Taoiseach and Churches show us the way to a truly shared society
ST Patrick’s Day brought two fine examples of the kind of leadership we desperately need, at a time when the political atmosphere seems filled with anger and polarisation.
The Taoiseach, who has previously called on both the UK and the EU to tone down their rhetoric, said that a preoccupation with Irish unity was “divisive and puts people back into trenches”.
He emphasised that the key priority was to build “consensus and unity of purpose” and that “trust is the only basis on which sustainable, long-term solutions can be found”.
He quoted from the late Seamus Mallon’s book, A Shared Home Place: “It’s about time we learned to share this patch of ground.”
Hopefully, President Joe Biden will have listened carefully to this wise counsel, rather than some of the more imbalanced views presented to him.
The joint statement by the four main Church leaders was the most powerful and effective I can recall for many years: “We have often been captive Churches; captive not to the word of God, but to the idols of state and nation.”
This is a searing criticism, not just of themselves, but of our whole political system, which is based upon the idea of two apparently separate groups of human beings, who are deemed to identify with one of two, supposedly separate, “nations”. “Idols” is a strong word, used so that we know exactly what they are saying.
They build further on this by referring to “the corrosive impact of violence”. The Church leaders — unlike some others — clearly see no justification for killing. This is, of course, no surprise, but is very welcome in the current context of admiration of past violence and continuing threats and shootings by loyalists and republicans.
Our shared humanity, our common human decency, must always transcend the “idol” of the nation. They conclude by speaking of creating “a shared space, of belonging and welcome for all”.
The Taoiseach and the Church leaders have spoken incisively for Ireland at its very best. We owe it to them to support their commitment to a genuinely shared society.