Fortnight Publications Ltd.

Guests of the NationAuthor(s): Paul GallagherSource: Fortnight, No. 316 (Apr., 1993), pp. 40-41Published by: Fortnight Publications Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25553964 .

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David Norris?points to Jewish success story

The November election increased

Protestant

representation in Dail Eireann from one to

three. PAUL GALLAGHER detects a

wider mood of 'change' in the position of

the republic's Protestant minority.

"1 X was heartbroken when John XXIII died. He was

a breath of fresh air. As far as the present Pope is

concerned, Vatican II has gone by the board."

Bobby Smith, 80 years old, is outspoken but mat

ter-of-fact about life in the republic as a Protestant.

Born in 1913 on Lord Inchquinn's vast estate at

Dramore Castle, Co Clare, he grew up in an arche

typal ascendancy realm. His father served as land

steward on the estate, while his mother worked as the

sole teacher in the local Church of Ireland primary

school.

Mr Smith was to follow in his mother's footsteps,

becoming a teacher, having won a scholarship to

Galway Grammar School. Serving for 20 years as

principal of Taney School, Dublin, in the largest

Church of Ireland parish in the south, he emulated

the didactic pursuits of his mother. He considers

himself "as good an Irishman as there is", and not

without justification. Forthrightly but courteously,

he traced the vicissitudes of his life, and that of his

family, in the republic.

Protestants form an exiguous minority in the re

public, accounting for less than 5 per cent of the

population. Only a quarter of the membership of

the Church of Ireland lives south of the border. Mr

Smith recalled the foundation of the Free State and

Northern Ireland in 1922: "The setting up of North

ern Ireland was disastrous for Protestants in the

south," he said. Sitting in the tranquil front room of

his south Dublin, suburban home, he chronicled the

uncertainty of the early days of partition.

"I remember how worried Protestants were. They

never knew quite where they stood and how they

would be viewed by their Roman Catholic neigh

bours." In retrospect, he feels partition was a bad

thing for both north and south. "Colonisation always

leaves partition behind it," he said, with an air of

melancholy, citing India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and

Nepal.

Mr Smith has been a lifelong member of the

Labour party, and firmly believes that "Protestant

ism and nationalism are not mutually exclusive". A

litany of Protestant names had taken prominent

places in tomes of Irish nationalist history, he said?

referring to Wolfe Tone and Henryjoy McCracken?

and the non-sectarian, secular, pluralist Ireland

envisaged by these men is still a tenable aspiration in

his opinion.

Mr Smith is critical of the ubiquitous power of the

Catholic Church in affairs of state: "The laws of the *

land have for so long been dictated by the church."

He recalled having to smuggle condoms across the

border from Newry in the 50s, because he and his

wife did not want to have any more children. He feels

the church's stance on divorce and contraception

causes great annoyance to southern Protestants. He

also rails against the church's position on mixed

marriages.

Senator David Norris, the flamboyant Joycean

Trinity academic and civil rights campaigner, de

claimed that the church's line on contraception was

leading the human race towards imminent doom.

"We are nearly being bred off the planet," he said

caustically, referring to the Catholic Church's alli

ance with President Bush in keeping world popula

tion off the agenda of the Rio Earth Summit.

Mr Norris, who has been a forceful campaigner

for the legalisation of homosexuality in the republic,

believes that the inertia he has faced in struggling to

have the punitive 1861 Offences against the Person

Act removed from the statute book is part of a

pattern of interference by the church in affairs of

state. He believes however, that although "the cul

tural circumstances of Protestants encourage social

conscience and independent responsibility", reli

gious conviction is not a factor in deciding whether

people are liberal or not. "Inevitably the extremes

40 Fortnight april 1993

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SOCIETY

meet," he said?referring to the Rev Ian Paisley's

earlier 'Save Ulster from Sodomy' campaign. He argued that politicians in Dail Eireann still

"defer to a non-elected, non-democratic, sexist el

ite". The utterances and proclamations of the Pope

and the Hierarchy are, in Mr Norris' opinion, "a

shocking betrayal of democracy".

But Mr Norris also emphatically criticises the

Church of Ireland, of which he is a devout member,

for what he described as "its witch-hunt against gay

clergy". Too often, Protestants had failed to speak

out on social and political issues, he said, because

they were almost apologetic about their religious

identity and cultural heritage.

He feels that Protestant schools offer a more

liberal education than their Catholic counterparts.

And he has championed non-denominational and

multi-denominational school projects in the south

for some years. But he derides the pomposity and

exclusivity which certain elements of southern

Protestantism have tended to foster. "I hope it doesn't

contain any exclusive tendencies any more... it

tended to be exclusive, snobby, nasty and negative...

I hope they are gone for good," he said.

With an air of flippancy, he contended that Trin

ity, which celebrated its tercentenary in 1992, had

been founded by Queen Elizabeth "in a vain attempt to convert the Irish and improve their table man

ners?neither of which succeeded". The function of

the college had been and was to "corrupt" Catholics.

Its primary aim was to encourage free thought,

without the fetters of liturgical dogma.

Ultimately, Mr Norris believes there has been a

lack of identification by Protestants with the state.

"They haven't contributed as they should," he said,

pointing to the Jewish community, with only some

2,000 members yet three TDs?one in each party? as the fruition of efforts to achieve representation

within the diversity of Irish society. He enjoys debunking the myth of 1916, with its

sacrosanct symbols of indigenous, Celtic and na

tional purity. "Eamonn Ceannt was, in fact, Edward

Kent. He couldn't have been more English if he had

been Lord Gloucester." He noted, with a wry smile,

that Patrick Pearse's father was English, but ridi

culed the propensity of the Church of Ireland to

allow its halls in the north to be used by the Orange Order. "Flying Union Jacks out of churches on the

12th July?I find it very offensive ... the church

should not be seen as a political instrument," he said.

Ivan Yates, Fine Gael TD for Wexford, is tipped to

take up the leadership reins of his party in the next

decade. He agreed that "there has been a lack of

participation" by Protestants in the political process

of the republic. He feels, however, that no impedi

ments have been put in their way and puts down the

paucity of Protestant political involvement in the

affairs of the state to a feeling amongst some "that

they mightn't succeed". He affirmed, however, that

his being a Protestant had never been a hindrance in

his party or to his getting elected.

The 27th Dail has three Protestant deputies. Mr

Yates has been joined by Seymour Crawford (also

FG) in Cavan-Monaghan and by Trevor Sargent,

who won the Green party seat in Dublin North. Mr

Yates sees this as part of "a wider mood of change, a

modernising trend where stereotypes are not rel

evant". This is based, he believes, on a changing

perception of 'Irishness'. "In the past people per

ceived us as West Brits, but that is no longer the case."

"I think that liberal change is more noticeable

with every election," Mr Yates said, although he

considers the 1937 constitution in need of reform.

He believes the 1983 abortion referendum befitted

the adjective 'Catholic', and he affirms his party's

commitment to a referendum on divorce. Long term reform will be progressively more

pluralist, he

believes, owing to the trends in society at large. Mr Yates' views on education correlate to some

extent with those of his upper house co-religionist,

Mr Norris: "Some of the Protestant schools tend to

inculcate a type of snobbery." He believes, however,

that "vocational religious input into education has

been the backbone of the Irish education system".

And although he supports new, multi-denomina

tional schools, he feels that "denominational con

trol should be continued".

The secretary general to the church of Ireland

Synod board of education, David Meredith, said that

in the past Protestants had "only talked about their

own affairs, but we are now coming of age, matur

ing". He tentatively hazarded that "some members

of the Protestant community are

becoming more

confident about their position in Irish society". With

3,250 denominational primary schools in the repub lic and only around 10 non-denominational ones, he

argued that "the vast majority of parents want their

children educated within their own tradition ... it is

that which perpetuates the thing." Ultimately the

Church of Ireland had welcomed the recent green

paper on education. But it felt that interference in

the management structure of denominational

schools could have detrimental consequences for its

own schools.

Mr Meredith's comments illuminate the predica ment of Protestants in the republic amidst a social

sea change. Sands are shifting towards diversity and

pluralism and, by osmosis, politicians and bureau

crats are absorbing the mood of the populace. Sec

tarian and religious tensions have by no means been

dispelled, but confidence and a new resolution are

emerging.

As Mr Meredith concluded, change is irrefutable.

"Ten to 15 years ago the Church of Ireland would

have found it difficult to comment on political and

social issues. There was a fear of being labelled as

part of the colonial hangover," he said. "There are

no qualms now about participating fully in the edu

cational debate and in political issues."

april 1993 Fortnight 41

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