We need to rediscover our love of Irishness

A view from the Seanad

The Trump/Vance vs Zelenskyy dust-up in the White House was widely portrayed as an ambush of a tired and strained war-hero by a cynical and narcissistic duo bent only on self-aggrandisement. But with the wisdom of hindsight, it seems that Zelenskyy played his hand very badly that day.

In old-style diplomacy people overlooked small differences in order to focus on higher-level goals. But this new US administration insists on respect.

They get shirty if you don’t wear a suit to the Oval Office. Johnny Cash’s ‘Man in Black’ wore black “for the thousands who have died, believin’ that we all were on their side”. Zelenskyy would have done well to have had that response to hand when the question came from a hostile journalist.

It seems obvious now, unfair though it may be, that Ukraine must lose some territory if there is to be a peace settlement. And any deal must include security and financial guarantees for this to make sense.

Elusive

Peace is elusive, and warmongering abounds. There was a time that we in Ireland would have watched these events from a distance, prayed for peace, but not seen ourselves as affected by the outcome. Now in an interdependent world we are part of the EU, on whose Eastern side are countries that fear invasion. What’s more, our political leaders are starting to nudge at our national pride, and to whisper that we mustn’t be security freeloaders, that we should abandon our military neutrality, arm-up, and, by implication, prepare to go to the Eastern front if necessary.

I think, ‘Not so fast’, must be the answer to that push as we reflect this St Patrick’s Day on what it means to be Irish and where our obligations actually lie.

Maybe it was our island nature, or history, or culture, our common Celtic roots, or even our vulnerability, that drew St Patrick back to Ireland, leading him to subsume the druidic pagan culture of his time into something greater and infinitely more inspiring. The Christian spiritual heritage we inherited from Patrick and other great saints has made us what we are, if not in our eyes then in the sight of others who observe our country.

We need to rediscover our love of Irishness, consider the true sources of its value, and agree what our responsibilities are.

Citizens must be allowed shape these rules and not be treated as mere bystanders to the solutions proposed by administrative bureaucracy”

Patriotism has standards. It is generous. We Irish, influenced by our Christian heritage, have been good in the world and we know we ought to be. But patriotism also realises that there must be universally applied rules for successful integration of newcomers to our land and culture. Citizens must be allowed shape these rules and not be treated as mere bystanders to the solutions proposed by administrative bureaucracy.

Inner faithfulness to one’s identity is what shapes a country. Ireland has something valuable to share with people who come to our shores, who in turn have shown us that they are happy to receive, in their own ways, what we offer. We are not just a bucket which can be empty or full, but a living community which can continue and develop only if we keep our shape. Integration is possible when people fully acknowledge the value of that into which they wish to integrate.

Around our country are many Irish people who are proud of their local heritage and of often hard-won cultural and moral standards, people who have sought to sustain strong community bonds, people who are not ready to have these values dismissed by international treaty-speak.

Families

We are proud of our families, despite modernist attempts from at home and abroad to redefine them out of existence.

We are proud of the democratic and market economy principles we espouse, which helped us emerge from the dire poverty of a century ago to becoming one of the world’s best economies today.

Many of us are still proud of our religious heritage, and its contribution to upholding democratic ideals. We expect to enjoy free thought, free expression and free movement and not to have these legislated, surreptitiously, away.

We expect our Government, too, to be patriotic and not trade away our well-established international neutrality, one slice at a time, and not to talk down to us, without involving us in the discussion. We should certainly re-invest in our army, not for military engagement abroad but for internationally-sanctioned peace-keeping missions. And for skilled support in times of crisis and want at home, including those brought about by drastic weather events or other crises. At the same time, we can be the small country whose envoys are trusted because they are non-aligned honest brokers, from a tradition of Christian missionary and lay voluntary engagement makes Ireland a fit for the delicate work of bringing warring parties together.

We’ll be at our best when we reflect on how fortunate we are economically, consider the onus that this places on us morally”

We need all this identity to be encouraged and expressed – in stories, history, music, song, dance, language, folklore, community festivals, in the honouring of national saints and religious gatherings. We’ll be at our best when we reflect on how fortunate we are economically, consider the onus that this places on us morally, stop lecturing other countries from our safe perch on the Eastern Atlantic but work actively for peace and reconciliation, even and especially when hope is scarce.