Anything Good In The Financial Times?

at

cugpo

Cú Chulainn in the GPO, Dublin

Depends.

Vincent Boland writes:

…In some ways, the climate in which it is being marked could hardly be better. The Good Friday agreement has brought a fragile but enduring peace to Northern Ireland. Political relations between Dublin and Belfast are workmanlike, and between Dublin and London excellent. The Republic has moved past the worst phase of its financial crisis. A big party 18 months hence ought to be a moment to celebrate some good things.

Yet Irish society has emerged from the past six years of hardship more divided than when it entered the period of austerity. As Philip King, a broadcaster and musician, says: “The house [of Ireland] is still standing but it is in very bad shape. The country is psychologically banjaxed.” The 2016 commemorations and those that will follow over the next few years, he suggests, “offer a series of great opportunities to reinvigorate ourselves, to reproclaim Ireland”.

It is doubtful whether anything so ambitious can happen. Between now and Easter 2016, the country will be in election mode – and all the parties want to be on the reviewing podium come the commemorations. That is especially the case for Sinn Féin, the former political wing of the IRA. But all the parties see themselves as the heirs of 1916.

There is a magnificent sculpture in the GPO depicting the dying Cúchulainn, a mythological Irish hero celebrated by both republicans and unionists. Perhaps he will eventually inspire the nation.

A shambles marks the centenary of the Rising that divided Ireland (Vincent Boland, Financial Times) – behind paywall

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16 thoughts on “Anything Good In The Financial Times?

  1. JimmytheHead

    Cú Chulainn tied himself to a standing stone at the end of his last battle to appear alive and ward off enemies. They say the enemies still would not approach him until ravens were seen flying thru the holes in his chest…

    Yet poor Joan had to sit in a car FOR TWO HOURS PEOPLE SHE WAS SLIGHTLY DAMP FROM A WATER BALLOON SHE COULD HAVE CAUGHT A CHILL

  2. Clampers Outside!

    No party is an heir to 1916… what a load of hogwash nonsense.

    It’s a country commemoration not a political party one. And none of the parties around today, none of them, are anything remotely resembling the party they sprung from.. fupp off all political parties.

  3. Mé Féin

    We also need to remember that the British were one of the belligerents – and prime instigator – of the whole mess. They are hardly unbiased observers and a poor choice to be writing the history of our country.

  4. Formerly known as @ireland.com

    The Brits divided Ireland, not the Rising.

    More British whitewashing of history.

    1. Zynks

      My knowledge of Irish history is limited, but I was under the understanding that the island of Ireland was never a single country. If this is correct, it couldn’t have been divided in the way you are suggesting, or could it?

  5. Conor McCabe

    The FT’s coverage of Ireland has really taken a downturn since Vincent Boland got the job. I get the impression he just rings his college friends of 20 years ago and puts it out there as analysis. He might as well start his articles with “On the way from the airport the taxi driver said…”

    1. The Lady Vanishes

      Dreadful stuff, using one’s friends as guinea pigs rather than going out there and doing proper research. However isn’t that what ALL Irish journalists tend to do. It’s not uncommon, following their twitter feeds, to see a call out – hey, I’m doing an article on such and such, anything to say about it? And the same people keep getting quoted, particularly in ‘lifestyle’ stories. I can think of a few prime offenders.

  6. The Lady Vanishes

    Oops. Forgot to finish that. Actually, taxi drivers would be much more interesting than the awful boring college friends quoted, most of whom tend to be fellow media heads. So you not only have to read their awful twerking gunk, but you also have to read them being quoted in other people’s articles. It’s all rather circular, and omnipresent, and quite an Irish thing and, ironically, one of the big reasons why the country is why it is, which, if what you say is true about Vincent, makes his article right by being doubly wrong so to speak. I expect we’re just exporting the trend.

  7. pissedasanewt

    That statue in the GPO looks like a left over cast of some statue of Jesus.. remove the bird, add a cross.

  8. Iwerzon

    Cú Chulain (or coo-chew-lane as I once hear a yank pronounce him) tied himself to a rock in Dundalk and died understandably. The loyalist grafitti reads ‘Cuchulain – Protecting Ulster from Irish invaders’. I shit you not – Google it.

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