What does it mean to be Irish?... Leo Varadkar

I was born in the Rotunda and grew up in West Dublin and it never occurred to me that I was anything else except Irish.

This was my home and my heritage. As I grew older, however, I realised that some others viewed me as different, because of my surname, because of my skin colour, because of differences that I had never imagined would affect my Irishness.

Being Irish came to mean more to me precisely because some people tried to deny it to me.

The people who shout loudest about someone not being Irish enough, who cling to a rigid conception of identity, and attempt to deny it to others are cowards who are afraid of what being Irish really means. They are insecure about their own identity and try to over-compensate by lashing out at others. They are really at war with themselves.

There is no one version of Irishness. Our strength comes from each other, everyone bringing their own talents, ideas and dreams. We draw inspiration from the past, but we are not bound by it.

We are all colours and backgrounds, every religion and none. Some of us do not drink, we like different kinds of music, we follow foreign sports as well as our own, and we eat our dinner in the middle of the day as well as in the evening. We disagree about politics and have our occasional fights.

But when it matters most, we are there for each other. It’s there in the camaraderie and good behaviour when we travel abroad for major sporting occasions. It’s seen at home when we look out for each other during a pandemic.

Being Irish means our nationality is never a burden. It’s the opposite. It lifts us up, it provides a sense of belonging and, in the darkest of times, it gives us a feeling of hope. To me being Irish simply means that you are someone who calls Ireland ‘home’.

Extract taken from 'Being Irish, 101 views on Irish Identity, what it means to be Irish in a modern world' by Marie-Claire Logue

Published by Liffey Press, RRP €19.99, £17.95