Eamonn Fitzgerald's Rainy Day

St Patrick's Day is primarily an occasion for exiles and emigrants to enjoy that nebulous thing called "Irishness". To be sure, the green beer and the "Kiss-me-I'm-Irish" hats mightily annoy those who scorn sentimentality, but these people should lighten up a bit. Purism in regard to celebrating identity ends up resembling Puritanism. But that's very Irish, too, because behind the image of conviviality that the Irish like to present to the world, there's no shortage of self-hatred. Anyone who has spent time reading this blog will be familiar with a troll called "Ted" who typifies this phenomenon. Ireland, for him, is crawling with snakes. St Patrick didn't banish them after all. Another big lie.

And there's no doubt that there's much about Ireland in its latest manifestation that's contradictory, which makes the celebration of its achievements all the more complicated. But, achievements they are, nonetheless. One example: This time last year a consortium of Irish investors led by Derek Quinlan went to London and bought the Savoy Hotel, the Savoy Theatre, Claridge's, the Connaught, the Berkeley and Simpon's-on-the-Strand for £1 billion. These bastions of Britishness, these institutions of England's ruling class were acquired by Irish Catholics. And, yes, it is important to mention their religion because 120 years ago when the British Empire was in its heyday and the operas of Gilbert and Sullivan were being performed at the Savoy, the first Home Rule Bill, which would have granted a measure of freedom to Ireland's majority, was defeated in the House of Commons. Today, the people who were regarded as unfit to rule themselves, have created an economy that's enjoyed a decade of enviable growth with immigrants queuing at the door, eager to share the prosperity.

But that's not the only conundrum. When President George W. Bush greets the McCartney sisters today in the White House, Ireland's schizoid personality will be exposed for all to see. The five sisters represent something truly admirable — fearlessness in the face of terrorism — but the men who murdered their brother are members of a gangster movement that enjoys widespread support throughout the island. You cannot have the parliamentary and the paramilitary in a healthy society, yet a significant number of Irish people seem to want both. A paradox.

While we wait for the real Ireland to stand up and account for itself, we'll wet the shamrock, as they say. This is rather difficult when one is observing a Lenten fast that excludes alcohol but there is a tradition of allowing an exception for St Patrick's Day. Sláinte!