The story of my parents tells us much about how education can shape us and the world that we live in
My mother and father relished freedom of thought and imparted a love of literature and life-long learning. Photograph: Getty ImagesMy mother and father were born in a united Ireland. Not an independent Republic, of course, but a single nation within the UK. Rose was born in 1916 in west Cavan and Philip was born in 1920 in south Fermanagh, both on small farms. At birth, they were separated by only a few miles of fine bog.
My father’s career progressed steadily if not entirely smoothly; his union activities marked him for attention. He was once given discreet access to his civil service file only to find a covering note: “R/C – not for promotion”.Turnip the volume – Alison Healy on the Vienna-based Vegetable OrchestraMy parents eventually settled in Newry, the town where I was born and raised.
While once devout Catholics, they relished freedom of thought and imparted a love of literature and life-long learning. They were exemplars for education, seeing it as a path to wisdom and tolerance: both took degree courses at Queens University after retirement. My father and I were both conferred with master’s degrees in 1991.
The Belfast Agreement was an incredible achievement, holding the promise of a new future that frankly I thought was beyond reach. A generation has since been raised since, but it would be foolish to think sectarian divisions have gone.
On March 22nd this year, the siblings and our families will gather in Belfast where our parents are now buried with their first-born child, to very proudly witness him unveil a statue in their honour.
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