Bordering on the Ridiculous
The difference between boiling and simmering is simply one of degree( s) and that is, perhaps, exemplified by the current debate over the impact of Brexit and the future peace of the island of Ireland.
While this is not the place for a debate on the rights or wrongs of the decision to impose a Little England mentality of isolationism( slight clue to the author’ s views there!), even those of the Ostrich persuasion cannot, surely, ignore the potential consequences of restoring a hard border between the North and the South of this still troubled land.
Since the Good Friday agreement, a form of peace has prevailed across the water, but anyone visiting selected areas of Belfast will realise that that peace, if peace it actually is, is fragile and never more than a few steps( or marches) away from a renewing conflagration.
With talks on the matter seemingly heading for an impasse, attitudes are hardening on both sides of a divide which was, at best, only ever bridged by a temporary structure.
The role of the churches in the province is currently marked by their conspicuous absence from the debate and, given that many protagonists in previous obscenities did so on the basis of perverted interpretations of faiths, that is not acceptable.
The author would be the first to criticise church leaders for interfering in matters which are out with their purview, but this is not one of them.
Everyone with a genuine interest in preventing the still simmering tensions from boiling over into renewed conflict should be contributing to the debate, and not with stolid rhetoric- but with meaningful solutions on how to treat this self-inflicted wound which could quickly turn into political and social gangrene.
Steven Lawrence – 25 Years Later
The BBC’ s recent drama / documentary, spread over three nights, made for powerful and thought-provoking viewing.
It is difficult to know whether the shock of being exposed to the horrific institutionalised racism of the establishment a quarter of a century ago was more distressing than the perception that little has changed although our society would claim to have advanced significantly.
A young life was tragically snuffed out because of perceived, superficial differences, and you have to wonder if things will ever really change until we concentrate more on what we have in common than on what is believed to divide us?
15
Anon