Haunted by History

Abstract

If the politics of transition in Northern Ireland bear the hallmarks of a belatedness how then are we to approach what came before? As the first chapter outlined, attempts at overcoming the past, drawing a line in the sand, or moving on will always be partial, depending as they do on, firstly, the conceit of a truncated periodisation that distinguishes between ‘bad’ pasts, ‘good’ presents, and hoped-for utopias; and, secondly, the harnessing of a set of moral imperatives that ring-fence that bad past and compel people towards a collective amnesia of working together to move forward. Such moral myopia takes other forms in Northern Ireland: the attempt by loyalist and republican terrorists to draw lines in the sand when it suits them while simultaneously complaining, for example, about continued police inquiries into unresolved murders is but one example. Another, particularly pernicious, example is the sententious belief that placing perpetrators (terrorists) and their victims in a room together is intrinsically beneficial. Thus, the moral gulf between these two groups is unsurprisingly bridged through euphemism and good intention by the Dawn Purvis, an ex-leader of the loyalist terrorist front party, the Progressive Unionist Party, and the new chairperson of the Healing Through Remembering group. Purvis suggests that such discussions are, of course, ‘difficult and challenging’, but, she reminds us that they ‘are not about changing people’s political opinion or ideology but they do have a common goal in exploring options for building a better future from our past’.¹