First, I just want to say any statement I make is by no means meant to instigate, or insult anyone that is Irish, or of Irish decent... you have to respect that not being from Ireland, growing up watching TV our new channels were biased and definitely not reporting both sides of the story.

OK... The Irish... I grew up in a town called Lindenhurst, NY which was Irish, Italian, and German... if you were anything else, you were a minority... period. It was a town that had no culture clashes, or wars or gangs... but it was common to have friends of 1st or 2nd generation immigrant parents. I was very used to the music, food and fun of the Irish.. never really knowing what it meant to be Irish, or what went on in that region. My Irish friends (and I had a lot) treated me like a brother and never held my Italian (well Sicilian really) background against me... I was that 'dark haired Italian kid' to many of my red-headed/fair skinned Irish friends.

I had been to Ireland before and enjoyed it immensely... the Southern section (the Connemara) is amazing by all rights. The people were friendly and the food/beer was outstanding. What amazed me ever more was how familiar everyone looked to me, like I had seen so many faces before... maybe being from an Irish Immigrant town? LOL!

So this trip we decided to hit the big 'D' and go north, into Northern Ireland, through Belfast and see the Causeway of Giants... back to Dublin for a day and of course the Guinness Factory...!!!!

From the moment we arrived in Dublin, I began to learn about 'The Troubles' and how much violence had come to Dublin over the course of the past 100+ years. I began to learn about the Kilmannan Gaol, the Uprisings, the Post Office.. the riots.. shootings... bombing... wow... I had no idea any of this ever took place. In the US, we learned about how the Irish suffered famines, plagues, being poor which drove many to come to the US. I'd never heard of such things that had happened in Dublin...

Belfast... well, this is where it became an true eye-opener. When we arrived in Belfast, we had an option to take a guided Taxi tour of the City and have a first had look at all the places that were effected by 'The Troubles', who the IRA and UVF (and all others that were involved) were and what happened across the city during all the conflict.... or go to the Titanic museum. Well... as you can imagine... Taxi Tour... the Titanic never really held my interest past "man builds ship, man sinks unsinkable ship"... so off we went in a black cab with a driver that was very passionate, however very fair and balanced in his description of both sides. My ignorance to the Irish conflict was immediately apparent to this gentleman, and he opened my eyes like I've been blind my whole life. We saw it all from both sides... Sinn Fein HQ, UVF HQ on Shankill road... the Peace Wall... Bloody Sunday... Divis Tower.. all of it that could be crammed into an 1.5 hour tour. Wow.. my head was spinning from all the murals, memorials and stories of bloodshed, hangings, bombings.. conflict... all recently and never really explained on any news program I've ever seen on our TV in the US.

All I ever knew was that the IRA used to blow the crap out of things and I used to think what a bunch of idiots for killing their own people... but I was the idiot because I was totally ignorant to the causes that both sides were fighting for. Catholic vs Protestant... Republic vs Loyalists... brother vs brother.. and on.

At the end of the tour I was in near tears to the thought of such good people being at such odds with each other... again, thinking back to all my friends and the people I knew growing up. I'm no expert on world politics, and nor did I ever claim to be. In the US, we had our shares of brutal Civil Wars, Civil Rights Movements, shooting, killings.. bombing yeah... and of course... 911.... but for some reason, all that I learned in Belfast really hit a nerve. I guess it's because I've never met an Irishmen I didn't like and I was always treated very well by them. I never saw them to be at such odds with each other... and again... having the News coverage so vague and simplistic... I really did not have a firm grasp on the situation until I took that Taxi tour.

I gathered my thoughts and was very thankful for the tour. I had nothing to say other than that I was in shock... I was educated that day, and it will be an education I will never forget.

All the best,

OvS