Stephen McKinley has an article in this week's Irish Echo about whether carrying an Irish passport is a safer option when traveling in some of the world's troublespots.
I'm quoted in the article. As is always the case, the quotes give part of the story, but not all of it (and that's more my fault than Stephen McKinley's). I'm quoted as saying that I saw the Irish passport as an "optional extra".
I never really invested much emotion in any passport, no more than I did in my drivers license or other government papers. I just saw the Irish passport as another government document.
That doesn't mean I'm not proud of my Irish roots or happy living in Ireland today.
I suppose if I was being forced to give up one of the passports it might become an emotional issue. Probably because I was born with a right to both an American and Irish passport I didn't think much about having either one. As the article mentions, it was only since September 11, 2001 that I have started to consider what the passport says about me.
