When living in Norway I met a student from Cameroon who retorted, when I called him Cameroonian, "No. I'm a citizen of the world!" It didn't sink in then, but since I've thought about the concept and one recurring theme is, no-one every chose their country of birth. If theoretically it were possible, to rewind the clock and choose a country to be born in, ideally I would choose a country closer to the centre of Europe. Though, having spent most of my life in various countries other than the one where I was born, and with my present year short of fifty mindset, I wouldn't want to be labelled with a nationality. Having grown up in "The North of Ireland/Northern Ireland" you can already be labelled Nationalist, or Unionist. National label may be an important part of one's identity, but more important is being a person and a member of the humanrace and apart from physical appearance and language, I differ little from someone in China, Nigeria or The United States. And what are countries? But manmade lines on maps, which have mostly been determined through war between neighbouring elites. Presently, seventy years after war devastated Europe, I've the privilege along with four-hundred million others to hold a European Union passport, meaning I can move freely throughout Europe, Russia notwithstanding, and all of America. But for many not privileged with my passport, travel can be awkward, just as much of Asia isn't a consideration when I think of somewhere to travel. Why should I bother with awkward to obtain and restrictive visas, when I can find lots of travel destinations with no visa restrictions or requirements.

I suppose to get back to my opening premise, a native of Cameroon, would've been a better phase, just as I'm a native of Ireland, and I'm privileged to live at a time and in a part of the world where people travel for the sake of travel, as it wasn't so long ago people in the same part of the world only travelled through economic necessity. Like the older generation, Mr McCann of my title is one of them, didn't have the travel opportunities of the present generation, me being one of them. So the only thing that matters to Mr McCann is his immediate environment and everywhere else is away foreign and not worth knowing about. I wouldn't blame him for not understanding the concept of Citizen of the World.