Success out of Tragedy
The Olympics are over and in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, we celebrate two local young men, Ross Corrigan and Nathan Timoney, who made it to the rowing finals in Paris. As young lads, they had attended the same school and trained in the same rowing club, and it’s great to celebrate their success in getting so far; but there is more to this story than just their success.
In November 1987, on Remembrance Sunday, an IRA bomb exploded at Enniskillen cenotaph. It was to kill twelve people, physically injure sixty-five, devastate an entire community, sending headlines around the world about a brutal attack on a community that was remembering those who died in the world wars.
As a consequence of this tragedy, a teacher and headmaster at Enniskillen’s Portora Royal School wanted to do something that could help heal the trauma and divisions surrounding the Remembrance Day Bomb. Portora Royal, now Enniskillen Royal Grammar School, is one of Ireland’s oldest schools, established in 1618, and was commonly viewed as a Protestant school. They approached two local Roman Catholic Schools, St Michaels and Mount Lourdes neither of which, at the time, had access to Portora Royal’s Boat Club. Portora went on to divest itself of the Boat Club to form Enniskillen Royal Boat Club, open to all schools and rowing clubs in Fermanagh. Funds were raised to develop the club’s facilities, and since then rowing in Fermanagh is racing ahead in both men and ladies rowing, competing in all the major Irish, UK, European and wider competitions; winning many medals, with this year, the two local lads, Ross and Nathan, who are already World Champions in their class, competing in the Paris Olympic finals. Their success is a cause for celebration for all the people of Northern Ireland, Ireland and the UK, and also because, from the dust and the mourning of the Remembrance Day bomb, a way was found to actually build peace and create opportunities for all.
Some might object that the two lads, from Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK, chose to compete as an Irish team. Yet this is another cause for celebration. Under our Peace Agreement, the people of Northern Ireland have the legal right and personal freedom to identify as British, Irish or both; and a person’s political preference does not need to interfere with our celebration of another’s success.
This is one example of opportunities we can and should look for that can emerge from tragedy, where “the gift is in the challenge”. The key to this transformation is the trust, courage and commitment of individuals to identify what we each can do, in real terms, to actually build peace and not simply remain as passive observers of current affairs.
Some aspects of our society prevent people, whether intentionally or not, and often understandably, from connecting across and beyond traditional societal barriers. Often such barriers have outlived any positive use and now do more harm than good. They need to be dismantled, with new ways of relating put in place which assist us navigate the challenges of connecting across such boundaries. This can be challenging and may be perceived as risky, but if we each “allow the other the right to be wrong”, no person need feel forced to abandon their cultural values. Some, however, might, over time, choose to leave behind behaviour which they come to understand creates injustice and fuels discrimination – but isn’t that a good thing?
It isn’t a problem that you or I might embrace different cultural, religious, political or social values. We each retain the right to disagree with “the other”. It is more that we might be inclined to de-value or dismiss “the other” and, in extreme, consider them, even in some vague way, as “sub-human” or of lesser value.
Imagine, if we focussed on supporting each other to be the best we can be, regardless of preferred identity and whether or not we agree with it. The returns on investing in this way in our community will come by the bucket full!
One project undertaken by UISCE this summer towards this goal is a series of video interviews with leading Irish politicians and community leaders by Zona, a Chinese student at High School in the US. You can view her Peace Project videos here Publications — UISCE
Keith McNair, August 20th 2024
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