This is something I wrote a few weeks after I arrived in Ireland. If you looked at my pictures for December 2011, you'd know that I took a black cab tour. This was one of the very first things that I did with my co-worker Paige. It was to introduction us to both the Troubles and Belfast. Through my work, the people I've met, the places I've seen, the experiences I've had, and the friends that I've met, my thoughts on and understanding of the Troubles and the current political situation has developed. But, I decided to include this because it marks some of my first thoughts on the political situation here.
“This
post is actually my reflections on one of the first things I did in Ireland. I
know many of you have been looking at the pictures that I have been posting on
facebook, and some of you may have spent some time over in Ireland as well. One
of the most striking things about Ireland is its beauty. The richest shades of
green cover the landscape. (When you’re lucky) the most amazing blues light up
the skies. The majesty of the Mourne mountains is always present in Co. Down,
and you do not have to travel far to see the crashing waves. It is truly a
breathtakingly beautiful place to live. It is such a blessing to walk outside
of my home and be greeted with the grandeur of God’s creation, and I can only
hope that I never allow the extraordinary to become the ordinary.
With
all the beauty that is present in Ireland, it’s sometime hard to remember that
there is a dark, bloody and terrible history – a dark, bloody, and terrible history
that is still shaping and affect the area.
Before
coming to Ireland, I tried to read up and learn what I could about “The
Troubles.” The Troubles refers to the violence that occurred in Northern
Ireland during the early 60s up through the late 90s. The majority of the
violence ended with the Signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. But, do
not be deceived, wounds are still raw and incidents of violence continue to
occur. Very simply and too briefly put, the violence took place between Irish,
Catholic Nationals (the most notable paramilitary group being the IRA – The
Irish Republican Army) and British, Protestant Loyalists. The Troubles was an
ethnic/political conflict, in which ethnicity and political ideology aligned
with religion.
My
brief explanation consists of a few facts and dates, like something you would
on Wikipedia. The dates are easy in comparison to the lived experience of these
people. In reality, the Troubles is surrounded by a complicated history full of
gray and stories that are almost always incomplete and one sided. But, you need
to start somewhere, and I started in West Belfast, on a tour of the Catholic
neighborhoods with Kevin, a personal friend of Fr. John.
Fr.
John was serving as a prison chaplain when he first met Kevin. Kevin was
incarcerated in the mid 90s and was released from jail as part of the Good
Friday Agreement. As Kevin explained to us, he is a Republican and was
imprisoned for his political views, but now, he is very much committed to the
peace process. One of the things I appreciated about Kevin was at the very
beginning of our tour, he told us that he was in no way telling us the whole
story. He would not try to present the Loyalist position, for that, we would
need to talk to a Loyalist. Therefore, this reflection is only based upon the
experience I had with Kevin and the sites that he showed Paige and I.
During
our journey through the Catholic neighborhoods of we saw memorial gardens, wall
murals, the memorial plaques dedicated those killed in the Bloody Sunday
Massacre, and went to the IRA museum in the Falls Road section of Belfast. We
then ended our tour by going to Milltown Cemetery.
As we
moved through West Belfast Kevin talked to us about the curfews placed upon
Catholics neighborhoods, the Blanket protest, the Hunger Strikes, the role of
Bobby Sands, the shoot to kill policies of the police forces, the lack of
political status and trials given to IRA and other National paramilitary
groups, Long Kesh, and his own experience in the Belfast Jail. It was a lot to
take in. And to be honest, I’m still reflecting upon the experience. To hear
the story of someone who lived through and was directly involved in the
Troubles was not like reading about the events in a book, it was personal,
intimate, and heartbreaking.
After
much reflection, there are three thoughts that I would like to briefly share
with you.
1.) The Legacy of Violence. This was term that Kevin used. He talked to us about how
violence and hate are so easily and fluidly passed from one generation to
another. Kevin shared with us a bit of his own experience and how he remembered
as a child being awakened to clattering in the streets and when he asked his
father what was happening, he was told Bobby Sands was just incarcerated…. A
little over ten years later, Kevin was sent to the same prison. Stories like
this make us stop and truly think. How do we break these types cycles? Does a
cease fire really bring about peace? How do you truly forgive another? What can
I do? This is challenge that the people of Belfast and all of the north are
faced with now – How do you break out of patterns of violence and hatred and
enter into the process of peace and forgiveness.
2.) War or
Crime? From the Nationalist prospective, the IRA and other nationalist
paramilitary groups were engaged in war. From the Loyalist prospective, the
nationalists were criminals. At first the difference between terms may not seem
to make much of a difference, but it did. If the Troubles was considered a war,
those incarcerated would be considered prisoners of war. But, if those involved
in the Trouble were viewed as citizens who broke the law, those incarcerated
would be considered criminals. What was at stake was “special category status”
aka political recognition. As Margaret Thatcher, the British Prime Minister at
the time, said, “We are not prepared to consider special category status for
certain groups of people serving sentences for crime. Crime is crime is crime,
it is not political.” The Blanket protest and Hunger Strikes were in response
to this policy, but both attempts were unsuccessful in gaining special category
status for prisoners.
3.) The Loss of the
Youth. One of the things that struck me the most was the amount of
young people who were killed in the troubles. The different memorial gardens
that we visited often had plaques with the names of those who died, and so many
of them were in their late teens and 20s. It was people my age who were
fighting, being imprisoned, and dying. And even now, it is the young people who
are most likely to become involved in paramilitary activities. Many of you
reading this post work with young people, and I want to affirm the work that you
are doing. There is such a need both here and Ireland and also in the States to
provide young people with safe places to be, strong role models, and positive
affirmation.
Like I
said earlier, this is only one small part of the story. Everyone had their own
story, their own experiences. With only part of the story it can be easy to
demonize the other and draw inaccurate conclusions. It was dirty war, and blame
certainly falls on both sides. In closing, I ask for your prayers. Prayers for
a community that is in need of healing. This isn’t history that took places
centuries ago. The effects of the Troubles are still be felt today in and
around Belfast. So many people still living today are grieving the loss of a
loved one who died or disappeared. There are high rates of unemployment and
alcoholism. There are still protest marches and acts of violence fueled by
political ideology. And, young people are still at risk of being involved with
paramilitary groups. There is much work to be done, but, rays of hope are
present. There are many people who are committed to peace-building and true
reconciliation, there are ecumenical groups who meet regularly, and there are
many youth workers who dedicated their lives to getting kids off the streets.
Our Lady, Queen of Peace…pray for us.”
