My Irish derivation has nothing to do with me. Why should it?
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
The problem with being Irish... is having 'Riverdance' on your back. It's a burden at times.
The way I see it is that all the ol' guff about being Irish is a kind of nonsense. I mean, I couldn't be anything else no matter what I tried to be. I couldn't be Chinese or Japanese.
Being Irish means you belong to the clan. It's what you feel. They feel Irish.
My parents are Irish, my grandparents are Irish, my great-grandparents are Irish. I was born in England; my blood is Irish.
I don't feel I have to defend myself for being English or for being Irish, because, in a way, I don't feel either. And, in another way, of course, I'm both.
I find being Irish quite a wearing thing. It takes so much work because it is a social construction. People think you are going to be this, this, and this.
My soul is still Irish.
We have always found the Irish a bit odd. They refuse to be English.
Being Irish is very much a part of who I am. I take it everywhere with me.
I'm a product of my Irish culture, and I could no more lose that than I could my sense of identity.