Irish athletes in Paris give us pride in how our flag’s being flown
HASN’T it been great to see the Irish tricolour flown with pride and joy by some brilliantly talented athletes and competitors over in Paris?
The likes of Kellie Harrington, Rhys Mcclenaghan and Daniel Wiffen – our rowers, our runners, everybody in the green and gold of Ireland – continue to show the very best of who we are and what we can do.
This is our flag being flown where it should be – and not over burning buses, or wrapped around some masked thug throwing rocks at gardai or looting Irish shops and businesses.
And we heard our anthem in Paris on the same weekend we saw banners that had been displayed in Coolock brought north and carried – along with our flag – with the banners of loyalist gangs linked with those who carried out deadly bombings in Dublin and Monaghan. We saw so-called “Irish patriots” walk with the likes of a convicted loyalist killer, part of a gang that kicked a Catholic man to death on the streets of Belfast. They were marching with their best buddies, the same people who were burning our tricolour on bonfires last month.
Yes, we live in strange times – but this shows just how bad the brain rot is with a tiny but dangerous mob who want to drag us to where cities like Liverpool, Bristol and Hull were over the weekend.
That is what they want – and we cannot allow it to happen. Our Government and Garda, our communities, must be aware and ready to push back. We can’t ignore these “faketriots’ – but we should turn our attention to the young people who represent the best of us and celebrate the joy the give to their communities.
Just look at the marvellous scenes in the streets around Kellie Harrington’s Dublin home, a proud community celebrating their golden girl, adults and kids dancing with joy in the local park. That’s what you want to see and that’s what we deserve.
There is something else, something new about these Olympics for Ireland as well. What Wiffen, Rhasidat Adeleke, the rowers Mccarthy and O’donovan have shown us is a new generation of Irish athletes confidently owning the big stage.
Wiffen walks out to the side of the pool like the man in charge. He even has a kind of quirky kind of cool about him. Paul O’donovan cracks jokes even as he’s getting ready to blow away the opposition. Harrington, with her sublime skills and great heart, is a natural champion, an all-time great.
There’s a lot to celebrate in there, the mix that makes up modern Ireland, the kids of our people who emigrated, the children of those who came here.
It’s not perfect and God knows we have our problems. But look at the young athletes carrying our flag in Paris, and you’ll see the very best of who we are and what we can be.
This new generation confidently own the big stage