O Ireland, isn't it grand you look -- Like a bride in her rich adornin'? And with all the pent-up love of my heart I bid you the top o' the mornin'! John LOCKE, "The Exile's Return" "We have always found the Irish a bit odd. They refuse to be English." Winston CHURCHILL In the Nov-Dec 2004 issue of Dublin's "Ireland of the Welcomes" magazine readers shared their thoughts on the Emerald Island: Aine/Dick WALDRON, Ocean Pines, MD wrote: "My husband and I, both of recent Irish descent, have been travelling to our 'spiritual home' almost every year since 1991. We have seen many wonderful changes and are so pleased for the people of Ireland at their new prosperity. On several of our trips, we acted as guides for family and friends who accompanied us and, in May 2004, we took 45 friends, neighbours and relatives on a most extraordinary two-week odyssey to visit all our favourite places, including the Blasket Island Centre at Slea Head, Clonmacnoise, Dun Aengus on the Aran Islands, the National Stud Farm and so many other magnificent sites and major cities. Everything, including the weather, was perfect. In fact, the only thing we had promised that we couldn't deliver was a rainbow, but then how can you have a rainbow when there is not a drop of rain! We especially want to compliment CIE Tours International who provided a customised trip for us. We simply gave the! m a list of places we wanted to visit, the type of accommodation we required and the dates. They did everything else including providing us with a very special bus driver/guide, John McINTYRE, whose knowledge, good humour and helpfulness was exceptional. We had always heard that those of recent descent could have dual citizenship and on further inquiry discovered that because my husband's parents were both born in Ireland, he is already an Irish citizen! This was absolutely thrilling to us as we hope to spend six months or more in Ireland in the very near future and I'm sure having an EU Passport will be very helpful. We have subscribed to IOTW for many, many years and keep every copy, frequently referring to articles of interest before we set off on another Irish adventure. Thank you for a fantastic publication. It helps to ease the longing between visits." Joyce THOMPSON, Spencerport, NY shared: .... "I am not of Irish descent but my husband is. But even years before I met him, I was quite fascinated by your country and made it the subject of my Social Studies report in the 8th grade. That was a long time ago and I nurtured the dream of visiting Ireland someday. After I married, I got interested in family history and with the current explosion of interest in genealogy, I felt it was time to make that long-awaited trip. I devoured all the stories in your publication and yearned to see the landscapes and meet the people. I have just returned from my first trip and it was wonderful -- truly a dream which became a reality. Your magazine proved to be so informative; for example, a recent story on the roadside sculptures in County Kerry came to life right before my eyes. Our tour bus stopped to let us take pictures and I was able to have a much better understanding of the background, having read the article before I left. ! I appreciate your magazine so much; I feel that I am in touch with the people of Ireland. Obviously, I hope to return to Ireland again someday soon, maybe after I have discovered more of my husband's Irish roots." --- "The English language brings out the best in the Irish. They court it like a beautiful woman. They make it bray with donkey laughter. They hurl it at the sky like a paint pot full of rainbows, and then make it chant a dirge for man's fate and man's follies that is as mournful as misty spring rain crying over the fallow earth." T. E. KALEM "Everywhere in Irish prose there twinkles and peers the merry eye and laugh of a people who had little to laugh about in real life." Diarmuid RUSSELL "There is no language like the Irish for soothing and quieting." John SYNGE "Ah, Ireland ... that damnable, delightful country, where everything that is right is the opposite of what it ought to be." Benjamin DISRAELI, Earl of Beaconsfield