HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY! A Parallel in Irish & Lebanese History

(DUBLIN) - Around 1000 BC, the Phoenicians the ancestors of today’s Lebanese, were trading and bringing valuable goods to the Pharos and the Greeks roaming between Phoenician colonies around the Mediterranean. Tin mixed with copper was sought after for making Bronze. Tin was found mainly in the region of Marseilles. It may have become increasingly difficult for the Phoenicians to comply with demands on this commodity that they sourced it out beyond Gibraltar or the Columns of Hercules and in particular from Cornwall, Ushnagh County Westmeath in Ireland and probably as far as Scotland. It is surprising to find that the Celtic God Bél was celebrated in Bonfires and offerings similar to the ones offered by the Phoenicians to the God Baal on the same period, in the same way. Today the estimated number of Lebanese living in Ireland is around 400 while the number of Irish living in Lebanon has decreased due to political unrest but is estimated to be around 45. Yet the greater number of Irish Lebanese remains beyond the boundries of the two Countries. Thousands of Irish Lebanese live in Australia, the US and Canada. In recent years Senator George Mitchell of Irish Lebanese decent had a pivotal role in securing the Good Friday agreement the road map to permanent Peace in Ireland. In November 2001 the Irish Lebanese Cultural Foundation is born and bears a huge responsibility to continue the work of many giants the members of the Irish Defence Forces, true Ambassadors of Peace, W.B Yeats, Gibran Khalil Gibran, George Mitchell, and Suheil Bushrui. (To continue reading, please click here : http://www.irishlebanese.com/).