A Letter from Nashville
a Chara,
I am writing from the road, as I am leaving Nashville for Cincinnati and then onto Chicago for a series of discussions on Irish Unity as part of Sinn Féin’s Commission on the Future of Ireland.
Nashville is one of my favourite places to visit in the US. It’s laid laid-back approach to life, great food, incredible music, and inspiring history. On this trip, I been more exposed to the history of the civil rights struggle in Nashville and across the South.
At Fisk University, Pat Cullen, Greg, and I visited the church in which Dr. King, Malcom X, John Lewis all spoke. The funds to build the church were raised by tours of the Fisk Jubilee Singers tours of Ireland and Britain. Beneath the church was a warren of old tunnels that ran under the campus. It was in these tunnels that small groups of activist would meet to plan their civil disobedience campaigns.
The rise of the civil rights movement in Nashville and across the South would inspire a generation of activists in Ireland. Just as the calls for equality were met with state violence in Nashville, so to would the civil rights in the North of Ireland.
This trip is an opportunity to explain political developments, the opportunity we now have to achieve Irish unity and to examine the role of activists to realise that opportunity.
Speaking at the Commission in Nashville, Pat Cullen MP quoted Dr. King, “Change does not roll on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle”. The world is ours to define. A new and united Ireland is ours to build.
It was my job to introduce Pat and set a context for the evening. Anyone who knows me knows that I can speak for hours about the Good Friday Agreement, its provisions, its impact, and potential. Some have even had to endure me speaking on the issue.
It was a challenge to describe this point in our history, the opportunities we face, and the challenges to be overcome, the complexities and subtleties of nation-building, overcoming division, and building reconciliation. To achieve this, we must build a wide coalition to vindicate the rights of the people in the Good Friday Agreement to self-determination by way of referendums in the North and the South of Ireland.
The US as guarantor of the agreement, has a central role in ensuring its implementation. That is why we are in Nashville, Cincinnati, and Chicago. All can be part of building a new and united Ireland, a home for all who share the island.
But how to wrap this up in a two-minute introduction? The writing was on the wall in the Civil Rights room in the Nashville Public Library.
Above the door was a quote from John Lewis, “If not us, then who? If not now, then when?” Two simple but profound challenges. The answer is simple, we are the generation to bring about unity and the work begins today. Thank you, John Lewis, and thank you to all who have come out to meet with us.
Have a great weekend
Ciarán
Ciarán Quinn is the Sinn Féin Representative to North America. Each week he writes a letter from Ireland with news and analysis. It is featured in the weekly Friends of Sinn Féin USA Newsletter. Be sure you are subscribed to stay up to date.
