Sinn Féin leader tells Darkley reconciliation event: 'We need more Mandela Moments'

Martin McGuinness’s meeting with Queen Elizabeth represented one of those ‘Mandela Moments’

SINN FÉIN National Chairperson Declan Kearney this evening delivered a lecture on the theme of ‘Reconciliation’ in Darkley House in South Armagh as part of the Darkley House Festival Week. The event has been organised by the Crossfire Trust.

In the course of his wide-ranging speech, the Sinn Féin National Chairperson acknowledged the enormous hurt on all sides caused by the conflict, including in south Armagh.

He called on unionist political leaders to engage fully in the process of building reconciliation.

This is the full text of Declan Kearney's speech.

It is a privilege for me to share this lecture with your community tonight.

I am very conscious that my remarks will be spoken and heard in an area of South Armagh which has experienced its own deep hurt during our past conflict.

Mention of Darkley for many immediately evokes memories of the killings at Mountain Lodge Gospel Hall, not far from here. That terrible event scarred our whole society but also left a huge burden of pain within that small congregation which was attacked and the broader community to which it belonged.

The legacy of the Mountain Lodge Gospel Hall killings is part of a legacy we all now share.

It is therefore incredibly important that, despite such a painful and challenging experience, and from within the same area, today dialogue and processes of healing are being encouraged by this Christian community as a contribution to ensure that events such as that awful night never happen again.

In recent months, I, Martin McGuinness and other members of the Sinn Féin leadership have frequently addressed our vision and hope for an authentic reconciliation process across our island.

We have spoken directly to our own republican constituency and broad nationalism, but we have also sought to communicate our thoughts to the wider Protestant and unionist community.

Many years ago, when we were first engaged with very courageous Protestant and unionist people who risked being ostracised within their own community for speaking with republicans, we began a process of reflection upon our relationship with the Protestant and unionist community in the context of the unfolding peace process.

Ever since then we have tried to more deeply understand their experience, feelings and convictions.

Over 20 years later, the Ireland of today is unrecognisable due to the progress of the peace and political processes.

We should be rightfully satisfied at the changes achieved for the better, but we have no right to be complacent.

The reality is that our communities and country continues to be blighted by deep divisions, hurt and fear. The war and conflict in our society were created and perpetuated by historic and systematic political and economic injustices.

But while the conditions of conflict have been addressed, the legacy of division, hurt and fear caused to all sides has the potential to be passed on from one generation to the next – unless we collectively decide to stop that trans-generational cycle beginning.

We should learn for our history.

The failure to put a reconciliation process in place after the Irish Civil War gave way to nine decades of trans-generational division which have created ongoing fault lines in southern Irish society especially.

Much suffering has been inflicted and experienced by all sides in South Armagh.

Within a radius of miles from here, many deaths, such as those at Donnelly’s bar and the Step Inn, took place. During a short space of days, the killings of the Reavey brothers, the O’Dowd family in Gilford, and the workers at Kingsmill all occurred. The Tullyvallen Orange Hall killings happened nearby, and Mountain Lodge Gospel Hall was closer still. Many IRA Volunteers, British soldiers and RUC members were killed locally, as well as young people like Majella O’Hare and Fearghal Carragher.

There has been enormous human hurt, and republicans and unionists share a collective pain.

We cannot undo the past, nor can we, or should we, forget.

Last year, during her visit to Dublin, Queen Elizabeth said: “With the benefit of historical hindsight, we can all see things we would wish had been done differently or not at all.”

That is an assessment with which we would all agree.

But we should not allow the past to place a brake on our future.

Sinn Féin believes it is possible to open a new phase in our peace process, facilitating dialogue on how all hurts can be acknowledged, reduced and, if possible, healed.

We are convinced that our peace can be powerfully advanced by a reconciliation process supported by a robust scaffolding of economic and social rights and opportunities for every citizen.

The pursuit of authentic reconciliation, North and South, is bigger than all of us and cannot be the property of any one party or community.

Although we have set out a vision of what Sinn Féin thinks is possible, our approach is non-prescriptive, other than to encourage maximum inclusivity across and between communities.

Our party wants an increased dialogue with the wider Protestant and unionist community.

I and other republican leaders have challenged our own constituency to free up our thinking, to listen unconditionally to Protestant and unionist fears and suspicions, to be prepared to have ‘uncomfortable conversations’ in order to achieve greater understanding, resolve divisions and build new relationships.

We share this island with one another and we share a common humanity.

There is a massive imperative to do our best to explore how our shared experience of hurt can be acknowledged, reduced and, if possible, healed.

However, that will only come about by better understanding each other and imagining what it is like to walk in one another’s shoes.

And that is deeply challenging, given the division and pain which have defined our historical, political and community experiences, and the parallel fear which gives expression to that.

Some of that fear may well be unfounded but if sections of our society express or reflect a sense of fear, which they hold to be real, then we need to accept that fear is real to them.

Fear is a powerful emotion and in the context of conflict resolution it is an equally powerful dynamic.

Although we enjoy a substantial peace in our country, we are not at peace with one another. And whilst the Irish Peace Process is irreversible, it should not simply be measured against the relative absence of violence.

This process to date has been a transformational journey for us all, but Sinn Féin believes we all have more to do – our work is not completed.

For as long as entrenched fears endure within our society, the actuality of that fear will act as a brake on the unfulfilled potential and possibility of the Peace Process and slow our journey down.

A friend of mine draws the analogy between how the fear of flying limits the ability to travel, visit new places, meet new people, and have new experiences, and the dynamic of fear within our peace process, reducing or closing down the ability to explore new possibilities and scenarios from which we might, in fact, all benefit.

We should not allow that to happen.

This is why republicans speak of the need to open a new phase in the Peace Process. A phase in which we begin to make friends with one another; start forging new relationships among and between our diverse communities, North and South; and to change the historical relationship of adversity between Ireland and Britain.

Put simply: a phase in which we begin to author a new future for our children and the next generation.

But that depends upon us all embracing the need for those ‘uncomfortable conversations’ and a willingness to step outside our own comfort zones as a contribution to developing new relationships and a path towards authentic reconciliation.

Some days ago, loyalist leaders spoke to me about the deep fear and suspicion in their communities and how that paralyses the expectations and aspirations of young loyalist people, and their receptiveness to explore new possibilities.

In some ways while the heavy lifting of the negotiations is over, the complexity of building reconciliation is just starting.

A willingness to explore and develop new relationships is crucial to transforming the future.

The New Testament puts it thoughtfully so: “Perfect love casts out fear.”

Of course, none of this will be easy.

Courage, confidence, leadership and vision from us all will be necessary to open up this new phase; to open out the dialogue; to take a lead in stretching out the hand of real friendship; and, slowly, ever slowly, creating trust.

That meant political leaders showing example through our willingness to conquer our own personal and communal fears.

Nelson Mandela said it well: “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid but he who conquers it.”

We will need to be very compassionate, patient and generous with one another.

But we will also need to be prepared to take risks and make new compromises.

That is why our party agreed that Martin McGuinness should meet the Queen of England last week.

By meeting Queen Elizabeth, Martin sought to symbolically extend the hand of friendship to the Protestant and unionist community.

Some have sought to devalue the importance of this gesture for narrow political reasons, and others have sought to play it down; but this meeting was not only symbolic, it was hugely substantive.

All conflict resolution processes are strengthened by seminal events which build new hope and momentum.

Martin’s meeting with Queen Elizabeth represented one of those ‘Mandela Moments’.

Through that event, Irish republicanism sought to extend a very conscious gesture of equality and respect to our neighbours who give allegiance to the English monarchy.

It was a demonstration of our resolve to achieve reconciliation among our people and to illustrate the sincerity of our commitment to creating a pluralist united Ireland which can celebrate all our diverse traditions and identities.

Last Wednesday, was a day with much transformative potential, but realising that will depend on what we all do in the weeks and months ahead, as citizens, political parties and governments.

More ‘Mandela moments’ and new compromises will be needed to maintain the trajectory towards national reconciliation.

Over the last few months and in response to Sinn Féin’s public comments, some citizens from within the broad Protestant, unionist and loyalist community have begun a process of private engagement with us.

These have been important discussions and we are inspired by the encouragement expressed for the leadership shown by our party. We wish to build and expand on this challenging work, and to encourage dialogue across all sections of Irish society on how to foster reconciliation and trust

The significance of these discussions received recognition and impetus from the important resolutions of support passed by the recent Presbyterian Assembly and the Methodist General Meeting.

But Sinn Féin wants to see political unionism play a full part in this dialogue also.

Some unionists seek to undermine these discussions by misrepresenting republican sincerity as a devious trap. They are utterly disingenuous. The only mind games being played out are in their own heads.

Unionist political leaders have a very important contribution to make to the pursuit of reconciliation.

I understand that they may harbour doubts and suspicions or even fears about the challenges and risks we all face in building reconciliation and trust.

If that is so, then let’s discuss how these suspicions or fears can be addressed. None of us should fear reconciliation or equality.

Instead we should try to build common ground.

Agreement and consensus on the need for mutual respect and equality could assist us all in designing a framework to advance reconciliation and establish new accommodations.

The gift of a new future is far greater than any sectional interest, and the possibilities far outweigh the risks. We have surely proved to one another how we can collectively overcome other seemingly impossible challenges.

The journey of our peace process can be moved forward if we all accept the importance of freeing up our thinking.

The achievements of our process demand that we now complete that journey. And, accepting this will mean that we keep stretching ourselves, taking more bold steps.

So political, civic and community leaders have to provide real leadership and vision.

Republicans and unionists should become leaders in reconciliation and, by showing mutual respect for our different political aspirations, prove to our communities that friendship is possible and fear can be overcome.

As Henry Thoreau, the American philosopher, put it: “I may not agree with your politics, understand your religion or speak your language, but you are part of this community and it makes sense to embrace your differences and ask that you accept mine.”

Our peace process is unstoppable and this next phase of reconciliation, building trust and making friends is inevitable.

How long that will take depends upon how quickly it takes us to collectively agree, to inspire more ‘Mandela Moments’, and to start thinking really big about the future.

The greatest moral and political challenge facing our generation on this island is to ensure our children and the next generation grow up in a better place than we did; to have the choice of living in a place free from fear, division and hurt; and to live in a society which prizes economic equality, and social justice; and celebrates difference, diversity and mutual respect.