Open ‘Corkness’ to all

CERTIFICATE of “Corkness” is a good idea.

It will be a great idea if it includes people who reside in Cork but who were not born there. There is a time-honoured precedent for doing just that. Down the years, Cork Corporation has conferred the Freedom of the City on quite a few dignitaries who were neither born nor resident in Cork. If administered in that spirit, the scheme should foster broad community cohesion. It should not generate narrow social division. It should never convey an attitude of superiority. It should encourage equality for all. No system should ever make an outsider feel like a second-class resident. Dual nationality is a long-established principle. The price of espousing citizenship at the local level should not require applicants to renounce all former allegiances. We all share the same humanity and destiny. I made my home in Co Cork. The people here are tolerant, witty and intelligent. They made me welcome. I thank them sincerely. I hope they, too, are the better for having me among them.

Michael Mernagh