The Good Friday Generation #LyraMcKee Legacy

Yesterday one of the quotes from Lyra McKee that really struck home was this:

“We were the Good Friday Agreement generation, destined to never witness the horrors of war but to reap the spoils of peace. The spoils just never seemed to reach us.”

Today on the day after she died of the gun shot wound she received on the streets of Derry we learn that two others  of that Good Friday Agreement generation have been arrested for her murder. These are three young people who should have been able to reap the spoils of peace.

Twenty one years ago after that other Good Friday they was a feeling of hope about the future for Northern Ireland. Our politicians were talking about talking responsibility for our health service, our economy, our education and all the other departments. Trust me as someone who was in the civil service either side of devolution I know the enthusiasm that local politicians had (yes even those who were opposed to the Good Friday Agreement).

But this weekend after hearing about the ages of those arrested I got thinking. Is it really because the Good Friday Agreement generation didn't really reap the spoils of peace that we know have these young people taking to arms.

We have to acknowledge that there has been some unrest in certain areas for a while. We have to look at why this has allowed to escalate.

Our politicians have to take some responsibility, only last week Arlene Foster again used the scare story that unionists have to vote DUP to prevent Sinn Féin being the largest party. When our politicians still talk about us and them there is still division and not a shared future. Yesterday she was united with all the other parties standing in the Creggan at a vigil for a victim of violence in Northern Ireland.

The issues that impact the poorest in Northern Ireland whether in the Creggan or East Belfast, whether Protestant or Catholic, gay or straight have been put on hold for over 2 years now. Decisions that cannot be made without a Minister are not being made. The spoils of peace are at a standstill. Partially this is down to the two largest parties still posturing with us and them redlines.

Twenty one years on from the people of Northern Ireland voting to allow their politicians to take back control of our future. Twenty one years on from us trusting them to be able to share that power they are failing to act in our interests. At the moment there is too much playing at party politics rather that dealing with the real politics and sadly here in Northern Ireland too often that means making everything into a green or orange issue. If you are into consensus politics and agree with something that one side suggests you are even accused of the worst excesses of them uns.

This is not healthy, we need to step away from all of this name calling and work on making things better for the generation that didn't experience the horrors of war, we need to be able to provide with the opportunity to enjoy the spoils of peace.

Blogged elsewhere: Condemnation of desecration of Derry wreathes to city's and family dead

The war memorial in the diamond in Londonderry/Derry has personal significance to me as one of my Great-Great Uncle's names appears on the south eastern face. He was killed on the second day of the first 1918 Battle of the Somme. The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers with whom he was serving reported heavy losses on the first day, his death is recorded as on the second say of action of that spring offensive.

The Irish regiments were a mix of men of protestant and catholic background. Indeed looking through the list of names of fellow Inniskilling Fusiliers who died in that 15 day offensive there is a balanced mix, even on the memorial in the Diamond. Indeed in that battle the 36th (Ulster) Division and 16th (Irish) Division into which the Inniskilling's battalions were split were the two heaviest losses in that campaign with 7310 and 7149 men falling respectively.

Read full article on Liberal Democrats in Northern Ireland

Arson not the answer even if words enflame

As I've said before on this blog I'm proud to be an Ulster man. I may also have mentioned that the family heritage comes from the North West of the Province and by that I mean Donegal, which of course is now in the republic.

So when last weekend DUP MLA for Mid Ulster Ian McCrea tweeted this last weekend:

I was actually rather divided. You see while the family historically is from Donegal, my father's line for at least four generations comes from the city on the Foyle, that give the County of Londonderry its name. Indeed the last Gaelic game I saw live was the Derry v Antrim game at Casement Park after doing some Yes! campaigning outside.

However, this being Northern Ireland you have to be careful of the words you use. In the early hours of Sunday morning the picture to the left shows the remains of the MLA's car after it was torched.

The MLA was disgusted, and quite rightly so, as there is a Oil Cylinder nearby and this inferno was not far from his front door. Yes his is right that arson is too much of a response, no matter how much his inappropriate Tweet enflamed, but of course it was his lack of respect that led to an increase in the heat over this issue. But if we are to start talking about a shared future, maybe Mr McCrea needs to visit the young Gaelic team on the Shankhill Road, which I blogged about the week before his comments.

Maybe if some of our DUP members were to attend a Gaelic game and see that the crowd mingle more like a Rugby crowd than the segregation of an Association Football match. If they see there is less crowd trouble here than at a Linfield v Glentoran game (two team with largely loyalist support). My challenge to Mr McCrea and his DUP colleagues is go to a GAA match with your SDLP and DUP opposite numbers and take them along to a Rugby game. Learn about the sports that many have seen dividing the community in unity, look around you and see people enjoying themselves. Wanting their team to win at the level that they are competing, that is a common trait in all sport for all sections of our community.

If you are elected to represent a constituency you need to represent all of the people, you don't need to support all the same teams but you have to respect those that do follow a team that makes up part of the community that elect you want to see that team win.

We shall find out in 17 July whether Donegal or Derry will be successful in the Ulster Championships.

Peace to bridge the Foyle

As a son of (at least) four generations of City of Derry* today marks an auspicious day for the City.

Since they have had the statue Hands Across the Divide two hands out stretched and not quite touching.

Hands Across the Divide (1992) Maurice Harron

Now from today there is the Peace Bridge. As one of those from Protestant descent whose direct family lived for as long as they could on the predominantly Nationalist west side (renamed from the Cityside in recent BBC coverage), though with lots of family on the east side (again renamed from the Waterside) I'm used to being on both sides of the City. But for many in the city they have never crossed to the other side of their city. There is less need to these days. Apart from maybe shopping which is in an area just across from the Bridge on the Cityside there is little need to venture further for most people.

Very few Protestants I guess will have walked through the Bogside area and taken in the murals of the Bogside Artists in the Poeple's Gallery. Very few from the Cityside will have ventured over to the Waterside Theatre. For the City of Culture 2013 surely it is time to embrace each others culture, or at least to not be afraid of being in each others presence.

The One Show had a sneak peak of the Bridge during the week and sent one person from each community across the bridge to meet in the middle. I happened to like that item a lot as my Dad's cousin George Glenn was one of the two people they interviewed and used for the meeting.

I for one hope that the Peace Bridge is sign of a shared future and that people will start to mingle in Londonderry again. The River Foyle for too long has been a divide (there are tiny exceptions). The City has changed a lot in its attitude and outlook. Here's to a bridge to a shared future.


*And I'm using the term as written on the family's 1901 and 1911 census returns.

Glenn family church reopens

Picture from The Belfast Telegraph

When you walk out of First Derry Presbyterian Church you walk straight out unto the City Walls overlooking the Bogside, Creggan and Brandywell areas of the city. Down below you can make out Free Derry corner.

It is the church that my father first got involved in the Boys Brigade an assossiationwith the organisation that would last the rest of his life. An organisation that is now being attended by the third generation of his family.

It was where my father and his father before him served as League of Church Loyalty Secretary encouraging regular attendance from the children. A role that I took on at Trinity Bangor in later years. 

One of the times I walked out of there I did so alongside my late father, brother and one other male relative. On our shoulders was the coffin of a widow of a former elder of the church, my grandmother. My cousin Rachel was playing Vivaldi's Spring on her violin as we walked down the aisle, I'd previously been up in that pulpit to give a reading.

It was Good Friday.

As a result when a few years later on another Good Friday the politicians of Northern Ireland managed to sign an agreement between them about a combined future for Northern Ireland I remembered the symbolism of that woman's life.

She spent all of her married, and much of her widowed life, in the Fountain area. That is a working class terraced housed area to the South West of the City Walls. As the protestant community largely moved to the other side of the Foyle during  the height of the troubles she was one of the shrinking number that remained on the Cityside. When she finally did have to move into the Presbyterian nursing home on the Waterside of the City over the bridge, her furniture went to a Catholic family that had recently been petrol bombed.

The fact that the public statue Hands Across the Divide should then be erected at the foot of the Fountain area, and across the road from the factory where my Grandmother worked speaks volumes to the way my family was always brought up in Northern Ireland. So that when earlier this year I stood there with the new MLA Mark H Durkan again I wasn't something that she would have been shocked by, she would have expected that of me.

With Mark H Durkan MLA (right) at Hands Across the Divide

When the Church was reopened this weekend there was the Sinn Féin deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness in attendance and the SDLP Mayor of Derry City Council, Colum Eastwood MLA. Along with teh Chief Constable of the PSNI Mark Baggott as well as both Bishops.

After being shut for 9 years and after £1.5 million in refurbishment their presence really was a symbol as the Minister Rev Dr David Latimer said of the shared future all the people of Derry/Londonderry crave.

Picture from the Newsletter

Including f. row 2nd left Colum Eastwood MLA Mayor of Derry, Most Rev. Séamus Hegarty, Lord Bishop of Derry (RC), Rev. Dr. David Latimer Minister First Derry Presbyterian Church , Martin McGuinness MP, MLA, Deputy First Minister, William Hay MLA, Speaker of the Assembly, Rt. Rev. Kenneth Good Bishop of Derry and Raphoe (CoI).

In behind the DFM is Chief Constable Mark Baggott PSNI. Also in the picture are John Hume and Mark Durkan MP

A Little Bit of History

It's not everyday that you can say you took part in a little bit of history but setting off from Bangor on the 9:57 train this morning heading to my father's home city I did just that.

Meeting up with members of Belfast Pride at Great Victoria Street Station (a task I had to do in my own gregarious way as we weren't meeting Mícheál Carchrie Campbell until Yorkgate) it was off to Northern Ireland's second city for their inaugural Pride Parade. Starting from Duke Street railway station it followed the route of the 1968 Civil Rights March.

As a result it followed a lot of my families history, there are various members living on or near Duke Street in the 1901 or 1911 census. We crossed the Craigavon Bridge, around the 'Hands Across the Divide Statue' which was the closest point to the Fountain area where my father grew up and where my Grandmother lived most of her live. Also up past Carlisle Road Presbyterian Church where my grandparents were married. Eventually arriving having entered the city walls and exited them again at Guildhall Square.

Those of us who had travelled up by train had been a bit worried as the train pulled past the assembly point as there didn't seem to be a great turnout, but that soon changed, as this picture goes some way to show .



As seems to be the way with these things there was a little shower or two, but that didn't spoil the atmosphere as ever. Plus of course all those who marched were making that little bit of history.

One really great thing about how this first Foyle Pride was received was the way the car drivers on the Craigavon Bridge and the bus passengers, plus those along the pavement as we paraded through the City streets past the shops, bars and cafes were really supportive of the parade. Of course there were the dour church folk at the roundabout as we started, whose protested doesn't appear to have been registered on the Parade Commission's website (oops!). But the majority of the people of Derry were not listening to them but accepted the LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Transexual/gender and Questioning) community to their hearts.

I'm proud to be a son of Derry descent for (at least) four generations on today's reaction.




See more pictures on my Flickr account.

Pride in the Maiden City

Today I really am heading home, for those of you who followed by exploits last weekend you're probably wondering what I'm talking about. What I mean is that the male line for at least 4 generations before be has come not from Bangor but from Ulster's second city Derry/Londonderry on the banks of the Foyle.

The reason I am travelling practically to the other end of Northern Ireland and on one of the longest railway journeys you can take across the six counties is for Foyle Pride. Although there has been Foyle Pride since 2007 there has never been a Pride Parade this year is the first and it is taking the historic route of the 1968 Civil Rights march from Duke Street Railway station to Guildhall Square.

Of course this being Northern Ireland there are the usual protests, but this son of Derry will be marching with pride this afternoon.

Vita, Veritas, Victoria to the Oak Wood of Calgaich or Colmcille

Then one hot day when fields were rank
With cowdung in the grass the angry frogs
Invaded the flax-dam; I ducked through hedges
To a coarse croaking that I had not heard
Before. The air was thick with a bass chorus.
Right down the dam gross-bellied frogs were cocked
On sods; their loose necks pulsed like sails. Some hopped:
The slap and plop were obscene threats. Some sat
Poised like mud grenades, their blunt heads farting.
I sickened, turned, and ran. The great slime kings
Were gathered there for vengeance and I knew
That if I dipped my hand the spawn would clutch it.

from Seamus Heaney's Death of a Naturalist

Well last night the city of my father, my father's father, my father's father's father and at least his father as well* was awarded with the privilege of being the UK's first City of Culture in 2013. Doire, Lunnonderrie, Daire Calgaich, Doire Cholmchille, the Maiden City, Stroke City call it what you will, Derry/Londonderry is about to make history.

As well as Nobel Laureate Mr Heaney above, Restoration Dramatist George Farquhar, authors Joyce Cary, Seamus Deane, Jennifer Johnston and Neil McCafferty all add to the rich history of culture in Northern Ireland's second city. Which is being build on all the time by new contributions to culture of a variety of forms.

Then there are the City Walls the only remaining intact example in Ireland and one of the finest in Europe dating from 1613-1619. The history dates back to the 546 when St. Colmcille,like a lot of my family crossed just over the county boundary from Donegal to set up his monastery.

In the 1600s it was the livery companies from London who came over as part of the plantation to built the City on the West side of the Foyle across from the earlier monastic settlement. It was the first planned city in Ireland with roads off the the central diamond within the walls leading to the four gates of the strong defensive pattern that was followed by many of the North American British colonial settlements.

So from the architecture, through the literature, to music and even the mural of both communities and other aspects there is a thriving culture in the City. Like myself there are Donegal influences in there as well as rural Londonderry and Tyrone. It is a river community and a last stopping off place for many emigrants embarking on the trip to America. But now it is embarking on a new trip to prepare for the future as the City of Culture to showcase the best that the place has to offer to draw people in rather than bid them goodbye.

The City motto is 'Vita, Veritas, Victoria' - 'Life, Truth, Victory'. In 2013 they will embrace life to the fullest, the city probably won't ignore the truth of its past but move forward to a shared future and make the most of this victory with the eyes of the country upon it.

* Beyond that needs some more genealogical digging.

Alliance Party Reaction to the Saville Report

I've been a wee bit busy myself to actually look into the Saville report in depth. I have the Independent to gorge on later with 10 pages of coverage. However, overall it does appear to have cleared up 38 years of lies and the injustice that the Widgery report laid on the victims and their families.

Alliance Party Justice Spokesperson* Stephen Farry MLA issued the following statement:

"The party welcomes the outcome and conclusions of the Saville Inquiry. While the detail of the report will require serious scrutiny it is clear that this report confirms what has been understood for decades, that those killed by British forces on Bloody Sunday were completely innocent.

"It was right that Bloody Sunday was properly investigated and the rogue conclusions of Widgery consigned to the dustbin of history. The families and surviving victims have been vindicated in their campaign to secure justice, one which they have pursued with dignity and determination for many years.

"While not diminishing the widespread hurt and demands for truth and justice from all victims of violence, Bloody Sunday raises unique issues relating to the abuse of power and the breach of the rule of law by the state.

"This report closes one chapter, but in doing so, raises new questions as to what happens now. Any prosecutions will be considered independently by the Public Prosecution Service and will have to meet both the public interest and evidential tests.

"There are issues regarding the cost and the scale of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry and any future investigations. The British Government has ruled out future inquiries but has not provided any indication of what it would put in their place. There is an outstanding need for a comprehensive approach to dealing with the legacy of the past in a manner which promotes reconciliation and builds a shared future. While far from perfect, Alliance did consider that the bulk of the Eames-Bradley proposals provided the basis for such a process. At best Eames-Bradley has been parked and there is no indication from the UK government as to how they intend to fill this void.

"Given the polarizing nature of the debate over the last number of years it is important that politicians on all sides are considered in what they say. We need to avoid using victims as weapons in a war of words if we are to build a shared future, nor should the Saville Report be used to undermine more widely the very good work done by the army in many other circumstances."

In the Commons chamber Paul Durkin the SDLP MP for Foyle said:

"However, perhaps the most important and poignant words from today will not be heard here or on the airwaves. Relatives will stand at the graves of victims and their parents to tell of a travesty finally arrested, of innocence vindicated and of promises kept, and as they do so, they can invoke the civil rights anthem when they say, 'We have overcome. We have overcome this day.'"

However, as the son of a son of Derry I was quite appalled by some of the unionist reaction. Gregory Campbell DUP (East Londonderry) wanted to draw the attention to the 2 policemen killed 3 days before, and calling for a investigation into the alleged 'state funding' of the IRA from the Republic of Ireland. Whilst I knew that 'parts of the city [of Derry] "lay in ruins"' before that day as he also said. Jeffrey Donaldson, William McCrae and Ian Paisley junior each raised further issues along such lines.

There is a matter that the previous government ignored the will of the House by announcing things outside it. The fact that David Cameron brought such a weighty report to the House itself first was hopefully a sign of the authority of the chamber. Therefore the point of order raised by Paisley at the end, when a debate in the Autumn on the report was already announced about the lack of preview copies seemed petulant. Yesterday wasn't the day for a full debate into the minutiae as the Unionists wanted to do, but to talk about the general reaction to the key findings. No doubt come the autumn Paisley and the DUP ranks will be fully versed in the ins and outs of the report.

*And the MLA for my home seat of North Down

Sunday, Bloody Sunday

Being brought up with the strict religious upbringing I had there were only two occasions I could use the word bloody as a kid.

• 1. When referring to the Bloody River and Bloody Bridge at the south end of Slieve Donard
• 2. When referring to Sunday 30th January 1972

At the weekend I showed Caron the map of where things happened and pointed out that the Glenn family church First Derry, stood atop the old city walls on Upper Magazine Street looked practically over the killing fields on Bloody Sunday. Though my family came from the other side of the barrier both physically and religiously to those that lost their lives that Sunday it is inexplicably linked to my families past.

Any time I was taken to Derry, especially with my father, I was shown from the height that the walls offered the view into the Bogside, Glenfada and Chamberlain Street. Today of course is the day after 38 years that we finally get some answers as to what happened that day. When you consider that I was 2 years and four months old when it happened, have now almost spent seventeen of my adult years away from Northern Ireland and five working there for the civil service I know it is well overdue.

I hope that the findings of Lord Saville, which are more thorough and more detailed that those of Lord Widgery in the immediate aftermath, are also more fair. Especially in the allegations of Widgery that some of the dead or wounded where gunmen or bombers. The fact that 13 people died on that day when they were protested for their civil rights, not bestowed on those who lived in the flats and tenements in the area was something that has taken a long time to heal.

Northern Irish history has been far from fair, especially on certain groups of its population. Hopefully with the publication of this report Northern Ireland can put a line under another part of its past and look to a future of reconciliation, rejuvenation and working together for a common good.

Division of Culture - Not me!

As the son of a west bank Derry/Londonderry (Stroke) City born and raised father, who father, and father's father and his father before him were all born in the city I'm proud of the culture of that city.

There are the poets Seamus Heaney and Seamus Deane, authors Joyce Cary, Jennifer Johnshon and Nell McCaferty, playwright Brian Friel, artist Willie Doherty. Musicians Dana, the Undertones, Damian McGinty and Keith Harkin of Celtic Thunder and yes even Girls Aloud's Nadine Coyle. There was also the restoration dramatist Geroge Farquhar and the hymn writer of There is a Green Hill Far Away Cecil Alexander is often said to have been inspired to write that from the view from the Bishop's Palace of the hills outside Derry's walls.

I know that at times it has been tough to reconcile all parts of the city together. Indeed the part of the city that as a boy and youth I visited to see my grandmother was a protestant enclave on the 'wrong' side of the Foyle in some people's opinion. My family also has strong links to county Donegal, the county just a few miles to the West or North of Stroke City but is actually in the 'South of Ireland'.

However, no matter how close the City is to the border of another country it is part of the United Kingdom, its culture is diverse and crosses that man-made imaginary line in the hills. It is a diverse culture and one that is as much part of this country as any other and one that if worthy of being a name being considered City of Culture for a year if it were awarded.

The problem of course is that the full title of the award under consideration is the UK City of Culture and the leader of Sinn Féin on the council Maeve McLaughlin has said:

"While we are a city of culture there has to be a recognition that we're not part of the UK. We are not opposing the bid, but we are putting down a marker at this stage and saying we should be exploring, rather than cementing, this relationship.

"There is a huge onus on the team that's been put together to lead this bid to put in writing how they will address the issue of the tens of thousands of nationalists and republicans in this city and region who do not recognise themselves as part of the UK."

As I've pointed out above the geography does make the city a part of the UK, but I readily admit that the culture is not so easily confined. As someone who support Bangor and Ulster in the Rugby yet Down and Derry in the Gaelic sports I'm part of that mixed up culture.

I'm more of the same mind as the former SDLP leader Mark Durkan MP who said:

"This bid is an opportunity for Derry to promote itself as a city and to promote the wider region. It is about our civic ambition. It is about our cultural ambition. It is nothing to do with political aspiration – in which the people of this city have very clear views and differences about wanting to be part of a united Ireland or United Kingdom.

"Are we going to say that any other funding or opportunity that is set up on a UK basis we count ourselves out of? We should not be disabling ourselves from making the most of any opportunity to which we are as entitled as anyone else.

"And we can do that without compromising any of our political beliefs, any of our interests and identities that we hold very dearly at a political level."

I know for a fact that nationalist groups are not backward in coming forward for funding from the Northern Irish departments since devolution, just because the money is from the UK coffers.

I hope Sinn Féin realise that the title is one thing how that is then promoted is up to the people and civic officials of Derry/Londonderry/Doire. Give the City a chance to celebrate its culture in all its diversity.