A THEATRE company based in London is seeking input from those who live in Britain but travel on an Irish passport.
Green Curtain Theatre is working on a new production, which will compile stories and songs about what it means to be Irish.
They specifically want to include the experience of those who have applied for and use an Irish passport, with a view to exploring why they choose to hold the identity document.
“Spending my school holidays in Donegal gave me a connection with the land and a strong sense of my Irish heritage,” explained Maureen Alcorn, who is on the Green Curtain project team.
“I remember the long journeys back to Ireland," she explained.
Maureen Alcorn pictured with her mother and sister in Mulraney Bay in 1960“Squaddies waving their rifles as we passed through the North before crossing the border into Donegal and to the small family farm on the shores of Mulraney Bay.
“Summer days would be spent watching chickens scratching in the soil, attempting to milk the cows and digging peat with my uncles in the field.
“This gave me a great connection to the land that was part of my heritage."
She added: “The passport with its beautiful illustrations of people, places, myths and tunes continues that connection.
“Our family was Protestant, but my dad was still proud to speak some Irish.
“It would have meant a lot to him, that the language he loved interweaves through the pages of his daughter's new passport."
Dr Elleesa Rusby pictured with Noelette Hanley of the Luton Irish ForumWhilst Maureen's passport application was fairly straightforward, Doctor Elleesa Rusby, Communications, Information and Systems Officer at the Luton Irish Forum, had more red tape to deal with.
Dr Rusby, who was adopted as a child, needed a certificate which recognises the adoption in Irish law, before she could apply for an Irish passport.
“It often feels like adoptees have to go through ‘extra hoops’,” she explained.
“It was strange to have to prove that ‘Da’, the man who’d adopted me all those years ago and was part of my life for forty years, actually was my dad.
“But the lady at the Adoption Authority of Ireland was extremely helpful and explained everything.
“I would encourage anyone in the same position as me not to be put off applying.
“It will be worth the extra step.”
Green Curtain are keen to here more passport stories from the diaspora in Britain.
“Is there a particular reason you chose to apply for an Irish passport?” Green Curtain founder and director Anne Curtis asks.
“Do you feel that it strengthens your identity? Did you acquire your Irish passport recently?" she adds.
“What made you choose to ‘switch’ to or ‘add another’ passport and does having an Irish passport represent a homecoming, reconciliation or even conflict with your sense of ‘Irishness’?
“If so we would love to hear from you.”
To contribute to the My Irish Passport project click here.
