Stormont Parliament

Our morning correspondent today is Tomas Bedell:

This morning did not start off well for me. I had trouble sleeping and was up for about two hours in the middle of the night. I fell asleep again finally and woke up to Ryan calling, “Hurry up, Dugan! We’re leaving in ten minutes!” These were not very pleasant words to be woken up by. So, I woke up and sprinted into the hallway in my pajamas and half-awake. All the guys were standing there in their suits ready to go, and they just laughed. Apparently they had tried numerous times to wake me up by banging on my door and yelling at me, but I didn’t wake. Fortunately, my clothes were laid out and I was ready in time.

A tour bus picked up the group and we headed off to Stormont Parliament where we would meet with members of the Northern Ireland Legislative Assembly. On the bus ride we received a brief quiz from Mr. McLenaghan, SJ, on the various political parties in Northern Ireland (we passed with flying colors, of course). The building sits on a hill, so at the bottom of the road we stopped to take some great pictures of it. On the way up the hill, Mr. Brennan noted to us that we were heading north. Of course, we all sort of looked at each other like, “So what?” He was trying to make a point to us that the statue of Edward Carson, former head of the Ulster Unionist Party, faces south and appears to be making a strong gesture to the Republic. We then went through security and, after taking more pictures from the top of the hill, we headed into Stormont for our tour. Our guide, Pauline, was very kind. Something I found fascinating was how the government camouflaged the building during WWII to prevent its being bombed. The building is white, very large, sits on a hill, and all the roads that lead to it form an arrow that point directly at it, making it a prime target. So they covered the roads and camouflaged the building by putting dung and tar on it, thinking it would be easy to take off. The plan saved Stormont, but it took something like thirty men seven years to remove all of the tar and dung with wire brushes.

After our tour we went to meet with our first “VIP,” Gerry Adams, President of the Sinn Féin political party and a vital proponent of the peace process in NI. He only had a short time but made some very important points. He welcomed us to Ireland and thanked us for taking time out to come here and learn about its history, especially the peace process. I enjoyed his answer to Katie’s question about what he considered the hardest part of the peace process. He responded by saying that it is winning over your own people. He said he is powerless as a leader if he does not have people’s support in his decisions. Thinking about that made me have that much more respect for what he and others have accomplished. I cannot even imagine trying to convince thousands of people who have only known violence as the way to solve issues to put down their weapons and use totally political tactics in achieving what they want. This just reminded me of how strong a leader he is and the seemingly impossible challenges he helped overcome.

After meeting with Mr. Adams, we met with Mr. Simon Hamilton, a member of the Democratic Unionist Party. What stood out to me about his talk was his role in NI politics. He said he is proud to be a part of history rather than watching it and proud to see NI steadily improving after the Belfast Agreement. He admitted that the NI people wasted thirty years in making peace but was happy to see the situation improving. He said that the greatest healer in all of this is time and that things will eventually turn around. He used Ian Paisley (head of the DUP) as an example. Ian Paisley used to strongly oppose Sinn Féin and would never even be caught in the same room with one of its members. Today he and Martin McGuiness are working together on the political scene, something that would never have happened eleven years ago. Mr. Hamilton said that just as Paisley has evolved over time, so will the situation in Northern Ireland. We all hope that will certainly prove to be true.

Afterward, we headed downstairs for a nice lunch in the cafeteria where John, Patrick, and Sam and I talked about all of the unique issues in Northern Ireland. We certainly couldn’t omit the very interesting cab drivers! All of us are still suffering from jet lag and hope that today is the end of it. We’re looking forward to going out tonight and enjoy some World Cup Soccer with some of the locals (should be fun). Hope all is going well back home!

Our afternoon correspondent is Colleen McCarty:

This afternoon, still battling jetlag, the group met with Anna Lo, a member of the Alliance Party and their first elected minority leader to the assembly. The nonsectarian Alliance Party in Northern Ireland serves as a mediator between the Nationalist and Unionist parties, and helps the rivals see eye to eye. As Ms. Lo explained, the conflict between the parties is to the people of Belfast like waiting for a bus for so long, when finally two busses arrive at once, going two different directions. No one knows exactly where the busses are going, so no one knows which bus to board. This is where the Alliance Party comes in; they promote a shared society, free of prejudice, for the benefit of all. Ms. Lo enumerated the disadvantages of a divided society, noting the expense that accompanies two of everything- one for the Catholics, one for the Protestants- and noting the fact that the communities rarely mix. However, Ms. Lo also admitted that a desegregated society would be difficult to achieve, because as she said, “you can’t force people, only persuade them.”

After our meeting and a short photo op, the group returned to the dorms to change. We split up, and my group went to the drug store in search of adaptors and soap. After walking the two miles there, the eight of us decided to take taxis back to the residence hall in time for dinner and group reflection. I decided to write my blog while the others watched the Spain/Portugal “Battle for the Iberian Peninsula” World Cup game on our postage stamp sized television.

Slán go fóill,

Colleen