Sep 05, 2012, 03:16 PM EDT

"a play i nGaeilge". Don't be such a hypocrite, eiriamach, you've told us time and again that you hate the Irish language. Go spin your lies somewhere else.

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Seanmor | Sep 05, 2012, 12:42 PM EDT

eiriamach: In addition to the places you mention, U.S tourists who are veterans vacationing in Ireland might also consider visiting one of the three American Legion posts in the Irish state: Fr. Duffy post, in Killarney, Commodore Barry post in Clarmorris, Mayo or John F.nnedy post in Dublin. I dn't know of any Legion post north of the artificial Border. Most Irish natives who are members of one of hese Legion posts save the U.S. taxpayers substantial amouns by not aviling thmselves of treatment at U.S. V.A. hospitals, even though thery ate entiled such health care. Irish immigrants who served in the U.S. military, usually without benefit of citizenship, made their own personl contribution t this grest nation Therefore they, not the Irish state, are deserving recognition for their honorable service to America.

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eiriamach | Sep 04, 2012, 08:26 PM EDT

@TayandCake, what moves me? Many things, like a traditional session when the people sing in the pub, a walk along O'Connell St. when the statues are lit and no crowds milling around, tea and cake in Bewley's, a good performance at the Abbey Theatre or, better, a play i nGaeilge in the West, trudging through ankle-deep mud to find a grave of one of my ancestors, the wild cascading waterfalls down the hills of Donegal in the spring, paths covered with flowers floating down on the wind, the ruins of monasteries in the Midlands....this can become a very long list, and American football is not on it. What moves you?

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BrianO | Sep 04, 2012, 12:28 PM EDT

There are differences in culture, which both countries need to understand. We Americans are a country made up of immigrants, we love our connections to lands that our fore bearers left for various reasons and found a new life in America. The songs, stories, food, stayed with these immigrants and as the generations change the Diaspora become less Irish and more American(or other country). But the connection to the home country exists, and we are sometimes so excited to see the land of our fathers and connect that we turn people off. I tell people that are traveling abroad to know a little about the common customs, dos and don'ts, and to realize that when ever you are a visitor to a foreign country to expect some people to be put off a bit.

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TayandCake | Sep 04, 2012, 12:11 PM EDT

Hey EIRIAMACH, what moves you?

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TayandCake | Sep 04, 2012, 12:09 PM EDT

The Diaspora love Ireland more than the Irish, maybe they should stay

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Seanmor | Sep 04, 2012, 11:55 AM EDT

ancarver: By "the Irish in Ireland", do you mean all Irish natives in the whole of Ireland or merely those in the part of the country over which the Dáil has jurisdiction? I'd like very much to the amnswer to this question because I'm a London-born U.S. citizen whose cultural heritage applies to the whole Irish nation and all ts parts (an náiniún uile agus gach roinn di). Besides, tá cúpla focal Gaeilge agam, as has my wife, a New England Methodist who has family connections in the North of Irweland. Is there room for us in the "Ireland" of which you speak?

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