Maybe the shameful black shamrock sums it all up?

Rating: 9/10 (21 January 2007)

This is a great movie, in some sense reflecting the state of Irish morality.
That black shamrock graffiti with the word SHAME painted beside the rail tracks at the start of the movie says it all for me: The Irish nation has lost its way, along with the American nation, and a bunch of violent criminals have taken over. And it's a crying shame for every Irish man and woman.
No coincidence that this symbol should show up in a movie whose crew and cast have such strong associations with the Catholic Worker Movement. From an interview with Scorsese: "The neighborhood priest, whom I liked a lot, always talked about Dorothy Day (founder of the Catholic Worker movement), and I saw her once working with the bums down on the Bowery. I was impressed by that and the fact that people like her had great conviction about their pacifist beliefs."
I hope everybody in Boston is wearing a _black_ shamrock and drinking _black_ beer this Paddy's Day to mark our sorrow and shame.
Coilín.