Join the new world

My dear friends and countrymen,

In the next few days I will return to eIreland after more than a month as a 'wandering minstrel' at some of the most historic battlefields and efficient hospitals in the whole eWorld. I have played in the gamelan of Indonesia, sung the call to prayer in Iran and Pakistan, strummed the bazouki in Greece and the balalaika in Serbia. I have duduked in Hungary and played the psaltery in Romania, but the steady bodhrán's beat and plaintive pipe's cry has finally called me home.

I was born, during the baby-boom not so long ago, in the Northwest and that is where I made my first home. As a youth, I grew active on the forums and when the quartermaster knocked on my door I joined the first semi-mechanised division of the IDF. Within days I was appointed Irish Ambassador to France, a large and infinitely more complex country than ours.

Soon, though, I grew restless and my political side raised its head. As a liberal socialist, I was most taken with the ISRP, and soon became one of the party's most vocal activists, from outside Dáil Éireann, even outside of Ireland herself I made my voice heard. Never did I lose my independence however. One of my first political stirrings was the call for a referendum on Ireland's membership of the European Social Alliance, despite having to cross the Minister for Foreign Affairs, a senior member of my own party.

In time, a deep wanderlust struck me to the core and I ventured out to see the world and make what fortune I could. Leaving the comforts of hearth and home I trained alone, and fought hard every day, beside men and women who spoke tongues so alien that I could not understand their battle-cries. I admit that I fought for and against both PEACE GC and Atlantis, but I kept my hardest fighting for Serbia, Greece, Korea, Italy, France, Ukraine and for the independence from Imperialism of all small nations like our own everywhere. My adventurism has cost my purse dear, but the lieutenant's stripes on my shoulder mark me among the five finest soldiers in Ireland. More importantly I learned the ways of war, and of peace. I now feel I know more about the world we live in than most at home, and the friends I have made across the globe have been invaluable. Some day I know in my heart the world of battle will call me again.

While across the sea I never lost sight of events in Ireland, and my, mainly political, articles in The Tal Order have gained respect, although they were smeared with blood and boot-polish when first delivered to the presses. I have had wellness below 30 and above 90, I have had great stores of gold, and none, I have eaten q5 food, and gone hungry, all the while learning, and assimilating the nature of this world.

So why am I coming home? I believe in Ireland, but too many of her most talented sons and daughters travel abroad, like me, in search of riches and experiences unimaginable here, and there is little to tempt them home to share what they have learned. Salaries are low, and commodities expensive, war-games are often proposed and discussed but rarely realised. Today we do have talent, and we do have leadership and it can be harnessed and fostered or neglected and abused. For Ireland to reach her potential we do not need bitter sniping, but constructive dialogue, not jaded defeatism but earnest enthusiasm and youthful optimism, cross-party co-operation and a fervent belief in achieving not just what is best for the individual, but the Nation as a whole.

When I stepped onboard that airplane to Java so long ago I was a child, soon I will return a man. I believe that the best and the brightest must not merely take, but give back, and I feel called to serve the nation that bore me into this world. So, with pride and purpose and a profound respect for the responsibilities I hope to undertake, I hereby declare my candidacy for Congressman for the Northwest.

In the coming days I will publish a more detailed manifesto outlining my specific goals if elected to office.

With, as always,
Much Love
Aran Tal