Mary Kenny: Ed Sheeran's nuanced take on Irish-British relations is more compelling than Kneecap's antics
Links between our islands mean issues of identity will always be complex
Today at 21:30
It's coming up nicely to the summer holidays, and how many British families of Irish heritage will be visiting their Irish relatives? The 'granny summer holiday' in Ireland was a formative influence for many of the second-generation diaspora, when children raised in England would be brought back to see their extended kin in the home place.
Ed Sheeran encapsulated this experience vividly when he spoke about growing up British, but being influenced and formed by Irish culture – and music – during his childhood holidays spent with grandparents in Co Wexford. This has, he says, made him 'culturally Irish', an identity of which he is 'really proud'.
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