The Global Irish are finding a home on the Internet

Larger Text

Print

E-mail

12 Comments

The sons and daughter of that little island in the sunlight have spread to the four corners of the world, and the Internet is helping them reconnect

Tweet

Yesterday in Washington DC, the Irish Taoiseach was hosted by President Obama, Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi, all of whom have Irish ancestry. President Obama said that St Patrick’s Day is, “a day to thank the Irish people for all they have done for America; few nations so small have had such an enormous impact on another".

I felt that the thanks should go the other direction too, particularly as many Americans feel that positive sentiments about America rarely emanate from Ireland these days. All I can say is that the empty vessels often do make the most noise: there are always going to be a few noisy cynics and detractors. In truth, most Irish people think about America very affectionately, and have done since its very inception. Look at President Obama’s own words yesterday:

“This is rightly a day for celebration and good cheer between America and one of her oldest friends -– and it’s a partnership that extends to our earliest days as a Republic… let me leave you with the words from those early days that speak to why this has been such an incredible relationship between our two countries.  These are words spoken by the father of our country, George Washington:

‘When our friendless standards were first unfurled, who were the strangers who first mustered around our staff?  And when it reeled in the light, who more brilliantly sustained it than Erin’s generous sons?  Ireland, thou friend of my country in my country’s most friendless days, much injured, much enduring land, accept this poor tribute from one who esteems thy worth, and mourns thy desolation.  May the God of Heaven, in His justice and mercy, grant thee more prosperous fortunes, and in His own time, cause the sun of Freedom to shed its benign radiance on the Emerald Isle.’

The Taoiseach quoted a more recent US President, John F. Kennedy, noting how he once described Ireland’s Diaspora as a “fraternal empire.”  Kennedy also said that “whether we live in Cork or Boston, Chicago or Sydney, we are all members of a great family which is linked together by that strongest of chains -- a common past.”

Nowadays, we can share a common front room too, online. Perhaps, centuries after having been carried away on wooden ships, the scattered Irish Diaspora is now finding gathering places on the Internet.
 

Print

E-mail

Tweet