In Conclusion...Fintan Mallory
I
t is a truth commonly acknowledged that the commonly acknowledged truths of Irish political discourse are more or less bunk; well acknowledged in Trinity at least. Not only is the island a mass grave of martyrs but odours of decaying ideologies plague the air. Divisions continue between families and communities, not just to appease dead ancestors but to pay homage to dead political views for fear of what would happen once we let go. The faiths is iffy at best. As the intro should show, the metaphors have got out of hand and successive generations have had their hands bound by them. The incoherent abuse of language is on its hind legs and it’s dangerous. Nowhere is this nonsense louder than in the north (insert pet name where appropriate). Things have always been a bit backward up there to be honest. It’s one of the few places in the world where Catholics are more socially progressive. Distinctions have always been a bit confusing (is a republican really just a nationalist who’s willing to kill people?), one can read book on book about the place, talk to well-informed, articulate people, intimately understand the historical process which creates such a situation but still find things utterly nonsensical. Without the momentum of conflict, the distinctions that drive it decay. In philosophy, one of the most important and valuable things a person can do is to deny the existence of an unclear or useless distinction. Historical interlude time -Descartes had to connect his mind stuff (which did the thinking) to his body stuff (which did the extending), he said they met in the pineal gland (which didn’t do the convincing). He had his reasons but these days people seem much more comfortable talking about how the mind is a function of the brain (and body etc) and we tend not to talk about a metysically distinct mind-stuff ). This
is swell. Up north though, we still rely on our pineal glands. We talk of ‘building bridges’, power is shared out in Stormont and we allow politicians to tell ridiculous lies to maintain these divisions. The media too loves a good narrative so we’ll hear of terroristturned statesman, or rabble-rouser overcoming his own bigotry. The tragic, Redmond-like and inevitable decline of the middle-ground. A lot of true things don’t matter here. I’ve been warned away from my usual rant about lies and the beards that tell them. What is important is that a good story suits politicians and the media alike. It also suits ‘communities’ as well. We get to be part of an unfolding tale. It affirms the meanings of distinctions and allows us to continue on hugging our little destinies. Politics is much more fun this way, when one doesn’t have to know things like the VAT or when you can just blame another side for one’s problems. Political parties tend to have gang mentalities. This Freshers’ Week, you could see FF handing out dog tags to members while FG had their life-size Michael Collins posters. Gangs are fun and there is no need to be lonely in them, all you have to do in exchange is ignore the regular disappointments, justify dodgy policies to yourself and know deep down inside that it’s better one of your guys is in power thano ne of the others. I bet there are even people that have convinced themselves to look forward to Enda as Taoiseach At least they arenactively trying to hurt people. Some people are so driven by existential crises that they’ll support murder if it is for some greater, self-justifying goal. We all need to feel relevant in our own ways. Swinging us back up to the north. You see, along with the assembly came an actual meaningful change. With the Agreement people signed up to the Principle of Consent. This means that it doesn’t matter if Stormont is
populated wholly with beards or with bigots, it’s the people outside of that building that would get to decide on ‘the constitutional question’. This is more than a bridge. This is an important and exciting secret. The differences between parties regarding the union now become irrelevant. They toxin can be extracted from discussion and social, economic and ‘real life’ issues should prevail. The fact that arguments about parades and language acts may take a bit longer to resolve but as long as irrelevant distinctions remain, that business will be needlessly difficult. There remains the silly policy that MLAs designate their tribe when entering the assembly. This serves but to carry on bad faith. The philosopher Dan Dennet was at the Hist last month. What allows him o be a clear thinker is his refusal to use terms which he no longer considers of value, that and a gleeful willingness to deny the existence of important distinctions. These are things which we need to do. If we get the language right, the politics will look after itself. This may seem like ignoring the facts of how things are but that misses the point. The way we describe the facts, creates the facts. We just need to stop doing it in a divisive way. So, aside from denying the meaning of all the old terminology (or the need for ‘new’ variations of it), let’s also dismiss the illusion that a cultural identity necessitates a political ideology. We’ll allow that one can both be Irish and ‘cool with’ partition. Hopefully, when all these things have settled in people will stop worrying about building bridges and realise that they were standing on the same side all along. Perhaps some day on a grander scale we’ll all catch on that we are all people and on that same side as well. And wouldn’t that be lovely. Fintan Mallory is a Junior Sophistor student of Philosophy 35