A Letter from Ireland
a Chara,
I’m back in home in Ireland, and Fairy Tale of New York is on the radio. I was brought back to last week walking along Broadway and being cut in two by the wind.
“They’ve got cars big as bars,
they’ve got rivers of gold,
But the wind goes right through you,
it’s no place for the old”
The poet Shane MacGowan stripped the hollow sentimentality out of Christmas and delivered a message of hope, love, and the possibility of redemption.
Community is found in a band playing and the choir singing. It is quintessentially the experience of Irish emigrants and universal in the sense of displacement, longing, and belonging.
Emotions shared by generations of Irish and other emigrants, dreaming of finding a home at Christmas.
On my travels, I meet with the young Irish hoping to make a life for themselves in the US and Canada as well as the grandchildren of generations that made the same journey. They carry with them a sense of place and a celebration of Irishness. A belief that there are better days ahead. A new and united Ireland is possible. For that, I am thankful to you all for your support over the past year.
Here’s to 2025 and in the words of the song.
“I’ve got a feeling.
This year’s for me and you
So happy Christmas”
Nollaig shona daoibhsa.
Ciarán
Ciarán Quinn is the Sinn Féin Representative to North America. Each week he writes a letter from Ireland with news and analysis. It is featured in the weekly Friends of Sinn Féin USA Newsletter. Be sure you are subscribed to stay up to date.
