Civil Rights Forty Years On

To mark the fortieth anniversary of the formation of the civil rights movement in the north, a series of events has been planned. I was lucky enough to get an invitation to the launch a few weeks back in the Linenhall Library in Belfast. The presence of such dignitaries as John Hume, Ivan Cooper and Austin Currie acted as a reminder of the calibre of social leaders that this part of the world had at the time.

A few nights ago, I was able to make it over to Queen's Students' Union for a talk by Eamon Phoenix and Henry Patterson and chaired by Denis Haughey, which formed part of the commemorations. Eamon gave an insight into the situation in which the civil rights movement was born. In an abandonment of democracy that ought to have embarrassed the leaders of any right-thinking society, people of all backgrounds were drawn together to oppose the outright sectarian viciousness of the official unionist regime. Henry gave an interesting insight into his own experiences in the movement, and spoke of the various aspects and intricacies of how it was run.

Today, at a time when people take their right to vote for granted and for the most part have access to decent housing which is allocated on the basis of need rather than religion or political connection, it is vital to remember how far we have come and to celebrate the work of those who got us to this point.

Further events are planned for the rest of the year, including:

MAY 2008
Civil Rights seminar “The role of women in civil rights”
Venue: East Tyrone College, DungannonDate: Tbc This seminar will pay tribute to the role and work of women in the civil rights movement from the Homeless Citizens League in Dungannon, the Campaign for Social Justice and the women of Springtown Camp in Derry in the mid 1960s, to the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association, the Derry Citizens Action Committee and the Peoples Democracy in 1968.

JUNE 2008 - Caledon Squatting Protest
i. Civil Rights Conference “Housing – 40 years on.”Venue: Armagh City Hotel Date: Saturday 21 June 2008To commemorate the Caledon Squatting protest about discrimination in the allocation of housing in a house in Caledon, County Tyrone, a major housing Conference will be held in Armagh on 21st June to highlight the need for social and affordable housing. Speakers: Austin Currie; Representative from Gildernew Family, Duncan Morrow, CRC; Fr Peter McVerry, worker with homeless young people in Dublin; Professor Paddy Hillyard, Chair of Sociology QUB; Tom Arnold, Chief Executive, Concern; Niall Mellon or Paddy McGuinness, Niall Mellon Township Trust and DSD Minister Margaret Ritchie.

ii Joint British Association of Irish Studies and Civil Rights 1968 Commemoration Committee seminar at Westminster on role of Campaign for Democracy and origin of the Troubles

AUGUST 2008 - Coalisland to Dungannon MarchThe McCluskey Civil Rights Summer School Theme: “40 years on – The Civil Rights Challenges in Ireland Today”Tackling Poverty, Racism and InequalityIn honour of Dr Con and Patricia McCluskey, from the Campaign for Social Justice, the inaugural Civil Rights Summer School will be held between 23-25 August 2008 and will include a series of lectures and discussions on civil rights and social justice in Ireland and internationally.The keynote speaker will be former President Mary Robinson.

SEPTEMBER 2008
Civil Rights Seminar in Liberty Hall Dublin Theme: “Ireland - an equal society for all”Speakers will include Michael Farrell, Austin Currie, Michael Halpenny SIPTU and Des Geraghty, former President of ICTU and Chair of the Affordable Homes Partnership.

OCTOBER 2008 - Duke Street Derry MarchAn International Civil Rights Conference will be held in the Guildhall in Derry on 4 October 2008. Major international speakers have been invited.John Kennedy Lecture in Irish Studies at University of Liverpool by Dr Kevin McNamara on 8 October 2008 – “Perhaps it will all go away – An examination of the British Response to the Civil Rights movement in Northern Ireland.”

NOVEMBER 2008 - Largest Civil Rights March in Derry
A concert commemorating civil rights is planned for Derry- Details TBC
University of Liverpool Lecture by Austin Currie on 26th November 2008- “The Civil Rights Revolution.”

DECEMBER 2008 Seminar: “Civil Rights then and now, 1968-2008. Building a new, inclusive society”. The purpose of this seminar is to engage in a cross community dialogue with those who did not support the Civil Rights movement. Details Tbc

JANUARY 2009 - Burntollet March- The Committee is considering co-sponsoring a legal seminar on protecting human rights in the new Northern Ireland and the whole island of Ireland to mark the role of the student-led Peoples Democracy in the Civil Rights campaign.

A site for the commemorations has been set up at http://www.civilrights1968.com/. The above pic of the Queen's event is courtesy of the Amnesty International blog.

Arab-Israeli literature

The Arab-Israeli conflict is rarely out of the news: the facts and fiction of what is happening in the Middle-East are often disputed by journalists more experienced than me. Recently, I decided to make a concerted effort to read more fiction by Arab and Israeli writers. I am not an academic but enjoy reading and I would not even dignify my literary intentions by saying I had a methodology. I simply started with a couple of books by well-known writers – Amos Oz from Israel and Egypt’s Naguib Mahfouz.

Of course, one writes in Hebrew and the other in Arabic and I was relying on English translations. Nor did I hasten to read every book by those two authors; both gave me a little taste of what I wanted and I moved on from there. Never the less, it was very interesting to note that both Oz and Mahfouz were very disparaging about British rule in the Middle East when they still controlled much of the region. Mahfouz’s Cairo trilogy is particularly good in its detail about Egyptian life before independence – though you would need quite a bit of free time to enjoy the three books. A more recent and shorter book, Karnak Café, describes what happened after independence and is well worth reading. (Alaa Al Aswany’s novel, The Yacoubian Building, about life, love and politics in contemporary Cairo is also first class.)

I have just finishing two new novels translated from Hebrew: Let It Be Morning by Sayed Kashua and Homesick by Eshkol Nevo. Kashua lives in an Arab village in Israel and his book deals with the life and failing career of an Arab-Israeli journalist who returns from an Israeli city to live in his Arab village which is within Israeli borders. It is a superb read in which Kashua’s characters show what it is like to be an Arab-Israeli living in the Jewish State. They belong to no side; are distrusted by every one and even have the luxury of looking down their noses at Palestinians from the Occupied Territories.

Israeli-Arabs may be second-class citizens in their own state but they are better off economically than their cousins in the West Bank and Gaza. Passivity, co-operation and even collaboration do not guarantee them any rights. The strength of Kashua is that he is not afraid to show Arab-Israelis, warts and all. Yes, they are – usually – good people but even good people can become vindictive and violent; the mob is there; the criminals who masquerade as freedom fighters are there too.

Eshkol Nevo’s novel concerns a Jewish couple, Noa and Amir, living in village that “was emptied of its Arab inhabitants in 1948”. (That passive voice is very telling!) Gradually, they come to know their neighbours and the tragedies that have beset their lives. Nevo’s novel is not as good as Kashua’s, simply because the epistolary nature of its narrative is difficult to follow. Kashua tells a story in the traditional manner whereas Nevo prefers to jump from character to character and let their accumulative voices move the narrative along. It does not work well.

That said, I am glad I read them both as they offered differing and challenging views of life in Israel – and yes there are echoes of our situation in theirs. No one is inherently bad and no one is inherently good. They are people, caught up in political situations, who react with fear and anger towards their situation and have to live with the consequences.

If any readers can suggest any other fiction from the region worth a look, I would welcome them.

Nationalism, unionism and that breakfast

A more favorable piece by Barry White – “Why unionists must unite after Paisley” – on DUP leader-elect, Peter Robinson, in today’s Belfast Telegraph, in which White also discusses that breakfast and the possible realignment in nationalist and unionist politics. White argues that Robinson has gone “to the heart of the problem facing unionism, although he didn’t put it quite like this: unless it can maximise its vote, around a single unionist party or a two-party electoral coalition, it has little chance of staying ahead of nationalist representation in future elections.

“The European election next year will prove this point. If the SDLP and Fianna Fail strike a deal, to maximise the moderate nationalist vote and win back some of John Hume's following, it may take the UUP seat. That would leave Northern Ireland represented in Europe by two nationalists and the DUP.”

White is of the opinion – already mooted on this site – that there is a possible nationalist gain in the European at the expense of unionism: “The importance of the European election is that if it were to result in a 2-1 win for nationalism, the old order would be changed fundamentally. Either unionism would respond by much greater DUP-UUP co-operation or it would split into several factions, incapable of making the same impact in Westminster, Stormont or local government.

“Thinking nationalists in both parts of the island are weighing up the possibilities of a moderate come-back, to block Sinn Fein’s seemingly upward march here. That’s what the Fianna Fail-SDLP breakfast last week was all about; showing how much could be gained by both parties if they could present themselves as a nationalist grouping which operates throughout Ireland and is Dublin's natural party of government.

“It’s hard to see why the SDLP would turn down the offer when it becomes a reality later this year. It may have been the instigator of every power-sharing move since 1972, but, alone, it hasn't got the delivery or cutting edge of Sinn Fein. With Fianna Fail, the party could win back most pragmatic nationalists, dismayed by Sinn Fein’s divisiveness.

“Never mind the chuckling that eventually ousted Ian Paisley. The unsolved division is between British unionism and Irish nationalism, and the DUP-Sinn Fein pact, which has been likened to the Hitler-Stalin accord, has produced little of substance apart from four unemployed victims’ commissioners.

“When this becomes more apparent, and voters reject the cynical carve-ups, there are bound to be realignments within the present parties. The moderates could re-group around Fianna Fail-SDLP and a re-born unionist alliance between UUP and DUP, dropping its Paisleyite rhetoric. For as long as Ian Paisley was DUP leader, there was no chance of liberal-minded, pragmatic unionists, brought up to believe they were part of the United Kingdom, not Ireland, voting DUP.”

White argues that Robinson has identified the problem and those “who believe in the union, and want it to remain ahead of the growing appeal of the Irish nationalist ideology, have to find a new way, if one exists, of winning the support of a much higher proportion of apathetic pro-union non-voters.

“How that is to be done, by a new leader who has to laud the man who did more than anyone to split the unionist vote, remains to be seen. He has to broaden his party's appeal, without losing his own hard core, and he has to make compromises with the UUP, to win seats, that both sides have previously rejected. If he does nothing, or if he fails in this task, the fragmentation of the unionist vote is inevitable.”

The full article is on-line at http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/.

The de Valera Code

Brian Feeney looks at Peter Robinson’s career and future problems in today’s Irish News. He sees parallels between Robinson’s career and that of Gordon Brown – the loyal deputy who gets to be leader at exactly the wrong time. Feeney says Robinson is “a competent finance minister … Can he be party leader? In his career there’s no evidence of any political flair or imagination never mind charm”.

Feeney also wonders how Robinson “sees the future of unionism or if he sees a future for unionism. Perhaps when he finally and at last takes over from Paisley he’ll have the confidence to present some of his own ideas, if he has any. Maybe we can look forward to him laying out his stall in June explaining where he’s taking the DUP. Does he know? Has he been carefully hoarding all his ideas for those 30 years as a shadow because that’s what he is, a two-dimensional object who will fade when the light shines on him?” (Ouch!)

Feeney does not mention the ‘F’ word – Fianna Fáil – but it is hard not to recall Tom Kelly’s article on Monday in the same paper about last week’s Fianna Fáil/SDLP breakfast bash. Kelly’s description of the energy of the event, the numbers of people in attendance (and the numbers who could not be included), the list of MLAs there and the passion of Mark Durkan’s speech was an eye-opener.

There is little doubt that this was a significant event and it would seem that many in the SDLP have decided to throw their lot in with Fianna Fáil. Many ordinary nationalists will flock to the Soldiers of Destiny. It will be a simple emotional response but the opportunity to support Fianna Fáil will be too strong to resist for many; the party will exert a strong pull on nationalists’ romantic nature. For many nationalists, it will be Home Rule a hundred years after the event – and they will embrace it.

Fianna Fáil will also appeal to a certain section of unionism for which neither the DUP or UUP cater. There will be no rush to join at first but Fianna Fáil can comfortably support the north-side Dubliner and daily Mass-going Bertie Ahern and the patrician Church of Ireland Martin Mansergh in its ranks. The Soldiers of Destiny will recruit soon enough people from the Protestant/unionist background who do not like the fundamentalism of the DUP or the ‘big house’ unionism of the UUP.

Fianna Fáil will also win over the business class – those who are happy to see new roads being built with the Irish Euro, who delight in Aer Lingus being at Aldergrove, who can’t wait for the jobs in the financial sector to come and who, day and daily, travel by First Class on the Enterprise to Dublin to make the kind of money they can’t make in Belfast.

And that is Fianna Fáil for you – pragmatic, populist, practical visionaries with an intellectual backbone. As time goes on, the narrow understanding of what the DUP mean by Ulster and British will be eroded by the more imaginative and more welcoming understanding of what Fianna Fáil mean by Ulster and Irish. Better politicians than Peter Robinson have tried to crack the de Valera code and failed.

East-west links

Some of the Ulster-Scots brethren met with Culture Minister Edwin Poots during the week to complain that there was not enough financial support to develop east-west links between the North and Scotland. Of course, there have been east-west links between the two areas for hundreds of years – and financial ones too. My paternal grandfather, Patrick Murray, was form Dún Lúiche in the Donegal Gaeltacht and was one of many Donegal men who, for generations, migrated to Scotland for seasonal work.

The works of Robbie Burns were much admired amongst the Irish speakers of Donegal. The writer Séamus Ó Grianna – famous for works such as Nuair a Bhí Mé Óg and Saol Corrach – quotes Burns in his own writing. It is pleasing to think that the native Irish speakers of west Ulster held Burns in such esteem – a fact that, I suspect, is little mentioned on Burns’ nights in the east of Ulster.

In modern times too, there has been much cultural co-operation between Irish and Scots Gaelic speakers. The biggest project of recent years is An Leabhar Mór – or the Great Book of Gaelic, a contemporary Book of Kells, in which Irish and Gaelic poetry and art sit side by side. (I have one wee poem in the book.)

Continuing on a literary theme, I have poetry in Gaelic and English by Sorley McLean and Donald John MacDonald on my shelf. McLean was injured in North Africa during the second world war and is reckoned to be one of Europe’s leading poets. MacDonald was captured by the Nazis with the Highland Division during the retreat to Dunkirk and spent the war as a POW. He wrote Gaelic verse about his wartime experiences and the friends who died during that ill-led and ill-fated campaign:

I think of you at this time –
How you were left in France –
While we are in enemy hands
On the Rhine confined in barges.

MacDonald, by the way, was Catholic – another east-west tie indeed. And, British uniform or no, they are better writers by far than any that the Provisional movement have given us.

By all means, let Poots strengthen east-west ties – but let him strengthen them in their entirety and not just as some sop towards Ulster-Scots. There is nothing in east-west links for anyone to fear. If anything, such links simply challenge the traditional geography as defined by national flags and reminds us of the ties of blood and language that predate Union Jack and tricolour. People – and cultural links – are a lot more complicated than many Ulster-Scots and, certainly, some Green Gaeilgeoirí would have us believe.

I have been to McLean’s grave in Portree on the Isle of Skye and I have been to the Isle of Lewis and Iona. I would rather spend a week in the Highlands and the Hebrides than a month in the plushest hotels Dublin has to offer.

Soldiers of Economic Destiny

Brian Cowen, Taoiseach-elect and leader of Fianna Fáil, and Peter Robinson, First Minister in waiting and leader of the DUP, have certainly grabbed the headlines. Cowen’s decision to allow Dublin-based companies in the international financial sector to base themselves in the North with no tax penalty may create anything between 3,000 to 5,000 badly needed – and hopefully – decently paid jobs. Robinson said: “I enthusiastically welcome it. It is a major boost for business on both sides of the Border. It demonstrates how practical co-operation can lead to the benefit of the two economies …it can be a win-win result for our two economies.”

On the face of it, Cowen’s gesture is an astoundingly generous one. Even a casual browsing of the business pages can tell even the most economically illiterate – this blogger especially – that the economic forecast is not good. Allowing companies to take employment out of the Republic seems, on the face of it, to be a gesture of huge magnanimity. And it is. There is no doubt that there is a gamble here for Cowen should things turn very bad in the economy of the Republic.

However, I wonder if he is not playing another game too. After all, the whole-hearted welcome that the DUP have afforded this news can not be taken back. I wonder if Cowen is not also trying to move events along which would see Fianna Fáil MLAs in Stormont making sure that the Republic’s investment is wisely spent? After all, if unionists accept the legitimacy of the political patronage that gives you those euros - and this is political patronage on a massive scale - how can they refuse the home-grown representatives of that same political party from Belfast, Derry or Dungannon rather than from Galway, Offaly or Dublin?

SDLP leader Mark Durkan has already said that he won’t be “jumping into bed” with Fianna Fáil. Durkan has certainly adopted the right approach: “treat them mean and keep them keen.” If the last number of years have taught the SDLP anything, it should be that they should give nothing away for free. That said, Tom Kelly in the Irish News had a very good line in his column yesterday about a possible merger. He wrote: “For the SDLP, the change in the Fianna Fáil leadership leaves the window of opportunity slightly ajar. The brave, the young and the bold will eventually go through it.”

For the SDLP, it may not be a question of jumping into bed but rather deciding whether to accept the (arranged?) marriage or spend the rest of their days on the social democratic shelf. Either way, Fianna Fáil are coming to the fourth green field: arise and follow Brian's largesse.

‘Three Steps to unionist heaven’

The current issue of Magill – numbered Issue 2 2008 for some reason – is now in the shops and has a Northern focus. Eamon Delaney provides a cool and concise editorial; Sean Sexton looks unfavourably at Jonathan Powell’s new book, Great Hatred, Little Room, and its revelations regarding the Provos and the British government and John Coulter has a very interesting article on the future of unionism, called “Three Steps to Unionist Heaven”.

Coulter’s article was written before Peter Robinson became the only choice for DUP leader. Coulter writes that unionism “must begin a healing process within itself; otherwise a politically united Ireland will come about by default”. He suggests a three-part plan is needed.

Step One: “eradicate all traces of the Paisley family and dynasty from unionism … For this, it will require a dream team representing the DUP’s two wings – the modernisers and the fundamentalists.” For Coulter that means Robinson as leader and Nigel Dodds as deputy.

Step Two: “revamp the 1970s Unionist Coalition that represented the DUP, UUP and the Vanguard Unionists and took 11 of the dozen Westminster seats in the 1974 general election. With the growth in the Northern Catholic vote since the start of the new millennium, there is simply not enough electoral room for three main unionist parties.”

Step Three: “the merger of the two parties in a post-Robinson and post-Empey era under the leadership of Jeffrey Donaldson … With Robinson pushing 60, all Donaldson has to do is let his leader-in-waiting have his time in the limelight as First Minister and wait for the husband and wife team to leave the political arena.”

Coulter also writes that “the goal of formal unionist unity becomes even more a reality if republicanism sheds the current Sinn Féin leadership. Out must go Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, both once closely associated with the IRA. In must come a Sinn Féin leadership that has not served any apprenticeship in the Provos. In short, no more ex-prisoner candidates … Failing this Damascene conversion by Sinn Féin, unionists wanting political unity must pray a prospective Fianna Fáil/SDLP merger becomes a reality, and not merely the trendy chat of middle-class Catholicism’s coffee mornings.”

The Good Friday Agreement Ten Years On

A decade has passed since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, and things have changed utterly since then for the people of Northern Ireland. Of course, they could have changed a lot earlier had the extremists now in power endorsed the Sunningdale Agreement in the 1970s, but the track record of those slow-learners is now the stuff of the history books.

I read Peter Robinson in the News Letter the other day pouring cold water on the Good Friday Agreement, claiming it was a failure. In reality, of course, today's Assembly and governmental institutions are based almost wholly on the 1998 document. The St Andrews Agreement was nothing more than a stage show, a mere poor imitation of the Good Friday Agreement organised at the taxpayers' expense to give the impression that the DUP and Sinn Féin had delivered something new. They hadn't.

The fact is that the Agreement of ten years ago brought together the two sides of the community for the first time in a workable, mutally acceptable way. The rights and aspirations of both sides were respected. It received the unprecented support of the people of Ireland.

The Agreement was also a testament to the 28 years of work that the SDLP had done since its foundation- finally the other parties had realised that its support of power-sharing, peace and progress was correct.

The Good Friday Agreement was an extremely important milestone in the history of this island. After a decade of delay and intransigence, the responsibility now lies primarily with the DUP and Sinn Féin to make it work for the people of the north. And the Ulster Unionists and SDLP will no doubt be ready to step up to the mark should those two parties fail.

DUP/ Sinn Féin Axis Making A Mess Of Victims' Rights

In an Assembly which has yet to pass any legislation of substance, we have yet again seen the inability of the DUP and Sinn Féin to deal with an important issue in a responsible and mature manner. After months of wrangling and delay, the plan to have four victims' commissioners, an idea concocted by the axis, has hit the rocks, with the two main parties disagreeing over whether there should be a chief commissioner- a primus inter pares, as it were. And as usual, it's the victims who lose out as they are lumbered with the pain of further delay.

The DUP want there to be a main commissioner to chair the group's work, whereas Sinn Féin want each commissioner to be completely equal.

Sinn Féin MLA Francie Molloy said: "That [DUP/ Sinn Féin] agreement was reached before Christmas on the lines that we would have equality of commissioners- there can be no hierarchy of victims and no hierarchy of commissioners."

However, Sinn Féin's record would seem to suggest that it doesn't have a problem when it comes to putting victims in a hierarchy- after all, the recent provo commemoration of the 'Gibraltar Three' described bomber Mairéad Farrell as an 'inspiration' and lauded her as some kind of hero. Likewise virtually every cumann is named after IRA activists who got killed one way or another.

If Sinn Féin want no hierarchy of victims, then why are the victims of IRA bombings and shootings not held in such high esteem? I don't recall any Sinn Féin branches being named after a victim of Enniskillen or La Mon.

And why were there no murals painted recently of the two British corporals murdered at the funeral of the 'Milltown Martyrs'? Are their deaths held in equal esteem by Sinn Féin compared with those of the others who died during that whole bloody episode? I think not.

Apart from that, weren't all four commissioners supposed to be of the same calibre? Wasn't four chosen instead of one as there was apparently so much work to do that one person couldn't handle it all (rather than because both the DUP and Sinn Féin couldn't agree on a single commissioner)? In which case, what is the problem with having one chief commissioner? After all, when the four commissioners' names were announced, Martin McGuinness said: "We never at any stage of our deliberation had a situation where the First Minister proposed someone and I proposed someone as an alternative, it never happened. I know some people may greet this with incredulity, but I think it's a symbol of how he and I do the business." So why the problem with having one commissioner to chair meetings if the people picked were selected on a completely non-partisan basis?

It seems this 'symbol' of DUP/ Sinn Féin business was not as strong as they would have had us believe.

And the DUP must shoulder the blame for this too. If they hadn't made such a song and a dance over getting 'their woman' appointed as the Interim Victims' Commissioner a couple of years ago, then people may have had more faith in the system to enable there to have been just one commissioner appointed to the post. It was not Bertha McDougall as a person or as an Interim Commissioner that was the problem, but the way in which the DUP portrayed her appointment back then.

The DUP/ Sinn Féin axis is making a mockery of victims and the taxpayer. Their petty shenanigans are delaying victims getting the help they need. Their self-serving disagreements over who should look after the rights of victims has possibly quadrupled the cost to the people of the north.

If the Direct Rulers had've got their way, we probably would have had one commissioner stuck well into their work by now, which really indicates how dire the current situation is.

Sontag says

Just finished reading Susan Sontag’s At the Same Time (Penguin), a collection of the last essays and articles she wrote before her death in 2004. I have always preferred Sontag’s essays to her fiction and this collection certainly has some first-class material. There is an examination of American politics and nationalism in the wake of 9/11; photography and, of course, much of interest pertaining to literature. The editors have gathered together a number of her acceptance speeches for literary awards and these are of particular value as they are very accessible for the general reader like me; they were written with a literate – rather than academic – audience in mind and, as such, are very readable.

While I am loath to implode Sontag’s writing into a Northern cul-de-sac, I can not resist posting two little sections which seem to echo concerns here. The first is from an essay On Courage and Resistance, given on receiving the Oscar Romero Award, an award named after the Archbishop of San Salvador who was murdered while celebrating Mass. Sontag writes:

“To fall out of step with one’s tribe; to step beyond one’s tribe into a world that is larger mentally but smaller numerically – if alienation or dissidence is not your habitual or gratifying posture, this is a complex, difficult process.

“It is hard to defy the wisdom of the tribe: the wisdom that values the lives of members of the tribe above all others. It will always be unpopular – it will always be deemed unpatriotic – to say that the lives of the members of the other tribe are as valuable as one’s own.

“It is easier to give one’s allegiance to those we know, to those we see, to those with whom we are embedded, to those with whom we share – as we may – a community of fear.”

The second extract is from The Conscience of Words and seems very relevant to this little corner of the globe too:

“What do we mean, for example, by the word “peace”? Do we mean an absence of strife? Do we mean a forgetting? Do we mean a forgiveness? Or do we mean a great weariness, an exhaustion, an emptying out of rancor? It seems to me that what most people mean by “peace” is victory. The victory of their side. That’s what “peace” means to them, while to others peace means defeat. [Emphasis by Sontag.]

“If the idea takes hold that peace, while in principle to be desired, entails an unacceptable renunciation of legitimate claims, then the most plausible course will be the practice of war by less than total means. Calls for peace will be felt to be, if not fraudulent, then certainly premature. Peace becomes a space people no longer know how to inhabit. Peace has to be re-settled. Re-colonized…”

Not just one thought for the day but two.

Democracy Must Prevail In Zimbabwe

It is becoming increasingly obvious that Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe will stop at nothing to keep his greasy mitts on the levers of power in the cash-strapped African nation.

The once bread-basket of the continent is now the basket-case, yet Mugabe's egomania continues to drive him to maintain his grip. Meanwhile, Zimbabwe's hyperinflation continues to paralyse the country.

It was pretty obvious that Mugabe was going to rig last week's elections to ensure that the Movement for Democratic Change, who had previously received advice from Margaret Ritchie on policy and conflict resolution, didn't overthrow Zanu-PF by democratic means. However, after a week we still haven't heard the presidential results, which would perhaps indicate that Mugabe took more of thrashing than he expected.

Now Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC leader, has accused Mugabe of preparing to go to war against the country's people. Mr Tsvangirai has said that Mugabe is deploying troops and armed militias to intimidate voters ahead of a possible run-off poll. The MDC chief has insisted that he won last weekend's presidential vote.

Unlike most people, Mugabe is not the type of person to accept defeat, and will stop at nothing to avoid being kicked out. Zimbabwe's neighbours must take some responsibility for not being tough enough against their tyrannical counterpart, instead adopting a softly-softly approach down the years. It is imperative that the international community maintains pressure on the Zimbabwean authorities to come clean and avoid any use of force whatsoever to enforce rule by a regime that it seems the people have rejected.

Good luck to the MDC and best wishes to the people of Zimbabwe.

Ó Cuív in the Big Apple

The Minister for the Gaeltacht, Éamon Ó Cuív, is in New York at the moment. Today he announced the Fulbright Irish Language Programme while in the Bronx. Yesterday, he addressed a gathering of academics at New York University and talked to the theme of “The Future of the Irish Language in the 21st Century”. He strongly defended what had been achieved by native governments to protect and promote Irish but warned that the future of Irish was “not fixed…”

“Although I am speaking in a University, I must declare that my interest in the Irish language is the use of Irish as a modern vernacular in every-day life, recognising at the same time its national and historical significance. The Irish State recognises the importance of the Irish language as a vibrant expression of national identity, and of Irish culture, along with our games, dance, music etc.”

He talked of Irish being an official and working language of the European Union, of the Official Languages Act and of the provision of publications, placenames and the role of the broadcast media which also support the language:

“I mentioned earlier that only 1% of the population of Ireland were monolingual at the end of the 19th century. Today, 43% of the public claim that they can speak Irish, while 5% of adults use it as a daily language. 90% of Irish people feel that Irish is important nationally, or personally to them. These are very significant figures when one considers the baseline of decline from which this re-growth began just over 100 years ago. There is no doubt but that without State support, Irish would have died a long time ago.

“Another big challenge has been the transformation of the Irish-speaking community from a poor, rural community to an effectively middle-class community, and the maintenance of the language in the transition. No stability can be reached in relation to the future of the language unless there is an Irish speaking middle-class, not only in the Gaeltacht, but throughout the country. There has also, in recent years, been a significant interest in growth in all-Irish medium education. For example, in 1972, there were only 16 all-Irish primary schools in the country, outside of the Gaeltacht, and this has since increased to 184 schools.

“To achieve these aims, living in a modern, open democracy in the 21st century, Government must seek to bring the community with them, and cannot resort to dictation, which would have negative effects. It is also vital for Government to encourage and seek support from those who do not know the Irish language, as broad community support for the language is vital for its future.”

Ó Cuív spoke of the importance of the language as part of world heritage and said that the Irish government was committed to increasing the use of Irish nationally:

“Due to the tremendous work that has been done in the interim, we now know that we have some 80,000 daily speakers of Irish in the country at present. Irish is being taught in more than 50 universities around the world outside the island of Ireland, it is an official and working language of the European Union, is alive on the internet, TV and radio. It seems to me, on looking back over that period that we have achieved an enormous amount over that period since the early 1950s and that significantly more can be achieved if we endeavour and plan properly to that end.

“I am often asked what is my objective. I personally believe that if, in 20 years time, we have 250,000 daily speakers of Irish, the tide will have definitively turned and that we can reasonably expect to have a Irish-speaking community of sufficient strength to ensue that the future will be one of further growth for the language.”

Understandably, Ó Cuív does his best to put a brave face on language matters and he is right to point out that without State help the cause of Irish would be even weaker. However, what are the chances of there being 250,000 people speaking Irish on a daily basis in 20 years time? The likelihood is that Gaeltacht regions will be even further weakened; the jury is still out on the effectiveness of the Language Act; the Education Minister, Mary Hanafin, is doing her best to undermine the principle of tumoideachas (immersion education) in gaelscoileanna and there are some Irish speakers who contend that it is only a question of time until Fianna Fáil move against Irish as being a compulsory part of the secondary curriculum – all in the name of modernisation, tá a fhios agat.

The future is certainly not fixed; on that we can agree.

‘Glory days’ over

Good piece by Fionnuala O’Connor in today’s Irish Times where she addresses Bertie Ahern’s resignation and asks whether Gerry Adams can be far behind. He is under no internal pressure, she writes, but his “standing has diminished as peace segues into normal, boring politics. The Dáil election was a slap in the face in the face for both party and president. An even more painful Adams realisation must be that he looks a little shrunken where he once stood tallest and most commanding: in west Belfast, his own home base and modern republicanism’s capital.

“Sinn Féin in Stormont has failed to shine and Martin McGuinness powersharing with Ian Paisley, has its drawbacks, not least relegation for Adams. It is a long time since he last looked presidential, and now he has lost face at home.”

O’Connor points to the recent Squinter controversy (what do you mean you hadn’t heard!); she writes that Adams’ reaction was a knee-jerk one and wonders whether Sinn Féin’s “leadership status has to be won afresh in west Belfast”.

O’Connor’s remark on “leadership” is one that should also be exercising the SDLP too, one would think. Reading many of the comments around the Squinter controversy, I was struck by how many people said there were not going to vote Sinn Féin. That will have little effect on Adams. I suspect that 1,000 extra votes for the SDLP would pain him much more. Convincing voters that their best interests are served by voting for the SDLP – as opposed to merely not voting – is a challenge that the party’s leadership should be addressing urgently.

After all, “normal politics” should be an opportunity for normal parties.

In the nós

The beginning of the month usually has me logging on to the latest issue of the internet mag, Beo! (www.beo.ie). However, due to some necessary maintenance of their server, April’s issue will be delayed a day or two. Fear not, though, there is an alternative Internet mag called nós* (which means “custom”). This was launched on Saint Patrick’s Day and is aimed at readers between 18-35 years – a category to which I no longer belong.

Unlike Beo!, you can’t read nós* on line, you need to download it and read it with Adobe Acrobat Reader. One of the editors is Félim Borland (24) and he tells me that the magazine has been downloaded by a 1,000 people since March 17th. I sure most of them were delighted with what they got. Nós* has very high production standards, lots of colour pics, short features, reviews of music, films, gigs and pubs, including Belfast’s own The Duke of York and an article on Des Bishop

One of the talking points has been the sex column, An Cailín sa Chathair, (The Girl in the City) who has been test driving some sex toys for nós*. Ochón, ochón, the length poor Gaels must go to promote the language. Needless to say, that the column has expanded this old lad’s vocabulary and I now know many new words – though whether I will ever be in the position (boom! boom!) to use them is another question. (When I think of the time I spent studying Old Irish.)

Borland and his co-workers are producing the mag on a voluntary basis at the moment but are looking for long-term funding and would like to produce a published version. In the meantime, they are aiming to post a new issue at the beginning of every month. The first one is available at www.nosmag.com It is well worth a look. There is a comment section on line and I am sure they would welcome as much feedback as possible.

Bertie quits

Just heard that an Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has quit, quite unexpectedly. He will be giving up leadership of Fianna Fáil and leaving office on the 6th of May. There is live converage on RTE and TG4 at the moment.

DUP To Launch 'Irish Language Unit'

In a move which some will see as an attempt to emulate Sinn Féin's ill-fated 'unionist outreach' charade, the DUP is to create an 'explorative' Irish Language Unit to examine how the island's native tongue can be sidelined handled in a way which is consistent with unionism.

Clearly this is as a way for Paisley's party to portray itself as somewhat progressive without having to actually concede anything to the Irish language.

However, this shouldn't come as such a big shock. After all, at the Ulster Unionist Convention of 1892 in Botanic Gardens, 20,000 delegates were greeted by the banner 'Erin go Bragh', which appeared on the pavilion, surmounted by a harp and shamrocks.

Wonders never cease...

Update- Yes, it's an April Fool's joke, although the way things have been going in recent times, perhaps it isn't beyond the realms of belief!