Reconcilation

The warm welcome Arlene Foster received at the funeral of Martin McGuinness came as a surprise to many. But not to those who know Derry well.

Steve Bradley on March 27, 2017, 2:19 pm

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“Of all the ‘moments’ in my 27 years of journalism, applause for Arlene Foster at the funeral of Martin McGuinness is right up there”. So remarked Sky News’s Ireland correspondent, David Blevins, after one of Northern Ireland’s most important funerals in years. Blevins wasn’t alone in being wrong-footed by this turn of events. This was, after all, the funeral of a former IRA commander – held in a staunchly nationalist city during the uncertain aftermath of a landmark and divisive …

Forgiveness as release whether it is acknowledged by the perpetrator or not

Fr. Martin Magill on May 8, 2016, 8:13 am

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During a recent visit to the USA, I attended an event entitled “The Language of Forgiveness” in a Festival of Faith and Writing in Calvin College, Michigan. It was an interview by a journalist Jeff Chu with two people of colour, an Episcopalian priest Kelly Brown Douglas and a poet lecturer Shane McCrae. As they discussed the issue of forgiveness, Douglas commented that when someone forgives, two things happen – firstly, the “forgiver” often experiences a freedom within him …

How can we rid our society of our sectarian shackles? Guest post by Fr Martin Magill…

Fr. Martin Magill on August 19, 2015, 11:49 am

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Recently Rev Dr Lesley Carroll and I were interviewed on BBC Radio Ulster’s Sunday Sequence on the issue of sectarianism. Over breakfast together afterwards, we both acknowledged there were things we would like to have said had there been more time. This article includes some of those things I would have said. The interview came on the back of a riot in North Belfast following the stopping of the anti-internment rally. I witnessed at first hand that riot which left me …

Reconciliation: “Not every question will be answered”

Mick Fealty on March 4, 2013, 11:36 am

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Brian Rowan at Eamonn’s place notes that there is a difference between getting to the truth of the past, and an apology: Everyone and every side understands that more has to be done – the questions are within what structure and within what rules? Not every question will be answered – but let’s find out what answers are possible and within what context, and let all sides do it in the here and now. The last phrase there, the here …