QuoteOriginally Posted by Eminence Grise
That's very disappointing. I was hoping you were one of the Green, White and Gold brigade. I was in the mood for a rant!
http://www.irishtimes.com/letters/in...#1224292775694
That do for starters?
That's very disappointing. I was hoping you were one of the Green, White and Gold brigade. I was in the mood for a rant!
Sorry to let you down, but my powers of self-control are remarkably strong today (that and not having time to launch into a diatribe). Suffice to say, http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/eng/Yout...l_Flag-PDF.pdf pretty much covers all my flag pet hates.
Something to maybe get everyone riled up and stoning the British Embassy for. The traditional St. Patrick's Day parade in Moscow was cancelled to the delight of the "English" reporters in Moscow and Russians who figure that English is the mother country for civilization. There was serious kneelers put on the Irish to cancel it and they decided to take a year off. The complaints ran thus:
Why do the Irish get to celebrate their holiday?
Why do they get to celebrate their holiday on Novi Arbat?
What is so important about the Irish that they get to do this?
Now, this came from a major lobby faction and was plastered all over the Moscow Times and Moscow News papers 3 years ago. Not so subtle pressure came on from siloviki sources and suddenly the Irish week (which coincides with the Irish Film Festival) was pretty much pushed out of sight. According to the Consul it's just untl things blow over regarding, well, the stock answer is, trouble. It's nothing to do with terrorism or threat thereof, it's nothing to do with blocking Novy Arbat for an hour (because the parade gets held on a Sunday normally when it's quiet) and it's nothing to do with drunkeness and debauchery (that's left to Moscow nightlife). It comes down to pure and utter jealousy and snobbery and an ongoing war by the British trade council to take back business in Russia from the Irish. Consider this, 6 British heads concentrating on Sochi alone, almost 30 in the country chasing up business. Enterprise Ireland have - 1 25 year old Irish guy with 2 Russian support staff (read phone answerers) and he has to cover 16 countries!
I'd never felt any reason to dislike the diminuitive form of Patrick, though from 2008 I saw that it is used as a distainful spit in our direction from some sections. On the surface English people I've met here like to join in, but I've also seen and heard them openly ridicule the Irish for being "potato munchers". They'll drink our beer and enjoy our festivities, then go away to try prevent any further outlets.
Sorry for this rant, I'm not fully in agreement with EG on the Paddys thing, though I can see his point and see the irrelevancy of having the world's most popular holiday when our own government don't bother their backsides doing anything to follow up on it and bring business and prosperity to the country.
In one way, I think the "worldwideness" of Paddy's Day (used unapologetically!) could be working against us. Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and the Carnival in Rio are once-in-a-lifetime things to visit. Paddy's Day in Ireland, not so much, perhaps in no small part due to the fact that there's a parade and celebration in every hamlet from here to Tajikistan.
Of course ,finding a balance between "famous worldwide", and "celebrated worldwide", is something that's very hard to do.
Very good points Peadar, I agree there needs to be a balance. What irks me is that instead of a co-ordinated push of Irish products and services, it's a basic p1ss up and forgotten soon after. I know that Brand Ireland is not an illusion, we do get more respect than others because of our history, culture and the fact that we don't behave badly (usually) in foreign places. This needs to be grown more now than ever before.
Nor I, as a name. My issue isn't with the proper noun, but its adjectival use. When it's used to as a byword for the Irish people's day, it can have precisely the snide "potato munchers" connotations that you mention. People do associate it with a p155-up, and label us a nation of drunks accordingly. What price Brand Ireland with that at its core? We can use it in a jocular way; others use it to deride, and we take offence at that, as any proud nation would when it's disparaged. As long as that polarity of meaning exists, I don't think that, in a Clerks 2 "porch monkey" kind of way, we've taken it back.
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