WHY DON'T WE GET DRUNK AND SUE

Celts claim to be oppressed by Ireland and its alcohol (Steven Edwards, May 24, 2003, National Post)

Indigenous leaders from around the world were left scratching their heads yesterday after the UN included Celts from Ireland in a conference aimed at promoting native rights.

Though Celtic blood flows in the veins of the vast majority of Ireland's citizens, activists from an Irish group called Retrieve Foundation took the podium to say that Celts, as an "oppressed people," should be acknowledged under the UN's Indigenous Charter.

In particular, the group says drugs and alcohol were used to keep the Celts down.

The Indigenous Charter is principally meant to promote the rights of such clearly definable indigenous peoples as Canada's First Nations or Australia's Aborigines.

It is also extended to distinctive groups such as the Pygmies in central Africa, the Saami (formerly Laplanders) in Scandinavia and various indigenous groups throughout Asia.

Speaking for Retrieve Foundation, Margaret Connolly said the Irish government had "neglected" Celts, who, for "2,000 years, had been forced to adapt to a culture that was foreign to them."

She said "drugs and alcohol were the tools of an oppressive society" and that "too many young Celts were on drugs and alcohol." [...]

But despite Ireland's history as a colony of Britain, its people in both the north and the south remain predominantly Celtic.

In the Republic, the first official language is the Celtic tongue of Irish. Even the Prime Minister is called the Taoiseach.

Willie Littlechild, a Cree from Canada who was among 1,800 delegates representing about 500 indigenous groups at the conference, said it was sometimes difficult to know who could be classed as indigenous.

"People from China once told me they were all indigenous, so I welcomed all two billion of them," he quipped.

It's just one big gathering of people we're proud to have oppressed. Posted by Orrin Judd at May 24, 2003 10:46 AM