Protestants commemorating the victory of William of Orange over
James II pile up anything that will burn and set fire to it after
draping it with the Irish flag. And every August, Catholics drape
whatever incendiary stuff they can lay their hands on and set fire
to it after draping it with the Union Jack.
In an attempt to quell this angry divide, a British arts events
company called Artichoke thought it might be a good idea to use
this ritual of burning to unite the people and hired Mr Best to
construct the pagan temple.
Mr Best, of course, builds
the Burning Man every year in Nevada. Catholic and Protestant
youths volunteered for the job and even though there was a fear
of arson and other forms of protest, the structure opened on the
15thof March, inviting people to leave the past behind and look
towards the future.
Over the week approximately 60,000 people came to see the
temple. The most poignant moment was when the very first
person entered the temple. She was a ‘wee old lady’, Jeanette
Warke, a Protestant, who had lost her home and a son who joined
the British army when he was just 18. Kevn Strathern, the local
architect who helped build the structure and a Catholic went and
asked Jeanette, “May I hug you?” Strathern’s father was shot
dead by the Protestants on his own door step in 1977.
The two burst into tears. “We would not have hugged 40 years
ago. We would not have hugged ten years ago”, Strathern said.
People brought grainy photographs, messages and mementoes
for those they have lost, a ponytail of human hair, a knitted baby
hat, ashes of loved ones and placed them in the temple. Everyone
had something to place at the ‘altar’.
On the 22nd of March about 10,000 people collectively sought
catharsis by watching it all go up in flames.
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