Left-handers celebrate right to all things ‘southpaw’

Niall Horan is in the club, as is Barack Obama and Angelina Jolie.

Today is International Left-Handers Day, when all things ‘southpaw’ are celebrated.

Its mission is for people to rejoice in their left-handedness and to “raise awareness of the frustrations of living in a right-handed world”.

Left-handed people only make up about 13% of the population, yet a large number of global superstars and world leaders are left-handed.

These include US President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton. British Prime Minister David Cameron is also left-handed. Back home in Ireland, we had two successive left-handed Taoisigh in Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen, though ‘cack-handed’, some would say, is a better description of how they handled our economic affairs.

A-list celebrity left-handers include Sarah Jessica Parker, Julia Roberts, Oprah Winfrey, Kate Hudson and Nicole Kidman.

Music stars Eminem, Annie Lennox and Noel Gallagher are also in the club, as is billionaire tech guru Bill Gates.

Left-handed cartoonist Matt Groening famously made his beloved and world-famous character Bart Simpson left-handed.

Left-handers in sport include snooker player Jimmy White, American golfer Phil Mickelson and tennis star Rafael Nadal.

Among Ireland’s famous left-handers are Bob Geldof and Liam Brady.

One Direction star Niall Horan’s hometown of Mullingar famously hosted a Gathering festival for left-handers on August 13 last year — the Irish translation of Mullingar being “left-handed mill”.

Left-handed people often complain they have to fit into a right-handed world as most work tools, kitchen utensils, office and home layouts are designed for right-handers.

They often have to contort their arm to avoid smudging as they write left-handed.

International Left-Handers Day organisers are urging all members to “celebrate your right to be left-handed”.

“This is your chance to get your own back on your right-handed friends, colleagues and family by designating your personal space as a lefty zone where everything must be done left-handed,” they told Facebook followers.