On being Irish (ish)

Ireland, Ireland, together standing tall
Shoulder to shoulder we'll answer Irelands Call!!!!

What a glorious weekend for Ireland's rugby team! I even had the joy of watching it with a group of Welsh young people. From the euphoria of O'Gara's 78th minute drop goal, to the heart stopping missed Welsh penalty bang on time, followed by the huge relief - We had done it. Only our second ever Grand slam, and the first in 61 years.

Mind you, the only time I felt Irish for years, was when we played rugby. For the first 5 years that I lived in England, I got hoarse explaining that I was not Irish - but British! Eventually I got fed up trying to explain the complications of Irish politics to the uneducated of uninterested.

The situation got even more complicated during the muddied waters of the peace process. Talking to the enemy! How easy for those who didn't live in it to tell us all how to fix it.

However, the seeds of peace, reconciliation and hope were sown by men like Gordon Wilson, who in the rubble of the remembrance day bombing at Enniskillen in 1987, held his dying daughters hand as she whispered "daddy - I love you!" Then hours later he offered forgiveness to her killers - amazing! As a young Christian at the time, I felt like killing the b******s myself. Then I heard Gordon Wilson speak from his hospital bed - honestly, it melted my heart.

Like many Irishmen, I am still on that journey. It felt almost complete 2 weeks ago....
2 soldiers and a policeman lay dead on Ulster's streets. Then, standing shoulder to shoulder (just like the rugby team), with the Chief of Police came Martin McGuiness. This self confessed ex-IRA leader called the murderers 'traitors.' "If you have any information give it to the police," he said. It almost felt like listening to Gordon Wilson again.

When Ian Paisley entered Government with McGuiness, and was asked how he could sit with a leader of the IRA, Paisley responded "Even murderers can repent and find forgiveness!"

What a few weeks. What a weekend. What a turn around.