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Hope and Opportunity
Ba mhaith liom mo chomhghairdeas a ghabháil le Catherine Connolly agus a foireann. Maith sibh as feachtas Uachtaránachta dearfach, forásach agus trócaireach a chur chun cinn.
I want to extend my congratulations to Catherine Connolly and her team. Well done for fighting a positive, progressive, compassionate and cohesive Presidential campaign. Well done also to the many Sinn Féin activists from all parts of the island and all the others who enthusiastically handed out leaflets, erected posters, canvassed thousands of doors and worked hard to get the vote out last Friday.
Lots of words have been used to described the outcome. Stunning. Triumph. Historic. And many more. For me the two most important are hope and opportunity.
Catherine Connolly was an exceptional candidate. The success of her campaign cannot be separated from her authenticity and her connectiveness with the electorate and with those, many of them first timers, who campaigned for her. That campaign and the emergence of a centre left alliance of parties backing Catherine has provided hope that the century long dominance of the two conservative parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, can be ended.
Everyone supporting Catherine Connolly worked well together. They intelligently responded to the negative campaigning of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil and of sections of the southern media establishment. And they stuck to Catherine’s positive message of inclusivity, equality, unity and of a new Republic.
And that brings me to opportunity. Catherine Connolly’s election as Uachtarán na hÉireann has the potential to be one of those watershed moments in our history when new directions can open up new possibilities for the people of Ireland.
None of this will be easy. The challenges are enormous. Every effort will be made to fragment this new alliance. The fightback by the establishment parties had begun even before they left the Dublin Castle count centre last weekend. Micheál Martin and Simon Harris were dismissive of any threat to the dominance of their parties – no surprises there. But that was before their own back bench chickens came home to roost. And they could include elements who might welcome a new genuinely republican way forward. These internal machinations could well be a long game played slowly. We will see.
But the reality is that there is now a new opportunity for change. This election victory shows that there is pathway to political power for a viable progressive alternative to the conservative politics of FFFG. That places a huge responsibility on everyone who helped elect Catherine Connolly to stay the course and to build a movement for transformative change and equality. For republicans it is an opportunity to make Irish Unity the centre piece of political activism as part of building that mass movement.
The Vinyl Gift
I love listening to music. There is nothing as uplifting as a good live session. And the music stays in your head forever after, to be dipped into when the need or notion moves you. For example, Martin Hayes magical concert last week in Belfast’s Grand Opera House. Its still jigging in my brain. Martin was well served by guitarist Conal O’Kane and bouzouki and concertina driver Brian Donnellan. They were joined for the encore sets by Donál O’Connor and Neil Martin, two of my favourite musicans, who opened the event along with singer Mary Dillon who was outstanding. A
ll in all a wonderful evening. Martin Hayes playing was amazing, elegent, draoíluíleacht, exquisive, sublime and betwitching. He transported us to a higher state of being. And all of us are the better for it.
But it isn’t possible to get to live events all the time. So apart from the radio I have a fine collection of recorded music. They include cassette tapes, CDs and LPs. Some are over fifty years old.
Seamus Drumm gave me an ipod of over a thousand tunes years ago. I’m still working my way through them. Go raibh maith agat Seamie.
A few Saturdays before his death I was having a Saturday afternoon coffee with Ted. We were in his living room and he invited me to take my pick of his LP collection which occupied a corner of the room. Of course, being a shy soul, I declined. I thought Ted was just being his usual generous self. How was I to know he was going to die a few weeks later? Thankfully Ted ignored my well mannered protestations. He instructed his two fine sons that I was to get first go at his collection of LPs when he ventured forth from this life. So he was being generous. But planning ahead as well. As usual.
A few months later I spent a bitter sweet hour or so in his empty house picking through Ted’s music. It includes a few LPs which I gave him over the years for birthdays and other special occasions. All my favourite musicans are there. Christy, Ry Cooder, Leonard Cohen, James Tayor, The Bothy Band, Planxty, Joe Heaney, Van Morrison, John Denver, John McCormack, Sinéad Caher, Dylan,Moving Hearts, Patrick Street, Joe Heaney and tons more.
So, on a Saturday or two ago I set aside the afternoon for listening to Ted’s music. Vinyl is a different listening experience. All the other audio devices are lazy ones. Very little effort is required by the listener. Vinyl demands more attention. You have to select the LP, perhaps read the sleeve notes. Load up the record player. Put the vinyl on the turn table. Manouvere the arm and set the needle on the revolving LP. Tune your ears to the slight sizzley purr as needle and vinyl get into their groove and the music issues forth.
All together a much more complete and involved cultural soujourn. A less passive and more satisfying way to let the music take you with it. Maybe because it requires an effort by the listener. You are part of the process. You have to give it time and attention. The magic embraces you and fills you up spiritually and lyrically. You and the tune become one. So my friends take time to listen to the music. If we have the gift of hearing we all deserve to indulge ourselves. And making the time for vinyl is the best way to do this. Míle buiochas Ted.
Supporting Palestine
October is the month Palestinian farmers in the west Bank harvest their olive groves. But this year many such groves sit untended because Israeli settlers are attacking Palestinian villages and farms and the Israeli forces have erected barriers to prevent Palestinians getting to their land.
In the Gaza Strip the ceasefire is being repeatedly broken as Israel continues to pound Palestinian families and communities. At the same time the medical situation in Gaza remains critical with Israel blocking much need humanitarian and medical aid entering the Palestinian territory. The World Health Organisation last week reported that only 10 percent of the requested medical supplies have arrived. Medicines like Paracetamol that we take for granted and that can be bought freely here are not available to help those in pain.
In the last two weeks Israel has returned the bodies of around 200 Palestinian prisoners, some of them showing signs of torture. At the same time civil defence teams digging through the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israel over the last two years have recovered almost 500 bodies. Thousands more remain buried but heavy machinery is needed to find them.
The ordeal of the Palestinian people continues with little sign of any real effort to alleviate conditions in Gaza or the west Bank. The election of Catherine Connolly was reported in many Arabic media as a positive development given her strong support for the people of Palestine.
In a more hopeful sign Palestinian factions met in Cairo last week and agreed steps needed to prepare for a national dialogue to protect Palestinian sovereignty. They rejected all forms of annexation and displacement in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and Jerusalem and called for the “withdrawal of occupation forces from the Gaza Strip, the complete lifting of the imposed siege, the opening of all crossings including the Rafah crossing, the entry of all humanitarian and health needs, and the initiation of a comprehensive reconstruction process that restores normal life to the sector and ends the suffering of the citizens.”
This meeting is an important step forward but it needs to be built upon. The Irish government and international community must support the Palestinian people. The Occupied Territories Bill must be urgently pushed through the Oireachtas and has to include a block on the provision of services.
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