Like the French and Chinese we emerged as a people after centuries of migrations, merges, and splits.
We existed as nations with our own political structures and over centuries we developed boundaries and treaties with our neighbours. We participated in trade relationships.
What if we all developed as peoples along the same timeline, but just in different trajectories?
Nobody who discovers their Irish heritage suddenly starts grasping for 15th century Irish life
But people do that to us.
We do it to ourselves.
The song Be Thou My Vision goes back 1500 years. Nobody expects the Irish to live like it's the 5th century.
We do have a land base.
We always have.
We are sovereign states under political occupation. Not a race. Not a spiritual feeling.