All’s changed, but there’s still something ’70s about Sinn Féin

A BOY scout once, I would have been on Church Parade yesterday. 

First mass, then lining up outside the church, Father coming out to bless the shamrock, distributing it, putting it on and then saluting with parents looking on. It was ceremony on an important day.

A day off school, a national holiday and a sense of being part of something. Being in the scouts, being Irish, being on show. It is peculiar how we want ritual. Important things should be marked, set apart.