Fortnight Publications Ltd.

The City of Colgach the Warrior and Columba the PeacemakerAuthor(s): John HumeSource: Fortnight, No. 215 (Mar. 4 - 17, 1985), pp. 4, 12Published by: Fortnight Publications Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25547717 .

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A view of old Derry from the Waterside._

THE CITY OF COLGACH THE WARRIOR

AND COLUMBA THE PEACEMAKER SDLP leader JOHN HUME writes that Derry has had long associations with conflict and presents a microcosm of the problems between Irish Catholics and Irish Protestants. However it is also the home of the Columban tradition, with its roots in both cultures.

DERBY

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The Oak Grove - is a common

piacename in many parts of Ireland. When

used topographically by the ancient Irish,

it was always accompanied by a distinctive

epithet. Hence our Derry was first known

in pre-Christian times as kDoire colgach'.

Colgach was a warrior, a rather well

known one, as references to him in the

pages of Tacitus would indicate. From its

beginnings a significant place, it has had

long associations with conflict. It owes its

very existence to conflict. Its natural geog

raphy,with its military and trading advan

tages, were the reasons for its choice at the

beginning of the 17th century as the site of the walled city or fortress for the colonis

ation of north-west Ireland and the break

ing ofthe power of the Irish chieftains. By then it took on its third epithet- London

derry. Ironically London, in its derivation

meaning The fort of the ships', as to sum

up the siege tradition and mentality which has been such a force in the area, and

wider, ever since. In the name is summed

up the conflict that dominates Irish life

today. Whether in its original warlike name, its

sixth century monastic settlement by one

ofthe main figures of early Irish history, its London connection, its siege tradition, its

role as a major port of emigration to North

America, its location in post-partition Northern Ireland with Donegal at its back, or as the Achilles heel of the 1920 settle ment, it has always been a significant

place. The sharp wind of dissent has al

ways blown from the north-west.

Today it is in ways the microcosm of the

Irish problem. For some, the siege tradit

ion, the place where their battle was once

fought. For others, the place where their

battle is being fought now. Indeed it could be argued with some force that the conflict

which Derry symbolises, its significance as

a place, was underestimated for too long

by the rest of Ireland and rarely taken into

account in its calculations, particularly its

nationalist calculations. The underlying conflict of northern relationships, symbol ised starkly by the walled London found

ations dominating the Bogside, received

very little attention in Irish history from 1689 till it emerged on the centre of the

stage in 1912. It has been there ever since.

Yet all those intervening years and cen

turies were punctuated by the sectarian

conflict and killings in different parts of the North that were the ugly symptoms of

the continuous confrontation of the tradit

ions that still disfigure us today. It was only a year before he died that Parnell, a south

ern Protestant, learned an essential truth

of the importance of this conflict for the future of Ireland when he said in Belfast Treland can never have its freedom, Ire

land can never be united until the religious

prejudices of the minority are conciliated'.

Yet today there are those who believe that

the division of Ireland only started with

partition, thirty years after Parnell's

death.

The differences between the two tradit

ions in Ireland and in the North in par ticular, their weakness and their strengths, arc all here in Derry. It is here that one

senses the real problem of the Protestant

tradition, the real Irish problem. It is the

psychological sense of being a minority -

the source of the laager mentality, the root

of the fear -

which is the root of the pre

judice. Here too are the living symbols of

that mentality -

the walls, the physical memorial of the siege, the symbols of past

triumphs and triumphalism, the Bible and

the sword - the ever-present companions

in a settler's mind.

Our common tragedy has been our fail

ure to recognise that the first step towards

real unity between us is to accept our diff

erences, to cherish our diversity and to

mean it; that, of course, is the tragedy of

Ireland. We have pushed differences to

the point of division. Our challenge is to

believe and then to persuade, and to get the British to join the ranks of the per suaders. That accommodation of differ

ence - not conquest, not conversion -

is

our goal and is the true basis of a peaceful, stable and united country.

Throughout all the centuries, back to

546 AD, if there has been a common

thread, it is the thread of the Columban

tradition with its roots in both traditions.

Columba is accepted as the founder of

Derry, in spite of Colgach, geography

again influencing the choice of island site

for his monastic foundation. Colmcille -

the dove of the church - was the epithet

appended to Derry in his honour for many centuries before London arrived. He was

not unassociated with conflict either, hav

ing left Derry because of his perceived role in promoting conflict, and coming back

later, his only return, to settle conflict.

continued on page 10

4 Fortnight 3rd March 1985

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BlBHBMBHBHBflBfllHBflBHBlB^B^H DERRY Paddy Doherty continued from page 11

the building with easy access to the library. So when you visit the library, you may excuse the cowboy books and detective

stories. Nobody had the heart to challenge her role, nor had they organised adequate finance to manage and develop the librarv.

If it was not for Paddy's daughter Ann's hard work, the investment of ?70,000 would be getting a very poor return.

Maybe when the dollar-laden Americans

arrive for the O'Doherty reunion in July some of them will see the potential of the

Heritage Library and organise adequate

funding for its further development.

Paddy would prefer that they would

take an interest in the O'Doherty Fort/

Interpretative Centre at the foot of Maga zine Street. Many people believe that

Paddy would never get planning permiss ion for it because of opposition from the

Historical Association who claimed it

lacked authenticity. One rumour is that he

only got it through because he agreed to

put badly needed public toilets on the

ground floor. Only time will tell whether his success in getting this built will record

for posterity his hindsight, his manipulat ive skills or his monumental ego.

Naturally a man of such energy and am

bition inspires a mixed reaction. For many

people he walks on water - the shrewd

manipulator, persuasive talker with an al

most legendary capacity for getting funds.

Some regard with amazement the capacity

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Paddy Doherty

of a man from the Bogside, a Catholic, a

Nationalist, to stand up with the best of

them in shaping the future of Derry. Many

people feel that his drive and ambition should be an inspiration to others to rise

above the endemic apathy that results

from the years of decisions made by face

less men.

However, there are others who feel that

his dictatorial style is nothing new. It's the

same old *on-your-bike', Norman Tebbitt

philosophy. There would seem to be a

contradiction in Paddy's espoused aim of

getting people to accept responsibility and

his own autocratic style of management.

Apart from Paddy's personal approach to running the various projects, the pro

jects themselves are not beyond question. The budget for the Youth and Community Workshop has been cut back because of

falling numbers of young people enrolling -

and this despite the ever-rising numbers

of unemployed young people. The Inner

City Project, under pressure to meet bank

repayments, is forced to charge high rents

even to its impecunious tenants, there is an

irony in the fact that Paddy recently went to Ethiopia for a few weeks to help famine

victimes, but he is forced to charge the

World Development Group ?45 a week for two rooms on the ground floor of a

terraced house in a back street. Despite all

the young people wandering the streets we

have no drop-in centre. We have no cent

ral library, no theatre, and yet we are go

ing to have a fort! Of course it's not Paddy Doherty's fault that we don't have any of

these much-needed facilities, but it does

highlight the inefficiency of a lot of pub licly-funded work in catering for real

needs.

In the struggle for change Paddy has chosen to work within the system rather

than against it, and anybody who has been

involved in any movement for change ' >vvs the proM..*

' ' ' '-,,.

all aware of the old adage -

"he who pays the piper calls the tune'

- but we often

forget that the idealist who refuses to

compromise often remains isolated, de

void of resources and ultimately ineffect

ive. Success in working within the system is when the compromises made are less

than the advantages gained. It is a sad fact of life that governments,

councils and other public bodies are all too

willing to throw money at problems so as

to be seen to be doing something, rather

than to look at the roots of the problem,

they are generally more willing to look at

large grandiose "top down' schemes. Thus

Derry was given the Richmond Centre as

if the problem here was a lack of shops rather than a lack of shoppers. In fact the

high overheads of such a centre makes it

an attractive proposition only for retail

chains which can bear the loss if the ven

ture is not successful. Meanwhile the trad

itional locally-owned retail outlets, al

ready under pressure, are forced out of

business.

Paddy's various projects were attractive

propositions to funding bodies because

they were all interrelated in a large scheme: craft village, fort, rejuvenated

city centre, skills training for young peo

ple, tourist development - it all looks very

good on paper. Some questions that occur

to me: can craft workshops evolve in an

environment where they have to compete with Boots for rented space? Will tourists

come to a folk village rather fchan to see the

place the paratroopers shot innocent peo

ple on Bloody Sunday? Will Americans be more prepared to invest in Derry than

people with money in Ballymena? What will our grandchildren say about O'Doh

erty's Fort? What advantages does the In

ner City Project offer prospective business

that past Unionist landlords didn't?

Paddy Doherty is a man of great drive and ambition who has put a lot of work

into making a dream come true. Only time

will tell whether he has beaten the system or whether another strong voice of protest has been co-opted onto the board of face

less men who decide our future.

Hume on Derry continued from page 4

The story oi that settlement has some rele vance today.

The clans of the Antrim Coast, the Dal

riada, insisted that their ties of blood and

kinship with the Dalriada in the west of Scotland meant that they owed their loy

alty and tribute to the King of Argyll. The clans in Derry and Tyrone insisted that they owed their loyalty to the High Kings of those lands where they lived. Columba averted disaster and the possibility of widespread conflict by proposing that they pay tribute to both. There was no con

quest, no conversion. They maintained their ties with their kinfolk across the

water while accepting their place in the

land where they lived. There is a message there for someone.

12 Fortnight 3rd March 1985

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