Ex bomber Shane Paul is more likely to achieve peace than his fellow student Mary Lou, who now leads Sinn Fein

(The article can be read here: ‘There is no point in churches meeting with Sinn Fein, says former Presbyterian moderator’):

Shane Paul O’Doherty, who says “it is a bit late for the churches to be complaining that Sinn Fein is misbehaving” was a student in the School of English, Trinity College, Dublin.

It is good to see that young Shane Paul is still contributing to the public debate. And of course he speaks from profound experience.

If you think that the Presbyterians are poor try the Church of Ireland. I have yet to meet anyone in the Church of Ireland who is other than pusillanimous.

As for the Church of England, the situation is worse still (as a letter in Saturday’s Daily Telegraph says, the Church of England’s performance during the corona virus is pitiful).

Shane Paul O’Doherty came to us in the late 1980s with a formidable record.

A fearless explosives officer for the IRA and, if I remember correctly, 14 years in Wormwood Scrubs, 18 months of which in solitary confinement.

Time indeed for the kind of reflection that makes a great scholar.

His letter of application I can say was unique, designed to terrify the average academic (not a difficult thing to do with such timid people).

He is the only student in my course on ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.’ who was ever recommended to us by Wormwood Scrubs.

I can confidently say that he was far and away the most opinionated student I ever taught and made a mockery of many of my seminars.

The bright young ladies in that senior freshman seminar on ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’ adored him, as well they might as he made life difficult for me with regular denunciations of the British Empire, not normally a feature of criticism of England’s greatest poem.

They seemed to think of him as a modern variant of Sir Gawain. In a way he was.

Sadly he has been denied access to the Land of the Free. I would suggest that President Trump invite him to Washington to ask for his advice on the ongoing conflict in Northern Ireland. There is nothing like experience in life to deal with a problem such as this.

Unlike Mary Lou McDonald from leafy Rathgar, Dublin 6, who also read English I in Trinity College Dublin, Shane Paul O’Doherty knows what it is like to be in the frontline. He has tried to make peace with his victims and is at peace with himself.

If we are going to achieve the peace in Ireland that we have all sought for more than a hundred years, Shane Paul O’Doherty in my opinion is more likely to achieve it than Mary Lou McDonald.

I congratulate Wormwood Scrubs on the opportunity for reflection it gave Mr O’Doherty.

If you want a reference for him I would be happy to oblige.

Trinity College Dublin, the famous University of All-Ireland (1592-1920), was founded by a Protestant heretic, excommunicated by Pope Pius V in 1570 and founder of Jesus College, Oxford in 1571, the College of Lawrence of Arabia and Oxford’s greatest college.

Dr Gerald Morgan, Fellow Trinity College Dublin

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