Kiss Me, I’m Irate over St. Patrick’s Day products - Give me a break

Urban Outfitter St. Patrick's Day products

The essential item of clothing this St Patrick’s Day for some Irish people should be a t-shirt emblazoned with ‘Kiss Me, I’m Irate!’

Yes, you’d think we’d have enough political and economic turmoil to be dealing with, without getting our knickers in a twist over some hipster clothing store and the world’s largest sports brand.

Urban Outfitters had the audacity to suggest that the Irish have an unhealthy relationship with drink when it released a range of “drunk Irish” t-shirts

One featured the phrase “Irish yoga” and beneath depicted an image of a person on their hands and knees being sick. Another ran the lines – ‘Kiss me. I’m drunk or Irish, or whatever.’

On both sides of the Atlantic the Irish were up in arms. How dare Urban Outfitters defame the Irish people, they cried. But, in reality, the store’s only crime was telling the truth.

Whether it is in Dublin, New York or Boston, the sight of Irish people staggering around drunk or doing “Irish yoga” on the street or sidewalk is relatively common.

Next in the firing line was Nike. The sports clothing giant’s mistake was simply using color to describe one of its products.

Nike was forced to apologize after naming its new running shoe the Black and Tan in advertisements. The $90 limited edition sneaker sparked fury among certain Irish communities because they linked the name with memories of the notorious British paramilitary unit that terrorized Irish citizens during the War of Independence.

While the official name was the SB Dunk Low, adverts for the trainer read: “Tis the season for Irish beer and why not celebrate with Nike. The Black and Tan sneaker takes inspiration for the fine balancing act of a Stout (Guinness) on top a Pale Ale (Harp) in a pint glass.”

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But when did Irish people become so sensitive and stuck in the past?

Yes, someone at Nike should have at least Googled the term before unofficially christening one of its running shoes Black and Tan, but surely it can be forgiven for not taking into account the troubled history of a small nation.

Irish people have succeeded not by, as Patrick Kavanagh put it, “paddling in the pools of the past”, but by reaching outwards. Irish people have always had the resilience to put the past behind them and move forward.

However, there are those who believe in an Ireland that no longer exists.

When the New York St Patrick’s Day Parade’s website recently published its set of guidelines, one stated: “The only banners allowed are ones identifying the unit or ‘England Get Out of Ireland’.”

Many may point to the apparent hurt caused by Nike or damage done by Urban Outfitters, but I can assure you that such outdated thinking does far more to put a dent in the Irish community’s reputation.

But thankfully, the Irish nation is no longer stuck in such time warp. And neither should Irish Americans.

Irish make rest of world green with envy on St. Patrick’s Day - Despite begrudgery, March 17th a huge boost for Irish everywhere

Begrudgers see "Paddywhackery" - but they really just wish they were Irish

The dour, self-loathing-Irish brigade was out in force this week. Indeed, only the Irish could bemoan the spectacular news that many of the world’s major landmarks will turn green on Saint Patrick’s Day, including Niagara Falls, the London Eye, Berlin’s iconic TV tower in Alexanderplatz, and South Africa’s Table Mountain.

Despite this marketing coup, which will help promote tourism in Ireland and Ireland itself in these times of great need, the merchants of doom were deriding the decision.

Newstalk’s Ivan Yates led the charge as he huffed and puffed on his morning radio show, deriding the stunt as a pure case of “Paddywhackery”. In fact, he believed this fantastic promotional drive was “actually urinating tax payers’ money up against Niagara Falls.”

Regardless of what Mr Yates believes, the fact is simple — on March 17 the rest of the world will be green with envy at Ireland. And rightly so.

What other nation gets the world to celebrate its national day en masse every year? What other nation has millions, if not billions, toasting its health?

It is easy for Irish people to dismiss such a warm appreciation for their homeland, but you can be sure the British wish St George’s Day, and the Scottish St Andrew’s Day, produced such widespread warmth for their piece of old sod.
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Regardless of whether you think St Patrick’s Day is a load of old shamrocks and shillelaghs, as an opportunity to market and promote Ireland it is unrivaled.

Leprechauns, "Riverdance", and Aran jumpers are simply part of our brand — like it or not. And no matter how much they make some people squirm, they are part of the reason Ireland and Irish culture punches well above its weight.

Why is the Irish pub a worldwide phenomenon? Because it is a place to meet friends, have a beer and enjoy warm hospitality. Ireland’s icons are non-threatening, unlike England’s bulldog or Scotland’s thorny thistle.

And while Irish people abroad may feel stereotyped as an extra in "The Quiet Man", I think this says more about their po-faced lack of confidence than anything else.

Ireland has a great track record of using its culture, and the warm affection other countries have for it, to its advantage.

This week saw Vice President of China Xi Jinping arrive in Dublin, a highly significant milestone in the relationship between the two countries. This momentous occasion was the result of many years of work behind the scenes. But long before the Taoiseach was pressing the flesh with this most senior of political figures from China, "Riverdance" was helping foster friendship.

When one of the largest trade missions to ever leave our shores, comprising of 174 Irish business people from 82 Irish companies, journeyed to China in 2003, Tiananmen Square was awash with tricolours. But this display of respect and affection was not for the trade delegation, but to mark Riverdance’s historic performance in the Great Hall of the People.

And just like "Riverdance" produces groans of “paddywhackery” among some self-loathing Irish, so too does Waterford Crystal. However, it was this iconic brand that was used to help transform the White House into an open house on March 17 for Irish dignitaries.

Dot Tubridy (a cousin of Ryan Tubridy) began the tradition of presenting a Waterford Crystal bowl of shamrock to the President of America back when John F Kennedy was in office. To this day the tradition survives.

So while the sight of what the begrudgers call “plastic paddies” draped in their psychedelic green outfits will cause some to frown, the fact that this year more than ever the world will turn green on St Patrick’s Day should be celebrated.

And the begrudgers should remember that on March 17 there are, as the saying goes, only two kinds of people in the world — the Irish and those who wish they were.