My meeting with GA
Here I am, in the full term of my mature years, after years of this and that, and I'm turning Celtic.
I've seen it happen to others. I've watched as some of my best friends have crossed over. Out go rhythm and blues, reggae and Iggy Pop and in their stead it's in with the bodhran and the latest release from the Chieftains. And I'm going the same way. I need help.
Why it should happen this way, I don't know. Somehow I've convinced myself that it was meant to be. Sadly, the measure of my future is to be determined by how well I can hum both A and B parts of "Miss McLeod's Reel". Not that there's anything wrong with it — Miss McLeod's is a fine reel. There are many fine reels. But that's gonna be as good as it gets.
My new identity is sure to be one I cull from what takes my fancy — a somewhat dilettantish construction of bits and pieces of Irishness. In this matter I have choices. I'm sure not to do anything I didn't feel comfortable with, like go on hunger strike or die of famine. Which raises the question: if becoming Irish is such a fun thing to do, why have so many of the Irish left Ireland? The answer is so obvious that I won't insult you with it. But I gotta ask the question.
It hasn't always been "in" to be Irish. But this last week, being, or wishing to be, Irish has been given a nod by none other than Ireland's very own — Gerry Adams MP. At venues throughout the land all the Celts could touch home base or even (touch wood) the hem of his garment. The outpouring of enthusiasm for Adams has been extraordinary. Short of a rock concert, it's hard to imagine its like. U2 would be envious.
But while I willingly own up to my superficiality — at best I can merely paper myself in shamrocks — surely Adams should confess to his own. If Gerry Adams is for "peace" in Northern Ireland I couldn't see how he proposed to win it.
The packaging was nice. I loved the pitch. I'm sure everyone felt a bit touchy-feely after Adams had had his say. But where's the strategy? The politics? If what's happening now in Northern Ireland fails — and it is failing — what then? What's plan B?
Now that Gerry Adams MP has got our attention, we'll be watching and waiting for him to come up with the goods.
We can only wish him: good luck. With such a peace strategy, he'll need it.
By Dave Riley