Do you prefer myth or reality?

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When I hear the nonsense bandied about concerning Ireland at this time of year I despair. I also wonder about the veracity of the information that reaches me regarding other countries: surely it’s not just Ireland that suffers from silly tittle tattle. Myths abound: 1. Ireland’s national colour is not green but blue, although whoever decreed that countries have national colours had no business doing so. 2. Saint Patrick is not the patron saint of Ireland because there is no such thing as a patron saint, and he certainly wasn’t Irish. Ireland isn’t even a Christian country, never has been and never will be - it’s a country, not a person, and most of its citizens reject Christian faith yet still consider it their god-given right to be married or buried in a Church. 3. Irish people don’t all get drunk on 17th March - many there are who are totally abstemious, but that picture doesn’t suit the opinions of a lot of foreigners and so it gets dismissed as fake news. And anyway, how does getting drunk do honour to a Christian Bishop? 4. The shamrock is Ireland’s national flower - it’s not a flower, and who decided this kind of nonsense anyway? But why bother? People usually prefer giddy nonsense to reality. The true significance of 17th March is that that is the date in 1984 on which I proposed marriage to the one who six months later became my wife.