Northern Ireland and the Good Friday Agreement: Ten Years On
Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen, my name is Laura McManus. I am a final year student at the University of Ulster at Magee studying Law and Accountancy and as perhaps the greatest member of the Washington Ireland Program 2008, I am interning in the Law department of the Library of Congress. Despite being a conscientious legal scholar, I think I can say with some conviction, this is the most amount of time I’ve ever spent in a Law library!
Just five days ago, I sat with my fellow interns, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, in the rain may I add, in awe of America’s patriotism as they celebrated the birth of these United States. By contrast, in Northern Ireland we do not have one day which the entire country can celebrate in this way. We have what the French would call a “double dear-esh-mont”, which in English, is a sense of a double identity.
I come from a mixed background, which in Northern Ireland terms, means mixed religion not mixed race! I was not raised as a Protestant or Catholic. Having attended a Protestant Grammar school in the heart of a Catholic town, I went on to study in a predominantly Catholic campus, in one of the most divided cities in Northern Ireland. I was raised as a contradiction and I stand here before you as a question mark. Having never felt like I have belonged to either community, I have never identified with Northern Ireland. I am not alone in this. A lack of identity is one of the fundamental problems facing Northern Ireland today. It will be one of the biggest challenges in the coming years as we strive to move away from green and orange politics and instead deal with real issues which impact all people.
Northern Ireland can boast of having a world class education system with some of the most intelligent students in the world. However, many of these young and talented individuals choose to work and study outside of Northern Ireland and sadly, many never return. Northern Ireland has changed for the better, it is a country to be proud of, and we must now work towards bringing these minds back home and therein stop the so called “brain drain”. We do this by working together to create an identity to be proud of.
Over the last 10 years, there have been vast changes for both Ireland and Northern Ireland and we all hope that the most fundamental and lasting changes are still to come. This sea change will be brought about by the next generation. A generation, who’s horizons are not bound by road blockades and who’s aspirations are not curbed by violence. It is the duty of my generation to be that change that we want the next generation to see in Northern Ireland, Ireland and the rest of the world.
Going back to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, as I sat alongside my friends, with a bin bag and a borrowed umbrella to protect me from the elements, I began to appreciate a new sense of identity and a shared sense of belonging. For this realisation, I would like to thank my fellow WIPpers.
In the past 10 years since the Good Friday Agreement, Northern Ireland has changed almost beyond recognition, but while it has come a long way, it still has much further to go before we can truly say that the country has an identity beyond green and orange politics.
Thank you.
