In denying the Irishness of Paul Hughes, Conor McGregor is expressing a view that is widely held in the 26 County State, and which may very well be majority opinion there.
According to that view, that State's legal name is Ireland because Ireland is what it is. The Irish come from Ireland, meaning that. Over 100 years old, it is economically, socially, culturally and politically distinct. To be Irish is to have been formed by that.
Ancestrally, people the world over may be a bit Irish, but whether in Boston, Brisbane, Birmingham or Belfast, they are not really.
With his Planter surname and his views on immigration, McGregor clearly regards the Irish people as the people of the 26 Counties at the point of independence. A lot of that people would agree with him.
There's no firewall in Germany but there is in Ireland.
ReplyDeleteWhen Michael Healy-Rae is a Minister, but no one from Sinn Féin can be, then that party needs to wake up and hear the Hum. Whereas Northern Ireland cannot be governed without Sinn Féin, and it now provides the First Minister. After 103 years and counting, they really are different.
DeleteMaybe everyone else in the South doesn't like Sinn Fein because it's full of British agents? You'll know it is.
ReplyDeleteI do. And you may be onto something.
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