“Oh Paddy, dear, an’ did you hear the
News that’s goin’ round?
The shamrock is forbid by law
To grow on Irish ground
Saint Patrick’s Day no more we’ll keep
His colours can’t be seen
For there’s a cruel law agin
The wearin’ of the green” – Aloysius Michael Sullivan
Having been lucky enough to travel around the world a bit, I’ve come to think that the quality of a nation’s souvenir shops says a lot about the richness of a culture.
Little trinkets that immediately speak of where the traveller picked them up can be a badge of honour attached to a rucksack or a nod to memories of times past placed lovingly on a mantle piece – souvenirs say a lot.
On my travels, which have encompassed places like the USA, England, Scotland, Belgium, Spain, Hungary, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Pakistan, Sweden, and Turkey (briefly), Japan and Ireland really stand out in terms of the production of instantly recognisable cultural trinkets.
A Guinness t-shirt worn anywhere around the world or a green Shamrock instantly leave you in little doubt about what country is being commentated by the bearer.
This is perhaps a simplistic way of referring to the richness of a nation’s long cultivated heritage, but this writer thinks it’s an acceptable point of reference.
When I lived in South Korea I was often struck by how openly proud Koreans are of their culture and heritage – sometimes by necessity to the perceived exclusion of others.
In Korea, you’ll often hear people of all ages refer to the country – often passionately – as ‘Uri Nara’ – Our Country.
Conversely, polite society in the west would have you believe that nothing – not even the hard won freedom of former colonies like South Korea and The Republic of Ireland – is so sacred as to be worthy of the risk of making other people even feel excluded.
It seems like the organisers of this year’s St. Patrick’s Day parade felt that way with their theme of ‘we are one’.
Who decided that our national day was supposed to be about ‘everyone else’ and why?
Why does it seem unacceptable to be proud of Ireland and Irishness when we are told that other peoples are – rightly so – allowed to be proud of their cultures, some of which white people are socially barred from participating in for fear of being accused of cultural appropriation.
If someone tried to celebrate themselves at your birthday party you’d probably think they were a bit out of line, so why can’t we be unabashedly Irish, especially on St. Patrick’s Day of all days?
When a country is proud of its heritage it makes me feel privileged to be there – to experience the different things and smile about the things that are similar.
Seeing how many Koreans express pride in their cultural heritage reignited a flame in me for Ireland. I always had one, but being overseas made me appreciate the good things about home.
I don’t think there was anything obviously ‘Irish’ about this year’s St Patrick’s Day parade. It seemed like the crowds of onlookers with their green Leprechaun hats and ginger beard-extensions were more a sight for homesick eyes than the actual participants.
The St. Patrick’s Day parade is supposed to be unapologetically Irish, and this little island is absolutely coming down with culture that could inspire contemporary artists for years to come.
However, along with the theme of ‘we are one’ the parade’s lineup went to considerable lengths to avoid what a reasonable person might associate as Irish.
During the parade in Dublin there were dancers from Venezuela in traditional garb, dancers from Lithuania, Brazil, Moldova, Poland, Peru, Igbo fusion, the Indian community, and Georgia – the land of many bogus asylum claims.
I didn’t see any Irish dancers – and I think the word diversity was used by commentators as much if not more often than words like Ireland or Irish.
What about our music? With the notable exception of some tunes played by the American marching bands – who seemed to have survived the cut – most of the tunes I heard were just your regular songs that might be on the radio as you do your shopping, Bruno Mars and the like.
Through the parade there was one pretty lazy depiction of Saint Patrick – some lad wearing shades with most of the commentator’s attention given to his female counterpart – a lady dressed to represent a flower which is apparently associated with the saint.
Instead of a celebration of the Bishop who converted the Irish to Christianity, – you know the very reason the parade exists – most of the focus of any even quasi religious element was given to Celtic goddesses including, I kid you not, what one commentator called “the goddess of refugees”.
Climate change was another theme running through the parade which featured a group of cyclists celebrating the diversity of bicycles – perhaps that would make Eamonn Ryan put his hand on his heart.
Daniel O’Connell was depicted as an addled looking muddy figure draped in foliage to represent what Dublin might be like if it were allowed to return in part to nature – this writer is unsure whether this would be an improvement from O’Connell’s current regular adornments of seagull shit and Deliveroo drivers.
Another few examples of the bizarre lineup were a giant QR code surrounded by people dressed as bees, a green alien and his minions, Minnie and Mickey Mouse (not even wearing green), a contingent of Dublin’s LGBTQ pride group dancing to YMCA, 400 older people singing English songs, people dressed in pink dancing around a giant blue chicken/dinosaur, and a shark that looked like a leftover prop from the set of Jaws.
All of the above was punctuated by the traditional appearance of the American marching bands, some of whom – seemingly unaware that we don’t do that anymore – performed songs like When Irish Eyes are Smiling.
All in all this parade could have taken place anywhere and been about practically anything….
This writer is left in no doubt that official Ireland cares more about the new dogma of ‘diversity’ than the thousands of years of tradition that made this country so internationally recognisable and much that we as a people have to be proud of.
Ireland’s culture is slipping away from us and I for one want it back.