February
23, 2013
More
questions ...
Friday
morning we had a meeting with Pat Sheehan, Sinn Fein MLA for West Belfast. (hwww.westbelfastsinnfein.com/representatives/18094).
I had heard Pat speak two years ago when he met with the Saint Mary’s group,
and knew that he was an engaging and informative speaker. He didn’t
disappoint. He gave us two hours of his
time, and wove together a history lesson (from a republican viewpoint, of
course), his own personal story as one of the 1980 hunger strikers in Long Kesh
prison, and political ideology and philosophy in our time together. He was 55
days on a hunger strike, near death when the strike was called off. We met at
the offices of Tar Anall, an organization that offers a wide range of support
to republican ex-prisoners and their families (taranall.ie/cms), and has an IRA
museum on the bottom floor.
As
usual, most of us left with more questions to ponder. When asked about Sinn Fein’s
platform, he stated that it is a party that advocates equality, and is a party
of independence. Sheehan stated openly that Sinn Fein sees The Good Friday
Agreement as a route to a united Ireland through political and peaceful means.
However, he also said that didn’t necessarily mean one government, for example,
the government in the south, which many regard as corrupt. Sheehan stated that
Sinn Fein has always had socialist principles, with basic human rights as a
cornerstone of its platform. Since being in the government, Sinn Fein has
always held the education portfolio because of their belief that education is
the key to addressing issues of poverty.
When
asked about a possible emerging Northern Ireland identity, he was doubtful, but
pondered the possibilities. On the current partnership government in Stormont,
he asked what many are asking – can you have an effective government without an
opposition? Sheehan contends that yes, you can, and that many effective
governments around the world have the same model. On what he calls a “truth
recovery” process, similar to truth and reconciliation processes in South
Africa or Canada, he said that unless there is some kind of investigation
process at the top, ie with the British state, he did not believe that folks
would have much investment in the process.
I
expressed my confusion about the way an outsider might refer to the
north/Northern Ireland outside of this country. What were we to do with all of
our “Northern Ireland Dialogue for Peace” t-shirts? Is there any non-biased way
to refer to the region? He laughed and said perhaps we could alternate ... also
that I could probably let myself off the hook a bit – the most important thing
was to understand and be aware of the difference.
After
a quick tour of the IRA museum downstairs, most of us headed off to catch a
“Hop On Hop Off” tour of Belfast, then home to Farset to watch the Canada/US
hockey game.
Saturday
was a day off – most went off in groups to explore more of the city. Many
(including myself) ended up at a Belfast Giants hockey game. I was amazed at
the packed arena – mostly filled with kids under 10. It was an excited and
animated crowd that was there to cheer for their Elite League champions. Today,
we evaluate and reflect for a couple of hours, then head to Robinsons where we
have been promised a TV set to watch the Gold Medal game ... that is until 1:30
when the advertised football game starts. Then we will have to watch the game
without sound – a small sacrifice I suppose. Will post some pictures of the Canadian
infiltration of ice hockey into a Belfast sports bar. Go Canada Go!
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