To be passionate for County Clare comes naturally to me and I can be heard roaring at all their matches. Whenever Ireland play against South Africa, the land of my birth, I find my loyalty is to Ireland. My children speak fluent Irish and, being born in Ireland, do not feel different in any way, and they think and feel Irish. But I feel guilty about not increasing their knowledge of my ancestry and teaching them my language.
I find it hard not to be honest and straightforward and to speak openly and frankly about my feelings over certain issues, be it in a group or at official meetings. Thus I find it hard to meet people who will be critical over a decision pre- and post-meeting but will never express their views at the meeting, when it matters most.
There is still a lot of plamas at meetings, which can be annoying. The person who speaks openly is seen as being odd or strange. Also, meetings rarely start on time and this can be frustrating as other appointments might be scheduled and people left waiting, or other appointments cancelled; to accept this as "normality".
