What does it mean to be Irish?... Micheál Martin

Published: Wed 16 Mar 2022, 5:19 PM

The Covid-19 pandemic, and our response to it, have confirmed for me many of the qualities that I have long associated with my Irishness. The centrality of family and community, and loyalty to our sense of place, has long manifested itself in our sporting and cultural activities.

During the most difficult periods of the pandemic, it manifested itself in the overwhelming sense of solidarity across the country. We accepted and adhered to previously unimagined restrictions on our lives, understanding at a very deep level the importance and value of looking out for our neighbours.

At a time of such grief, when deeply embedded rituals and traditions were not available to us, our communities still found safe ways to be with the bereaved and put our arms around them.

As we have emerged from the shadow of COVID, that sense of community and place is as strong as ever. In fact, all across the country we see evidence of families reconnecting with their place, as they have reappraised their lives and are now ready to ‘move home’.

We will all take time to reflect on our experience of the pandemic, but I know that I will never again take for granted the freedom and joy of a walk in West Cork.

Like so many others across the country, I rediscovered the physical beauty of our natural environment and the emotional beauty of our literature, our art and our music. In that time of relative quiet I achieved a new level of understanding of the absolute imperative to protect our native biodiversity and its role in our national identity.

I missed the communal experience and celebration of our sporting endeavours in a very profound way. The experience of the pandemic did not change these fundamental ingredients of my Irishness, which have been with me since my youth.

But it distilled them and gave me an appreciation of them that I am quite certain will never leave me again.