St Patrick's Day : A Reflection

Riots in the Holy Land area of Belfast during  2009 (so called celebrations)



Not so long ago on this very day I happened to wander into Belfast City Centre , from the east I travelled via the Ravenhill Road, through Ormeau Park and across the infamous Ormeau Bridge, and walked through the Holy Land area, and then onto the Lisburn Road. Why I chose this route was very simple, I wished to see the "celebrations" that the students of Queen's University, Belfast were taking part in.

Needless to say, I saw nothing that reminded me of Ireland's Apostle and Patron, what I did see was loutish behaviour of the highest degree. I witnessed young people drinking, openly on the streets, I saw paramilitary flags being waved from houses, I saw a multitude of drunks singing songs that some would find offensive. As I tarried a little, I found myself feeling very intimidated, and I thought, I wonder what Blessed St Patrick would make of this, if he were to return on the very day?

I wonder what sort of reception he would have received by these young scholars in the Holy Land? I think that St Patrick would have been chases away for being some sort of "God botherer" , and as he fled he would have had a tear in his eye.

Personally speaking, it does not much bother me what people want to celebrate, after all celebrations are always a bright spot in an otherwise mundane month. I just wish that people would be more respectful of the Saint that they are supposed to be celebrating. The dogs in the street know that in Belfast the celebrations have been high-jacked by political ideologies who seek to pass it off as some sort of Ultra Irishness. Which is quite unfair. I am Irish, but even I can't tolerate what goes on in Belfast on that day. Perhaps Dublin offers a better example of a St Patrick's day festival, for what is being done in Belfast is nothing more than a political stunt.