From the BBC:
“NI 100: Boris Johnson attends
Armagh service to mark centenary”
(NI Secretary Brandon Lewis.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the NI centenary church service)
Prime Minister Boris Johnson was
among guests who attended a church service to mark the centenary of partition
and the formation of Northern Ireland. Politicians from both sides of the Irish
border took part in the cross-community event in Armagh on Thursday. The Queen
had been due to attend but was unable to travel for medical reasons. Irish
president Michael D Higgins declined an invitation, as he felt the event had
become politicised. The Armagh church service was organised to "mark the
centenaries of the partition of Ireland and the formation of Northern
Ireland". President Higgins said the title of the service made it
"inappropriate" for him to attend as head of state. Sinn Féin,
including Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill, also decided
not to attend.
However, Colum Eastwood, the
leader of Northern Ireland's other nationalist party, the SDLP, was present. Among
others at the service were Northern Ireland First Minister Paul Givan, of the
Democratic Unionist Party (DUP); DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson; Ulster
Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie; Alliance leader Naomi Long; Northern
Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis and Northern Ireland's chief medical officer
Sir Michael McBride. Two representatives from the Irish government were also
present - Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney, from the Fine Gael party,
and chief whip Jack Chambers, from Fianna Fáil. With Assembly Speaker Alex
Maskey, a Sinn Féin member, not attending, deputy speaker Roy Beggs formally
represented the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Tánaiste Simon Coveney
(Irish Foreign Minister Simon
Coveney arriving at the service)
The event, titled "A Service
of Reflection and Hope", was organised by the leaders of the main
Protestant and Catholic Churches. It began with the ringing of the cathedral
bell before the Dean of Armagh, Rev Shane Forster, sent his good wishes to the
Queen.
'Deep sense of loss and
sadness' Welcoming the congregation in both English and Irish, he said:
"Our past has shaped us and scarred us, it has divided us. And, yet, it
has also, on occasion, brought us together." The leaders of
Ireland's main churches delivered their personal reflections on the creation of
Northern Ireland. Catholic Primate of All Ireland Eamon Martin said
that, like many in his community, he looked back on partition with "a deep
sense of loss and sadness". "For the past 100 years, partition
has polarised people on this island," he said. "I have to face
the difficult truth that perhaps we in the churches could have done more to
deepen our understanding of each other and to bring healing and peace to our
divided and wounded communities."
The Moderator of the Presbyterian
Church in Ireland Dr David Bruce said: "I grieve the times when fear has
held us back from building relationships with those with whom we differ. "If
we are to build a better future, then we must recognise our own woundedness and
our responsibility to care for the wounds of one another." Dr Ivan
Patterson, the president of the Irish Council of Churches, said "we need
to learn" from the example of young people. "They are a generation
who want to build peace, a generation who respect and care for this planet in
solidarity with the poorest and most vulnerable here and around the
world."
Church of Ireland Primate Rev
John McDowell said: "I am hopeful. Hopeful in a new generation who know
that the big problems we've landed them with, especially climate change and
economic inequality, can only be tackled together. "I think there are
already signs that the next generation will see the things that we obsessed
about as secondary and place their priorities elsewhere. "As we lament our
failures, sorrows and pain, and recognise our wounded yet living history, may
we with a united voice commit ourselves to work together for the common good,
in mutual respect and with shared hope for a light-filled, prosperous and
peaceful future."
Dr Sahr Yambasu The main
sermon was given by the president of the Methodist Church in Ireland, Rev Dr
Sahr Yambasu, who told the congregation: "We have come a long way - not
just a century but centuries. "During that time people have cared
for one another and made efforts to build community." But he added:
"We have also been blighted by sectarian divisions, terrible injustices,
destructive violence, and by win-lose political attitudes. And for this, we
have cause to lament." Dr Yambasu said Thursday's service was an
opportunity "to give thanks and, also, lament; to imagine what could be,
and to choose the way forward that can be mutually beneficial". The
service included an opening prayer in Irish led by Linda Ervine and Seán Coll.
Intercessions were offered by Prof Mary Hannon-Fletcher and Robert Barfoot,
both of whom were injured in the Troubles. Children carried a lantern to
the altar, a symbol of light and hope for the future.
How was Northern Ireland
created? Northern Ireland was established in May 1921 after the partition
of Ireland. It followed decades of turmoil between nationalists, who
wanted independence from British rule, and unionists, who wanted to remain in
the United Kingdom. The border divided the 32-county island into two
separate jurisdictions - six counties in the north-east became Northern
Ireland, which is still part of the UK. The other 26-county territory became
the Irish Free State, but is now the Republic of Ireland. Nationalists,
north and south of the border, were infuriated by partition and continued to
campaign for independence for the whole island. Many unionists were also
bitterly disappointed, especially those who lived on the southern side and woke
up to find themselves in a new state on 3 May 1921.
^ The day Northern Ireland was
created 100 years ago was an awful day for the island of Ireland and the Catholics
living there. The British should have given the whole island its independence
rather that keeping Northern Ireland for itself and officially allowing the Open
Discrimination of the Catholics. Northern Irish Protestants received the same
Basic Civil Rights as the Scots, Welsh and English in 1921, but Northern Irish
Catholics did not until the 1998 Good Friday Agreement (after decades of
violence and murder.) 100 years later and Northern Ireland continues to be in a
delicate situation due to Brexit and the Northern Ireland-Ireland and Northern
Ireland-Great Britain parts of Brexit. The situation is getting pretty serious
that a return to The Troubles could happen. Northern Ireland should be allowed
to hold a vote to reunite with Ireland, stay within the UK or to become a
separate country. ^
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