Perspectives on religion & politics
Secretary of State Owen Paterson has published a summary of the responses to the Eames Bradley Report on dealing with Northern Ireland’s past, revealing an overwhelmingly negative reaction to it.
As the unionist newspaper the News Letter puts it, ‘Ulster Rejects Eames Bradley Report on the Troubles.’ So is this just another case of ‘Ulster Says No’?
With the 12th of July almost upon us, people living in Northern Ireland can’t help but notice the familiar sights of bonfires being constructed, freshly painted red-white-and-blue kerbstones, and areas adorned with British, Northern Ireland, and UVF flags.
This annual event very much hearkens back to Northern Ireland’s past, and depending on your perspective, is either a celebration of cultural heritage or a destructive ritual that represents the desire of some to cling to old and divisive political aspirations.
Queen’s University recently hosted the launch of a new book edited by Dr Katy Hayward (Queen’s) and Dr Mary Murphy (University College Cork), The Europeanization of Party Politics in Ireland: North and South (Routledge, 2010). At the launch, some of the academics who contributed to the volume presented their perspectives on the impact that the EU has had on political parties within Northern Ireland.
Ulster Unionist MEP Jim Nicholson was on hand to offer his thoughts on the proceedings. I was the author of the chapter on the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), and along with the others who had written on Northern parties, we were asked to address the question:
This morning I had the rather surreal experience of a Benedictine monk greeting me with news of one election result I didn’t expect: the Alliance Party’s Naomi Long had defeated Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader and Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson in the election for the Westminster Parliament.
So I’ll have an interesting answer if, in years to come, people ask the question of where were you when you heard that Peter Robinson had been defeated in East Belfast? I was finishing up a silent retreat in a Benedictine monastery, but that was news worth talking about!
Will we ever know the truth about Gerry Adams and the roles he played during the Troubles? Perhaps the more important question is whether we want to know.
The publication in the Sunday Times of the first part in a serialisation of journalist Ed Moloney’s new book, Voices from the Grave, contains quotations from a sensational interview with Brendan Hughes, a former commander of the IRA in Belfast.
Gerry Adams’ presentation of a programme on the Channel 4 series ‘The Bible: A History,’ has provoked a flurry of comment and indignation on this morning’s radio phone-in shows and in the blogosphere.
The subject of Adams’ programme was ‘Jesus.’ This has prompted the inevitable observations that Adams tries to equate the republican struggle with the situation of the Jews under Roman occupation during Jesus’ time. This could lead to some rather uncomfortable Adams-Jesus parallels. For example, there is debate over on Slugger O’Toole about whether Adams was really trying to massage the Christian message to justify the IRA campaign.
Continue reading ‘Gerry Adams & Jesus: Forgiveness is the Core of the Gospel’
Tomorrow, Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams will be the featured guest on the Channel 4 series, ‘The Bible: A History.’ The series bills itself as, ‘the story of the most influential book ever written, interpreted by seven prominent figures from different walks of life.’
Friday’s Belfast Telegraph carries an interview with Alan McBride, whose wife and father-in-law were killed in the IRA Shankill bomb in 1993. McBride, a graduate of my School’s master’s in Reconciliation Studies, now works at the WAVE Trauma Centre and is a member of the Northern Ireland Victims Forum. He has dedicated his life to building peace.
A column by David Gordon in today’s Belfast Telegraph addresses speculation about the leadership of DUP First Minister Peter Robinson, noting the persistent rumours that he too will bow out of politics following his wife Iris Robinson’s retirement due to depression.
Yesterday in the same paper, Gordon made the case that Mr. Robinson wouldn’t be keen to abandon politics. Gordon also voiced the rather cynical analysis that Mrs. Robinson’s absence from ‘the General Election field may blunt anti-DUP attacks on the expenses issue’, which would inadvertently bolster her husband’s and her party’s position. A cruel point to make, perhaps, but as Gordon claims:
Continue reading ‘Peter Robinson, Gerry Adams and Questions about Political Leadership’
Last night’s UTV Insight special painted in disturbing detail the ordeal of Aine Tyrell, niece of Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams. Tyrell was sexually abused for eight years by her father (Gerry Adams’ brother), Liam, during the height of Northern Ireland’s Troubles. Tyrell’s testimony on the programme was poignant because of her desire for justice – through Northern Ireland’s reformed police and the judicial system – and because of the eloquent way in which she expressed her desire for acknowledgement of her suffering.
Tyrell had reported Liam Adams’ abuse to the police when she was a teenager, but ultimately decided not to pursue a case at that time. She and her family were anxious that any hint of scandal could impinge negatively on the republican cause in which her famous uncle was so prominent.
Continue reading ‘Gerry Adams’ Niece Abuse Case: Acknowledgement for Victims’
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