Ireland and Ghana - common points

The weather? Hmmm, not really!

Hurling and Gaelic Football? Ahhh, rather not.

Pubs, bookmakers and chippers stuck to each other every corner you turn? Thank heavens no.

But there are lots of commonalities which Ireland and Ghana share. Let me tell you of just a few for the moment.

Ireland was the first country in Europe to gain independence from Britain (1922), while Ghana became the first sub-Saharan country to gain independence from Britain (1957).

In additon to this, the discovery of oil in Ghana has led President Kufuor to declare Ghana would become an 'African tiger'. That's interesting, cause our 'Celtic Tiger' seems to have been robbed by a circus over the past 12 months.

But as Joe Higgins, the former Irish Socialist member of parliament party cautioned to the Association of Ghanaian Professionals in Ireland (AGPI)last March,

"the proceeds (of oil) should go towards the improvement of the lives of the ordinary Ghanaians rather than the multinational corporation, corrupt politicians and public officials."

Last year The Guardian wrote 'Ghana enters oil age with wary eye on neighbours', hinting at Shell's destruction of the Niger Delta and that ordinary Nigerians have not benefited, as well as the lack of prosperity for the populous following the discovery of large deposits in Equatorial Guinea, Angola and Congo-Brazzaville.

Joe Higgin's remarks to any audience in Ireland would sound like a comment made towards Shell and the Irish government's antics around the Corrib gas controversy, rather than something due to occur in north-west Africa.

Over the coming months of this blog, I will try look at a host of other areas where relations between Ghana and Ireland overlap.