Posted on 03/20/2002 2:57:50 PM PST by aculeus
Attributed to James Joyce.
The Irish of course are Celts, who conquered all of europe in pre-roman times, were the first peoples to use iron, spread the Christian faith, and after coming to America, built the railroads, staffed the Armed forces, and became a positive political force.
Not too bad for that little island.
Regards,
He makes quite a number of valid points though. YES, Ireland (God bless her, I LOVE her), has changed fundamentally in the last 30 years. (MANY, many bad points...many, many good too). Economically we can now keep and hold our young, educated (contrary to the popular 'thick mick' stereotype, we are pretty well educated, articulate and smart)...but we do have a vast problem with immigration et al.
) My only problem with this article is the Samantha Mumba paragraph. I think it's a cheap shot at a reasonably talented kid (albeit, a black...or half-caste as we say round these non-politically correct parts). But (knowing Samantha personally), it's a cheap shot, and not representative.
Good article though.
Joyce wasn't too fond of his homeland; that's why he left it at age 20 or so. "Ireland is the sow that devours her own litter," from (I think) his The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man best fits his view.
When I was running an Irish Division of a UK Conglomerate, I was accused at a BOD metting of being "anti-British" to which I replied.."No, I'm anti-English"
Took a few moments for it to sink into to their thick as a double ditch skulls.
The Derbyshire article seems to be on target from what the relatives in the Republic tell us and from what I read in the Times/Indo.
Recently tendered my condolences when told of the McD's in Roscrea.
Wasn't understood again.
Did you read this from his column of last week?
The best reason to watch this latest version of The Time Machine is 19-year-old Zambian-Irish (no kidding) pop-tart Samantha Mumba, who is exceptionally easy on the eye. I am speaking of her physical attributes only; she can't act. The long years in drama school — she started at age three — have left little trace, proving that talent is born, not made. Her accent lurches unpredictably from Dublin to South London to Los Angeles. I thought I detected a flicker of anxiety when she was about to be eaten by Morlocks, but her expression remains otherwise locked in a sort of vapid half-smile. She is, however, really good to look at. Her breasts are particularly fine. Guy Pearse as the time traveller is all exophthalmic, hollow-cheeked intensity, without much regard as to whether intensity is actually called for in any particular scene. Jeremy Irons does the evil-mastermind thing with scant conviction. (Though I am pleased to learn that even in the 8,028th century, psycho villains will still speak with British accents.)
But for a 19 year old kid, Samantha Mumba is pretty smart..reasonably grounded, and is not completely the vapid Hollywood churn out. She's a beautiful (alright, perhaps mediocre acting talent on screen), but I've seen her play various amateur parts in musicals like The Hot Mikado etc., where I was impressed by her all-round ability.
I may be biased because I've met the kid. But it will take more than one ultra-critical hack to make me dislike her.
Isn't it time someone fingered the Papal nuncio and his immunity. Forgive the scurrilous language but isn't he the nigger in the woodpile?
Does the Vatican treat Ireland like a colony with the nuncio as its Secretary of State?
The Irish state officials have been very reluctant to offer protection to those who were the victims of deviant clergy. How can they sort the matter out if the nuncio refuses to co-operate?
Most Americans probably think of Ireland as the island yet JD swithches between the island and the 26-county state without pausing for breath. He also hasn't realised that Britain, in political language, is the customary shorthand for that mouthful: "UK of GB & NI"!
In the Trimble Tirade he should have had the wit to put the hyperlink through to Trimble's speech on the party website not to some hack at the Sunday Times. Let people read for themselves and make up their own minds.
Have a listen some time to Bertie Ahern's address to the audience at Northwestern University on March 12. It deviates from the transcript - or should that be the other way round. Bertie makes a lot of bloomers but Patten Permission for Patten Commission is possibly one of the best yet!
He's very rough on poor Gerry Adams. Gerry is the second most popular political leader in the Republic of Ireland yet JD refers to the organisation he heads is hated!!
Liked the bit about midland farmers discussing cattle prices from the time of Cuchulain. The latter is an Ulster hero and adorns loyalist terrorist murals. In mythological times midlanders and others would have ventured north on cattle raids and money wouldn't have changed hands!!
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