They painted it on a wall just in case one day they would forget
Northern Ireland peace process
Theresa May was considered a distraction this week by some within the Democratic Unionists. She flew to Northern Ireland on Monday met with Leo Varadkar, the Irish Premier, anticipating, it is thought, to announce a deal between the main two parties Sinn Fein (SF) and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). The deal never materialised, the talks collapsed on Wednesday.
Northern Ireland became my distraction yesterday and today. I haven’t lived there for 24 years, over half my life, yet it is as a mother to me. The other 3 provinces are as sisters to my mother. Maybe it is a better analogy to say that Northern Ireland is as mother and father to me. I am probably stretching it to call the father ‘Northern’ and the mother ‘Ireland’.
The problem, in this analogy, my mother is Protestant and my father Catholic. They separated when I was very young and I was raised by my mother. I didn’t see much of my father and naturally felt more at home with my mother’s people. There was acrimony between them each blaming the other for the separation. I didn’t remain neutral I stood with my mother and her rage became my rage. Maybe that is what led me to move to live with a distant relative, England.
The problem for my mother and father was they were the Adam and Eve, no children could be born without being part of both. An agreement was needed between the two so that their children and their children’s children could live as brothers and sisters and not as enemies.
I rejoiced when it happened almost 20 years ago and saw reconciliation between family. That peace is not something we should ever take for granted for as time evolves complacency sets in. It doesn’t take much for the one or the other to think that the other is returning to old ways. That appears to have happened and with it a hardening of hearts.
I see the children playing nervously with each other as the parents return to blaming each other. Peace is not gone but it needs a remembrance that it cost too high a price for it to be lost.
The principle that won it was both parents seeking the best not for themselves but for their children and their children’s children.
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