In Celebration of All Things Irish

Being of English descent (Essex, Class of ’62) one might think celebrating St. Patrick’s Day would not necessarily be in my nature.  One would be wrong… but it’s not just the idea of finding a reason to wear a ridiculously large green hat while quaffing a cerveza or three that appeals to me.  Like anything else in life, it was having a real experience with the Irish a couple of years ago that has me all in.

In 2009 LIVESTRONG hosted its first ever Global Cancer Summit in Dublin.  That even in itself was a huge success, bringing together over 500 people from 65 different countries.  But for me I also got the amazing opportunity to first cover the Tour of Ireland pro bike race, literally going from Dublin to the southernmost areas of Ireland, and getting to experience true Irish hospitality along the way.

As it is with any country, the scenery can be amazing but it’s the people that make the difference.  I was blessed to have great friends like Pat and Darach McQuaid along the way, who despite their very busy schedules making the race happen made sure my colleague Allison and I got to experience all that the countryside had to offer.  A real life highlight was also getting to ride with, and later get to know, Irish cycling legend Stephen Roche, one of only two men to ever win the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia, and the World Championship in the same year! (1987 – the other being of course the man, the myth, the living legend, Eddy Merckx in 1974).  Stephen has also faced his own family’s battle with cancer as one of his son’s had leukemia and he now does great work for the cause in his home country.

Following the race wrap we headed back to Dublin for our main event.  It’s hard not to fall in love with Dublin, it’s such a walkable city and everywhere we went the people asked the same question, “Are you having a good time here?”  This was a combination question, actually.  Part was in general interest for our well being, but the other is definitely an effort by the population to get the tourist industry back on track following a huge bubble burst of the Irish economy, along with many other countries as well, of course.

Everywhere we went we were welcome with open arms and usually a really good pint of beer.  One amazing memory for me was being able to fulfill a deathbed promise to my brother Robin… Guinness beer was definitely his favorite, and he had one day hoped to have one in the factory in Dublin.  As fate would have it, one of our big dinners was in fact there, and after all the usual festivities a large group of us got together, hoisted a well poured Guinness to his honor, and closed out a truly memorable evening.

As we were wrapping things up from the event, Darach came over to me, winked, and said, “Do you want to know the impact of the Irish?  Consider this: in America you have over 300 million people, and while you’re 4^th of July holiday is a good one, it’s not really celebrated much outside of the USA.  But in Ireland we have a little over 4 million people, and our national holiday is celebrated all over the world!”

I’ll be celebrating with them as well, big green hat and all.  Ciao for now – Cb…