Jennifer Carroll is a 21 year old actor and writer. She first began writing for the Uxbridge Cosmos in 2007 when she had the opportunity to share her experiences as a Canadian ambassador for an international conference for women in Dubai. At the beginning of 2008, she moved to Ireland to pursue a career in theatre and film. Far From Home is her monthly account on living and working in Dublin.
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What Good Was It For?
The Irish have a notorious reputation for their lethal charm. I think the person to first discover the cheeky wink and contagious conversation of the Irish man must have discovered it sitting in the back of a Dublin taxi. The ol' Dubliners who spend their lives weaving in and out of the notoriously confusing city streets could charm the pants off of anyone. When I hopped in a cab yesterday in an attempt to catch up with a day that was running one step ahead of me, I spent a leisurely twelve minutes bantering with the driver.
His brother lives in Toronto, so we quickly found ourselves discussing the parallels between Canada and Ireland. The shadows of each of our neighbours cast long over us as expatriates, following us across oceans and continents. As I spoke about Canada's lack of a definitive identity, the cab driver related with his own personal stories of being mistaken for an English man time after time. If it isn't bad enough that no one can distinguish the Irish brogue from a British accent, they assume every Irish man has a personal connection with the IRA.
I was enjoying the cab ride, and the refreshing opinions of the driver, However, the minute he mentioned the IRA, my mind darkened and that cloud followed me for the rest of the day.
Briefly, for those who are unfamiliar with the group, the IRA was a military organization comprised of Irish volunteers determined to combat British rule in Ireland. The Irish Republican Army was responsible for the revolution of 1916, called The Easter Rising. Through guerilla tactics, two thousand rebels overtook the legendary General Post Office in the heart of Dublin in April, 1916. After a week of fighting, they had to surrender to a British force with eight times the manpower and severely superior artillery reservoirs. Tragically, half of the casualties of the week were citizens, caught in crossfire.
The IRA was seen as anything but heroic for standing up to an imperial power that had long outstayed its welcome. In fact, it took two years for the Irish to endorse what is now a celebrated piece of Irish history. Initially, it is said that Dubliners went so far as to throw the contents of their chamber pots on the rebels of the Rising. After the Rising in 1916, the IRA soldiers fought from 1919-1921 for independence from Britain. The war was scattered and dirty on both ends, with the IRA employing means such as arson, ambush and multiple assassinations of intelligence officers. The British resorted to many of the same tactics, and both sides also killed prisoners as the conflict escalated.
Most famously remembered is an event called Bloody Sunday, where the Irish assassinated 14 British informants early morning on November 21, 1920. Later that day the British responded by attacking Irish civilians in Croke Park, a major football pitch, during a Gaelic Football match. The British stormed the park and trapped thousands of people inside the stadium, volleying bullets into the crowd and onto the pitch at the players. If you want a Canadian equivalent imagine American troops raiding the Air Canada Centre during a Leafs game, shooting spectators in Leafs jerseys and killing Matt Stajan as he tried to skate for his life.
July 1921 saw the Anglo-Irish Treaty, the recognition of the Irish Free State and an end to the fighting between Britain and the Irish militia. While civil war continued on between the north and the south, Ireland finally found its independent identity from England.
The IRA survived afterwards, but just marginally. They remained active in Northern Ireland where religious and political issues strained the country and the ostracized Catholic minority struggled within the outnumbering Protestant population. Through the 1940's and again in the 1950's the IRA attempted campaigns which are now largely seen as failures. However in 1970, the IRA split and the new, more aggressive Provisional Irish Republican Army aggravated the violence in Northern Ireland, killing and wounding hundreds with over 1300 bombings and attacks. These terrorist attacks, named The Troubles, continued for decades and it wasn't until 1998 that Northern Ireland and the Republic signed a peace agreement, named the Good Friday Agreement. Ceasefires took place, and both countries managed to find a way to put the troubles behind them.
And in 2007, 87 years after the raid, the first British sports team was allowed on the Croke Park pitch for a rugby match. The Irish are so fiercely proud; it must have been an amazing moment to see Ireland graciously invite England back to the place where they stripped Ireland of its pride and dignity.
But for all this historical baggage, I'm still disgusted with the animosity a lot of the Irish carry for the English. They resent 21st century Brits who had nothing to do with the way Ireland was treated a century ago. And this is why my taxi driver stayed in my mind long after the meter stopped and I paid my fare: he asked me what good was it for? A new segment of the IRA called the Real IRA murdered two British soldiers when they opened their door to a pizza delivery man earlier this month. Those British soldiers had nothing to do with any political agenda in Northern Ireland, but were there to train for Afghanistan. Two men killed for something beyond their control, punished for a crime their country committed long before they were born. What good was it for? What will it take for the human race to judge people by personal actions, not those of their parents, their country or their peers? I don't understand ….. I just don't.
When there is a standard for living you're fighting for, when your life is threatened or your safety compromised, then I say fight. Fight for your freedom and your life. But when you fight for nothing, when you attack another human for no reason at all…. we can only be judged by that which we stand for and by our actions. So I'm scared to ask for fear of finding an answer that will scare me, but please tell me: what good was it for?
