Focusing on reconciliation and inclusivity
While we wait for a new Labour administration to settle in, many of the usual summer tensions have re-emerged. What used to be called ‘recreational’ anti-authority rioting in Derry and Belfast is now through social media focused on the latest high profile cases like the stabbing in North Belfast as a trigger for attacks on unwanted immigrants or unwelcome ‘others’ like those in the Fountain in Derry. The response to those must as always seek to avoid escalation by excessive police or legal action and concentrate on practical measures to deal with the gaps in emergency support for those most affected, as argued by Sarah Creighton in respect of emergency housing accommodation.
The main focus in this issue is on longer term political and environmental prospects like the promised Border Poll and the response to climate change. The contribution by Philip McGuinness suggests that more serious attention needs to be given to reconciling the deep-seated aspirations and fears in the nationalist and unionist communities. His proposal for locally based communal voting areas for predominantly nationalist areas in the ‘Gaeldom’ and predominantly unionist ‘British in Ulster’ areas is designed to reassure both communities that their essential self-conceptions would be respected in a united Ireland. This may be several steps too far for either of the two governments but is a useful pointer to how the promise in the Good Friday Agreement of the right to be Irish or British or both might be delivered into the future.
The linked contributions by Arnold Horner and John Barry on how to manage Ireland’s extensive bogs likewise point to ways in which the positive role of peatlands in absorbing carbon might be better managed in association with the recognition of deep-seated rural and agricultural traditions.
In the arts contributions guest edited by Csilla Toldy the focus is on how to encourage and develop creative inclusivity for all members of our increasingly diverse communities. Here there is a need for new approaches to the development of technological solutions to increase accessibility for all sections of the population.
View Issue 502