Today I had opportunity to talk with a local fellow and talk turned to the politics of Ireland and the Troubles. I won't reveal his identity because first, I haven't asked him if I could blog what we talked about, and second, I don't want to cause any problem for him with people who may not know his stories. I get the impression that his experiences might be common to many here, but nevertheless I will refer to him as "Joe."
I came in on a conversation in progress wherein Joe was saying that since Sinn Fein, the political arm of the IRA, has joined the political process in Northern Ireland they have become increasingly popular and powerful. The inevitable result, as Joe sees it, is that they will eventually win a majority in the parliament and be able to name the prime minister (if I understand correctly, that is of Northern Ireland). These are the Irish nationalists who have been fighting for centuries to remove the British power and influence from Ireland. The party that has been in power these many years are the (I think) unionist, that is loyalists to the Crown of England. They see that this change is likely to happen and say that this is a democracy, and if that is what the people want, then so be it. Joe figures this shift will happen in the next election in just a couple years.
If and when this shift takes place, Joe figures that the first thing they will do is to pass laws to remove the visual signs of British loyalty from the North, such as the Union Jack and images of the Queen. They would not be able to directly legislate the removal of the British, but they could call for a referendum of the whole of Ireland, both North and Republic. If 70% vote to support the nationalists, then Ireland would be out of the Union of Great Britain (if I understood correctly) and be a step away from being a united country again.
However, Joe said that if the nationalists do take power, then the underground resistance of the unionist forces will take the role of insurgent terrorists, filled by the IRA against the unionists these many years. Eventually, they will likely win either enough sympathy or enough political clout to once again take power. If not, then the Troubles will be back, just with roles reversed. To this point Joe said there isn't really peace in Ireland now - just a lack of open, large-scale violence.
As to the previous violence, Joe said several members of his mum's family were killed or wounded randomly by bombs and guns of the terrorists/insurgents/freedom fighters/doodoo heads (my words there, not his). She was hard set against the IRA as a result and essentially suppressed any intention of her children to get involved with the politics of violence. Nevertheless, Joe recounted three stories of times in his working career when that violence came to him. Once he was going out on a late-night trouble-shooting call for work, and when he got to the site he tripped over something. It turned out to be what we now hear referred to as an IED - improvised explosive devise! He had hit the trigger and pulled the top off the bomb, but it didn't explode. Another time he was driving through a certain place on his way home, and someone was standing in the road and flagged him down. He rolled down his window and suddenly found he had the someone's gun pressed to the side of his head! "Who are you? Where are you going?" the man demanded. "I'm just going home!" said Joe, and eventually he was allowed to proceed. In the third, he and some coworkers were out early on a job site looking it over before the project began to see where things needed to go and what needed to happen before the day's traffic began. Suddenly, they became aware that there were four lads standing around them with guns, again demanding to know who they were and what their business was. It turns out he and his coworkers had happened upon the local IRA office!
Joe had many other stories and insights that I won't relate here. This was the sort of conversation that changes one's understanding of a place and its people, and a good reason for people to travel abroad. I've known about the "situation" in Ireland all my life, but to hear this man describe these scenes of horror and violence in what we would consider an otherwise quiet, normal middle-class life personalizes it, humanizes it, makes it real and accessible in ways that I'm not sure are fully welcome. It means I have to care what happens here. It is the same sort of experience I had several times in Israel, and really the two situations are in many ways parallel.
O God of all the nations, O Prince of peace, O Spirit of communion,
Look with favor, mercy, and compassion on Your children here in the two Irelands.
Grant that they may lay aside, not ignore, but by choice lay aside
hatred, bitterness, thirst for vengeance and for power,
and all other hardness of heart that leads to separation and violence.
By the supernatural power of the cross and the empty grave of Christ,
may all who claim Christ seek and experience Your forgiveness and reconciliation,
so it will become the way of life and the mark of all Your children.
Convict the hearts of sinners. Protect the lives of the innocent.
Pour out Your peace that passes all understanding
in the places where understanding is so hard to find.
O bless Your children with peace.
And Lord, forgive me
for my complacency
for my indifference
for my prejudices
for my participation in the ways
that lead others away from You.
In Christ, through Christ, for Christ,
Amen.
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