IrishBeat.com

The last watchtower has come down in Northern Ireland, signaling a belief that the country has — at last — found true and lasting peace.

It makes me hopeful that, perhaps one day, we will see an end to Iraq’s occupation and its bloody civil war. Can the Shiites and Sunnis resolve their differences peacefully (if not fully) like the Protestants and Catholics have done? Will they stop using subtle differences in their worship of the same God as a reason to kill each other like the formerly warring factions in Northern Ireland are trying to do?

And will the atrocities that occurred under the occupying nation’s watch be partially atoned for by its commitment to solving the problem?

I’m not sure any of this is possible. And even if it is how long will it take and at what cost will it be?

If The Troubles taught us anything, the answer is too long and too high.

Still any step toward peace should be celebrated by the world’s citizens.

So here’s a bittersweet cheers to the Upper 6. May you be an example to others.

Things have changed so much since our ancestors arrived as huddled masses yearning to be free. Irish officials now believe the country will need at least 500,000 immigrants in coming decade to help meet demands. How ironic that Erin is becoming land of opportunity, while the original melting pot is trying to keep the tired, hungry and poor out.

I spent Sunday enjoying one of my favorite Christmas traditions. I curled up on the couch and re-read “The Dead,” the final story in James Joyce’s “The Dubliners.” I love the story because of its prose, its melacholy and its relative accessibility.

But mostly I love it because it’s one of the few Joyce works in which he openly misses Ireland. Though he spent most his adulthood in bitter, self-imposed exile, “The Dead” allows Joyce to surrender himself to the longings of family, music and home during the holidays. If a cynic like Joyce can’t overcome Christmastime nostalgia, what chance do the rest of us have?