Bobby Sands and Cinco de MayoEDIT: I first posted this two years ago but I thought it was worth another look todayHave you ever seen that commercial that shows a guy walking in Ireland and he goes into a pub where the place erupts in a Cinco de Mayo celebration? It's a clever commercial but the truth is May 5th is better remembered in Ireland as the day
Bobby Sands died than for a market created Mexican holiday.
25 years ago Bobby Sands died in prison. He died as the result of a hunger strike. He died protesting the fact that he was being held as a common criminal instead of as a political prisoner. Back in 1981 that was pretty powerful stuff in the Lynch household.
My brother went to see Bobby Sands' brother speak out at UMass. He came back with a poster of the event that immediately went up on the wall of our shared bedroom. I think my brother still has that poster.
You have to understand that my parents were Irish and as a first generation Irish-American I was very proud of my roots. I listened to Irish music and read Leon Uris' Trinity on a yearly basis. Bobby Sands was a hero in the Lynch household.
Today I'm not so sure how I view Bobby Sands.
The IRA was and is a terrorist organization and after 9/11 - a bombing where innocents are killed is no longer something most people who previously supported the IRA can stomach. Bobby Sands' protest hurt no-one but himself. His belief was so strong that not even a plea from the Pope could make him give up his hunger strike. I guess I still admire the passion of Bobby Sands but not his cause.
And not the IRA.
