Veteren Campaigner McAliskey’s Message to Kinsale

JJ Hurley

Civil Rights Activist Bernadette McAliskey emphasised the importance of education during a recent visit to Kinsale at the invitation of the Kinsale Peace Project.

Caption Carrigdhoun correspondent JJ Hurley seen here with Bernadette McCaliskey at the Kinsale Peace Project,

Speaking exclusively to the Carrigdhoun before addressing a large audience at the Friary, Kinsale, the Tyrone native highlighted education as one of the most important levellers in society.

“I was born in 1947, and that is the same year that the Education Act was introduced.

So, the year I was born was very important, not because I was important but because the free secondary education act was introduced,” she said.

Recalling notable figures who benefited from the act, she mentioned John Hume, Austin Curry, and Nell McCafferty. “They were decent people and they were thankful for the act.”

However, living in the north, secondary education had restrictions for the Catholic minority, particularly in relation to history teaching, which often reflected English perspectives.

In McAliskey’s case, this was addressed by the Mercy Order that she attended, which ensured Irish history was also taught, despite not appearing on the curriculum at the time.

Earlier that day, she visited Kinsale Community School and expressed her delight at the engagement she found among students.

“I was unbelievably impressed with the young students and with the school. I think it would be as rare a school that would be as brave as the principal and teachers in that school to be giving the young students such an open invitation to think critically,” she said.

“I found the children well informed—I shouldn’t say children, but young adults—and they were mature and measured in their opinions and very solid in their thoughts.”

Building on her experiences in education, she likened teachers to returning to the ideals of James Connolly and Patrick Pearse as educators.

She also offered advice for anyone entering politics. Politics, she said, is not a career but a challenge to serve society and make it better.

“If what you want to do is to make kinder, better, fairer ways to change the world, it might not just be in electoral representation; you may find yourself in a street protest, you may find yourself in a trade union, and you may find yourself being elected,” she said.

“But, as our president Connolly said, you are putting yourself forward as a servant of the people, and I think it was a very important thing the president said.”

One of the youngest MPs ever elected to Westminster, McAliskey expressed her strong opinion that politicians should never lose sight of what they were elected for.

“People will soft-soap you, people will tell you that you need to keep in with them, and you can’t forget that you went there to do a job and deliver on those promises,” she said.

In addition, she felt politicians should only serve two terms, like those elected to the position of the president.

Turning to the topic of a United Ireland, she noted that it remains an important goal, one she feels people in the south have largely abandoned, largely because of the influence of the Civil War and the need to secure the economic viability of the 26 counties.

However, she argued there is a growing groundswell to pursue the idea, and it needs to be examined what it is we want.

“The people in the south have to begin to prepare, and we need a new constitution based on citizenship, because the parodical children are coming home,” McAliskey remarked.

“It is not if we complete the decolonisation but when. And when we do, it’s not for the political parties to plan for it, but for the people to decide.”

Still full of the energy of that young woman who made such a mark on her generation, when asked what had given her the greatest satisfaction in life, she said it was the recent presidential election.

“Working very hard with a lot of other women to elect Catherine Connolly—and that may go down as our finest hour,” she replied immediately.

Her remark referred to a candidate who sees Ireland’s position as a neutral country, avoiding the world’s conflicts or any moves to push the country into joining NATO.