The Troubled Isle (Part Five: the current situation)

THis is not well-written: I dream of giving birth to a child who will ask, "Mother, what was war?" ~Eve Merriam

 

As I am writing this, there is breaking news certain dissident Republicans have killed two soldiers in Antrim. Peter Burns of the SDLP (a nationalist party dedicated to peace) said the dissidents were responsible, ‘beyond a shadow of a doubt.’ All the dissident movements were said to have disarmed in 2005 just weeks after the Provisional I.R.A did so. Even many elements of the most extreme Republicans had begun to see democracy as the way forward when Stormont became operational, more still when institutions such as the PSNI became more inclusive.  The dissidents had perhaps been active in crimes such as robbery or policing their communities since 29 people were killed by a R.I.R.A bomb in 1998 but there had been no successful terror campaigns. However, there was a bomb found in a car last month. There were also attacks on the non-sectarian PSNI, which has been deliberately remodelled to be impartial and inclusive, last year.

 

Whether this will lead to the collapse of Stormont is uncertain but for now there is a very fragile agreement to continue the coalition. The attack came just hours after the news that Special Reconnaissance Regiment, similar to the S.A.S, had been deployed in Northern Ireland yesterday. The S.A.S was responsible for calculated assignations during the troubles. Both Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams have said that the deployment of troops risked alienating mainstream Republicans.

 

The Democratic Unionists such as Peter Robinson say that there must now be complete support of the security forces within Northern Ireland. Now, two soldiers, have been killed when they were not actively at war; when, in fact, the troubles were said to be over. The dissident movements represent only a tiny minority of the nationalist community. However, these movements may be able to derail the peace protest. I think there is certainly going to be an anti-Catholic backlash.

 

The Unionist paramilitaries had refused to decommission arguing that their arms were necessary for defence of Ulster, such actions reinforce their opinions and the decision of Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde to bring in the Special Reconnaisance Regiment. Loyalist areas continue to be policed by armed paramilitaries. After serious rioting in 2004, Peter Hain said Loyalists were the most serious threat to peace. When Loyalists shot at police in 2005, Northern Ireland secretary, Peter Hain was forced to concede they were not obeying the ceasefire. More than even this, a member of the U.D.A, Michael Stone, tried to blow up Stormont, the Irish parliament.

 

The dissident Republican movements have now shown that they are active too. They are prepared to use the same tactics as the Loyalists. Northern Ireland has perpetually teetered on the brink of Civil War but ‘the vast majority of those in Northern Ireland will be dismayed.’ As H.G Wells once stated: 'if we do not end war, war will end us.' No words could better summarise the reality of violence in Northern Ireland with its 1.5million population.

 

The Troubles has left the ordinary people of Northern Ireland on both sides psychologically truamatised. The city of Belfast has been compared to London during the Blitz. The stress of bomb attacks, street disturbances, security checkpoints, and the constant military presence had the strongest effect on children and young adults who have higher rates of suicide and depression than anywhere else in the U.K. Some have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

 

Since the peace process Catholics have gained better employment opportunities, positive discrimination policy even favours them, and education has improved. Yet it is hard to imagine that the eight hundred years in which they have not recieved the same high standards of education or employment opportunities can be rectified in a generation. People's parents education and careers too often determine their education and careers. The inequalities are cross-generational: less educated parents, with lower paid jobs, and lower levels of aspiration will create children who are less educated and with worse jobs.

 

Housing is still sub-adequate and segregation remains a major issue in Northern Ireland.. 92.5% (98% in Belfast) of public housing in Northern Ireland is divided along religious grounds. The murals represent a huge part of the seperation in culture. It was estimated in 2005 that more than 1,400 people a year were being forced to move as a consequence of  initimidation. Since the peace process and the political settlement, the number of ‘peace lines’ (walls used to seperate the communities) have doubled. The communities had begun to trust one another again, but this attack is likely to increase distrust. Robert E Lee affirmed of the American Civil War: 'what a cruel thing war is: to seperate and destroy families and friends.'

 

I want to be involved in mediation in Northern Ireland because I truly believe life does not have to have hatred and division but the only way to create that world is going to be with people talking to one another. If I can have the tiniest part in encouraging this, I will believe my life has been worthwhile. I believe there can be a world without war and exploitation, that all races can live together as one, as Martin Luther King said in his famous, ‘I have a dream’ speech 'all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last, free at last, free at last.’

 

 

 

 

 

Reviews

[Emily B]

I walk the battlefields. The ones where thousands of men died during that American Civil War. Sometimes I can almost hear the voices echoing on the wind, 'we must teach them to respect this place.'

Take those lessons. Teach them where you are. I've walked the fields that were prison camps during that time. I've felt the fear and suffering that lived there. Teach those lessons. Where you are. Your voice is strong. I have no doubt that you will make a difference.

Thank you for sharing this with us here.

[Donald Meikle]

I have been traumatized by war since living and learning to read in a bomb shelter during the blitz, It has driven me to escape in books (well written books ) for many years. It sickens me that Irish people can succumb to christianity so far as to kill and hate each other. On second thought anyone who can accept this gift from God called Ireland and promptly invent and believe in a better place called Heaven deserves to live in The Troubles

[Gandré]

This was truly informative, I don't know such contents, yes your voice is strong. this already is difference. Many don't know, we need to know. thank you for your words upon my poem, too.