Where are 'real' Irish hiding?
Galway's St Patrick's Day Parade was very colourful, and fair play to all those who took part. But I wondered where were the representatives from Galway's Irish Dancing Schools or Conragh na Gaeilge and other Irish Cultural movements.
Have we gone so PC with multi-culturalism that we are afraid to portray all that is best in Irish culture? Are we failing to fund Irish music and dance as we have in the past? The lack of funding for the Feis Ceol and Ceoltas Ceoltoiri Eireann is shameful. May we all hang our heads in shame over this.
We have the Department of the Gaelteach and Rural Affairs and Udaras na Gaeltachta on one hand there to promote the Gaelteachts but they don't seem to see that being Irish is more than speaking a language. The funding of Irish cultural arts should be part of their remit.
The millions spent on translating EU documents would be better spent by supporting the Feis Ceol which has given us so many great musicians over the years like John McCormack and many of our present great tenors. James Joyce, our most famous writer and a tenor of some note himself, took part in the Feis in 1904. He came third and won a bronze medal
Music and dance are part of our great tradition -- we are renowned for both worldwide. We should not be making excuses for being Irish in our own country under the guise of multi-culturalism. We have so much to be proud of in our own rich culture.
NUALA NOLAN
BOWLING GREEN, GALWAY
- Callan, Co Kilkenny
