On getting over it (even when it’s hard)

There’s an article in the Irish Times  this morning. The peg on which it hangs is the visit of President Higgins to Britain and the extent to which English people tend not to understand Irish people. At the same time it’s undeniable that English people are generous in their applause for Irish achievements, notably in the field of sport.

There’s truth in this. However, it’s also striking that the writer managed to navigate his way through the entire article without mentioning that a million and a half Irish people live north of the border. He may argue that he was talking about the people of the Republic, not the north; but the fact that he didn’t mention the north speaks volumes for the attitudes displayed and encouraged south of the border. The north is another place, and when you talk of ‘the country’ and ‘Ireland’ you are, it goes without saying, referring to the twenty-six southern counties.

Come to think of it, the writer of the article didn’t get round to mentioning the most talked-about feature of the coming bun-fight in Windsor Castle: the attendance of Martin McGuinness. I said in yesterday’s blog that McGuinness’s visit was aimed in part at blunting the ‘crazed killers’ presentation of Sinn Féin by the southern media. It’ll be harder for Miriam O’Callaghan to ask Martin McGuinness if he’s been to Confession after he’s been   to Windsor.

But I found myself thinking of how the population of countries regard those who have done them wrong in the past. It’s sort of astonishing. The Japanese, who had two entire cities of people obliterated by the US  show nothing but politeness and even warmth towards those who took so many innocent lives. The Vietnamese people welcome American tourists, display no grudge against those who travelled round the world to kill several million of their fellow-countrymen. And similarly the Irish: there are few Irish people today who are anti-English. They welcome them as visitors to this country and are open in their appreciation of the employment opportunities England affords. There is a warmth and a positivity about their attitude,  despite all the decades and centuries in which England inflicted the brutality of the coloniser on the native people.

And what of the people in the north-east of this country who identify themselves as British? Republicans and nationalists, who suffered discrimination and gerrymander over so many decades, who endured internment contempt and brutality at the hands of their unionist fellow-countrymen, show no tendency to bear grudges. In fact, it is indisputable that republicans continually make gestures of reconciliation and friendship towards unionism. Like other countries which have been ravaged and brutalised by a more powerful adversary, they refuse to allow resentment to corrode them. Whatever else may be said about republicans in general and Sinn Féin in particular, they have never hesitated to work for a better future in a spirit of co-operation and friendship with former adversaries.

Martin McGuinness’s visit to Windsor Castle is another daring step on that journey – one which risks loss of faith from some fellow-republicans. But then the Sinn Féin leadership has a habit of making bold moves that catch everyone on the hop – Gerry Adams standing for election in Louth, Martin McGuinness running for the Irish presidency, and now this Windsor visit.  Maybe we should stop looking at how it’s received by fellow-republicans. Instead let’s ask: will we see an equally generous response from DUP politicians, who so far have remained tight-lipped  and crouch on the Resentment Step?  Watch this space.