"GUEST EDITORIAL" FOR THE IRISH ECHO

(With grateful acknowledgement)

A recent conversation with a young Irish emigre struck a chord in me, and confirmed what I have recently been thinking, and am now prepared to advocate: The office of Ard-Ri (high king) of Ireland should be restored.

This young emigre was bemoaning the fact that Ireland (in contrast to Spain, where he had spent some time) lacked a sense of direction, and was thus unprepared to meet the future.

I was fascinated by the profundity of the remark, and went on to ask what might, if anything, account for the difference between modern Ireland and modern Spain. He begged to offer a possible explanation, the simplicity of which great astonished me: It was the singular word, "monarchy".

On the surface, one might be struck by the oddity of calling for the restoration of an office, vacant over a thousand years, and one that arose and existed in a quite different political and social milieu.

This brings up a correlated question: What about the timeliness of restoring an office that would truly benefit the Irish people and persons of Irish descent throughout the world? A lapse of a thousand years and a history potmarked with oppression on a grand scale, coupled with an office vacant for over a thousand years, all provide circumstances with which to recapture an Irish high-kingship strangely attuned to the needs of the time.

Little vignettes that have come down to us portray an Irish "monarchy" quite different from the characteristic idea of monarchy so repulsive to a people who have been its victims. Certain branches of the "royal families" of Ireland possessed a deep sympathy and comraderie with the plight of the Irish people.

What all this is meant to suggest is that the groundwork for a restored Ard-Ri, in service to the Irish people, may already be in place. Once again, the Ard Ri might be the focal point, the representative of the cultural pride and legacy of the Irish spirit.

On a more practical level, the Ard Ri could serve as the focal point for all "things" Irish; for example, Irish products, Irish tourism, not to mention the more illusive "things," such as Irish perspectives on the environment, on hospitality, on neutrality, before the world community.

All of the above could be represented in, and be spearheaded by the restoration of the office of high-king (Ard Ri). In its deepest sense, the re-established office of high-king could offer a direction for the Ireland of the future through full reconciliation with a long and noble and tragic past.

Perhaps the words of Ba'al Shem Tov succinctly capture the sense of import that a restored high-kingship could offer and embody for a modern Ireland: "Forgetfulness leads to exile, while remembrance is the secret of redemption."