A National Holiday is a time for celebration.  It also a time to consider national identity and St Patrick’s Day this year is an important time for such reflection. It’s been a difficult, for some devastating, year and now, more than ever, we need to rebuild our communities and our sense of solidarity.

Throughout Dublin there are those in our traditional communities who feel threatened by growing multiculturalism.  They fear an erosion of their own set of traditions and indeed fear economic threat from those whom they perceive to be “taking jobs” at a time of economic hardship.  In our migrant communities there is a real fear of growing racism and considerable hardship being experienced by many migrants at the margins of our economy.

For me patriotism in the 21st is about doing everything we can to protect all of our communities.  Whether that is having the important conversations about what it is to be Irish in the 21st century – how we blend our old and new cultures or whether it is doing your bit to right our economy. One thing is sure, we each have a responsibility to play our part in developing our national identity

We have a highly educated population, a good reputation for productivity. Foreign Direct Investment was up in the first quarter of this year as against the first quarter of last year, so somebody has belief in us.  Now we have to believe in ourselves.  There is much more at stake than simple economics.  We cannot afford to see communities divided by fear and tensions which may have economics at their root but which could certainly blossom into far more deadly threats to our society such as racism without careful nurturing.

Yes, our open economy has suffered faster than most in the current crisis but that means we can recover quicker too.  Only if we choose.  We can choose to keep asking ourselves how we got here or we can address the much more important issue of how to get out of this crisis.  Failure is not an option.

Eibhlin Byrne : 086 813205
E-mail: lordmayor@dublincity.ie