28.09.2018
Second Level Schools Service Sees Students Urged to Promote Peace
Hundreds of secondary school students from around Ireland converged on St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, yesterday afternoon (Thursday September 27) for the annual service marking the start of the academic year.
The service, which is organised by the General Synod Board of Education (RI), was attended by Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills, Mary Mitchell O’Connor, who also read a lesson. The Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Revd Dr Michael Jackson, presided and the service was led by the Dean, the Very Revd William Morton. The theme of the service was peace and reconciliation and the speaker this year was Garda Marc Kelly, a member of An Garda Síochána from the nearby Kevin Street Garda Station.
As part of the service, the Minister and students wrote messages for those affected by violence and conflict on prayer leaves. These leaves, along with 30,000 others which have been attached to the Tree of Remembrance in St Patrick’s Cathedral since its installation in 2014, will be suspended from the ceiling of the nave of the cathedral. This is part of a special project to symbolise the 30,000 Irish people who lost their lives in World War I as part of commemorations marking the end of the war.
In his address, Garda Kelly told the students about his role, and that of his fellow Gardaí, as keepers of the peace. He said that their main aim in the event of a breach of the peace is that people leave the situation in a better position than they arrived.
He suggested that the best way to deal with an argument was through communication. Shouting and overreacting rarely led to a resolution, he said. “The key to finding a resolution and peaceful cooperation is to take a step back and look at the situation from the other person’s point of view, from their shoes. This brings empathy and understanding,” he said.
He concluded by asking for the students’ help in promoting peace, understanding and empathy throughout the island of Ireland.
