Gladys Ganiel – Page 3 – Slugger O'Toole

Inventing the Myth on the Eleventh Night: Review of Connal Parr’s Book on Ulster Protestantism

Gladys Ganiel on July 11, 2018, 11:25 am | Readers 3411

“What is distinctive of political Protestantism – its Orange marches, its flute bands, its lodge banners, its sectarian songs – is taken to be the sum of all cultural life in that community.” – Prof Arthur Aughey, quoted in Connal Parr, p. 15, Inventing the Myth We are on the eve of the Twelfth – usually considered the height of Ulster Protestant-Unionist-Loyalist cultural expression. But Aughey’s words should give us pause for thought. Aughey is quoted in Connal Parr’s widely …

Review of Archbishop Eames’ Unfinished Search – Will Another Opportunity to Address the Past Slip through our Hands?

Gladys Ganiel on June 21, 2018, 4:26 pm | Readers 1413

‘Despite attempts to revise or rewrite history, the complexities of the legacy of this period indicate, if nothing else, that to find a common ground for the future will be a more difficult task than bringing an end to violence. To win the peace in Northern Ireland is one thing. To make it last and to transform it into an accepted way of life is by far the greatest mountain to climb.’ — Archbishop Robin Eames, Unfinished Search, p. 136 Those …

Beneath the Harp and Crown: Philip Orr Speaks ahead of the Premiere of his new play about UDR Veteran

Gladys Ganiel on March 16, 2018, 9:43 am | Readers 1811

‘Beneath the Harp and Crown,’ a new play by Philip Orr, premieres next week in four venues. The play was developed in collaboration with Decorum NI, a charity based support group for veterans of the security forces and their families who served during The Troubles in Northern Ireland. The play is billed as addressing the question, ‘Can a UDR veteran come to terms with his painful past?’ It is a one-man show performed by Brian Payne. There will be post-show …

Did Religious Leaders Contribute to Conflict Transformation in Northern Ireland? Review of Nukhet Sandal’s New Book

Gladys Ganiel on March 8, 2018, 3:21 pm | Readers 986

Did religious leaders contribute to conflict transformation in Northern Ireland? It’s a question posed in a new book by Nukhet Sandal, assistant professor of political science at Ohio University, USA – and answered with a resounding ‘yes.’ In Religious Leaders and Conflict Transformation: Northern Ireland and Beyond (Cambridge University Press, 2017), Sandal paints an overwhelmingly positive picture of religious leaders’ efforts to contribute to peacebuilding during the Troubles and after the Good Friday Agreement. Sandal argues that religious leaders articulated …

‘On behalf of churches, let me say sorry for the times we said to victims, “you must forgive.”’ – Rev Karen Sutheraman at the 4 Corners Festival

Gladys Ganiel on February 5, 2018, 12:03 pm | Readers 1327

The 4 Corners Festival hosted a discussion last night about why churches have not done enough to promote peacebuilding and reconciliation since the Belfast Agreement – and what Christians can do to change that. During the question and answer part of the evening, Alan McBride, whose wife was killed in the Shankill bomb, asked a question about forgiveness. Rev Karen Sutheraman, pastor of the Down Community, responded in this way: ‘On behalf of churches, let me say sorry for the …

‘The Loyalism of 1994-1998 Needs to be the Standard for the Present’: 4 Corners Festival Opens with Panel in St Michael’s on the Shankill

Gladys Ganiel on February 2, 2018, 8:29 am | Readers 2960

The 4 Corners Festival opened last night with a panel discussion in St Michael’s church hall on the Shankill, billed as ‘20 Years On: A Conflict Frozen in Time?’ In light of the upcoming 20th anniversary of the Belfast Agreement, it promised to reflect on how loyalism contributed to peacebuilding in the past – and to ask how loyalism might move forward into the future. Journalist Barney Rowan summed up the evening as the discussion was winding down: ‘The loyalism …

‘… We have politics that is almost devoid of consistent Christian or gospel values, yet which is endorsed by thousands of Christian people’ – Rev Norman Hamilton

Gladys Ganiel on January 26, 2018, 8:55 am | Readers 1266

‘One might even be tempted to say that we have politics that is almost devoid of consistent Christian or gospel values, yet which is endorsed by thousands of Christian people’ – Rev Norman Hamilton Those are strong and sobering words from Rev Norman Hamilton, a former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland and Convenor of the church’s Council for Public Affairs, speaking at a prayer breakfast last week in advance of Belfast’s 4 Corners Festival (1-11 February). With talks …

Courage of Kingsmills Victims Defied Sectarian Divide

Gladys Ganiel on January 11, 2018, 2:26 pm | Readers 4091

Reconciliation statue Photo by Amanda Slater

Much ink has been spilled about the sorry Barry McElduff/Kingsmills loaf saga. Susan McKay’s analysis in Tuesday’s Irish Times is one of the most insightful, but bleak, contributions. It’s worth reading her full text, which brings her to this conclusion: The absence of reconciliation has never been more starkly apparent, and as usual, those most hurt in the past are hurt again. One paragraph in McKay’s article jumped out for me, because though tragic, it demonstrated for me that there …

New Books for the New Year from Ó Tuama; Deeds and McManus

Gladys Ganiel on January 3, 2018, 4:48 pm | Readers 639

With a New Year comes new beginnings – or so the tyranny of the New Year’s Resolutions industry would have us believe. Resolutions can be a source of frustration rather than liberation, but there are few among us who do not give at least some pause for thought on how we might live better in the year ahead. Two new books by some of our most gifted local Christian writers provide tools for living better in the New Year: Daily …

Enniskillen 30 Years On: Geraldine Smyth on Forgiveness and Mercy in the Public Square

Gladys Ganiel on November 8, 2017, 4:08 pm | Readers 2569

An article by Joe Humphreys in today’s Irish Times marking the 30th anniversary of the Enniskillen bomb bears the headline: ‘Thirty years after Enniskillen: Can forgiveness transcend terrorist atrocities?’ Humphreys highlights the well-known words of forgiveness offered in the bomb’s immediate aftermath by Gordon Wilson, whose daughter Marie died in the atrocity. He also recognizes the words of forgiveness offered this week by Stephen Ross, who was severely injured in the bomb. Humphreys challenges us by asking: were these men right to forgive? …

Beyond the Abuse Scandals? Review of Maher and O’Brien’s ‘Tracing the Cultural Legacy of Irish Catholicism’

Gladys Ganiel on October 20, 2017, 10:37 pm | Readers 1089

There is much insightful reading in a new collection of essays edited by Eamon Maher and Eugene O’Brien, Tracing the Cultural Legacy of Irish Catholicism: From Galway to Cloyne and Beyond (Manchester University Press, 2017). Maher, who lectures in Humanities at the Institute of Technology, Tallaght, has co-edited a number of collections on Irish Catholicism in recent years – all of which have made a valuable contribution in conversations about the future of the Church. Titles such as Contemporary Catholicism …

‘Victims of the Peace’ – Lessons from David Bolton’s ‘Conflict, Peace and Mental Health’

Gladys Ganiel on October 20, 2017, 1:27 am | Readers 1136

If there is one book that should be required reading for our MLAs, it is David Bolton’s Conflict, Peace and Mental Health: Addressing the Consequences of Conflict and Trauma in Northern Ireland, published this year by Manchester University Press. The book is a timely reminder that while the Assembly remains suspended and political progress remains stalled, victims and survivors of violence continue to live with the consequences of the past. Bolton eloquently describes their plight (p. 3): In Ireland, whilst …

Jonathan Powell on Ending Conflicts – Insights on Leadership

Gladys Ganiel on October 4, 2017, 9:22 am | Readers 1778

Jonathan Powell, the British Government’s chief negotiator on Northern Ireland under Prime Minister Tony Blair (1997-2007), joined Prof Richard English Monday for a conversation on ‘Ending Conflicts’ at the Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice at Queen’s. Powell is now director of Inter/Mediate, a charity he founded in 2011 to work on conflict resolution around the world, and an Honorary Professor in the Mitchell Institute. Inter/Mediate is currently helping to facilitate negotiations in ten locations. …

Denis Bradley: The Church Needs a Consultation of the Unfaithful

Gladys Ganiel on August 4, 2017, 8:00 pm | Readers 1476

Writing in today’s Irish News, former priest Denis Bradley argues that what the Catholic Church needs to renew itself is a ‘consultation of the unfaithful.’ Reflecting on how aging priests, a lack of vocations, and vows of celibacy are symptomatic of a deeper malaise, Bradley rightly acknowledges that in recent years the Church has attempted a number of ‘listening exercises’ in an effort to understand what the Holy Spirit is saying through the church. The fact that the so-called ‘institutional’ …

Review of One Man, One God: The Peace Ministry of Fr Alec Reid

Gladys Ganiel on July 18, 2017, 7:41 pm | Readers 1281

For many years the labours that constituted Fr Alec Reid’s (1931-2013) life work remained behind closed doors. It had to be that way: what he was doing was much too sensitive to be public knowledge. We have known for some time that Reid instigated secret talks that helped kick-start the Northern Ireland peace process. He also had a hand in drafting documents that would become a basis for political negotiations and ultimately the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. A new book …

‘He saw a common well of untapped compassion and forgiveness’ – Mary McAleese at the Launch of One Man, One God: The Peace Ministry of Fr Alec Reid CSsR

Gladys Ganiel on June 8, 2017, 5:34 pm | Readers 373

One Man, One God: The Peace Ministry of Fr Alec Reid CSsR was launched on Tuesday at Clonard Monastery by former President Mary McAleese. The book chronicles Fr Reid’s incalculable contributions to the peace process on the island of Ireland, and explores how his Christian faith influenced and sustained him in his work. It was written by fellow Redemptorist Martin McKeever, a Belfast native and professor of moral theology in Rome, and published by Redemptorist Communications. In her remarks at …

Review of Embodied Peacebuilding by Leah Robinson – A Theology of Reconciliation that is not Practical is not Reconciliation at all

Gladys Ganiel on May 10, 2017, 3:58 pm | Readers 881

In Northern Ireland, ‘reconciliation’ can be a divisive word – so much so that the very use of the term accomplishes the opposite of its meaning. A prominent study led by Prof John Brewer concluded that ‘reconciliation’ was so contested that the term should be avoided altogether. My own surveys of clergy and churchgoers revealed that almost no one can agree about what reconciliation actually means. Despite this, I still think that the concept of reconciliation can add something of value …

Mitchell Institute Festival Goes Inside the Trump White House & Beyond – First Event Tomorrow on Radicalisation & Religious Freedom

Gladys Ganiel on April 25, 2017, 2:23 pm | Readers 371

The Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice’s annual Spring Festival of Conflict Transformation runs 26 April-11 May at Queen’s University Belfast. It features 11 events, free and open to the public, including discussions, lectures, film and art with topics including the Trump White House, terrorism, borders, radicalisation and genocide. The full programme can be found here (PDF)… | Overview of the events… Among the highlights is Belfast native Niall Stanage, who will go ‘Inside the Trump …

Who will Win the Tipperary Peace Prize? Nominee Fr Patrick Devine to Speak at Queen’s, 22 March

Gladys Ganiel on March 1, 2017, 4:07 pm | Readers 489

The shortlist for this year’s Tipperary International Peace Prize has been announced. Most of the coverage in the Northern press has highlighted that Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness is among the nominees. As in previous years, the range of nominees extends far beyond the island of Ireland. Other nominees with Irish connections are Amnesty International Ireland and Fr Patrick Devine. Fr Devine is a native of Frenchpark, Co Roscommon, and the founder the Shalom Center for Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation in …

Senator George Mitchell in Conversation with Monica McWilliams at QUB on Friday – Free Tickets

Gladys Ganiel on February 7, 2017, 2:22 pm | Readers 588

American Senator George Mitchell, the mediator in the talks that produced the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, will be in conversation with Monica McWilliams on Friday 10 February, 1-2 pm, in the Great Hall at Queen’s University Belfast. The event is free and open to the public, but tickets must be reserved by contacting Mr Brett Walker ([email protected] / 028 9097 1346). The event is hosted by the Institute at Queen’s that bears the Senator’s name: the Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global …