2011 is the centenary of the Ulster
Covenant, 2013 is the centenary of the Dublin lockout, 2014 is the centenary of
the passage into law of Home Rule, and 2016 will be the centenary of the Easter
Rising .
How, or whether , we commemorate events that
happened 100 years ago will tell us
who we are now, and
who we intend to be in
the future.
Commemorations are, above all, educational exercises. They
inculcate values, for good or ill. They can unite, they can also divide.
For this reason, I argue that, as well as
commemorating 1916, in 2016, we
should also commemorate the 1913
lock out in 2013, and the passage of Home Rule in 1914 in September 2014.
The men and women of 1916 were incredibly
brave, they knew they were facing death. That bravery must be saluted. It
inspired future generations. So
too did the idealism of those involved, which was eloquently expressed in the
writings of Patrick Pearse. One must also recognise that, although it failed in
its immediate goals, the rising was a feat of organisation, that showed what Irish people could do, and countered the stereotypes about Irish people that were
prevalent at the time. It gave confidence to those who founded
the new state five years later.
In this generation we have, at last,
reached a political accommodation between Unionism and Nationalism on this
island. That was something that eluded successive previous generations of
politicians. It eluded O Connell, it eluded Davis, it eluded de Valera, just as
it eluded both Collins and Redmond.
Nothing must be done or said now, in any of our retrospections in 2016,
that would put that very recent reconciliation
of Unionism and Nationalism at risk .
While we remember what
happened in Dublin in April
1916, we must not forget
that other great sacrifices were by Irish people in the same year , notably the inspiring bravery ,and
appalling sacrifice, in the Battle of the Somme, and of other battles in Northern France, where thousands of Irishmen gave their lives . Many of them hoped,
as did Tom Kettle MP, who was killed in the same year, that the shared
sacrifice in France, of Unionist and Nationalist soldiers, would heal the
divisions between their communities at home.
Nor, when we commemorate the 1916 Rising, should
we forget the uninvolved civilians, the police, and others who had no choice in the matter, who lost their
lives or their livelihoods in Easter week in 1916
in Dublin. Their sacrifice was all the more real for being unsought.
But Irish history is not predominantly
about battles. We must
ensure that our commemorations do
not focus only on physical force, whether on the
fields of France or the streets of Dublin.
I believe it is really important, if we are
to learn the right lessons from history, that we salute those who lived for
Ireland, as well as those who died for it.
We must remember those who worked for decent living
conditions and a more egalitarian society, people like Jim Larkin and William O
Brien. There will be an occasion
to do that in 2013, the centenary of the Lock Out. The Irish Trade Union
movement and its achievements must not be eclipsed by other commemorations, as
they were for many years.
We must also properly commemorate the
patient, peaceful and exhausting work for Irish legislative independence of
Isaac Butt, Charles Stewart Parnell, John Dillon, John Redmond and Joe Devlin.
The time to do that will come on the 18th
September 2014, which will be
the centenary of the passage into law of Home Rule. The struggle for
Home Rule had begun 40 years before at the Conference in Dublin, attended by 800
delegates,which established the Home Rule League, yet many people today forget
that Home Rule was actually passed into law. Its implementation was postponed
by the Great War, that was all.
40 years patient and skilful parliamentary work, exploiting
the weaknesses of opponents but also making judicious compromises, rallying
support abroad while keeping support at home mobilized, culminated in the
passage of the Act into law in 1914.
The passage of Home Rule was a triumph of democratic, non violent,
politics. Obtaining Home Rule in
1914 required the same qualities that John Hume exemplified in more recent
times.
The Act was for Home Rule for all of Ireland, although the
possibility of temporary exclusion of some Ulster counties was mooted. After the passage of the Act the
principle of Irish legislative independence had been irrevocably conceded, even
by the Conservative and Unionist party of the UK. This was something that was unthinkable even
a few years before.
Continuance of Irish representation at Westminster under Home Rule,
would have meant that total separation had not been achieved, but, on the other
hand, that greater Irish parliamentary influence at Westminster, would have made
discriminatory policies, of the kind that occurred under Stormont from 1922 to
1972, totally impossible.
It is important, therefore, that Home Rule
be commemorated, as a complement to the commemoration of Easter Week.
Today’s problems of Ireland, are ,in truth, more susceptible to being solved
by the patient peaceful
political methods, of the kind
deployed by Irish Home Rule advocates between 1873 and 1914, or , if necessary by the peaceful
protests of the kind deployed by
Irish workers in 1913 , than they are to be are by the methods used in 1916 .
As I said, commemoration is a form of education for the
future. That is why we should remember 1913, and 1914, as well as 1916.
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