The luck o’ the Irish - We should all recognise what we have

AS WE begin the first of two consecutive long weekends — the first to celebrate our national day, the second to mark one of Christianity’s central beliefs — it’s as good a time as any to acknowledge and celebrate some of the good things about living in Ireland and being Irish.

Generations of writers drank themselves — and too many others — to death trying to put Irishness in a sentence. Summer-school squadrons of academics have volunteered all sorts of interpretations and split hairs — occasionally heads — over which vision represents the one, true Gaeldom.

Every sort of zealot — republican, religious, political, sporting or cultural — has insisted that disagreeing with them represents a betrayal of heritage and nation.

Thankfully, we have reached a point in the development of our society where there is less and less room for intolerant zealotry of any colour.

Neither is there much room for the kind of rigid, immutable beliefs that once ostracised too many of our countrymen and countrywomen. Beliefs that were too often seen not to be immutable, but rather dependent on the affirmation of fashion. Beliefs like the Catholic laity not being allowed touch the Communion Host, or insisting that women wear hats in church.

The retirement of Ian Paisley hopefully removes the last, truly powerful religious bigot from Irish affairs. Though, to confirm his intolerance, he might reject the notion that he had a role in those affairs. “The affairs of a foreign country,” as he might scathingly dismiss it.

Anyone old enough to remember Jack Lynch as Taoiseach will remember a time, during Holy Week — next week as it happens — when many of the country’s cinemas were closed to placate churchmen who were concerned that their faithful might be distracted from prayer or penance.

Now, as the pendulum swings to the other extreme, we have the sight of Nickey Brennan, president of the GAA, cold-shouldering, no matter how politely, a request from the Catholic bishops to curtail football and hurling on Sunday mornings so as to allow those involved to consider filling near-empty churches.

Such a public rebuttal of the Catholic hierarchy by Uachtarán Cumann Lúthchleas Gael would have been inconceivable a decade ago, especially as the two organisations have always seemed two parts of one entity.

It would be foolish to think that all of this tolerance and touchy-feely togetherness came about by slick social engineering. It is thankfully no more than the way things evolved. And, it seems, it will have to evolve some more if we are to successfully welcome and integrate all of those who would aspire to live here.

In material terms we were never better off.

Anyone contemplating a dose of the vapours because of this week’s economic warnings should consider the 1980s, when living standards fell by 12% over five years. There are no indications that we are facing misery of that magnitude, so there’s no need to jump ship just yet.

Of course there are issues of inequality of opportunity, but such barriers are at least as high elsewhere, and very much higher for the vast majority of the world’s population. Of course there are issues of environmental vandalism and indifference; of course there are issues with managing our public affairs and political integrity. But for the vast majority of people living on this island it is a good place to be and a good time to be there.

Maybe we’d be happier with our lot if we could more easily recognise that. Now, if only Ronan O’Gara could lead Ireland to victory over the English this afternoon...