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New Ireland Group visit
Churchtown Easter 2002
Mallow Town Council held
a civic reception on 4th April to recognise the visit
of the New Ireland Group to the north Cork area for a
three-day conference which they held at Boss Murphy House
in Churchtown.
The New Ireland Group was
founded 20 years ago by a group of largely Presbyterian
and Church of Ireland people based in Northern Ireland
who felt that that the intractable Northern Ireland problems
could be tackled more appropriately by way of an all-Ireland
agreement for a New Ireland. They were in many ways returning
to the spirit of the protestant and dissenter leaders
of the 1798 United Irishmen rebellion. One of the Group's
founders Surgeon John Robb was appointed to the Irish
Senate for a number of years.
The New Ireland Group has
played a low key but important role in creating the environment
that facilitated the Good Friday agreement. The group
met the IRA long before the Hume Adams initiative and
also had discussions with loyalists paramilitary groups.
The Group made a significant contribution to the New Ireland
Forum at Dublin Castle and also presented an early solution
to the decommissioning issue. The Group has also presented
alternative voting systems that would ensure pro rata
representation for minorities.
The Mallow civic reception
was attended by Mayor Fitzgerald, Councillors Pat O'Brien,
Richard Dempsey, Tess Kelleher, acting town clerk and
Councillor Noel O'Connor who also presented as short paper
on Thomas Davis. Mayor FitzGerald said that the event
was "one of the most moving events he had presided
over in the Town Hall of Mallow". Wes Holmes representing
the Group was presented with an illustration of the Clock
House. Their host in Churchtown, Gerry Murphy, Cork Person
of the Year 2001, also spoke at the civic reception.
After the formal proceedings
Omagh-based Paul Gallagher recited a poem entitled the
"History of Ireland" and Tess Kelleher gave
a powerful rendition of the most appropriate "Town
I loved so well".
The group also visited Dromahane to see the birthplace
of the United Irishman Thomas Russell who was hanged in
Downpatrick in 1798. Local historian John J Kavanagh met
the group in Dromahane. Well known historian and writer
Father Patrick J Twohig PP in Churchtown who has specialised
in the turbulent early years of the Irish Free State joined
the group for dinner on 4th April and a most interesting
discussion took place. One of the social highlights of
the Groups trip included a visit to one of north Cork's
most authentic 19th Century Victorian pubs, Herlihy's
in Ballyhea.
In recent years the group
have widened their horizons to include a concern for the
environment and the need for rural renewal which was why
they chose the vibrant village of Churchtown and Boss
Murphy's as the location of their strategic "think
tank".
Further information:
Philip Orr, Chairperson,
New Ireland Group
0044 7711 916 042
Gerry Murphy, Churchtown
Village Renewal Trust
086 2563 813
The New Ireland Group website
is located at www.newirelandgroup.com.
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