“I was ashamed to be Irish”
Hello gang :)
I’ve been so busy finishing off Stones Corner: Light, I’ll admit, I needed a bit of time away from the laptop. But I’m back now to yell far and wide about the Stones Corner Series and keep you all up to date with how my journey as an author is going. First up, I wanted to share a little snippet of an interview I had with a London friend recently…
As part of my research, I’ve looked at various London events in the early 1970/’80s. I’ve also tried to harness as many different views from people across England/Ireland as I can to ensure the Stones Corner series is as balanced and well-rounded as possible.
This particular friend had parents who were born in Ireland but spent most of their childhood in London. I wanted to understand their perspective on how they felt living in London and being Irish during this time.
“I was ashamed and didn’t discuss politics or the media news about what was happening in Northern Ireland. No one cared until the bombings in London and elsewhere in the UK started. It was too close to home.”
When asked about what was going on in Ireland, I found it very difficult to answer. Any coverage of events in the North seemed to concentrate on events and actions caused by the IRA. I was ashamed to be Irish, and the reason for this was that I could never find logic in the media to justify events going on there. It was all very negative with very little information that I subsequently learnt about atrocities on both sides of the divide.”
Such a strong statement “I was ashamed.” I will share more of this interview at a later date once I have collected a few others. These conversations are always fascinating and often heart-breaking to see how in one way or another, we were all so profoundly affected by what happened here during The Troubles.
Life Update
I’ll admit, it’s been a tough year for me with serious illness in the family and having COVID myself a month or so back. I still feel knocked for six. I’ve done nothing but sleep and eat, and now that Summer is in full swing, I’ve decided to go through a change too.
I dearly hope to visit Auckland to see my grandchildren and family for Christmas, along with a book launch at the Auckland Irish Society in late January 2023 and several other venues, including Christchurch, NZ. As part of this trip, I’ve made a personal pact to do the following and be ready for the beach – no holiday for three years!
Give up the vino (I mean it this time!)
Enter a 10km race
There are so many more I’d like to do, but in the past, I’ve always set my goals way too high and failed – miserably!
Stones Corner, Light V3 is due back from my editor the week after next, and I admit we’re running a wee bit behind in its launch, so it’ll likely be the end of October, if not sooner, that it’ll be released, so please bear with me. I want it out there as quickly as possible, but like my mother says, “If you’re going to do something, do it right!”
I hope you’re all keeping well. Thank you, as ever, for your ongoing support.
