01.03.2013
Archbishop of Dublin Addresses Northern Ireland Dialogue Society
Archbishop Michael Jackson addresses the Northern Ireland Dialogue Society in Stormont Castle, Belfast, this evening, Friday March 1.
In his speech, entitled Nurturing a Democratic Society, the Archbishop talks about creating communities in which democracy can provide opportunities for shared growth. He also says democracy is for all who live in a community, not just those who got there first. He adds that the nurturing of identity and respect is the greatest safeguard against intimidation and anarchy.
Dr Jackson suggests that one way to turn negativity around is to encourage citizens to talk about and do things which matter to them most – but to do them for others because these are aspirations they have for themselves at their best. This encouragement, the Archbishop says, goes far beyond what public representatives can do on our behalf. It involves what we can do in our communities when we engage with others who live in and form those communities. This allows democracy to move from safeguarding the individual to opening up opportunities for shared growth, Dr Jackson says.
Megaphone moralising cannot nurture a cohesive society, the Archbishop says. Instead we need to listen to fresh injections of thinking offered by others, not least those from the Abrahamic Faiths. “They are no longer visitors but citizens – and those of us who feel Northern Ireland is ‘ours’ in a primary sense need constantly to remind ourselves of this and respect it. Democracy is not only for those who got here first. It is for all who live here now,” he says.
He says that the Northern Ireland Dialogue Society’s discussion provides the opportunity to bring history into the future. “It is not the closing down of possibilities. Rather, it is the opening of windows – beyond inclusion to engagement, beyond ecumenism to Inter Faith encounter, beyond tolerance to invitation. The question which presents itself urgently to us all is surely this: Is Northern Ireland, at yet another difficult time in our history, willing and eager to embrace its fear of itself? Identity and respect go hand in hand. The nurturing of both together is the greatest safeguard against intimidation and anarchy. Democracy deserves the opportunity to nurture once again peace and stability,” Dr Jackson states.
To read the full transcript of the Archbishop’s speech click here.