lyndon nixon ([email protected])
Thu, 17 Dec 1998 02:49:28 -0800 (PST)
Personally, I thought it was more to do with the 700 years of British
rule in Ireland which,
whether one likes it or not, has had a sizeable influence on what the
modern Irish nation is like
- for good and for bad. While much Irish artistic expertise is clearly
categorisable as 'Irish
culture', a lot of it has a great deal of British influence to thank
also - please historians correct
me if I am wrong but wasnt much of the creativity and thought coming
out of Dublin in the past
few centuries the work of what could be called the 'Anglo-Irish'
citizens? Are you suggesting
these men can no longer be thought of as being in the British canon of
work because of
Irelands independance? Scottish and Welsh writers would be
categorisable as
'Scottish/Welsh' or 'British'. Should these countries gain their
independance, should we then
write out all Scots and Welshmen from the British canon of work?
Nationality has been a minefield in this land because of some peoples
over-sensitivity on the
issue - no-one would want to call Gerry Adams British, or Ian Paisley
Irish - but my initial
reason for even starting this thread was to try to wrestle that back -
one needy aspect for a
peace between these two isles is both being able to be comfortable
with the culture of the
other... millions of Irish in Britain hold British passports, and more
and more British citizens are
making Ireland their home.
There is a lot of pain because of the past. A lot of Irish in Britain
still feel 'victimised' as
enemies of the State, no thanks to the IRA bombing campaign. A lot of
British in Ireland still
feel 'unwelcome' because of what was done in the name of their country
over many centuries.
I'm sorry you have to pull us back into the past, because most of us
in Ireland are trying to
look to the future.
I dont feel theres any media conspiracy to label anything Irish and
successful as British. I dont
read about Riverdance as that 'British' success story. I dont see
films like The General,
Butcher Boy, The Boxer or Michael Collins being labelled as British
cinema. I've yet to hear
Boyzone, B*witched, Sinead O Connor, The Corrs or Daniel O Donnell be
referred to as
British musicians. Roddy Doyle and Seamus Heaney have not yet been
'hijacked' by the
British as their top poet and top author.
If anything, we're now experiencing the reverse. Being 'Irish' right
now is the 'in' thing. Artists
from Northern Ireland in particular regardless of their background are
used to being simply
labelled as Irish, even if they are Protestant-born (eg Van Morrisson,
Ash, Divine Comedy). A
lot of British artists are from Irish backgrounds (the brothers
Gallagher of Oasis spring to
mind) but I dont hear them regarding their labelling as a British act
an 'expropriation'.
Whats my point? Labels are easily given and I dont think we should be
all that bothered - most
of us in Northern Ireland are well used to being British and Irish and
comfortable with it.The
Irish in Britain are well used to being British, the British in
Ireland are well used to being Irish.
So stop being so bothered about what label is being put on what, like
if its ethnic cleansing all
over again.
U2 are I think for all of us a fine example. An Irish band, yet two of
the members are from
British backgrounds. I trust being considered Irish doesnt mean that
they feel their
'Britishness' is being threatened, and that thinking themselves Irish
doesnt mean that they
deny or are ashamed of their British family history. In fact, in
recent times, its their Irishness
they've been more ashamed of due to the actions of those who were
killing in the name of
Ireland (but not I might add in the name of the vast majority of the
Irish people)
So, anyone else who thinks the Brits are out to hijack Irish identity,
or that the Irish are out to
summarily get rid of all vestiges of British history, wise up. The
best we can do for the future is
affirm both cultural traditions and move into a new era where both our
islands can live
peaceably side by side.
Thats what U2 would want, I have no doubt.
ZeeK.
==
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b2 on Thu Dec 17 1998 - 02:50:31 PST