What does it mean to be Irish? Tolerance, diversity, inclusion and tea bags
RTÉ's Cormac Ó hEadhra asked a panel of guests what it means to be Irish.
Wuraola Majekodunmi, presenter of Raidió Na Life answered first:
"Well in terms of identity, Identity is fluid and Ireland has really evolved as a country especially in terms of multiculturalism since the late 90s when inward migration came in so I believe in 2019 there is no one way to look Irish. I really express that in my video documentary "What does Irishness look like" that went viral in the Summer."
"We should show that diversity is nothing something to be feared. It's something to be celebrated and we should aim for a more inclusive society and that is when I really think we will combat fear and hate."
Shaykh Dr Umar Al-Qadri was asked whether "having the craic" was central to Irish identity. He said it was and that Irish identity was very much evolving "and I think in this day and age, how would I define Irishness, it would be tolerance, acceptance, inclusivity, diversity. These are the key words that come up when I think about Irishness and of course wearing the green could also be understood as Irishness.
He said his identity was very complex because of globalisation. "I am a bit Pakistani, a bit Dutch and a bit Irish because my parents are from Pakistan. I grew up in the Netherlands and I've been here for sixteen years in Ireland and Ireland is my country now. It's the country of my children so I would describe my self as a product of globalisation.
Asked to prioritise his identities. He said he thought his Irishness was more important than his Dutchness because his children were born here and grew up here and he spent sixteen years here.
Fianna Fáil candidate for the EU elections Barry Andrews said Irishness was a set of values and as members of the European Union, we identify as Irish and European. "It is possible nowadays to reconcile on the one hand your national identity that you might feel proud of, but also your internationalism.
Cormac reminded Andrews of the 2004 referendum when 79% of the public voted to end birth right citizenship as a result of the huge number of pregnant women from Africa and all over the world who were flying in to deliver their babies in Dublin.
Andrews said the reason for the high vote was just because people thought it was dangerous for the pregnant mothers to be taking an aeroplane flight in later term pregnancy. According to the 2016 census, 3.3% of 10-14 year olds were African which can largely be attributed to the period between 1998 and 2004 when citizenship through birth was a constitutional right.
Andrews said he didn't feel comfortable with the vote at the time.
Colm Brophy, Fine Gael TD for Dublin South-West was asked to definite Irish identity from a Fine Gael perspective. He said there wasn't one and he was one of the people who voted against the referendum on birth right citizenship because he didn't think Ireland should deprive anchor babies of Irish citizenship. He said the result of the referendum was "one of our sadder days".
As for Irish identity, he said he didn't think any one country "had the lock on craic or good humour or whatever" and it was the tiny things that made up an identity. He talked to his wife about the question and she said it was bringing tea-bags on holidays. He said another thing that that made up Ireland's identity was being outward looking and open to ideas.
Majekodunmi said the Irish language was very much part of Irish culture and Irish identity but then said that it didn't matter if someone didn't speak Irish and they would be as Irish as someone who did. She said acceptance was part of Irish identity.
Cormac said that as a result of the conversation, he could now define Irish as "something that anyone in the world can have like acceptance or tolerance, maybe a bit of Irish [language] thrown in and people who bring tea-bags abroad. I mean what are we?"
Etain Tannam, Associate Professor for International Peace Studies at Trinity College, said "a lot of the things that you find are Irish for me, you will find in other places. So you can have an identity that it is Irish but it's in other countries too and it's multicultural as well. I do think we define ourselves against what England is or some people tend to do that."
A texter texted in that "we are mostly an amalgam of Britishness, Americanism, a little bit of Hibernianism and a small dash of Gaelic Irishness. We are something of a pretend nation".
The host then asked "Is there a bit of a serious point there that if we can't define what Irishness is, that large chords of society will say then I don't know where I fit in here."
Qadri said that if someone sees Ireland as their home, then they are Irish. He and Majekodunmi both said the Ammendment on birth-right citizenship needed to be reviewed.
https://www.invidio.us/watch?v=gWMfsd8
