As an Irish national I know how proud we are of the image we present of ourselves abroad, whilst at the same time being highly defensive of the outside use of any negative Irish stereotypes. The all too familiar notion of the drunken Irish oaf, or of the over-zealous Roman Catholic come to mind, characteristics that, although we sometimes have a hard time convincing certain people, are not inherently indicative of Irish culture. It was to my great surprise then, that in the light of two recent news items, our over-cliched image appears to be alive and well.
The first was the sight of as many as 25,000 people descending upon Merrion Square on Saturday last for what was labelled a ‘Pro-Life Vigil’. What I found interesting about this mass gathering of people was that much of them had traveled to Dublin via the many free buses that had been laid down by the 200 or so parishes around the country in order to reinforce what is essentially the Church’s own position on the rights of unborn children. Regardless of one’s stance on the matter, do we as a people really want to be seen continuing to carry out the Church’s bidding after their legacy of state interference and child abuse?
The other worrying story was that of the truly preposterous motion tabled by the infamous Healy-Rae family and since granted by the Kerry County Council that supports the creation of a permit to allow rural drink-driving. It is claimed that this measure was introduced to help reduce the rate of depression and suicide in these these rural areas, and as the residents in question are only travelling minor distances in little or no traffic they are hence more unlikely to kill people. This of course comes after the most recent RSA statistics which show that indeed the highest number of road deaths actually occur in these very areas.
Now call me a cynic, but to an outsider looking in do we not seem to be living up to our reputations as staunch, indoctrinated Catholics with an unhealthy alcohol dependency. And taking this recent activity into account are we really justifiable in our defence against negative Irish stereotypes such as these when events like continue to transpire around us? One does have to wonder…
Jimmy's Gems 