Sir, - The word Celtic is much over-used these days. It is applied to all manner of things Irish, from the economy to chocolates, to perfume, to helicopters.
What, if anything, does the word Celtic have to do with our tiger economy - an economy that has spawned a consumerist and materialistic way of life with its super rich minority, a middle income group struggling to keep pace with an increasingly frenetic life-style and yet another section that seems totally left out of the new prosperity? The Celtic tiger may be booming but are the Celtic people happy?
Celtic as a tradition speaks about hospitality, community, an affinity with nature. How does this fit with our attitude to refugees, the scourge of individualism, the reality of voluntary groups unable to find volunteers and the on-going destruction of our environment?
If Ireland is to prosper not just as an economy but as a people perhaps we need to relearn something of what it really means to be Celtic. The Celts, among other things, were a strongly religious people with a profound sense of the Divine presence; they cherished local community and had little time for bureaucracy and central government; they lived in harmony with the natural world.
A seminar on May 27th in Dowdstown House, Navan called "Connecting with our heritage enriches our future" will afford an opportunity to explore some of these questions. It might be well worth while to take a few hours out from the busyness of Celtic Tiger living to help clarify where we've come from and give us vision for the future. Telephone 046-21407 for information. - Yours, etc.,
Claire Oakes, Celtic Christianity Group, Dowdstown House, Navan, Co Meath.