It was with trepidation that many of us crept into the WIP boardroom,such is the Pavlovian conditioning of growing up in our corner of the world. The time had come to at least make an attempt to exorcise the elephant in the boardroom- to openly discuss our personal politics and religion.
Having lived in Edinburgh for some years I think I had became somewhat complacent about the contentious issue of Irish politics. I was therefore surprised to find it quite emotional to discuss my feelings about back home, as it clearly was for many of us. Coming from Northern Ireland never leaves you, no matter where you are. It may effect us all in different ways but it does effect us all.
What emerged was not the dualism that is commonly forced upon us -Protestant/Catholic; Unionist/Nationalist, but a constellation of
opinions that refused to be made binary. There were those with a strong national identity and those with none at all, those with a
strong religious faith and those with none at all. Unionism and Nationalism converged at certain points and diverged at others.
Personally I believe that, regardless of your position, what is inescapable is that together we live on a small island in the middle of
the Atlantic ocean; Ireland North and South sharing the same economic problems. We have little in the way of natural resources and the only opportunity we have for a secure future is investing in our young people. I would love to see the day when the discussion revolved around political issues such as socialism and conservativism rather than the one looming issue of the border. The discussion was insightful and often moving but thankfully it was not naively sugar coated - we have massive issues still to resolve. No group of people could do this in a night but we're at the first step- the ability to explore these issues in an atmosphere without hostility.
'at the end of our exploration
We will return to where we started
And know the place for the first time' TS Elliot
I think during WIP I am starting to know my country for the first time.
The meeting ended with Peter reciting
this poem by Michael Longley, written for the original IRA ceasefire, it served as a poignant ending for our meeting and I hope it does the same for this blog entry.
