Homebody day, job searching, Bloody Sunday 100th anniversary

I’ve been a homebody today. My weekly SuperValu grocery delivery arrived on the early side. When the intercom buzzed, I was happy to hear the delivery person was Ciaran again, the older Irish gentleman with whom I’ve struck up some rapport. He asks if I’m doing anything to celebrate Thanksgiving, having noticed there was a turkey breast in my order. He then goes on to tell me about the time he worked a Thanksgiving celebration at the U.S. Ambassador’s Residence (aka The Deerfield Residence in Phoenix Park) where there were lots of famous people in attendance, including Neil Diamond who sang. Somehow the conversation turns to the Biden inauguration, at which a famous Irish violinist will be performing. I mention that the Irish American blue collar community played a part in Biden’s victory (see this Irish Times article), and Ciaran laughs saying “If all the Irish in America were to return, this island would sink.” It’s a jovial exchange, and I catch myself starting to mimic an Irish accent (or at least the intonations).

It’s overcast today, and the streets are wet from sporadic showers. I decide to stay in today to focus on some career advancement activities. Specifically, I want to apply to a job at the Dublin branch of Grant Thornton, an international accounting and consulting firm (not one of the “Top Four” firms in the field, but not too much further down the list). It’s a financial management consulting role working with clients in the public, not-for-profit, and higher education sectors, which is why it interests me. Many years ago I had turned down an offer to work at KPMG in San Francisco, because I was wary of going into the stuffy and soul-sucking world of big consulting firms. This came up during one of the strolls with my walking buddy CJ, who relayed a story about a KPMG holiday party in London (?) during which a brawl had broken out, after which people joked that the firm’s acronym stood for Kick, Punch, Maul and Gouge. At any rate, we’ll see if I hear back… I did take an additional step of searching for Grant Thornton Dublin folks on LinkedIn and reaching out to one of them to see if I could make a connection there. Can’t hurt, right?

Tomorrow marks the 100th anniversary of Bloody Sunday on November 21, 1920, which was a pivotal event in the Irish War for Independence. (There were other Bloody Sundays in Ireland’s history, most notably one that took place in Belfast in January 1972 during the Troubles). I just watched a documentary streamed from RTÉ national television that was released this past week to mark the anniversary. In short, the violence started when the IRA, lead by Michael Collins, targeted various British intelligence agents for assassination in Dublin that morning. In all 15 men were killed, including at least a couple of civilians who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. The British then retaliated by sending a combination of police and military forces (including the infamous Black & Tans) to raid a Gaelic football match at Croke Park that afternoon in search of the IRA suspects. Shots were fired, the crowd watching the match panicked, and in the ensuing confusion a total of 14 civilians were killed by British forces and an additional 60 others were wounded. Later that night, the British also executed three IRA men suspected to be involved in the assassination operation earlier in the day. Overall, Bloody Sunday was considered a victory for the IRA, as the assassinations they carried out severely damaged British intelligence, while the British response increased support for the IRA at home and abroad (see this Wikipedia article for more background).

The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) Museum, located at Croke Park, has put on an exhibit about the events of Bloody Sunday 1920 (the graphic below is borrowed from their website). Unfortunately, the museum is closed due to the lockdown, and there probably won’t be any public events held, otherwise I’d be interested in going. 

Until next time…