I have been living in Britain for over one and a half years. Often when Irish people move abroad they tend to circulate in a primarily Irish circle. When i lived in Barcelona (where this blog was born) I hung around with the Irish community quiet a bit I even trained with the Barcelona Gaels Gaelic Football team. And in a way I regret it not that I did not have good craic or anything but in some ways because I had craic rather then diversión. But I had some  cultural experiences most of the people I hung out with were from Serbia, Poland and the Ukraine but it could have been more possibly if not for the comfortable bussum of the Irish abroad.

I live in Canterbury which is not very bg about the size of Galway and is very English. The fact that the head of the Church of England is the Archbishop of Canterbury. (He lives in London) tells you pretty much all you want to know. The fact that the conservatives have held the Canterbury election seat for longer then any other seat tells you what else you need to know. But it is a lovely city as Tuathal can atest to after sampling the ale and playing bar billards. But the big difference between Barcelona and here is that I don’t know anyone Irish here. All my friends are English, my girlfriend is English and if I had a dog it too would probably be English. And that is not a bad thing.

The Irish and the English is an very old story the whole story and we don’t need to get into that. It took me a while to realise how immersed I was in English culture but I think I fully realized it when I was in a Bar in Cork. It was a college reunion and me and a few mates were sitting in a bar watching the last Rugby World Cup final.  As you would expect everyone was shouting for South Africa. I didn’t feel this, I didn’t feel the residual Irish need to see the English lose everything. Especially during that World Cup where the English attitude was very much something we would take pride in. The English team was rubbish and they knew it they just went out with a team spirit and a lets have a go mentality. Anyway England scored a try and I cheered as you do. Nothing loud or aggressive just a general yaaa and a clap. To which some person behind me shouted “shut up you English cunt”.

Now luckly that person didn’t fancy taking a swing at me or they saw I was with a group of about 10 guys but nothing came of it. But the fact that simply being happy that England scored a try against South Africa (we are not talking Ireland or another Celtic nation but a nation that have just scored against the raging favorites). Most people if they don’t support a team will root for the underdog yet when the English are the underdogs we never do.  This showed me how much my attitude of the English had moved away from (judging by that pub at least) the general Irish view of the English. It is strange but even though they are our nearest neighbors, we are flooded by their celebritiys and TV. There seems to be a distance between our two nations yet also a closeness. If I was to say I am immersed in the English Culture I would be laughed out the door. Yet when I move to Paris (towards end of the year) no one will laugh if I said  I am immersed in the French Culture. Culture is more then just language and art it is about the way a people act and think.

The general view of the Queen of England in Ireland varies from the kick the queen, to dotting old women. But there is a general mystery about why a country would want to have a monarchy. It is certainly something I have wondered. I am a republican I believe in people being equal so the idea of a monarchy is something I don’t like. But living here and being immerse in the English Culture I can see why people like it.

By vitrue of having a monarc someone who is considered more important then you by birth a certain status is attributed to it. A status a president does not have and can never had due to the nature of a republic. But people like people on pediciles we just have to look at the glorification of celebritites to see that. When the Queen comes presents stufff to some local kids, or gives and MBE to a couple who have doen foster care for 30 years. It gives people a real sense of achievment that they have do something worthy to be recognised for. There is a lot of love for the Queen in England, indeed there is also a lot of apathy about her. But there is very little hate of her. Very few people want to abolish it. She is the symbol of all things British, she is their Croke Park. And who would want to demolish that?