Nowhere in the world are Americans more welcome at the moment than in Northern Ireland. For the people there realize the importance of the American role in bringing about the present climate of peace. Not least of all has been the role of our President Bill Clinton.
In the words of George Mitchell, the president’s economic advisor on Ireland: “When you go over to Ireland everyone states it, and acknowledges it, and people are very generally aware of, and recognize the crucial role played by the Clinton administration.”
Hence our cover story by Niall O’Dowd, which explores the president’s new “special relationship” with Ireland, and how his decisions influenced the peace process. Other stories in this issue also focus on Northern Ireland, in the hope of fostering a better understanding of the complexities of the situation.
One such feature is Seamus Deane’s thought-provoking essay “Living with Our Differences.” Deane, head of the Irish studies program at Notre Dame, participated in the Beyond Hate Conference, held in Derry, his native city, at the end of 1992. The Irish studies chair at Notre Dame, incidentally, was made possible by Irish American Donald Keough, the former chief of Coca-Cola, and his wife Marilyn. And the Beyond Hate Conference itself was made possible by William J. Flynn, Chairman of the Board, Mutual of America. Flynn played a significant role in the peace process. Apart from the conference in Derry, he was also responsible for bringing representatives of both the nationalist and unionist communities to the United States and opening up the way to further dialogue on “living with our differences.”
Nowhere are those differences more evident than in Emer Mullins’ interviews with two members of the MacAonghasa clan: Ken Maginnis, a Unionist M.P. representing Fermanagh and South Tyrone, and Martin McGuinness, Sinn Fein’s vice president. Their differences of opinion on the future of Northern Ireland illustrate the many challenges that must be faced.
Aside from Irish Americans from the business sector such as Flynn and Keough, Irish American journalists have also played a very important role. We wish to congratulate Jim Dwyer of New York Newsday who recently won a Pulitzer Prize for a body of work, including his writings on Northern Ireland. Christina Cahill is another Irish American who is putting her creative talent to good use in terms of getting the message out. Her photographs in this issue of the children of Belfast and Derry are a stark reminder of the importance of peace.
As is often the case when communities are under siege, there has been an outpouring of creative talent in the North. Eamon Lynch, who studied political science at Queen’s University in Belfast surveys the best books on the history of the past 25 years, and Colin Lacey interviews one of the many talented Northern authors, Brendan MacLaverty, who wrote Cal and who has a new book of short stories.
Artistic expression also emerges in music, and one of the most moving moments of the St. Patrick’s Day White House reception was when the two men who were brave enough to seek peace – SDLP leader John Hume and Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams – sang together the Derry song “The Town I Loved So Well.” Phil Coulter, who wrote the song, talks to Mary Pat Kelly, whose documentary The Yanks in Ireland brought us the story of the American troops in N.I. in World War II.
In our Hibernia section we give you just a taste of some of the historical places of interest in Northern Ireland, and we look forward to bringing you stories on the beautiful countryside in future issues, but in the words used by New York’s John Cardinal O’Connor in his St. Patrick’s Day homily, we urge you to “make a pilgrimage” and see for yourself.
You’ll be very welcome there, and that’s for sure.
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in the May/June 1995 issue of Irish America. ♦
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