Northern Protestants On Shifting Ground
by
Susan McKay
The Blackstaff Press
Published 2021
https://blackstaffpress.com/northern-protestants-on-shifting-ground-9781780732640
I was raised a Catholic in Belfast from the mid-1950s. From whatever age I became conscious of differences in religions and affiliations, I was aware of the notion of tribe. There was us and there were Protestants. There were the Falls and Shankill roads. There was orange and green. There was the tricolour and union flags. There was graffiti to mark territory, and all sorts of other ballyhoo to keep “us and them” distinct from each other, and to a large extent, separated.
But, and this only really became apparent when I was reading this splendid book, I was never once told to be fearful of or frightened by Protestants. There was no inherent bias in my upbringing. No one told me outright or blatantly that I shouldn’t mix with “them ‘uns’. The notion and reality of division seemed to be a given. You might not have wanted to take sides but by the very fact you came from Northern Ireland, your birth identity was stamped inside your head. A lot of it was and is nonsense, of course.
So, along comes Susan McKay’s book, Northern Protestants On Shifting Ground, a book that weaves around a hundred interviews mostly with ordinary people into a tapestry of honest commentaries on how Protestants are trying to steady themselves and their lives on the title’s shifting ground and pondering what the future holds.
Interviewees include religious and political leaders, former security force members, ex-paramilitaries, victims and survivors of many incidents from the Troubles, community and business leaders, students, writers and more, as fair a cross-section as a reader and analyser could wish for.
Big subjects are tackled including the fall-out from Brexit including worries about the border and future polls on Irish unity as well as concerns about social justice and the impact of change on everyday lives. The controversial debates about how to deal with the crimes and atrocities of the past, to erase guilt, give blanket amnesties, draw a line, are all piling on the pressure for Protestants (and Catholics too) to be realistic about identity and humanity over weather-beaten tribal genes. It is complex and not as easy to resolve as some in Westminster think.
I thought this book would be an endurance test of the same old bickering, wait-a-wee-minute, dug-in-heels stuff that has tainted Northern Ireland, but it was nothing of the sort.
I was enlightened and greatly impressed by the openness and honesty of the interviewees and by Susan McKay’s skilful handing of the material. As she says in her conclusion: “I think of the valiant people who have given me their ‘vulnerable testimony’ for this book, and I am grateful, as always, for open hearts and open minds.”
Open hearts and open minds. That’s got to be the future, surely!
An excellent book on every level that deserves the time and attention of everyone of whatever stripe and conviction who cares about the future of Northern Ireland.
