Thursday 17 March 2016

St Patrick's Day

Since this blog was launched six years ago, I've always had a French-Irish link for St Patrick's Day, the annual celebration of Irish culture that is marked in France as much as anywhere else.

Maybe it's because I spent a lot of time with the Irish community when I lived in Paris, or maybe it's a shared Celtic culture across Scotland, Ireland and Brittany but I've always felt Ireland  and Irish culture was much appreciated in France.

This year of course has some extra significance, with 2016 marking the centenery of the Easter Rising, the rebellion that led to the establishment of a free Ireland.  The inspiration of the French Revolution was apparent in Ireland's aspiration to freedom, equality and brotherhood. And like the French Revolution, a terrible cost to all in the long road to freedom.

There's a quote attributed to Chinese premier Zhou Enlai that the significance of the French revolution was too soon to say, almost 200 years after it happened. With scars from Ireland's struggle still to heal properly even after 100 years, there's always good cause to celebrate the peace that now exists.


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