Identity on the Island of Ireland – Some Historical and Contemporary Aspects’ - Part One

Session I: ‘The Peoples of Ireland’ - Shane Hegarty (Irish Times Arts Editor and author of ‘The Irish (and Other Foreigners) – From the Ice Age to the Poles’. Chaired by: Most Rev. Dr Richard Clarke, Bishop of Meath and Kildare

Session II: ‘The Orange Order Today’ - Drew Nelson (Grand Secretary, Grand Orange Lodge). Chaired by Dr Colin Coulter (Dept of Sociology, NUI Maynooth)

Session III: ‘Unionism in the 21st Century’ - Kenny Donaldson (UUP), Jim Wells, MLA (DUP), Frankie Gallagher (UPRG). Chaired by Brendan O’Brien (journalist, author, and presenter of Saturday Edition, Newstalk 106)

Session IV: ‘The Challenge of Change’ - Rev Brian Kennaway (Presbyterian Minister), Henry Mount Charles (Slane Castle). Chaired by John Clancy (Meath Peace Group)

BRIEF EXTRACTS FROM PRESENTATIONS (FULL TRANSCRIPTS TO FOLLOW):

“We must rediscover our moral compass – in our attitudes to violence, to standards and behaviour in the financial sector, to NAMA, and to the political process”, said Henry Mount Charles speaking in the session ‘The Challenge of Change’ at the Meath Peace Group Spring Seminar ‘Identity on the Island of Ireland – Some Historical and Contemporary Aspects’ held in St Columban’s College, Dalgan Park, Navan.

This change should be one of “back to the future” - “we must rediscover what our founding fathers hoped for”, he said, quoting from Donal O’Sullivan writing in 1940: ‘We are neither Gael nor Gall, but Irishmen, finding our inspiration in the tradition of our race, a sea fed from many different streams’. “It is critical that we do change and rediscover what it is to be a true Irishman and Irishwoman in all its wonderful diversity and be proud of it, and we must take this island – which has so much to offer – together”, Henry Mount Charles concluded, and he noted that that “many people view the media as negative at this time but the ‘Fourth Estate’ is there doing its job because the politicians and the rest have failed us.”

Speaking from a Northern Ireland perspective, Rev. Brian Kennaway, Presbyterian minister, said that “the challenge of change is to challenge a movement from sectarian politics and to redefine the old causes in the light of an ever changing world and the fact that we are all Europeans. The recent scandals, moral and ethical, involving politicians north and south have added to a momentum for change. People are demanding from their politicians higher levels of integrity today. The credibility of politics north and south is at an all time low, and the behaviour of some politicians has not only challenged the integrity of politics but challenges the democratic process itself.”

Opening the seminar, Most Rev Dr Richard Clarke, Church of Ireland Bishop of Meath and Kildare, quoted historian T.W. Moody: ‘There is no such thing as an Irish race”. Dr Clarke said that “humankind need to find identity beyond themselves” but “identity can become demonic and impose suffering on others”. He gave an example of recently visiting Berlin and how in this city they owned up to their awful past where identity was suborned by national socialism with its awful consequences but where they have given witness to this as a lesson for all to learn from.”

Over 70 people attended the seminar which began with an illustrated and lively presentation ‘The Peoples of Ireland’ given by Shane Hegarty (Irish Times arts editor and author of The Irish – and Other Foreigners) in which some myths were de-bunked and new insights given into both the settling of Ireland since the Ice Age and the diversity of population in ancient and modern Ireland. Audience participation included valuable contributions from a group of loyalist and republican men (from Derry, south Armagh etc), and asylum seekers (based in Mosney and Dundalk) who were taking part in a weekend residential organised by the Communities Connect group at Dundalk Institute of Technology.

Other sessions included ‘The Orange Order Today’ – an interactive discussion addressed by Drew Nelson (Secretary of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland) and chaired by Dr Colin Coulter (Dept of Sociology, NUI Maynooth) - and ‘Unionism in the 21st Century’, a panel discussion addressed by Frankie Gallagher (Ulster Political Research Group), Kenny Donaldson (UUP member) and Jim Wells, MLA (DUP).

Chairing this session, Brendan O’Brien (presenter of Saturday Edition on Newstalk 106), noted that too often in Ireland ‘The other side tends to emphasise its version of history and its hurt, and very often the hurt of one side goes unnoticed by the other side’. Frankie Gallagher – who first brought a group of loyalist ex-prisoners to Meath in 1998 to attend the Meath Peace Group talk on ‘The Good Friday Agreement’ – wondered what all the years of violence had been about: “What did all our people die for? It wasn’t worth one life being taken.” He noted that the only difference between the DUP and the UUP was ‘34 years’. “We have set aside the memory of our national arguments – we are working towards a united Northern Ireland at peace with itself, and it’s achievable”, he said, “but we must also strive for change, and we need a serious debate on the ‘Forever War’ of 1916”, he concluded.

A visit to the historic Hill of Tara concluded the day’s proceedings.

Note: Part 2 of the seminar ‘Identity on the Island of Ireland’ will look at political and cultural expressions of Irish nationalism and republicanism (this seminar is provisionally scheduled for October/November 2010 – details to be announced in September).