Sermon Audio: Psalm 46

Last Sunday morning being Remembrance Sunday, I preached from Psalm 46: Refuge and Strength. Here's how it sounded.

Book Review: Enniskillen

It's one of my earliest memories. A Sunday evening, I was sitting on my knees in our living room, using the settee as my table to eat my dinner. As always, the television was on, and our eyes were glued to the screen. Images of horror and devastation were being shown, a bomb attack in Enniskillen, as people were gathering to commemorate the war dead at the war memorial on Poppy Day. Remembrance Sunday, the 8th November 1987.

It's now twenty-five years ago since that scene in our front room, but I can still remember it. I'm not sure I can remember much, if anything, before then. The name of Enniskillen was imprinted in my mind.

For the tenth anniversary of the bombing, the Editor of the local newspaper, The Impartial Reporter, Denzil McDaniel produced a book, simply entitled 'Enniskillen: The Remembrance Sunday Bombing.' Fifteen years since it came out, and in advance of this latest milestone, I read the book, discovering more information about what happened that day, and the stories of those murdered and injured in the attack.

McDaniel puts his journalistic training to excellent effect, as he provides the narrative framework and background details, but allows individuals and their families to tell their own stories. It's a powerful, moving, emotional read, perhaps even essential for anyone to hear how one attack among so many affected so many lives in one small town in rural Northern Ireland.

With the delay of ten years, McDaniel is able to trace the people as they have dealt with the events of that terrible day. As a community gathered together, it was a dastardly attack on the whole community, and there are frank interviews with political leaders, ranging from Sir Bernard Ingham (Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's Press Secretary), through local MP of the time, Ken Maginnis to Gerry Adams.

Perhaps the most encouraging feature of the whole book is the repeated refrain of the importance of the Christian faith, not only to the twelve people murdered, but also to so many of the relatives and injured. The hope and strength and comfort provides a vivid testimony to the grace and goodness of God even in times of darkness and evil actions. I'm not entirely sure how much McDaniel understands of it, based on the way he describes it sometimes, but he certainly reports the accounts and interviews of the individuals so that their words and faith shines through.

Written in autumn 1997, the book comes at a precise moment in time and Irish history, before the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, before the power-sharing executive in Stormont, and chillingly, before the even bigger devastation of the Omagh bomb. As he writes in his final paragraph:

'Enniskillen has come through its troubled day in 1987 extremely well. But in writing this book, the one thing that I found unnerving was the realisation that there is still the potential in Northern Ireland for more Ennsikillens. It seems remarkable that in a society that has suffered so much, we have not quite reached a point where such an awful event can be ruled out. It may seem like a cliche, but the simple fact is that we must learn to live together. We must find agreement, including a political settlement, that allows this generation and future generations to share this land in a peaceful way, fully recognising the richness of both traditions.'

How sad that, in this twenty-fifth anniversary week, we are still burying the victims of terrorism, with final peace still beyond our grasp.

All in all, while it is not an easy book to read, nevertheless it is an important book, and one that is well worth reading. The voice of the victims cannot be silenced; their story must be heard.

Book Launch

A little advance notice for the launch of my book Journeying Through Irish History. The book will be launched in Omagh Library at 11am on Friday 7th March. Drop me a line if you would like to attend, or to purchase a copy of the book.

The book came about through my work with the innocent victims' group, West Tyrone Voice. Part of my work was research, and I produced an Irish History course to help us understand the past, and how we got to where we are today. The book is the full set of notes from the course, which has been generously funded by the Community Relations Council in Northern Ireland.

More news to come shortly!

Exciting news!

Regular readers of my blog may remember me mentioning the History book I was writing when I worked in West Tyrone Voice. There was funding available, and we were publishing it. Well, eventually, we will have the final draft copy for proof-reading by this weekend! I may soon be in print!

I'm not sure if we have an actual title for the work yet, but it's a stroll through Irish history, seeking to understand where we have come from. A main aim of the project is to explode the 'myths' of Irish history - those stories that have been passed down from generation to generation, but which are not accurate!

When the book is published there will be a limited number of copies available, and I'll let you know how to get your hands on one!

Electoral Videos

As you may be aware, we have the Assembly Elections coming up on 7th March 2007 in Northern Ireland. To some extent, it's being seen as a referendum on the St Andrew's Agreement, and could see power-sharing between the DUP and Sinn Fein. It seems that the parties are tapping into popular culture, using blogs and even YouTube to get their message across.

First up, Peter Robinson has started a daily webcast video on YouTube. This is quite a step forward, with Robinson attempting to explain why the DUP are the party to support through the medium of internet video. Also from the DUP, check out the Lagan Valley candidates out canvassing in Lisburn. The Green Party has also got in on the act - here, you can see the North Down candidate's video.

Also, check out the Voice4Democracy blog, supported by people who are opposing the DUP in this election, and who are unhappy with the prospect of terrorists in government. Some interesting reading, and check out the videos of DUP Executive candidates entering the Executive meeting - how they blank the victims' representatives.

For me, it's going to be a postal vote from Dublin as I won't be home for it. So decision time will be sooner than March 7th!