Letter: 1916 commemorations and Irish contradictions

In this year of commemorative memory of things past, and things accomplished, it’s worth looking at some of the good-natured contradictions inherent in our history.

The first instincts of the 1916 revolution was to rid the country of all things British. To say this was not an unqualified success wouldn’t be putting too fine a tooth on it!

We’re now busy reinstalling the tram lines in Dublin that were ripped up to show how free enterprise would work in a free Ireland.

Let’s not stop there. Our gallant allies, of proclamation fame, failed to live up to their end of the bargain which means that we have to make do with the English language instead of the Kaiser’s gutten German tongue.

But let’s look on the bright side. We kept most of the beautiful Georgian architecture of our capital city and merely filled the canals with shopping trolleys and drug paraphenalia, rather than filling them in with concrete. We kept the British legal system because it worked and because we couldn’t create an environment friendly to job creation, gave our people the ultimate gift of freedom: the freedom to travel. And travel they did — to English-speaking corners of the world.

Here’s to you, our Irish emigrants.

Richard Dowling

Mountrath

Co Laois