St Patrick’s Day in Beirut
Firstly we owe a lot to Sir Desmond Cochrane and Professor Suheil Bushrui, who in the 60?s and 70?s were the force behind the translations of the works of Joyce, Yeats, and Synge into Arabic – that led to an emergence of many scholars of Anglo-Irish Literature in the Arab world, through their studies at the American University of Beirut. The Embassy of Ireland played a role in supporting various cultural events through the years too. But with the advent of the war there was another kind of Irishness in Lebanon. It was expressed and exercised in the South of Lebanon, where the troops were stationed from 1978 till 2001. The majority of the Lebanese outside the UN zone have not heard or experienced or enjoyed the culture of which the Irish soldiers were the ambassadors. We undertook the task of bringing back all we can. Be it through parading in
Beirut in 2005, with colours and pipes and all of what goes on during St Patrick?s Day in every major city in the world, or by reviving Bloom?s Day festivities. Today St Patrick is celebrated in Beirut with all-round parties, and bands travel to Lebanon especially for the occasion. I think neither the Irish nor the Lebanese need an excuse for partying and for some good “Craic.”
You have helped to promote recognition for the service of the Irish Defence Forces as Peacekeepers in Lebanon. Can you tell us more about the mission of the Irish Peacekeepers, and the ways the ILCF has worked to raise awareness of their service?