King’s 1921 speech key moment for Northern Ireland’s centenary commemorations, says historian Lord Bew

With scant public evidence of serious preparations to mark 100 years since the foundation of Northern Ireland - even though it is now just months away - Prime Minister Boris Johnson suddenly announced on Thursday that the NIO would be setting up a Centenary Forum and a Centenary Historical Advisory Panel, but gave little further information on what they would entail.

Lord Bew said that he “hopes to be involved, as I hope a range of scholars across the board should be”.

The crossbench peer and professor of Irish politics at Queen’s University – who was involved in organising commemorations of the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta five years ago – told the News Letter that he thought the centenary events should not be confined to Northern Ireland and should extend to other parts of the UK.

Fellow historian Éamon Phoenix has highlighted how the way in which Northern Ireland emerged as an entity means that there are multiple dates which could be said to mark its birthday.

Lord Bew accepted Dr Phoenix’s point and said there was room for discussion around a series of important dates.

However, he said that he believed the key date for commemoration would be June 22 – the day when King George V addressed the new Parliament of Northern Ireland which at that time was meeting in Belfast City Hall before eventually moving to the new Parliament Buildings at Stormont.

King George’s carefully-crafted speech, which was written with the help of the eminent South African soldier and politician Jan Smuts and approved by Prime Minister David Lloyd George, spoke of his hopes for now constitutionally-divided island to nonetheless “work together in common love for Ireland upon the sure foundations of mutual justice and respect”.

The King’s upbeat message, which urged the founding fathers of the new state towards tolerance and equanimity, included a line still frequently cited in political speeches almost a century later: “I appeal to all Irishmen to pause, to stretch out the hand of forbearance and conciliation, to forgive and to forget, and to join in making for the land which they love a new era of peace, contentment, and goodwill.”

Inaugurating the new parliament, the King urged those assembled before him “to make it an instrument of happiness and good government for all parts of the community which you represent”.

Lord Bew said that the King’s eloquent appeal “was not as bland as Royal pronouncements usually are” and that “with all its strengths and weaknesses it is a good starting point”.

He said that aspects of the speech are now anachronistic, but others are still highly relevant and that “on balance, because of the drama and thought that went into it, that is the logical date to have significant commemoration”.

While unionists will enthusiastically take part in the commemoration events, on Thursday, deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill said the anniversary was “not something that I would ever celebrate” and that “partition has failed everyone, our people, our economy, our two islands”.

However, yesterday SDLP MP Claire Hanna struck a more optimistic tone about the possibility of commemorations which are not divisive. But she told Talkback that it was “so important that it isn’t tub-thumping and jingoistic”.

We can learn from past successes, says Phoenix

The events to mark Northern Ireland’s centenary can learn from the successful work to commemorate other key and often divisive milestones over recent years, the historian Éamon Phoenix has said.

The former Stranmillis College academic and well-known broadcaster is both a member of the Taoiseach’s Expert Advisory Group on Centenaries and a member of Northern Ireland group convened in 2012 by the Community Relations Council to help mark key centenaries in Northern Ireland over recent years.

Dr Phoenix told the News Letter that the latter roundtable group – which includes representatives from libraries, museums, historians, playwrights and the community sector – had acted under four principles: start from historical facts, recognise the implications and consequences of what happened, understand that different perceptions and interpretation exist, and show how events and activities can deepen our understanding of the period.

Dr Phoenix told the News Letter that he had been able to speak in east Belfast about the Easter Rising and in West Belfast about the British Army, helping to correct how “nationalists allowed their role in World War One to be airbrushed out of history”.

While the centenary was a “minefield could drag us back”, he quoted the late historian FSL Lyons who said that “to understand the past is to cease to live in it”, adding that “we need to look at the whole thing in its complexity”.

Queen’s University historian Marie Coleman said she hoped “that the excellent work done on centenary commemorations to date by community groups and the heritage sector under the umbrella of the Community Relations Council will be used by these new advisory panels”.

Dr Coleman, a specialist in 20th century Irish history, said she hoped to see recognition of “not just how Ireland, but also how Ulster was partitioned and the experience of minorities in all of the jurisdictions”.

Orange and DUP planning events

As well as the Government’s official events, the Orange Order and the DUP have for several years been considering how to mark Northern Ireland’s 100th birthday.

The DUP has for several years devoted a significant section of its various manifestos to the issue, while the Orange Order has also been planning for this for a considerable period.

The Orange is expected to hold a parade similar to that which in 2012 travelled from Belfast city centre to Stormont to mark the centenary of the Ulster Covenant and was uncontroversial.

The DUP has proposed ideas such as a £1,000 gift to every centenarian, giving every child born that year a baby box (a Finnish idea aimed at giving every child an equal start in life), and a one-off public holiday.

It remains unclear whether the involvement of the NIO and of Downing Street is because the DUP and Sinn Féin could not agree within Stormont Castle.

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