Fergus Finlay: Five million reasons and growing to celebrate living in the Republic

We’ve lived through suppression and oppression, war and horror and famine and disease, to the point almost of extinction. And now we’re different. Thriving, achieving, building and rebuilding whenever we have to. 

We’ve grown in size, but also in confidence. We’ve gone from being oppressed to open, from intolerant to more inclusive. File photo: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie

Five million, eleven thousand, five hundred. I heard that figure on the radio and sat bolt upright. Literally, a shiver ran down my spine. 

It was just a number, yet I thought it should be the largest news story of the week. I’ve spent most of the last few days trying to figure out why it means so much to me.