OPINION: Flags and flowery words
The tricolour, our flag of emerald, orange and white, has always been central to my existence. It was presented to the family by our nation’s army at the graveside of my grandfather while I was starting out on boyhood. A few years later it was draped on coffins of hunger strikers in the north of Ireland – a period which left an indelible mark on my soul. In happier times it danced in Stuttgart, Rome and New York when our soccer team set our hearts aflame and throughout the ’90s it was central to many news bulletins as a form of peace arrived in Ireland.
I’m extremely proud of our flag, but I also understand there are others in our society who see it as divisive. That’s a conversation for another day, but right now I want to talk about our flag, our nation, our leadership and the abandonment of the very people tasked with protecting us and the real Ireland – not some fanciful isle where your sense of Irishness is measured in how loud you can chant, how hard you break the window of a shop or how many looted pairs of shoes or tracksuits tops one can run away with.
On Thursday, November........
© The Mayo News
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