The question of home has been concerning me lately.
I left Northern Ireland at age 18 and other than an 18 month spell to do some travelling I have lived in the North East of England since. I have lived longer out of it than in it.
I have a very definite sense of being Irish, that is just something that seems like breathing, I take in air as an Irish person just in a different country.
But Ireland is not home, not after this many years.
While I may have grown up in Northern Ireland I matured and became an adult properly in the North East and it very much, without a shadow of a doubt feels like home.
I am on a train heading back there now and the thought of seeing the Tyne Bridge as we go across the river is something I am craving as it means I will be home.
So what is home, is it the land we are born in or is it the land we make our own? It seems to be similar and related to the question of family. Is family the people who are blood related or is family the people you surround yourself with? The ones you choose.
So to come back to the original piece I have been plagued with lately.
How can I be an Irish man but Ireland not be home? Does it track? Does it seem awkward or more?
In a lot of ways it does relate to the family question, my close family, my wonderful wife and my wonderful children are all here in the North East and to me that seems more important and more of an indicator of where home is.
Home is the place that you want to go back to and where you feel comfortable enough to let the defences down. The place you can find even a little bit of calm from the chaos of the world.
So yes, I am and always will be Irish but I am very proud and happy to be at home in the North East.
Even more so, it is an area I feel protective of and enjoy that the work I do brings benefit and improvement to it.
Now if it comes to a question of where the North of the North East starts, that’s a question I will allow others to argue about (cough, River Tyne! cough!! 😉 )