Why are the Irish so afraid to talk about the 1916 Easter Rising?

Posted by Jim on October 24, 2014

By Colin Broderick 

 

A few months ago Fiach MacConghail the director of The Abbey, Ireland’s national theatre, summed up the current state of the Irish artistic response to the upcoming 1916  Easter Rising centennial preparations with this bleak prediction; 

“This commemoration anxiety has been going on for a while, and will, I believe, end up in commemoration paralysis.”

Just last week the 1916 Relatives Association expressed outrage that the centenary plans are in an “absolute shambles.”  The members of the organization are understandably angry that no one has reached out to them to consult with them in preparation for celebrations or events to mark this historical milestone amid rumor’s that the Queen of England herself might be invited to an occasion meant to honor those who gave their lives to free themselves from English rule.

Then to top it all off, just a week ago, former Irish Prime Minister John Bruton suggested that the 1916 Rising damaged the Irish psyche and that the violence used only led to more more bloodshed in the years that have followed.  

Of course it’s an easy argument to make in light of the recent global trend in re-branding the word “terrorist”, as a catch-all phrase for; ‘violence-that-has-not-been-perpetrated-by-a-ruling monarchy-or-recognized-world-power.’  But as Gerald Seymour penned famously in the 1975 thriller, Harry’s Game;  “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.”

Not that I’m condoning violence but it’s easy to use that sort of language to dismiss events that happened in the distant past.  What Bruton fails to address of course is that Ireland and England have been at loggerheads for about a thousand years or so and just because the weapon of choice in 1916 was the gun rather than the sword doesn’t mean the two sides hadn’t clashed numerous times before then with devastating consequences.  Oliver Cromwell didn’t need a pistol to slaughter three thousand Irish in Drogheda in 1649.  Does that make him any less a terrorist?

But let’s, for the sake of argument, allow Bruton his opinion.  It’s his opinion and no matter how misinformed and callous it may appear to many, he is entitled to it.  It is after all, just one side of an argument.  Let me repeat that; it is just one side of an argument.  

As a writer I believe in the power of argument.  Without informed argument, without respectful consideration of both sides of any story we are doomed eventually to dictatorship.  In order to live peacefully in a free society “all voices” need to be heard with the same level of respect.  That is the very nature of a democracy.  It is our willingness to allow for opposing arguments, lifestyle choices, differences in political and religious beliefs that will keep us from future violence.  Without the acceptance of opposing beliefs we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past eternally.

As a co-writer of the screenplay for, The Rising, the feature movie based on the life of Sean MacDiarmada and his role in masterminding the 1916 Easter Rising, I am appalled at the unwillingness to engage in public debate from both sides.  

Isn’t this centennial the perfect opportunity for peaceful public debate?  Isn’t this the opportunity we’ve all been waiting for to finally set swords and rifles aside and, after a thousand years of bitter hatreds, hear each other out.  What are we so afraid of?  Why are the Irish so afraid to talk about their own past?  Why are they afraid to own it?

It is okay to say Sean MacDiarmada and the six other signatories of the 1916 Proclamation were terrorists.  It is also perfectly okay to say that they are heroes.  Both sides of the argument will always have their supporters and detractors.  That is the very nature of mankind; we are alike, in that, each one of us is different.  Don’t let fear keep you from taking this oportunity to speak up.

Or, if you are having trouble saying something maybe you could proactively throw your support behind some of the people who are trying to say something that aligns with your way of thinking.  

Producer/co-writer, Kevin McCann and I have a movie,The Rising, that needs all the help it can get right now.  

So far we can attest to that state of paralysis Fiach MacConghail is predicting.  Everyone we talk to would love to see this movie made, but very few are willing to put their hands in their pockets, or their voices on public record to make sure that it does happen.  It has become a political hot potato that gets whacked from one Irish politician’s office to the next with a dexterity that makes the William’s sisters look like a pair of lumbering stoners.  

But it’s not fair to blame the politicians for the cultural paralysis, that’s the lazy way out.  Their incompetence does not excuse my inaction.  That is why we have chosen to fight on to ensure that this movie gets made regardless.  We believe it is essential to the Irish psyche that this story is finally brought to light.  This is the only feature movie slated for release in 1916 to mark the centennial; the first ever feature movie to portray the actual events of the Easter Rising and the executions of the seven signatories of the Proclamation of Independence.  

But perhaps movies are not your thing.  That’s okay too.  If you don’t like the idea of a feature movie or a documentary maybe you could do something else, like organize a parade in your local town, or start a facebook page, or write a song, a blog piece or a poem.  If none of that appeals to you maybe you could just read a book about how your country was formed.  It is essential to understand a little of your own history.  Without a sense of where we have come from it is impossible to fully understand who we are.   

And this paralysis does not just stop on the shores of Ireland.  I meet countless American’s who claim to be Irish.  To you, who are so proudly proclaiming your heritage I ask the same question; what happened in Easter week of 1916?  

I’ll be the first to admit I didn’t know very much about it either until quite recently.  I’d even published a memoir of my time growing up in Northern Ireland, “That’s That” Random House 2013, but I still didn’t know very much about 1916.  My knowledge comprised of an embarrassingly vague hodge podge of names and details that barely served to form a crude outline of the portrait of actual events.  Thanks to the determination of Kevin McCann to bring this story to light I have been sufficiently informed of my history in the time since.

In closing, let me say this; as a writer I don’t care which side of the centennial debate you are on, but if we are ever to move forward from this preposterous political stalemate we’ve been locked in for a thousand years between England and Ireland for God’s sake use this opportunity to say something.  Regard this centennial as a benchmark.  Mark my words, it will be a cultural milestone no less profound than the Easter Rising itself.  The very future of our Irish identity hangs in the balance.  

Sean MacDiarmada and the other six signatories of The Proclamation of The Irish Republic sacrificed their lives to ensure that we as Irish men and women had a country and a voice to speak of it.   Let’s at least honor them by using those voices.  It’s the very least we can do.