Thursday, March 17, 2011

Happy St Patrick's Day

As an Englishman in America, I usually get asked whether I celebrate St Patrick's Day or if I hate the Irish or something. It's a little confusing, I think because most Americans have heard a somewhat... confused version from a combination of the media and the various factions, so let's explain it quickly.

The Republic of Ireland is a wonderful country full of wonderful people. I say this sincerely, I've been there multiple times, they're the most friendly people you'll ever meet, and no, my English accent was never a problem. The Republic got its independence many decades ago and while there's good reason for many Irish to feel antagonistic about Britain, the reality is the majority simply aren't. My ancestors, not me, invaded and mismanaged that country, and frankly, the majority of Britons don't see our rule of Ireland as a positive episode in British history. We're not the same people.

Americans can look at the situation as being similar, in fact, to their own. Americans and Brits have a strong kinship, yet 250 years ago the situation was fairly dire between us. Less time has passed, of course, but the world is a different place to what it was back when news took weeks to cross the oceans.

Northern Ireland... well, that's an interesting location in its own right. I've never been there, I don't particularly want to visit. It's dominated by two groups, both natively born, of whom minorities in both groups utterly hate one another. How big are those minorities? Hard to tell without actually visiting, but it took a very long time for those who didn't hate to gain enough power to put a stop to what was going on.

The interesting part of that particular mess is that most people I've met in Britain want nothing to do with Northern Ireland, we'd like it gone, merged into Ireland, but while we might want that in the long term, a majority feels it would be inappropriate to do right now, because (a) the majority there doesn't want that and (b) it's been argued it would be a bloodbath, with some justification. But that's an argument for another time.

(Of course, this might be out of date, I haven't lived in Britain for twelve years, and it's quite possible public opinion has changed since the troubles ended.)

Anyway, that's Northern Ireland, which is a very different environment to Ireland as a whole. The bottom line: yes, we do celebrate St Patrick's Day!


  1. Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig!

    I've been to the six counties twice (on
    business) and neither was particularly enjoyable. Especially the time that, despite the direct route to the airport being along a dual carriageway, the taxi driver insisted on driving me through a loyalist area. No doubt because in my rush to get out at 5am I'd put on a green tie. Today: my tie is deliberately All Ireland Green :)

    The Republic though: great place!

    - - - tapchapman

  2. I actually have a metric crapload of green shirts, all of which were in the wash this morning when I went to get dressed! I'll have to make up by getting some Guiness on the way home...