Martina Devlin: Only truth can mend the broken parts of our island
Hemingway reflected that the world breaks everyone and afterwards many are strong in those broken places -- an appealing observation because it retrieves value from injury.
But healing isn't automatic. Sometimes people have to tackle recovery proactively. We are damaged by the Troubles here in Ireland, and unfortunately we don't fit into that "strong in the broken places" category.
We remain fragile where the cracks occurred, as the sourness unleashed by the presidential campaign reveals. Our pieces have not knitted back together.
The two parts of this island are stalled in misunderstanding, distrust and reproach, not so much between nationalist and unionist -- although some exists there -- but between the various strands of nationalism.
For all its nastiness, the Aras election highlights something necessary for the wellbeing of both states co-existing on this small landmass: the need for a truth commission.
The idea was raised, then shelved, a few years ago because of the difficulties it presents. It is worth reconsidering, however, because it may help to overcome the legacy of the Troubles.
While it strikes me that many in the Republic never grasped the scale of the compromises made north of the border on foot of the Good Friday Agreement, I see that people in the North didn't fathom something either. That is the impact of so many decades of partition on attitudes in the Republic.
Partition is now a mindset. Northern and southern nationalists might just as well be separated still by the watch towers, search lights and rolls of barbed wire, which once marked out the Border.
Some northern nationalists still aspire to a united Ireland -- although by consensus rather than force, as is right and proper, and if it doesn't come about then so be it. Meanwhile, a significant proportion of southern nationalists no longer want anything to do with that bitterly contested area at the top of the island. A Berlin Wall of the mind has settled into place.
It is easy to understand why the North might be scraped raw after decades of violence, but the Republic has suffered heavy bruising, too -- a condition often overlooked. The Republic's injuries were cauterised at the time of the Good Friday Agreement and never received follow-up treatment. Perhaps a truth commission could remedy that deficit -- both for the North and the Republic.
A reckoning with the past is long overdue. But the truth genie will have to be shaken out of its bottle because it won't materialise voluntarily. This could happen in the context of an independent, internationally constituted body with a mandate to offer immunity from prosecution.
The amnesty aspect will be unpopular. I appreciate that victims' relatives will not relish the prospect of pardons for killers, especially where the circumstances were gruesome. Some crimes seem beyond the pale -- Enniskillen, for example, or the activities of the Shankhill Butchers. But a general dispensation is the only way to uncover something approaching the truth.
Individuals are entitled to the truth, as is society. The passage of time cannot dilute its importance.
If an official truth recovery process is to achieve its goals, all sides must sign up. Its hearings must be public and its findings must be published. Even without prosecutions, this offers a certain measure of accountability.
Almost three years ago, Lord Eames and Denis Bradley recommended an Independent Legacy Commission to tackle information recovery. While it did not advocate an amnesty, it suggested proposals on how "a line might be drawn".
Sinn Fein is willing to participate provided the causes of the conflict are investigated, as well as the consequences. Unionists aren't sold on the idea -- they fear scapegoating.
As for the British government, it is decidedly reluctant for several reasons: it would be obliged to face up to collusion between the security forces and loyalist paramilitaries; a protracted Saville-style tribunal would be expensive; and claims for compensation seem inevitable.
Not everyone favours truth commissions. Some say wiping the slate clean benefits perpetrators more than victims. Others think it advisable to leave well enough alone in case wounds are re-opened. Still others suggest the money would be spent more profitably on victim support or cross-community initiatives.
These concerns are valid, but I'd argue they are outweighed by just one benefit: resolution. In societies subjected to sustained violence, history amounts to debate rather than consensus -- and what a contentious dispute has escalated here.
One way to dampen the fires is to set up an impartial panel charged with considering what happened, before putting a seal on it. Costs can be kept in check by making it a temporary mechanism operating to a finite timescale.
The Irish Government should lobby for international backing to urge Britain to meet its obligations -- although the short shrift given to the Finucane family by David Cameron's administration is not promising. Nevertheless, pressure must be mounted and sustained.
Truth commissions are a tried and tested way for countries recovering from conflict to come to terms with it. East Timor, Liberia, Sierra Leone and many other countries have held them, while the South African hearings attracted worldwide attention. While they draw a line under the past, they also ventilate suppressed stories. And they allow people to speak freely without legal repercussions -- testimony that might help to lay ghosts to rest.
Earlier in the presidential election, Martin McGuinness spoke in support of a truth commission. But Sinn Fein must co-operate wholeheartedly -- the families of the Disappeared are still in limbo, for example. If one is convened, the Deputy First Minister will be expected to be open about his past, but equally the British government will be required to meet the same standard.
A truth body can't be transformative -- that's asking too much of a panel with limited powers. But it might bridge widening gulfs. There may have been a case for deferring it in the aftermath of the Good Friday Agreement (don't rock the boat) but it needs to happen now. As much for the Republic's sake as the North's.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu said: "While the Allies could pack up and go home after Nuremberg, we in South Africa had to live with one another."
So do we in Ireland. And living together means working on growing strong in our broken places.
Irish Independent
