A Warm House for Everyone: Seeking a Pathway to the Future by Lucilita Bhreatnach: Wear an Easter Lily

 

A Warm House for Everyone

Iam writing this column in New York. Richard and I are here for the weekendworking on my remarks for Monday night when President Bill Clinton and I willshare reflections on the Good Friday Agreement negotiations and developmentssince then. I will return to this in next week’s column.

PresidentClinton played a critical role in the build up to the Agreement, encouraged andsupported by Irish America. He was at the end of the phone as agreement wasreached and has been an enabler of our process ever since. So too has HilaryClinton.

OurMonday night event is in Cooper Union Great Hall. I’ve spoken there oncebefore. So has Abraham Lincoln, Barak Obama, Bill Clinton and a range of otherrenowned speakers from the Arts, Science, politics and activist sectors. Justsaying. 

‘Ifyou can make it here you can make it anywhere’ says Richard.

Ourlast event before leaving Ireland for New York was a Peoples’ Assembly inthe Carrickdale Hotel in Carrickcarnon, right on the border in CountyLouth. This Peoples’ Assembly was an opportunity for citizens fromthe Armagh, Down and Louth border region to have their say on the futureof Ireland. 

Theill-effects of living under British rule are keenly felt in this area and theimplications of Brexit casts a long shadow. So too does the BritishGovernment’s Legacy Bill of Shame and its mean spirited ‘Borders andNationalities Bill’ which makes it mandatory for visitors travelling into theNorth from the South to firstly obtain an Electronic TravelAuthorisation.  This is the latest threat from London to the peoplehere particularly in this region.

The Carrickdaleevent was the fourth organised by Sinn Féin’s Commission on the Future ofIreland. It was chaired by ConorPatterson of Newry and Mourne Enterprise Agency. The panel included; ReverendKaren Sethuraman; ICTU Assistant General Secretary Gerry Murphy; MairéadMcAlinden former CEO of the Southern Health & Social Care Trust and AidanBrowne of Dundalk’s DkIt's Regional Development Centre.

Theygave valuable insights and their contributions were well worth listening to. Soalso were contributions from the audience. They were thoughtful, spirited,informed and very interesting for me, as someone not from that region, as wellI am sure for everyone else.

It was standing room only and the packed gatheringheard Uachtarán Shinn Féin Mary Lou McDonald open the event. 

Ina wide ranging address Mary Lou spelt out the difficulties caused by partitionand the opportunities which will be created by ending division and sheaddressed the importance of reaching out to our unionist neighbours. Shesaid: “We want to encourage popular grass roots participation in that ongoingconversation about our shared future. Everyone should have their say. There aremany people in this region who are unionist. The Orange was foundedin neighbouring county Armagh. 

Thattradition is reflected in our national colours.  This is the place that weall call home. Our resolve is to make it a better place for all, unionists areour neighbours and they should also be our friends’.

Thiscolumn hopes that Jeffrey Donaldson’s DUP officer board picked up on this.

The SinnFéin President extended the hand of friendship to them when she said: “Tothose from the unionist culture I extend a sincere welcome – the new Irelandmust be a warm house for all and your traditions and beliefs must be respectedand cherished. I invite you especially to be part of the conversation and forus all to plan for the future together … Conversations are happening across thecountry – in our places of work, in our universities, as we drop our childrenat the school gates and at the match on Sundays!”

In recent years a vast amount of academic research,new studies and books on all aspects of reunification have been produced. Theyall urge the Irish Government to begin planning and preparing forconstitutional change and there is now an urgent imperative for the governmentto establish a Citizen’s Assembly to prepare the groundwork in advance of aunity referendum.

As Mary Lou said: “This is an exciting time forus all; filled with opportunity and hope for a better future. That’s whywe need to get it right. Our new constitutional national democracy willemerge from a phased transition and that is why planning and preparation shouldbegin now. Grassroots communities should be involved at the beginning of thatprocess, not at the end.”

The Sinn Fein President pointed out that theCommission on the Future of Ireland is about inviting working people, tradeunionists, business owners, community activists, women, our youth, LGBTQpeople, Gaeilgeoirí, academics, our new communities, Travellers, those withdisabilities and others to have their say on the process of change.

Speaking directly about the challenges facing theborder region Mary Lou said: “Our shared challenge is to create a futurewhich is warm and welcoming for everyone and where the potential prosperity ofareas like this border region can be fully unlocked.”

Sothere you have it. Perhaps when this column returns to Ireland the DUP attitudeto participating in the Northern Assembly will be clearer.

Or,perhaps not?

 

 

This weekLucilita Bhreatnach, one of our negotiators at Good Friday 1998 recalls theseevents.

 

Each one of us involved in thenegotiations has their reminiscences of the days leading up to the Good FridayAgreement. Also, of the preceding years, talks about talks and then, the actualtalks with the three governments, Dublin, London and the White House.

We were seeking a pathway into thefuture. Negotiations involve taking risks, listening to the other side andbeing willing to move into a new space. Every obstacle we faced had to be overcomeor talks would have broken down on many occasions.

Our negotiation teams comprised partymembers, including ex-prisoners and elected representatives. We were pursuing apeaceful and democratic solution to an undemocratic situation. England's policyin Ireland was still resisting that democratic outcome.

In the late hours of April 1998, therewere tensions and bad tempers, emotional and technical problems; loads of bi-lateralsand papers galore. The party leadership had resolved to engage and to reach anagreement, if possible based on the democratic principles governing our outlookon the negotiation process.

At some stage Bairbre De Brún, AlexMaskey and I found ourselves in a room with officials checking on papers lateinto the night. We engaged on human rights issues, a Bill of Rights, policingand the Irish language.

In a corridor, I bumped into BertieAhern and he said ‘tell Martin and Gerry I have told them we are not giving anymore.’ I put an Easter lily into the palm of his hand and offered mysympathies, as his mother had died that week.

Some days earlier, I drove to Dublin tobe with my daughter for the birth of her first child, Aoife. Back in Stormont,Bríd Curran gave me a card signed by the team for Aoife.

We waited all night long. At some stageMitchel McLoughlin, Bairbre and I addressed the media outside in the freezingsnow. We tried to keep hope alive but the talks were confidential and none ofus wanted any damaging leaks to the media. Bairbre and I did the internationalmedia, in Spanish and French agus as Gaeilge.

Back inside, Siobhán and I sat next toa photocopying machine in the hall ready to copy the all-important documentonce it arrived when the Unionist reached a decision.

There were phone calls back and forthwith the prisoners. It felt surreal at times. We knew we were on the cusp ofsomething big but also that we would not get everything we wanted.

Gerry and Martin appeared, documentswere handed out, which we all read. No time then for much sleep for we had toget ready for the plenary session chaired by George Mitchell. I had met him inthe hall and he shook my hand saying ‘you did very well’, (meaning all of us Iam sure).

When formalities were over one of theloyalists told me he had studied Irish and got a Fáinne while in jail.

Twenty-five years later, the GoodFriday Agreement has yet to be fully implemented along with other agreements. Ilook forward to a New Ireland that is multicultural, pluralist and nonsectarian based on equality with full inclusion of the Unionist and othercommunities in Ireland.

Wear an Easter Lily

Easter is only days away.It is a time when tens of thousands of people across the island, andinternationally, will attend Easter commemorations to mark the anniversary ofthe Easter Rising and the Proclamation of the Republic. The symbol of ourenduring commitment to those ideals is the Easter Lily.

The first Easter Lily badges were designed in 1925by Cumann na mBan. The dual purpose of the Easter Lily was to raise money forthe Republican Prisoners’ Dependents Fund and to honour the sacrifice made bythe men and women of the 1916 Rising. The original Easter Lily badge washand-made.

So, wear an Easter Lilythis weekend with pride and in remembrance of past generations.