Edges Magazine Issue 27 - The Conflict Has Left Its Mark

EDGES MAGAZINE Issue 27

November 2001

The Conflict Has Left Its Mark

Father Jim McCartney

In Northern Ireland I have met some wonderful people. In these final days I meet with a few people who have lived through the troubles over the last thirty years. Mick has had first hand experience of the tragedy of conflict. Both his brothers were killed at the hands of terrorists. In 1975 his brother Tony aged 18 was at home with his wife and baby. "A car pulled up outside the door" he says "two guys got out. They asked for Tony by name and they gunned him down." Loyalists murdered him. Eamon his other brother, was accused of being an informer and was also shot the same year by the IRA. Mick has had to come to terms with the harsh reality of conflict. He tells me his first reaction was revenge, but over the years he has come to forgive those who have hurt his family. "The perpetrators of the violence were victims themselves" he says, "there are so many people with bad memories of the past, but we have had to move on. I do hope the Peace Process will not collapse. We owe it to our children."

John is now approaching forty.He can remember the early seventies."I didn ’t really know what was going on at the time"he tells me."I thought the British soldiers had come to kill us.I was afraid.We thought a war was going to break out."Over the years John has known several people who have been killed. "They never had a chance to live,"he says."I still feel bitter about the British Army ’s presence here.Growing up in the 1970s made you feel very angry and the memories still last".Patrick was in the Bogside of Derry on January 30 1972 near the Rossville flats.On that day he witnessed several people being killed. He was marching with his father protesting against the policy of internment."I can still see unarmed innocent people being shot dead on Rossville Street and William Street",he tells me."I remember feeling numb for weeks after.For years I took part in fierce confrontations,throwing stones at the security forces in the height of the troubles". In these final days I still see a Province that is struggling to come to terms with its past history.I have been welcomed by so many people and have found the various institutions and the Security Forces so helpful.Yet the Good Friday Agreement is struggling to survive.In the last few weeks we have seen the one- day suspension of the Northern Ireland Assembly.Both the British and Irish Governments are calling on all sides to take the next five weeks to resolve the outstanding issues of decommissioning,demilitarisation and reform of the RUC. Undoubtedly there is still an atmosphere of mistrust in the political arena and the potential for another Balkan ethnic conflict is always the greatest nightmare that needs to be avoided at all times.A place that has been under siege by rival factions for the last three decades has left its mark on the political agendas, creating a blockade in peoples ’minds that prevents acceptance of each other.

Kieran is studying Law at Queen ’s University;he lives in a mixed house of students form both sections of the community.On 12 December 2001 he travelled to Dundalk with a group of his friends to listen to President Clinton address the people from the North and South.He tells me over 60,000 people gathered in the Market Square to listen to the President call upon each individual "to stand up for peace today,tomorrow and for the rest of your life." Kieran is a member of an ecumenical Prayer Group that meets during University term.Scripture reading and prayer has enabled him to look at people differently. He was brought up in a staunch republican area and never really had any friends from a protestant background.During the last two years he has made lots of friends from all walks of life and no longer looks at people with a religious label. He tells me religion has played an important part in creating tensions."The Churches have not always confronted and challenged their communities to change.Northern Ireland needs the Churches more than ever before.Church leaders can show great signs of unity,but at a local level it can be a different story.I know in some areas,especially in the rural communities,there are no signs of ecumenism."

Kirean represents the many people here in Ulster who give a sign of hope. However,they still battle against a human thought pattern that has been wounded by a conflict.As I fly out of Belfast the words of the French philosopher Peter Abelard seem to speak to me.In his "Good Friday:the Third Nocturn"he wrote "may the three days pass,to win the joy of thine Easter day".The joy of the Easter day will take place when all sections of the community can trust each other.