‘Unquiet Graves’ shows it is high time we took the hysteria out of history

I recently finished my doctoral thesis, and understandably it was interrogated and dissected by senior academics.
By Ken Funston
Published 25th Sep 2020, 10:14 BST
'Unquiet Graves' focussed on loyalist activity in the mid-Ulster area; pictured is a memorial to UVF terrorists Wesley Sommerville and Harris Boyle (from Moygashel and Portadown)'Unquiet Graves' focussed on loyalist activity in the mid-Ulster area; pictured is a memorial to UVF terrorists Wesley Sommerville and Harris Boyle (from Moygashel and Portadown)
'Unquiet Graves' focussed on loyalist activity in the mid-Ulster area; pictured is a memorial to UVF terrorists Wesley Sommerville and Harris Boyle (from Moygashel and Portadown)

Every quote and reference were probed as to its veracity; like any research document, the examination questions what the thesis brings to academia.

A programme such as ‘Unquiet Graves’ [screened recently on RTE, and purporting to ‘investigate the role the British government played in the murder of over 120 civilians in counties Armagh and Tyrone from July 1972 to 1978] panders to the expectations of the mass audience, whereas historical research is more interested in the past for its historical content.

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“Public history” such as ‘Unquiet Graves’ cannot easily be held to account.

Letter to the editorLetter to the editor
Letter to the editor

Programmes of this nature have no footnotes and their sources are not challenged.

In order to produce something acceptable to the present public, histories are consistently attracted to simplifying and distorting the past, whether that is for ideological or other reasons.

Those of us who have a personal or professional interest in history view programmes such as ‘Unquiet Graves’ with an inquisitorial mind, trying to view it through an impartial prism, but are left divided by its content.

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It is my view that this programme was deliberately provoking by having a distorted narrative that has two overwhelming aims – revisionism, and to bolster support for an ideological cause.

Rogue police officers, unverified statements, and elaborate visionary effects will all help to inculcate an uncertain mind, thereby enhancing support for the underlying objectives.

It also continues to agitate the public and divide the population at a time when we are striving to heal the wounds of the past. Whether it is documentary makers, writers, or those who decide to screen these programmes, it is as stated by the respected Irish historian FSL Lyons that we must have “a much more rational and unhysterical approach to even the very recent past”.

Here’s a crazy idea – what about getting back to the rule of law?

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Evidence, adjudication on prosecution (if the threshold is met then prosecution follows), and if the subject is convicted then prison sentence is served (however meagre a period it may be in this place).

If a crime is committed then due process should and must follow and all, whether wearing or not wearing a uniform, should be held accountable.

Ken Funston, Victims’ advocate with the South East Fermanagh Foundation, Lisnaskea

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