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Title: A New Ireland: Politics, Peace, and Reconciliation by John Hume, Edward Moore Kennedy, Thomas McEnery, Carrie Meback Mack, Jack Van Zandt, Tom McEnery ISBN: 1-57098-066-7 Publisher: National Book Network Pub. Date: March, 1996 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (2 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: "You Can't Eat a Flag"-John Hume's father
Comment: Easter Sunday 2004
There is so much substantive information in this small book. I absolutely love it, and it seems to me, the Irish do too!
I've been told by a resident Irishman that Jean Kennedy Smith had a lot to do with the 1998 Good Friday Peace Accord's success. That was news to me, interestingly, since I've been to numerous forums at the JFK library and have attended George Mitchell's talk on the very subject. He and others such as Bill Clinton worked tirelessly in ensuring that the peace process would not fail. But, it seems to me now, that the chief architect of said accord, is John Hume who has been for decades working for peace in his own land.
John Hume was born in Derry in Northern Ireland and raised Catholic. In America that distinction would be no different than any other, in Northern Ireland, it would be strangely distinctive. Catholics are a minority there only representing 40% of the population. Forty percent is a minority??? Oh yes, in Northern Ireland it was. His father warned him at an election meeting to not "get involved in that stuff. Because you cannot eat a flag." The lot of Catholics in Northern Ireland was not so sunny; life's troubles routinely consisted of poverty, unemployment and discrimination, not to mention random acts of terrorism.
Hume's book was published in 1996 and surely laid the groundwork for the 1998 Good Friday peace accords. This book is the one to read to try to begin to understand this incredibly complex conflict that has been raging for centuries. Hume's solutions, however, are surprisingly simple. I, myself, feel I have a better understanding of the many different political groups and their history. Also, Hume recounts all of the major acts, treaties etc. that affected Northern Ireland this past century. I particularly enjoyed the added few pages of the book containing names of the chief players and groups of this conflict and the timeline of Irish history. Did you know that Bill Clinton was the first U.S. president to visit Belfast and Derry in 1995, page 187?
Did you know that at least over a dozen Irishmen have died following hunger strikes in reaction to oppressive policies??? The poor, poor Irish.
Interestingly, a Scottish natural rights philosopher, David Hume, influenced at least Alexander Hamilton's thoughts in his arguments for a better constitution (see Forrest McDonald's biography). John Hume expresses much admiration and even inspiration from our Constitution. Also, in conversation with another learned Irishman/historian, when I asked if all Protestants left Ulster in 1780, (possibly when my ancestors left), he, somewhat frighteningly exclaimed, they didn't all leave!!!! I had read that in Leyburn's book of the Scotch-Irish and had just finished reading Triumph of the Laity, by Westerkamp, which he had suggested that I read. EXCELLENT book, but hard to come by. Westerkamp's book will instruct you on how certain factions within the main protestant churches in Ireland at the time, Church of Scotland and England, Presbyterian and Episcopal respectively, created problems within the non-Catholic Northern Irish in the 1600's and 1700's. When I had mentioned that I was reading John Hume's book, my friends eyes brightened, since I was at my protestant church at the time, I connected his reaction to Jonathan's when he ate forbidden honey when fighting the philistines, see I Samuel 14:27!
Senator Edward Kennedy says of John Hume that "he has had a profound influence on my thinking."
Rating: 5
Summary: A framework for true reconciliation in Northern Ireland
Comment: John Hume is a virtually unknown figure in the United States, but he has been steadily gaining recognition due to his work in the Northern Irish peace agreement. This recognition is overdue and much deserved. This monumental book outlines Hume's political philosophy - a philosophy which seeks to brush aside the vengefulness and intransigence of Northern Ireland's past, searching instead for reconciliation through justice for all. Hume is heavily influenced by Matin Luther King, Jr. and John F. Kennedy, and quotes from these two figures flavor Hume's text. Hume's themes may seem repetitive, and his ideas seem to be based on the shakey foundation of human progress, but this work demonstrates that he is a champion for for a true peace in Northern Ireland - a peace that is just for all.
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Title: Free Ireland: Towards a Lasting Peace by Gerry Adams ISBN: 1568331959 Publisher: National Book Network Pub. Date: June, 1994 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
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Title: Eyewitness Bloody Sunday by Don Mullan, John Scally, Paul Greengrass ISBN: 1903582164 Publisher: Merlin Publishing Pub. Date: September, 2002 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: 1921 : The Great Novel of the Irish Civil War by Morgan Llywelyn ISBN: 0812570790 Publisher: Forge Pub. Date: 15 March, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: 1916: A Novel of the Irish Rebellion by Morgan Llywelyn ISBN: 0812574923 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 15 March, 1999 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: One Day in My Life by Bobby Sands, Gerry Adams ISBN: 1856353494 Publisher: Mercier Pr Ltd Pub. Date: 01 January, 2001 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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