September 6, 2002 -- Robert Tumminello:"Ireland, EU"

If one relied for information solely on mainstream Irish media, such as the Irish Times and the RTE (Ireland's national TV channel), one could be forgiven for thinking that the greatest threat to the world today is the U.S. (Indeed, on August 31, while demanding Shannon airport be placed off-limits to any troop or supply transport supporting a U.S. action in Iraq, a Times letter writer went so far as to label the U.S. an "aggressive world power.")

It isn't just in the media. Many in the "Irish street" are sounding increasingly -- and tediously -- European in opposing a strike against Iraq and about the U.S. being responsible for everything the likes of Greenpeace or Friends of the Earth cites as environmentally damaging.

Two factors seem to be at work here.

First, Ireland's starting to sound like Germany and France may have something to do with the fact that membership in the European Union has been good for the Republic. EU subsidies over the last two decades have played a large role in Ireland's new prosperity.

Secondly, a "crusading zeal" (if I can still use such an expression) is increasingly evident among Irish who wish to use their country's "traditional neutrality" as a platform from which Ireland should promote "international peace and social justice." In that context, Ireland's growing admiration for the UN, the International Criminal Court and other non-governmental, international entities is readily understandable -- at least until Ireland finds itself on the sharp end of the demands of such a body.

For generations, Americans -- especially those of Irish descent -- have worked hard to help Ireland break out of poverty and come into its own politically.

Well, it has.

Now, when it comes to "September 11," many Irish consider the U.S. the overall aggressor. At the very least, many wish the U.S. would focus less on the attacks on the WTC, and aim to be more even-handed in dealing with Islamists and Israelis alike.

That it was Islamists and not Israelis who attacked the WTC -- a little fun fact which could reasonably cause Americans to at least slightly prefer Israelis (who went into official mourning after the attacks) over Islamist Palestinians (who, in contrast, danced in the streets, celebrating the attacks) -- is lost on the newly emboldened Irish international social conscience.

The Irish Times has even assailed Anne Coulter as an extremist who espouses that the U.S. should attack France. I'll hazard a guess that Coulter does not really want to see that -- although, I could be wrong -- but actually means to draw attention to the idiocy of the French using their opposition to the death penalty as a means of obstructing the American struggle against the Islamists. Coulter's bottom line is simple: If the U.S. does attack France, how would the French fight back? After all, France opposes the death penalty.

But the Irish Times doesn't get it. And neither, it seems, would many other Irish nowadays.

They were once remarkable not only for their ability to turn their hatred of the English into an art form, but also for their national talent in unearthing the poetry that could be found in even the worst that life could throw at them.

Now, are we witnessing the morphing of a fascinating people passionately attached to the idea of freedom into yet another tiresome and humorless nation of EU-niks?

Let's hope not.

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Robert Tumminello
London, United Kingdom
RobertTumminello@aol.com