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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Little wonder Ed Sheeran identifies as Irish. No one wants to be British anymore
Ed Sheeran has prompted an online backlash for telling Louis Theroux that he is 'culturally Irish'. Speaking on The Louis Theroux Podcast, the star said 'I class my culture as Irish. I think that's what I grew up with'. 'Just because I was born in Britain doesn't necessarily mean that I have to just be [British], there's loads of people I know that are half this or quarter this', he and every other kid with Irish parents, Ed. Sheeran's father is from Belfast – mine are from the Wicklow mountains. In fact, bar the international fame and musical talent, me and Ed are pretty similar. I too spent every summer holiday in Ireland, my parents played De Dannan, my favourite band was Westlife and almost all of my family live in a small village called Donard. And yet, I too was born and raised in England and have no desire to bring my children up in the homeland, either. So why would me or Ed call ourselves Irish?It's easy to scoff at plastic paddies – as many have, causing Sheeran to mount a rather touchy defence of his background on social media. He wrote on Instagram: 'My dad is Irish. My family is Irish. I have an Irish passport. The culture I was brought up around is Irish. The first music I learnt was Irish. Just coz I was born somewhere else doesn't change my culture, I can be allowed to feel connection to a place half of my family is from.' Every American and their mother wants to claim a familial link to the Emerald Isle because Irish culture is, well, cooler. There's music, dancing, poetry and craic. The Irish can poke fun at each other which has always seemed more attractive to me than the po-face tendencies of my English friends. As opposed to the rather staid or even stifling picture of British life growing up in Suffolk that Sheeran paints in some of his other songs, perhaps there's no wonder he's keen on identifying with something a little also worth remembering that being Irish – culture and craic withstanding – wasn't so hot not so long ago. Like my own, Sheeran's father would have memories of the prejudice Irish people suffered while living in the UK. My maternal grandfather, who came to the UK to build the roads and the Blackwall Tunnel, would have had no choice but to identify as culturally Irish, taking refuge among his fellow navvies in the face of 'no Irish, no blacks, no dogs' signs. Paul Brady released his angry song Nothing but the Same Old Story in 1981, 10 years before Ed and I were born, detailing the Irish experience of hatred and suspicion while Bobby Sands died in Long Kesh. Irish people have today completely assimilated into British life, the pubs have mostly shut and much of the prejudice is gone. But none of this is ancient history; it's no wonder many of us can't quite stomach lining up behind the St George's while it might be the experience of many immigrants that hostility forced a deeper need to create a home away from home within their British lives – giving their children Nigerian or Bangladeshi or Irish upbringings on a British street – it's also true that first-generation immigrants tend to be less bothered by their cultural identity. I know from my own experience that the fervour of a second-generation child's need for authenticity can make a bigger deal out of cultural identity than necessary. You hear the stories your parents tell of home and want them as your own. In many ways, this simply reveals the importance of family ties. My children have complicated Irish names with fadas and gh's, in part because I married an Englishman and didn't want to lose the small thread that links me and them back to something my family belongs to. Cultural identity is a thorny and important issue. Years of political elites pushing multiculturalism – effectively encouraging immigrants not to assimilate – has meant that not only do many people not feel culturally British, they have no sense of what a British national identity is. In many towns and cities across the UK today, clashes of cultural identity are causing major problems. But what are British values? No politician has been able to answer that question in decades. They resort to mumbling about fish and chips and how good we are at being nice to immigrants. In order to achieve an organic sense of national and cultural identity, you need to have the political will to communicate a national story that people want to identify a holiday to Cornwall, my husband's school friends insisted on sticking a Devon flag on the beach. You don't need to get all David Goodhart to know that a sense of place and a desire for strong roots matter to most people – this means familial identity is often stronger than a national one. But if we want to build a British cultural identity that is more substantial than cliches and more politically attractive to a young generation, we need to think about what we stand for. Jamaicans and Irish and Indian immigrants of the past wanted to become part of British society, we need to ask ourselves why, today, so many immigrants – and their children – do not. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. 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Irish Examiner
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Podcast Corner: Tale of Doonmore Hotel on Inishbofin makes for interesting Yarn
We've written about John Roche's podcast Yarn before, talking about the 2021 episode Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, a 90-minute documentary that gave listeners a look at what it's like to serve on a jury. There have only been seven episodes in the intervening years but the mantra is quality over quantity. The Highest Cyclist in the World examined Chris Hoy's 2007 attempt to break the 1km time trial world record on the fastest track on earth. Escape from Madrid tells the story of how Turkish diplomats saved the lives of 1,000 refugees during the Spanish Civil War's longest siege. Judy's Callers was a 10-minute episode released at the start of April to mark the 55th anniversary of the Samaritans' presence in Ireland. The latest episode, released on Thursday, May 1, is called Hotel on the Edge of Europe. Roche and his family have been making an annual pilgrimage to the Doonmore, or Murray's as the locals call it, named after the family who have run it for over half a century, for years. But changes are afoot. Over winter, major renovations have been made, and Roche is among the first members of the general public to experience the revamp. It's part travelogue, part history as we hear how the hotel came to be around the mid-20th century and the fear on the island at the time. Andrew Murray, the hotel manager and previously frontman of trad band De Dannan, explains how there was no electricity and no running water when the hotel first started up - 'You might as well have been on the Antarctic.' Inhabitants at the time worried that they might face the same fate as those on Inishark, who were relocated by the government. The award-winning Irish interior designer Róisín Lafferty is another frequent visitor and was tasked with the renovation of the hotel. She explains the charms of Inishbofin and the Doonmore: 'There's not that many places that feel like an actual escape. I love that there's no pretentiousness, there's no notions, it doesn't matter what you do, who you are.' With archival soundbites intermingling with the buzz of reopening, and the whoosh of waves and blustery wind, the 70-minute episode is a treat. With so many podcasts nowadays aiming for weekly insipid banter, Yarn is a slow, soothing, and rewarding listen. The Real Carrie Jade: A second bonus episode capper to last summer's six-part series from RTÉ Documentary on One about the fraudster Samantha Cookes came out last week. The makers head to a Tralee courthouse in March 2025 as Cookes is to be sentenced for welfare fraud. It's only 10 minutes long but also acts as a tee-up to a two-part documentary about Cookes, entitled Bad Nanny, that debuts on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player on Monday, May 12. Read More Culture That Made Me: Music maestro David Brophy picks his touchstones
