http://www.irelandparkfoundation.com/index.php

To commemorate the thousands of Irish that arrived in Toronto in 1847 alone!

I was born and raised in Toronto and it's great to finally see some respect given to the thousands of Irish immigrants that landed in Toronto over the past 150 years or so. When my family came here in the 1940's, we didn't get shite in terms of social assistance and equal employment opportunities.

To be honest, it sickens me how easy today's immigrant has it compared to the European immigrant of the early to mid 1900's; and still these new immigrants complain about everything, even though they had their flights paid for, hotel rooms, clothing, employment assistance, and a slew of other benefits that previous European immigrants didn't even have a sniff at. And as they come into Toronto most of them immediately start to complain or protest about bogus things that they would otherwise be killed or tortured for in their, what they call, "home" country.

This is obviously a rant on my behalf, but it's a rant that's necessary for all of you to know or relate to. It's also a show of respect for the European, and in particular the Irish immigrant, that didn't get shit when they arrived and obviously got off to a rough start in North American cities. However, we rose to become Presidents and Prime Ministers, doctors and lawyers, police officers and firefighters, teachers and International role models for people who didin't get shite when they arrived and didn't complain. They simply worked hard and simply "took' things when they wanted, in good and sometimes bad ways("took" from Jack Nicholson in The Departed).

Therefore, I feel the sculptures at Ireland park are long over due in recognition of the thousands of Irish immigrants that have come to Toronto, including my family who came here, genuinely, with $150.00 in their pocket, and recieved as social assistence at Christmas time, dolls with missing legs and arms and coloring books with half of the pages already colored in. A stark contrast from today's complaining and babied, although not all, immigrant population.


If you've made it this far in my rant,Cheers.

Proud to be Irish.