‘ Ireland is a land of a thousand welcomes, let’s be proud of us’

Well, the worst has happened and the world is holding its’ worried breath to see what Donald Trump has in store.

For many Irish what was once the land of opportunity seems to be now just a bygone slogan.

While Mr Trump seems to be focusing on business and the environment, however, for many undocumented Irish his plans for his first 100 days also includes cracking down on those illegal in the country.

His plan is all about American jobs for American people.

His election manifesto aims to “Prioritize the jobs, wages and security of the American people” and to “establish new immigration controls to boost wages and to ensure that open jobs are offered to American workers first.”

This ‘ take care of our own’ vision seems evident across the pond in the UK also. During a recent trip to London I was surprised and a little apprehensive when having to go through a security check after getting off the plane at Gatwick airport.

All around me there were whispers of ‘ Brexit’ and a lady told me she had made the same journey two weeks prior and the three desks with tough looking policemen on them stopping passengers to examine their passports had not been there.

Everyone wondered why they were there but no one was brave enough to ask why for fear of attracting attention. It brought me back to the days of checkpoints going into Northern Ireland.

You were first stopped by the Gardaí before Belleek, then the customs at Belleek and then the British Army just outside Belleek on the road to Enniskillen.

They were sad times and it is sad to think they may return.

I think Ireland is very socially inclusive and with every generation we are becoming more and more tolerant.

When we were in national school in Grange children who had moved home from England were about as foreign as you could get.

However it is lovely to see now that my children are at school with many nationalities and fail to see any difference.

Ireland led the way in May 2015 and sent out a message of acceptance to the world by becoming the first country to vote into law the right for gay people to marry.

Meanwhile the incoming American Vice President, Mike Pence is a man who believes that homosexuality can be ‘ cured’ by conversion therapy.

Conversion therapy is a psychological treatment aiming to change someone’s sexual orientation. Mike Pence also last year signed a religious freedom law in Indiana where he was Governor which the LGBT( lesbian, gay, bi- sexual, transgender) community claimed gave businesses the right to turn away LGBT customers.

Our President may not be a billionaire ( maybe he is!) but he is a gentleman and I could never see Michael D Higgins advocating the sexual abuse of women by grabbing their private parts.

Ireland is known as the land of a thousand welcomes and with the tightening of borders around the world, I think it’s a time to be proud of who we are.

We may not be a large powerful nation, but we are a country where you can feel at home regardless of your sexual orientation, gender, age, social class or ethnic background.