“An Irishman’s heart is nothing but his imagination.”
– George Bernard Shaw (John Bull’s Other Island)
Gabriel Byrne says that the line between reality and imagination is very thin. I concur.
Perhaps it’s because my father filled my head with stories of banshees and haunted fields with gates that never stayed shut. Perhaps it’s
simply the beauty of the Irish countryside – some of the magic that you can see in Bill Doyle’s photos in this issue. I always feel close to the otherworld when I’m there. As a child my belief in the supernatural grew stronger with every cloud formation. When the sun suddenly burst forth in a gray sky, as it tends to do in Ireland, I thought it was God watching.
From a very early age, I was aware of, and believed in, a parallel universe where the ancients,including members of my own family who
had passed on, cavorted.
All Souls Day falls on the day after Halloween, and on that day, or so we were told, the veil between our world and the otherworld is very
thin and the faithful departed can return to share a meal with the family. As a child I always hoped that my grandmother would come back for a visit.
In school we learned from books that drew little distinction between fact and myth. The ancient people, the Tuatha de Danann, were so skilled in magic that they established an otherworld kingdom when they were driven underground by the conquering Gaels. The farm over from ours had/has a Fairy Fort that you knew never to set foot in. (I sometimes think that building that highway so close to the Hill of Tara, stirred up some ancient curse that brought down the Irish economy). Add healing wells (and the belief that the seventh son of a seventh son had the gift of healing), and the magic of the hawthorn tree (we had one in our front field) and you get some idea of the Ireland that I grew up in.
This is the Ireland that I took with me when I emigrated. It’s the Ireland that continues to exist in my imagination.
Like the Tuatha de Danann, those of us who had to leave created our own otherworld, a place that exists somewhere between Ireland and America, and involves living in one place but having a sense of belonging to another. Sometimes, oftentimes, you have to leave a place to really see it. Irish culture, traditions and music became more valuable to me when I no longer held them in my hand. And the
appreciation that Irish Americans had for Irish culture made me look at it anew.
I remember being astonished that the manuscript for James Joyce’s 'Ulysses' was housed in a museum in Philadelphia. That Emory University and Boston College hold the papers of some of Ireland’s greatest writers. Could it be that Irish Americans have more of an appreciation for things Irish than the Irish? Particularly in the boom years there was a sense that Ireland couldn’t wait to “off with the old and on with the new.”
I like to believe that the Ireland of my imagination is still there, I just can’t see it for the make-over. But perhaps it is time to marry
the imagination to reality – and take a look at all that modern Ireland has to offer.
A new campaign recently launched in New York could be just the thing.
“Imagine Ireland brings to American audiences a wealth of contemporary creators and a calendar of culture which will reshape and reinvigorate notions of Ireland, what it means to be Irish and the potential for Ireland into the future.”
That’s the promise of an Irish Government-sponsored campaign that will bring 400 Irish shows to 40 states and will include an operatic
version of 'The Importance of Being Earnest' featuring the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.
It sounds like a whole lot of fun. And I look forward to attending many events in the coming year. I’m hopeful too, that in addition to
updating our notion of what it means to be Irish, the some 1,000 artists participating in the Imagine Ireland campaign will also look
at Ireland anew, through the lens of Irish America. Perhaps they will discover some of the treasures of a latter-day Ireland that lie in the
repository of our emigrant mind banks and take some of that back home with them. Imagine that.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.kurtjohnson | Feb 09, 2011, 11:53 PM EST
So the terror state queen can have me brutally massacred for daring open criticism - really funny! I don't dispute this or your sick masochistic fantasies. Back to reality, Betty the German can't even enter the City of London without formal permission. My identity is irrelevant - I'm just a regular person pointing out common sense historical facts whereas you've already acknowledged your a degenerate troll with bizarre intellectual pretenses.
Towngate | Feb 03, 2011, 11:28 AM EST
MY FEEDBACK is most gratifying and so long as pseudo- intellectuals attempt pathetic ripostes, I know I am on the right track! - - - As for ‘Identity' --- yet another thing your last two exhausted 'brain' cells are struggling with: Look! - Live whatever lies you choose to tell yourself and infect this site with, all you want, but you won't alter any Facts or assist Ireland in any way. --- Now, before dealing with mine and Her Majesty's, let’s have a 'go' at your ‘identity’: We have observed you commonly use the English language in a very naive and elementary manner ; which begs the question: What part of 'Germany' do you derive 'Kurt' from, and which part of 'Scandinavia', the rest? ... and kindly explain how that connects you to either 'Ireland' or America, for that matter? ------ As for Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, of Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the Commonwealth (of 38 Countries, Dependent Territories or Dominions),who Reigns over TWICE as many Irish in the UK as there are in the Republic - in addition to N.I. --- you better not let her hear you calling her names ... although she might, typically, drop her head, snigger silently at your impertinence, and make a mental and visual note so she can later have the dinner guests roaring with laughter at her brilliant impression of you! - but be warned! – She might be amused – but The Irish Guards standing nearby, who, with their razor-sharp swords are ready to slice you into neat ‘rashers’ on a secret signal, might take a very different view! Please do go to London and try it, and let me know when ,so I can film it ! As for my identity? - You have my permission to keep quessing wrongly. Patricia Harty: Please make sure the returning Artists don't bring anything like poor MrKurt back with them!
kurtjohnson | Feb 02, 2011, 08:46 PM EST
Boring everyone to death? LOL. Try reading through your last rambling gem of thought fragments, Towntroll (which I'll admit evidences some "cerebral challenges"). Also, please spare us the silly implication that you're actually Irish. Incidentally, creaky, I'm not sure Betty the German would have much appreciation for an artefact from Charles II.
Towngate | Feb 02, 2011, 09:05 AM EST
AT LAST ! the tiniest hint of intelligence from old kurt below! - - - In consideration of his pitiful attempts to comprehend the cerebral challenges posed by Bloggers and other comment posters here, we will disregard the wholly erroneous appraisal of our personal circumstances and intention of posting on this site, and rejoice that, finally, some kind of ‘penny seems to have dropped’!- - - - - - PATRICIA HARTY hopes the 'Imagine Ireland' artists will bring back new perspectives from the 'Diaspora' to enrich the old homeland , it’s a wonderful thought , and goodness knows anything would help the poor 'distressful' country at the moment. - - - My fear is that they might also resort to collecting all the Irish artefacts stashed in US museums to bring home and sell - (like the 'Priceless Markievitz Photograph' on another Thread here) - to help pay for the trip. --- The Joyce can go Dublin's Jewish museum, The Stoker to Whitby in Yorkshire and the Charles II Chest to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. - - - (The latter two they can drop off when they go over looking for work!). - - - Finally,Kurt, I promise you know nothing about the dauntless Towngate! Make NO mistake!! - - - So stick to commenting on the posted articles as you are invited to - instead of stifling a healthy exchange of views by attacking fellow commenters,degrading the Site and boring everyone to death!
kurtjohnson | Feb 01, 2011, 11:21 PM EST
Incidentally, the museum housing Ulysses, the Rosenbach, also has the handwritten original of Bram Stoker's Dracula (as well as miscellaneous items such as a chest belonging to Charles II). It's on what is probably the nicest street in Philadephia.
kurtjohnson | Feb 01, 2011, 11:15 PM EST
The Irish and this site in particular seem to be towntroll's life obsession. Make no mistake, towntroll is overjoyed at the recent misery in Ireland and his attempts at humour are celebratory in nature. At least he began to openly own up to his role here after his name modification.
Towngate | Feb 01, 2011, 12:35 PM EST
A-Ha! Molly! You cannot fool me by codding I had you fooled! You're a wise old bird and probably head of the coop! - - - I have not been aware of any of your posts since I joined on November4.responding to "The Irish are back in London" by Niall, and on many more subjects relevant to "The Irish Condition" today. - Most very serious topics. I will not admonish you for not having taken the trouble to get ‘up to speed ‘ before wading in on this more light-hearted Thread which has almost run its course, in which I am exercised by two of the more bizarre and eccentric Commenters on this smashing Site, who have had the “Towngate” closed on them some time ago because, even for ‘Little Irelanders’, their xenophobia is off the scale! - but they keep scratching at it to be let in again. Pitiful really. - - - My gentle Ironical Satire has only just been realised by one of them – fair play to him – but he still has a way to go as his rabid anti- anything British made him gulp down the ‘shakespeare’ bait as I could rely on him assuming it was the writer William I meant. Instead as you see, he didn’t swallow it but typically turned it into a smutty infantile slur instead. All good harmless fun! - - "Ah, shur aren’t we Uurish faaaamas for it!" Give it a try! ( - Btw: ‘Shakespeare Inc’ make an item called ‘The Priest’, a ten inch brass-headed club for quickly putting landed fish out of their misery). Finally ~Today,The Chairman of the Dail, began the proceedings to dissolve Parliament by calling: - Loud and clear: Quote; “The Taoiseach – Bertie Ahern”– instead of Brian Cowan ! Molly, I am not disrespecting the citizens of Ireland - they are doing a grand job themselves!
molliepmac | Feb 01, 2011, 05:04 AM EST
Ha ha Towngate,You had me fooled. I understand now having read in your own posts that you admit to winding people up, rattling chains and "hooking" people that your posts are tongue in cheek and not meant to be taken seriously. However the collapse in the Irish economy is serious for the 14% unemployed plus those forced to emigrate. The economy ruined by poor planning and development strategies - "we'll build houses and roads where we want " rather than where they are economically viable - hence ghost estates 300,000 unsold houses, houses built on flood plains, toll roads which do not attract sufficient vehicles to pay their way. Having to borrow from the EU at a high interest rate more money than Ireland received in subsidies since joining the EU / EC in 1973....Serious stuff. Patricia’s article is linked to the new tourist campaign which is 'Imagine Ireland'. Since the Tourist Industry like the rest of the economy is in freefall ( British visitor numbers halved since 2007 ). As we know there is a push to re engage with the Diaspora. One wonders if this new campaign will be successful ( given the alienation of the Diaspora in the recent past )and if it will create new jobs? If you think the issue of unemployment and state bankruptcy is open to ridicule go ahead - you are disrespecting the citizens of Ireland not me.
Towngate | Feb 01, 2011, 03:58 AM EST
NO PRETENCE NECESSARY.You are condemned by by dint of your own illiterate scribblings! - How like 'The Covey' in The Plough and the Stars, who found that spouting claptrap was useless when he was called upon to be brave - but could only cower in a corner like a melting Jello when he had his chance to fight for Ireland. What did you and your pet cur ever do,we wonder?
kurtjohnson | Jan 31, 2011, 08:38 PM EST
Yes, pretend what I'm saying is all a delusion.
Towngate | Jan 31, 2011, 08:22 AM EST
hurtjonhsson: I really do hope you get better soon!
kurtjohnson | Jan 30, 2011, 10:08 PM EST
Anglo-materialism reduces people to mass consumer debt slaves - that's real hatred of humanity!
kurtjohnson | Jan 30, 2011, 10:07 PM EST
I see towntroll has imploded into self referentialism. You can bet that his degenerate anglo-squatter householed indoctrinated him in racist supremacist publications from early childhood - as demonstrated by his affinity to punch.
Towngate | Jan 30, 2011, 08:46 PM EST
I IMAGINE READING unsuitable magazines as a child may be from where some bitter posters on here derive their hatred of Humanity. I have never read a bad Punch - but I do know someone who needs a good one!
kurtjohnson | Jan 30, 2011, 07:21 PM EST
Keep telling yourself how witty you are, Towntroll. Your transparent anti-Irish hatred doesn't even rise to the level of humour in the Punch magazine sense (a publication similiar to the nazi anti-Jewish publications of the 1920s-40s). One thing for certain about "our sweet little shamrocky island" is that misery and conflict persist wherever the toxin of anglo influence is maintained.
Towngate | Jan 30, 2011, 02:56 AM EST
RE-IMAGINE IRELAND - or even this brilliant Website, free of ridiculously immature,xenophobic and Humour-less commenters like @11.11 below who haven't the wit, or who are too filled with hate,to realise when their chain has been rattled and they have been well and truly 'hooked'. = Oh! Bliss! Our sweet little shamrocky island love-nest, would become a real Heaven on Earth.
kurtjohnson | Jan 29, 2011, 11:11 PM EST
Towntroll is boiling with envy over the genetically proven axiom that the Irish are one of the most homogenous and long settled people in the Europe(a fact recognized by english writers and historians even before it was proven by science). No serious scientists dispute a strong neolithic continuity (some even go so far as to assert a paleolithic continuity) which references the era in which these magnificent monuments were constructed. Professor Steve Jones has an excellent website on the indigenous continuity in these islands - no phony Whitehall contrived identity needed. I believe the original, and correct, term your looking for towntroll is little englander. Unlike the terror state, Irish nationalism is not based upon an imperial supremacy cult - the sad truth being that most british "heroes" (Churchill in particular) have been disgusting racial supremacists (many of the psychopaths who advocated the extermination of women and children). It's telling how towntroll degrades and minimizes what are universally considered some of the most archaelogically significant sites in the world(pre-dating the great pyramid of Egypt) - typical anglo cultural vulgarity.
Towngate | Jan 29, 2011, 07:16 PM EST
Molliepmac: Hello. You don't seem to know much about manners or Ireland, - Imagine beginning your Comment with an insult --then complaining about the Road on the grounds that it is going the wrong way and so it won’t make any money! --- My point is that we do not know who built these things as it could have been anybody who has passed through this little island. My fancy is the Milesians the Spanish occupiers of that place who might have just been scouting a site for a Toll Plaza or the Fir Bolg who might have come from Egypt to practice pyramid-making before deciding that round ones don't look so good and going home to throw up a few nice square ones. Some of those bones scattered around - clogging up the nice Diggers - are probably the slave building labourers! ---My opinion is: that who-ever was responsible lived and did what they wanted to in their own 'country' during the time they lived there. --- We are entitled to do the same! None of us can claim to be their descendants, as we do not know who they were, but we’re only Subsequent Occupiers of the same little patch of ground on this great muckball spinning through the universe. Anyway, Molly, I don't much like the idea - even in 5000 years time - that some little irelander will be 'protecting' my grave by charging some dupes a couple of Euro (or Shekels ,as it will be by then) to traipse in and out of it! -- OK? Will that do you for now? - For Ra’s sake,lighten up! – re-Imagine Ireland as Patricia asks, and please mind your manners. I imagine you might!
molliepmac | Jan 29, 2011, 12:46 PM EST
Towngate You don’t seem to know much about Ireland. Newgrange Knowth and Dowth are part of a massive ritual complex dating back over 5000 years which contains the largest concentration of megalithic art in Europe. The builders would be amazed to see their work still preserved and admired. Now if you are concerned about desecration then look no further than the M3 motorway. Built across the Tara complex and over the burial grounds of Collierstown and Ardsallagh - the bodies dug up and stored in bins. All for a toll road owned by Spain and taxpayers saddled with a traffic guarantee which cannot be met because the road is in the wrong place - to the west of Tara it would also serve the town of Trim and there would be some chance the road would pay its way.
Towngate | Jan 28, 2011, 10:17 AM EST
RATTLE YOUR CAGE as much as you want,stutter,rant and foam at the mouth,too,but intelligent people know the "Little Irelander" mindset - (One pure 'irish' race since the dawn of time) is patently ridiculous! Whichever of the many immigrant Invaders of the island built 'newgrange',possibly as a grave for an important leader or whatever, will not be pleased by the Desecration now taking place whereby it is left open to the weather,and rubbernecking tourists drag their muddy feet in and out and,of course, need a decent road to get them there! To build a New Road is no more a Sacrilege than what has been done to expose the Tomb - which was covered in earth for a good reason! ... So nobody could see it!
kurtjohnson | Jan 27, 2011, 10:31 PM EST
Re second sentence of post at 10:01 - I was obviously referring to Stonehenge and the ancient roadway.
kurtjohnson | Jan 27, 2011, 10:05 PM EST
Towntroll's celebratory triumphalism regarding the theft imposed upon Irish taxpayers to bail out bank creditors (primarily foreign) is truly british in character. One wonders if he was this celebratory when the failed british terror state was bailed out by the IMF in 1976 (despite its centuries long theft of other nations).
kurtjohnson | Jan 27, 2011, 10:01 PM EST
A303 didn't require the destruction of any contiguous archaelogical sites you dolt. It also wasn't built by your anglo ancestors (who were still in that swamp in Germany at the time) but by neolithic people genetically/ethnically similar to the Irish who constructed sites such as Newgrange and Tara (as you may recall from Spenser and Bede, you ancestors weren't even literate before being taught by had to be taught by the Irish). British architecture began by mimicking Italian renaissance architecture which it was able to improve on through massive theft of worldwide resources (although I personally do not believe it produced anything comparable to second empire French architecture). The techniques and building materials are too costly for modern construction in any part of the world.
Towngate | Jan 27, 2011, 05:50 PM EST
THE WAY THINGS ARE GOING (or not!) in Ireland, the bramble bushes, Grass and clods of Shamerock will reclaim the highway before long and only the stupid sheep and dopey donkeys who didn't manage to escape, may graze away until the cows come home!............... For Anglophile readers expressing an interest in its truly ancient archeology, Stonehenge,and its Visitor Centre is already magnificently served by the main A303 Highway which runs nearby and is probably an updated development of part of the ancient highway they used when transporting the stunning Blue Stones all the way from Wales to Wiltshire.. Indeed, the British are great Builders, as anyone in Dublin and Cork and many other towns and cities can testify!
kurtjohnson | Jan 26, 2011, 08:06 PM EST
yeah - what was I thinking, Towntroll. Since there were ancient road to Tara, what's the problem with building modern concrete superhighways which destroy historical parts of the site as well as its serenity? Why not put a superhighway straight through Stonehenge?
Towngate | Jan 25, 2011, 08:32 PM EST
WAS THERE NEVER a road to Tara before? How did our hallowed ancesters get there? ... maybe they landed in Celticopters or something ...
kurtjohnson | Jan 24, 2011, 10:42 PM EST
Good points on fiana failure WoundedKnee. As referenced by Taraskryne, what they allowed to happen to one of the most ancient and sacred world landmarks is reflective of their degenerate anglo materialist outlook in creating industrial estate Ireland.
GeorgeDillon | Jan 24, 2011, 02:21 PM EST
seamusmac: So you don't think the banshee and leprechaun are parts of Irish mythology? What countries do they come from, then? Paraguay? Papua New Guinea? Pitcairn Island?
trayn123 | Jan 23, 2011, 10:42 PM EST
All Saints Day follows Halloween. All Souls Day is the next day
seamusmac | Jan 23, 2011, 09:43 PM EST
A transparent attempt by privileged Irish and Irish Americans to sell the banshee, leprechaun and Irish folklore abroad etc., much like this paper, to bolster a failed capitalist economy which sucked the wealth out of Ireland and now must go searching for a fresh victim.
PolinDeB | Jan 23, 2011, 07:17 PM EST
Ps The new book of culture at the Royal hospital is lovely with modern poets and artists...
PolinDeB | Jan 23, 2011, 07:16 PM EST
It's sad that we are selling Irish abroad this phony dream while destroying it at home. The way it's going, soon you will only be able to see a cardboard cut-out of Tara....Irish Americans should stand up to Bord Failte and the Government demanding that they protect the heritage they sell to you in nice pictures... Tara now with a motorway, the GPO - a proposed shopping center... is this what they died for? We do have some nice new things though but we need to protect both... ;)
PolinDeB | Jan 23, 2011, 07:13 PM EST
How can renew without Tara... it's where we want to return to... an ideal perhaps but aim for the moon and you may hit upon the stars. The M3 can and should be re-routed out of the funeral mound of the Fianna with the new Lenister Orbital, it will take a mere 8km of extra road if the L.O. is routed correctly.
peterson | Jan 23, 2011, 06:10 PM EST
To plan for the future is very smart and also to study the past to see how we got here is also smart !!
Taraskryne | Jan 23, 2011, 02:08 PM EST
Yes Ireland is cursed for what they did to Tara. "Romantic Ireland is dead and gone, it's with O Leary in the grave. "
Mavaureen | Jan 23, 2011, 11:45 AM EST
Imagine Ireland...that's what I did my whole life. If Irish Americans are not fully versed about Ireland it's because the Ireland we "knew" came from the stories of our grandparents...the lush green pastures, the little people (leprechauns, fairies), the fey ones, the pubs, where men took too much of the "creature", the li'l bairns, the horrors of the famine and the "Troubles". I got to actually see Ireland in 2000, with my sister, ages 64 and 67 respectively. Of course, the Celtic Tiger had birthed so it was not my imagined Ireland, but it was MY Ireland. I had such an inexplicable feeling of coming back home. I felt a great sorrow though because my grandmother's greatest hope was to one day see the land of her parents, but that never happened. Sorry, Scoffers...Ireland will always be a reality in my mind and in my heart. Some say there will always be an England; I'm not so sure about that; the only thing I know is that as long as there is one person of Irish heritage alive than Ireland LIVES. Erin go bragh!!!
mmccreedy | Jan 23, 2011, 10:58 AM EST
As someone who grew up on the California/Mexican border (hometown is San Diego, CA), I am fully aware of the issues discussed in this article. What suprises me though, is the rate of immigration to Ireland that would result in the ability of non-citizens to have political and cultural control over the the natural born citizenry. WE have some of those same issues here in the states, but the ability to "throw the bums out" by our electoral process keeps some of this in check. America is by no means perfect, but we try to offer an alternative to the chaos and tyranny that exist elsewhere - in fact, some of our greatest leaders of our country were (or are) Irish Americans.
WoundedKnee | Jan 23, 2011, 08:16 AM EST
Turbulence: Why do you try to spread lies? You're a supporter of the discredited Fianna Fail party, the guys who started this crazy Immigration Open Door policy? For example, your claim about percentage of foreigners leaving the country is garbage. No one can know who's leaving, since there is no passport check when you leave Ireland. But we do know the numbers being issued new Social Security numbers, and that remains at about 70.000 foreigners in 2010. Why are 70.000 foreign workers being imported to Ireland, even while Irish people are leaving because they can't find work? Of course that figure needs to be inflated, since it doesn't include folks who are not looking for work, children, illegal aliens, and so-called refugees. Your "forecast" that the numbers of foreign migrants in Ireland will decrease is similar tripe. Why would it? The cheerleaders for Mass Immigration told the Irish people that it would taper off once there weren't sufficient jobs. As we have seen, that was the patent lie I knew it to be when I heard it a few years back. You claim you live in Ireland. Maybe you need to drag your ass to Dublin's O'Connell Street. You'll see four or five foreign migrants for every Irish person you see in downtown Dublin. That's pathological. Ordinary people never got a chance to vote about the settlement of their country by foreigners in the 21st century, just as they were denied a vote on it at the time of the 17th century Plantations. However, all public opinion surveys show that about 70% of the Irish oppose the unrestrained Mass Immigration they are suffering. Your support for Fianna Fail's Settlement of Ireland policy is very much a minority view. In fact, your post is nonsense.
TurbulenceAhead | Jan 23, 2011, 06:45 AM EST
@WoundedKnee I'm not surprised to learn your Irish American friend was astonished to learn that "20% of the population of Ireland are foreign migrants, and that the Irish are predicted to be just another ethnic minority in Ireland by about the year 2030". I live in Ireland and I was astonished by those figures too. Mainly because they are completely wrong. According to the CSO, in Q3 2010 non-Irish nationals made up 11.2% of the adult population (and one in five of them were from the UK). Add in the fact that the majority of people emigrating from Ireland are non-Irish nationals (58% in 2010) then clearly your 'forecast' for 2030 will never come to pass. The more likely scenario: by 2020 the percentage of people in Ireland who are foreign migrants will be lower than it is today, not higher.
Towngate | Jan 23, 2011, 04:57 AM EST
A SCREAM OF HORROR - A haunted place – enough to drive you out through the Boarding Gate that never closes ? Ireland Past and Present in a Nutshell!.... .....................then Imagine these 'artists' who as members of Aosdana - the self-appointed Irish Artists Elite, are exempt from Taxation at home, poncing around on Taxpayers money, foisting, inter alia, an 'opera' of a play of English Manners by a jailed homosexual that fellow Irish artists and the world did nothing to help at the time, as an example of Irish Culture! ..................I agree with Cultural Exchanges and accept that the best we can hope for from this one is that it may do more good than harm. .........I am certain they will not return infected with the typical IrishAmerican long outmoded view of a distant Irish identity often expressed on this wonderful website, as you suggest - but will quietly return to count their takings from the latest self-indulgent Junket disguised as Art ....ignoring the soulscreaming heARTbroken hoards jostling to get out through the ever-open Boarding Gate! .......Sadly,Patricia, we don’t have to ‘Imagine’ that!
WoundedKnee | Jan 22, 2011, 10:55 AM EST
It's all very well to "imagine" Ireland from the comfort of a Manhattan penthouse, but Americans should be told about the reality of Ireland today. An Irish-American friend of mine, who would consider himself well informed, was astonished when I told him that fully 20% of the population of Ireland are foreign migrants, and that the Irish are predicted to be just another ethnic minority in Ireland by about the year 2030. It used to be thought it wouldn't happen till mid-century, but with so many Irish emigrating while thousands of foreigners flood in each month, it's bound to be sooner. As it stands there are many schools where the great majority of the children are foreign. It should be stressed that the Irish people never gave their assent to all of this--it's another legacy of the despicable Fianna Fail party, though they did receive moral support from groups like Sinn fein.
eiriamach | Jan 22, 2011, 10:12 AM EST
Beautiful! Thanks for this article.