Ireland 2016

It is one hundred years since men and women in Ireland dreamed of a just Ireland, an Ireland independent and free.
It is one hundred years since men and women in Ireland made a brave or foolhardy decision,  ( depending on your politics) that they were willing to die rather than accept the staus quo.
We are the grandchildren and the great grandchildren of those men and women.
We have inherited an Ireland both beautiful and ugly.
We have inherited a rich and  meaningful culture;
Our language,
Our music,
Our art.
Our literature,
Our community-minded customs,
Our willingness to contribute more per head of population to famine relief than any other country in the world.

We have also inherited secrets and the wounding legacy of those secrets;
children batterd in Industrial schools,
girls and women locked away in labour camps called laundries,
babies stolen from their mothers and trafficked to America,
men and women who fought to protect us from Nazism whose sacrifice was never honoured in their lifetime,
millions of men and women who went without in countries far from home to support large families back home or the buying of a family farm.
women who went in secret to England to have abortions.
families decimated by alcoholism,
homelessness,
limited choises for women in terms of their own reproductive health,
a mind-boggling National debt,
a country where dishonourable men and women are not held accountable in law by reason of their wealth or social  standing, 
and so much more.

After the Civl War, many of  our grandparents and great grandparents took on a vow of silence. They saw only one way forward, that we should 'leave sleeping dogs lie', forget the past  and move on and away from their wounds. With hindsight we can understand how they felt this was  neccessary in order to rebuild our country.  Our grandparents' silence bought them safety from revenge violence and killings.  However, that silence, that secrecy, has permeated our whole culture and made it possible for a  new generation to be made into victims of the most painful  injustice.

In the midst of all the inevitable rhetoric of 2016, I believe that we have an opportunity, an opportunity to undo the violence of silence. As we piece together a more balanced picture of 1916, not least in terms of the role of  women, we also have the opportunity to ask ourselves some searching questions and take significant action.
Is the Ireland we have right now the Ireland we want?
What kind of Ireland do we want?
What small thing can each one of us do to build a better Ireland?
We have an opportunity to open up our minds and to find and use our voices. 
Together, we can make 2016 more than a wonderful pageant.
Together, we can make 2016 count.

Comments are welcome below.

If this article made you think about our future you might also like to read;
I love my country but I am not blind
and  Truth No. 2