One of the most enjoyable aspects of being a comic is never knowing what you may be offered, last Wednesday being a good example. I received a call from my agent telling me that Channel Four News wanted to interview me about President Biden’s visit. Having said yes, I went to Titanic Belfast that evening for the interview.
I was struck by how little technology and how few people were involved considering we were broadcasting to the whole of the UK. I’d been expecting a large crew and larger cameras; instead, there were only around seven people and two cameras no bigger than the ones in common use.
I was introduced to my co-interviewee Margaret Gibney who, as a schoolgirl from the Shankill Road, had written to then PM Tony Blair in 1998 asking for his support for the peace process. In no time we were best mates sharing intimate secrets, a characteristic I’d argue somewhat unique to people from here.
Veteran journalist Matt Frei was the presenter on the night and I found it surreal to be standing in front of someone I’d watched and admired for many years. After asking Margaret about her letter to Blair, Frei began quizzing me about the Biden visit.
I detected a tinge of sarcasm in the questions around the President’s avowed love of Ireland and the direction of the interview was framing this as being somewhat silly. While the questioning was good-natured, I didn’t like where things were going and did something I’ve often criticised politicians for: ignoring the question posed and instead answering one which hadn’t been asked.
I deflected, saying that I was hopeful for the future of NI as we were a very imaginative people, pointing out as proof of this where the interview was taking place, as we’d managed to transform one of history’s worst nautical disasters into a tourist attraction.
Having done the interview, I began noticing a trend in the British media to mock the obvious affection for Ireland expressed by the President, portraying it as symptomatic of the irrational jingoism of a deluded Irish-American diaspora. To me it seemed indicative of national envy, for while the UK forever trumpets their ‘special relationship’, the USA appears to wish to marry Ireland.
The US/Ireland connection can be dated to 1874 when it’s estimated up to two million Irish boarded 5,000 ships to make the trip across the Atlantic. Seldom in history has such a migration taken place, and it has resulted in 36 million or 12 per cent of the US population self-identifying as Irish-American.
This visceral identification hit home to me during a visit to Boston. Standing at traffic lights chatting with my wife, a local hearing our accent asked, "I’m sorry but are you from Ireland?" Here we go, I thought, and having said "yes" came the expected question: "Do you know the Murphys who live in Belfast, they’re second cousins of mine?"
I was about to inform the man that Ireland wasn’t so small that we knew each other only to discover that I did in fact know the family he was asking about. My wife found the incident hilarious as I’d pre-warned her of the likelihood of such an encounter and the unrealistic expectations of some Americans.
The America of 1874, where millions of Irish people who boarded ships were welcomed, contrasts sharply with today’s UK government, who would classify them as economic migrants and most likely force them on to planes to Uganda or barges off the Essex coast. What this Tory government fails to recognise is that economic migration has benefits in both directions. Dublin today acts as the European base for many US multinationals and since the first Irish migrants landed on Ellis Island, billions of dollars have flowed from the new country to the old.
So instead of being jealous of the US/Irish relationship, the UK could learn from history and see the advantages of opening their borders and their hearts. If they do, who knows - their ‘special relationship’ could one day blossom into something more meaningful, though I doubt that it will ever match the US/Ireland bromance. For let’s be honest - the Irish are simply more craic.
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As a schoolboy I sent off for an LP of the "I have a dream" speech by Martin Luther King; I know, I was a strange child. A fan of great oratory, I was impressed by Senator George Mitchell’s address at Queen’s University and would urge everyone to watch it.
