Please find extracts from
our Diocesan Magazine. Full copies of the printed edition which includes
the parish notes are available from the Diocesan
Office
Christian ministry that reflects the needs of a fast changing society
is varied and challenging and is developing rapidly within the Church
of Ireland and in other communities according to speakers at the second
Summit on Ministry meeting in the College of Education in Dublin on Saturday,
22nd March 2003.
Representatives from all the Church of Ireland dioceses were given the
opportunity to hear about and discuss a range of development models at
the meeting, which offered a fascinating insight into how new ministry
models are working in different social and cultural contexts.
Chairman of the Commission on Ministry, the Most Revd. Richard Clarke,
Bishop of Meath and Kildare, said the Summit revived his confidence in
the Church of Ireland as a single church that shared a vision of the ministry
of Jesus Christ.
He said: " I hope that each representative group from the dioceses
will continue to work and pray and engage in sharing ideas and in seeking
ways to build up our common life and ministry together."
Bishop Clarke added that a third Summit on Ministry would be held early
next year.
The one-day event was structured around several well-prepared presentations
that demonstrated the amazing variety of Christian ministry.
In an opening presentation, Mrs. Janet Maxwell, Communications and Synod
Services Director, used a colourful "sticky labels" visual to
explain ministry in relation to spirituality, finance, church structures
and community.
Four presentations followed describing ministry in a large parish at
the centre of community life, in a group of rural parishes serving a dispersed
community, in a suburban parish with no community focus and in an inner
city parish.
The delegates then joined groups of their own choosing to discuss one
of these types. It was significant that by far the largest group gathered
to discuss the experience of the grouped parishes in a rural area.
Two presentations looked at ministry in other communities.
The 'Adam and Eve' parish in Merchants Quay, Dublin is in the Roman Catholic
tradition. It is run by a female Pastoral Co-ordinator and is involved
in community service projects.
In a contrasting environment, the Argyll and the Isles parish is made
up of 30 parishes served by eight stipendiary clergy. The challenge is
to see how the local community can build a basis for shared ministry with
teams emerging from the community.
In the afternoon session, five presentations marked the contrasts in
different approaches to ministry developments in the Church of Ireland.
There was certainly no evidence of a template but a diverse, astonishing
and exciting variety of solutions.
The experience of Shankill Parish, Lurgan was illustrated by an organisation
chart that traced every conceivable aspect of ministry responsibilities.
This ranged from an aerobics class that seeks to bring people into the
church building to running confirmation classes and pragmatic support
such as management of IT systems. There was a very obvious sense of laity
involved and working as a team.
In a very different context St Catherine's CORE Church in Inner city
Dublin emphasised the network of ministries in action and engaged in outreach
to community, particularly to the most vulnerable people such a drug addicts
and single parents living in area surrounding the church, although there
is also considerable energy and enthusiasm for parish outreach. The congregation
here is largely under-45 and has been gathered around a particular exploration
of Christian ministry. Typically, they would describe themselves as 'Christian'
first, and might be less conscious of the denominational label, 'Church
of Ireland'.
Other approaches included the idea of appointing a professional Ministry
Development Officer in each diocese.
The challenge of planting a new congregation was given an airing. It
was stressed that people came first, followed by the building, rather
than the other way round. This 'living stones' approach was illustrated
by the story of the congregation in Moneyrea, Down and Dromore, who recently
began holding occasional Sunday Services in the "Auld House",
a local hostelry. Some 40 parishioners from a neighbouring parish agreed
to be "planted" and weekly services are scheduled to begin in
June.
Rathfarnham Parish, Dublin presented a collaborative ministry approach
with the emphasis on clear lines of shared responsibility. Under the banner
'Christ First' the parish is encouraging every baptised person to exercise
ministry in various ways from youth leadership to hospitality. University
College Dublin is to monitor this collaborative ministry project and provide
feedback.
Ruth Handy of Dublin Diocese led the final session of the day. She looked
at the challenge of change and observed that 'change is not a word we
like'. The important thing in any change process was to create a vision
by asking 'what' kind of parish we wanted to be. The 'how' questions come
later. Small teams of five to seven people engaged in brainstorming could
be very effective and rewarding. But don't expect change overnight - change
was more like a slow cooker not a microwave.
Edited by Colin Murphy and Lynn Adair with an introduction by Professor
Stephen Mennell
Published by the Liffey Press at €212.50
The cover of this compilation with more than 50 short essays on protestantism
in the South of Ireland is a series of green dots interspersed with the
occasional red speck. This presumably mirrors the small minority of the
protestants within the Republic.
If essays of 1000 words might produce a fragmented volume, not so here,
as there is a common thread running throughout. That of the life, times
and problems of this minority over the last 60 years. If you have lived
through these years, you will relate to the description of life for the
Protestant, then and now.
Contributions are from all walks of life: bishops, clerics and educators,
from the famous to the ordinary and many a recollection of what school
was like in those days for the Protestant, which, at the time was taken
for granted, but today, looks postively repressed and isolating. Hockey
and not the GAA typified protestant youth. Parish sales with cakes and
poppy selling were also features of the protestant strong social structure
with many a reference to the well-off areas of County Dublin and not forgetting
the poor protestants of the inner city.
Issues such as the "ne temere" and the Wexford boycott all
get frequent reference and the devastation on families as a result, contending
with the monopoly and power of the Roman Catholic Irish State, now all
completely changed.
The rule-of-thumb of "keeping one’s head down"
and reputation for honesty – has been recently tarnished by names
quoted in off-shore accoounts and the publicity surrounding Drumcree.
The re-establishment of previous protestant hospitals into integrated
larger institutions. All controversy is here, including reference to abuse
problems.
The constant debate of the degree of "Irishness" of the Protestant
- was he a "West Brit" or simply different to his fellow countryman?
All contributors who discuss this, defend vehemently, their pride in being
an Irish national.
Ireland in the 21st Century is totally altered from 60 years ago. Pluralism
now encompasses many other minorities in a multi-national country and
protestantism is not unique, and even it is in number decline, it still
helps to produce what might be termed the dichotomy of inclusive diversity.
A thought-provoking, entertaining and an honestly historical read for
anyone interested in their place in Irish society.
Hi from D-Grupe. We hope that you had a nice Easter. J
We had a wonderful Good Friday service in Ballyfin. At it, we showed
a video of the crucifiction. We also ‘rubbished our
sins’ at the cross, had a dramatised version of the
Passion and we sang some great songs played by our new youth band with
singers. The reality of Christ’s death was made potent
by these features and it made us realise the extent of his sacrifice for
us. Thanks to all who helped organise the service especially to Rev. Philip
Heak for all his time. Also thanks to Rev. Hillary for inviting us to
host the service. We hope to have more of these services in the future.
If you are interested in joining our committee, please let me know…we’dd
love to see some fresh faces with new ideas for the summer.
Good luck to all those who have upcoming exams. We hope that you do well
and achieve all your aims.
If you have any queries or ideas, please contact me (087 9664657-nickkola@eircom.net)
or Sharon (086) 3470462
It was rejoicing in Bucharest; it was
vandalism in Baghdad
By Patrick Comerford
THE FALL of Saddam Hussein and his regime in Iraq is as welcome as the
fall of Nicolae Ceausescu and his regime in Romania in 1989. Both regimes
had, at one stage, been the darlings of the West: Ceausescu was a thorn
in the side of the Soviet empire; Saddam was armed and encouraged by the
West as a foil to radical Iran.
The popular looting of Ceausescu’s palatial buildings
in Bucharest and Saddam’s palaces in Baghdad brought
some relief to those rejoicing on the streets. But there is a difference
between events in Iraq and events in Romania: Ceacescu fell when his own
people revolted, encouraged by changes in neighbouring countries; Saddam’s
fall has been engineered by outside intervention, and the popular response
came with his fall rather than contributing to it. It was rejoicing and
revolution in Bucharest; it was vandalism and looting in Baghdad.
Was this a Crusade?
As the war loomed, I was appalled by images of George W. Bush, in front
of a life-size, neon cross in a Baptist church on Martin Luther King Day,
preaching about a crusade on the very day that commemorates the non-violent
witness of the man who once said we live in age of guided missiles and
misguided leaders.
The talk of "Crusade" invoked images and language that made
many Muslims fear that this might be a war waged by Christianity against
Islam. The bitter legacy of the Crusades leaves only two acceptable theological
and moral options for Christians in the face of war -- pacifism or the
"just war" theory.
The demands of peace cannot always take priority over the demands of justice,
and those among us who invoke the principles of pacifism in the present
crisis are open to criticism if we have not spoken out against the tyranny
of Saddam, condemned Iraq’s programme for weapons of
mass destruction, or challenged injustice and violence in other parts
of the Middle East. But when is a war just? Is the "just war"
theory simply a formula to allow Christians to take part in any and all
wars? And, can the war against Saddam Hussein in Iraq be regarded as a
just war?
‘A mournful spirit’
The concept of a just war owes its original formulation not to biblical
principles but to Aristotle, Cicero and others. The theory was developed
by Augustine of Hippo, who wondered whether a Christian might take part
in war with a good conscience. For Augustine, war involved resorting to
a lesser evil in the hope of preventing a greater evil and of restoring
justice, but all wars remained sinful and could only be waged in "a
mournful spirit". He accepted the command to love our neighbour included
a duty to defend the vulnerable against attack, while the commandment
to love our enemy placed moral limits on the use of force.
Augustine’s theory was refined and developed by Thomas
Aquinas in the 13th century and by Spanish and Dutch theologians in the
16th and 17th centuries. Their formula for a "just war" passed
into international law, so that the Spanish Dominican, Francisco de Vitoria,
and the Dutch Protestant, Hugo Grotius, are known to this day as the "Fathers
of International Law".
Conditions for a just war
Since Grotius, it has been accepted that the just war theory exists externally
of any recognised legal system, and that it is part of the "law of
nations" followed by all civilised nations. During the 19th and 20th
centuries, the Hague Conventions codified the theory. After World War
II, the charter for the Nuremberg war crimes trials and the UN Charter
increased international recognition of the theory. The Nuremberg Tribunal
established that the just war theory, as Grotius understood it, is universally
binding legal custom.
The just war theory does not seek to legitimise, and still less to glorify,
war. But it is seen as a method of passing judgment on the morality or
immorality of a particular conflict. Today, jurists, theologians and philosophers
accept the theory and agree that seven conditions must govern a decision
to go to war (jus ad bellum) and three conditions must govern its conduct
(jus in bello).
Each and every one of these conditions governing a decision to go to war
and governing the conduct of war must be met for a war to meet the criteria
of the "just war" theory. For even one of them to be ignored
or violated, a war cannot be regarded as having been just. And so, we
all have a duty to ask whether any war, including the war in Iraq, is
a just war.
Going to war
First, we must ask whether this war has been waged for a just cause, such
as self-defence or the defence of a neighbour? It is not a just cause
when you dislike the leader of another country. Ultimately, that would
make every country vulnerable, and it would be the beginning of international
anarchy. Nor is this war about self-defence: when the US was attacked
on 11 September 2001, the attacks were carried out by al-Qaeda, which
has clear links with Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Pakistan, which have not
been attacked, but no proven links with Iraq. And, unlike the previous
war against Iraq which followed the invasion of Kuwait, this war was not
to defend another, injured nation.
Second, war must be waged by a legitimate authority. Most world leaders
agree that the legitimate authority on this occasion was the UN Security
Council, which has been by-passed and ignored by Washington and London.
Third, war must be formally declared. Waiting until the middle of the
night, while Baghdad is sleeping, before firing salvoes of missiles from
ships in the Gulf on the Iraqi people, and then declaring to a sleeping
Washington that war has begun does not amount to a formal declaration.
Fourth, those waging war must have a right intention. Did Washington and
London clearly set out their intentions? Was it about deposing Saddam?
Was it about forcing Iraq to disarm? Was it about enforcing Iraq’s
acceptance of UN Security Council resolutions? Was it about preventing
the development of weapons of mass destruction? Was it about controlling
the supply of oil? Was it about reasserting America’s
interests in the region against those of France and others? Or is it part
of a larger strategic plan set out by Richard Perle in his paper, A Clean
Break, in which a US invasion of Iraq would be the first step in reshaping
the Middle East to Israel’s benefit? Do the next steps
lead into Iran, Syria, or perhaps even Saudi Arabia?
Disapproving of a country’s weapons programme leaves
India, Pakistan, Israel and many other states vulnerable to war. And who
now will put restrictions and limits on the development of British and
US weapons of mass destruction?
Fifth, war must be the last resort. Washington and London abandoned the
diplomatic negotiations needed to secure support for their plans in the
UN Security Council. And they refused to heed the pleas of Kofi Annan
and Hans Blix to give the weapons inspectors more time in Iraq. If Iraq’s
failure to conform to UN Security Council resolutions made war a last
resort, then we must ask about the many states, including the US, that
have shown persistent contempt for Security Council resolutions.
Sixth, there must be reasonable hope of success and of obtaining a just
and durable peace. The experience of the previous intervention in Afghanistan
provides no guarantee that the next regime in Iraq will be any better
than Saddam’s regime. Indeed, this conflict may damage
the hopes for a just and durable peace throughout the Middle East. And,
if the intentions in going to war against Iraq are not clearly defined,
how can we judge whether there is any reasonable hope of success?
Finally, there must be a due proportion between the benefits sought in
war and the damage caused. Is the fall of Saddam so pressing a demand
that we can ignore the carnage, the damage to Iraq’s
economy and infrastructure, and to its archaeological and cultural heritage?
To then pay for the cost of American damages to Iraq by taking money from
programmes to help the impoverished and oppressed of Africa would pile
injury upon injury.
The conduct of war
When it comes to the three conditions governing the conduct of war, non-combatants
must be guaranteed immunity. This means tanks and missiles cannot be hidden
in residential suburbs and civilians cannot be used as human shields.
Nor can we accept the large-scale deaths of civilians in the streets and
markets of Babylon, Baghdad, Basra, Najaf or Mosul, the indiscriminate
shelling of residential areas, the killing of journalists in the Palestine
Hotel in Baghdad, or the deaths of refugees at military checkpoints. A
warring party cannot threaten a civilian population with the strategy
of "shock and awe", in which the first military moves against
a city involve cutting off the supplies of water and electricity. And
the clear distinction between combatants and non-combatants does not allow
journalists to become "embedded" with the fighting forces and
to don uniforms.
Secondly, prisoners must be treated humanely. The US was justly angry
at the public parading of allied prisoners on al-Jazeera television. But
captured Iraqi soldiers have been shown on Sky television and CNN too,
and the prisoners transported from Afghanistan to Guantanamo Bay were
treated inhumanely and denied the protection of international law.
Thirdly, international treaties must be honoured. But surrendering Iraqi
soldiers have been shot, civilian areas have been shelled, cluster bombs
have been used indiscriminately, and the credibility of international
treaties has been undermined by violating the UN Charter and by-passing
the Security Council.
There is a real fear that rather than restoring law and order to Baghdad,
the US is undermining international law and threatening world order by
asserting the right of the US to take pre-emptive, unilateral action against
its enemies, and even its friends, to protect US interests. When enemies
and friends alike are seen as threats, the future of each and every one
of us is threatened.
Appearing foolish
In his Irishman’s Diary on 1st April, Kevin Myers accused
one woman opposed to the war of "epic stupidity" and described
those who questioned this war as "blithering idiots" and "cretins"
with "simplistic enthusiasm". By the following day we had become
"disagreeable fools". Dissent was quickly stifled in the US:
the Dixie Chicks were subjected to CD-smashing scenes resonant of the
book-burning days of McCarthyism, and one unfortunate man was arrested
for wearing a pro-peace T-shirt in a shopping mall. But, at the risk of
appearing foolish, every war demands that we each exercise moral judgment.
Richard Perle, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Elliott Abrams, and others
in the Bush Administration argue that US interests must never be subordinate
to outside interests, including the UN, even if this means defying international
law and institutions. If their views triumph, then we have all become
vulnerable in this age of guided missiles and misguided leaders.
Rev Patrick Comerford is Southern Regional Co-ordinator of CMS Ireland.
Contact: theology@ireland.com
Revd. Philip Heak
056 71854 or mob 086 817235e-mail : dyo@cashel.anglican.org
Safeguarding Trust:
Happy to say that by mid May Safeguarding Trust leader training will have
been completed in the Diocese. A checklist of requirements for the Code
will be subsequently sent to parishes to help ensure that they are taking
the best possible duty of care within their situation. Leader training
has been scheduled for Tramore on 9th May and St Canice’s
Library Kilkenny on 16th May.
Laois CIYC
The month of May will also see the AGM of Laois Church of Ireland Youth
Council. LCIYC is one of the most long running and respected Youth Council
in the country and they have a varied program of events catering from
age 13 up, encompassing both spiritual and recreational needs. My congratulations
to the chairperson and committee members for a very successful year and
please remember the work of LCIYC in your prayers as they do much to provide
events for the Church of Ireland youth of the county.
Ferns Youth Council will also meeting at the end of the school term to
review its first revitalized year.
Regenerate:
In the Kilkenny area, exciting developments are taking place with Regenerate.
This interchurch Youth forum looks to be developing substantially from
September with plans for day long work shops and concerts and regular
youth nights. Interchurch Youth Work may well be the youth work of the
future as it draws a wider range of people with associated gifts, talents
and spiritual viewpoints so please support Regenerate in its work.
Summer Madness:
Summer Madness this Year is later than usual running from 4-8 July. Summer
Madness is Ireland's largest Christian festival.
Summer Madness was started by the Church of Ireland Youth Department fifteen
years ago and now attracts over 4000 visitors, most of whom camp on site
for the duration of the festival.
The programme is primarily aimed at the 15 - 24 age group although Summer
Madness attracts a considerable number of families and there is a crèche
and younger children's programme.
The focal point of the camp are the main worship and teaching meetings
which take place in the Kings Hall twice a day. There is also a strong
emphasis on the musical arts with a number of venues showcasing international
and more local Christian bands throughout the day and into the early hours
of the morning. Music styles include dance, rock, acoustic and jazz!
At the end of April our Bishop, Dean & Mrs Lynas and John and I will
share in the Archbishop’s Celebrations in Lund. These
celebrations will mark the 900th anniversary of the granting of independence
to the Nordic Church Province, of which Lund became the Archiepiscopal
See. It will also be 850 years since the Norwegian Archiepiscopal See
at Nidaros was established and 700 years since St. Birgitta was born.
In 1003AD, Pope Paschalis II decided to grant a more independent position
to the Nordic Church Provinces and to establish his own archiepiscopal
See at Lund. The Archdiocese consisted of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland
and Greenland with the Faero, Orkney and Shetland Islands and the Isle
of Man.
These celebrations will consist of a High Mass in Domkyrka (Cathedral)
of Lund, followed by a lunch and Jubilee Lecture, which will be attended
by Queen Silvia of Sweden.
The arrival of Christianity in Sweden brought new ways of thinking to
the natives and gradually influenced their customs and lifestyles. The
provincial laws also changed in the light of the coming of Christianity
–"Christ is the first in our law. Thereafter come our Christian
faith and all Christias, the king, the yeomen and all settled men, bishops
and all book-learned men." This quote is from the introduction to
the Elder Law of Vastergotland. (Greater Gotland)
Like all laws the order of importance is seen in the order of the listed
people. No women are mentioned, but women have played an enormous role
in the development and life of Christianity in Sweden.
The Elder Law of Vastergotland mentions children in particular in another
section. They are mentioned immediately after the introduction; once again
showing by their position in the Law, the importance of their status in
society. The Law lays down detailed regulations for the baptism of Children;
giving both practical and liturgical instructions.
Today, issues and practices in relation to the care of and religious education
for Confirmation of young people forms a major part of Church life.
In many respects, the Elder Law of Vastergotland mirrors our country’s
Constitution. It lays down that, "every child that is born in our
country should be nurtured and not abandoned." This aspiration was
totally different from the thinking of pre-Christina times in the Nordic
countries. The old way was based on the dynasty and on little value on
the individual. With the coming of Christianity every child had the right
to live.
But changes in some areas were slow to happen. Bondage, the Nordic version
of slavery was one of the most stubborn structures to disintegrate. It
was still operating very strongly in the early Middle Ages and was basic
to the economic system. It remains longer in Sweden than in the other
Nordic countries. To live in bondage was to have no legal rights.
1335AD is usually given as the date for the abolition of slavery in Sweden.
This was done during a tour of the country by King Magnus Eriksson. His
declaration is known as the Skara-Statute. This statute declared that
nobody born of Christian parents should live in bondage. Although this
applied, officially, to a relatively small area of Sweden, it is the last
statute to speak about slaves. It is believed that by this time slavery
had all but disappeared anyway.
Ireland too had a healthy trade in slaves, at least, until the coming
of the Normans. And as I write this in the week before Holy Week, and
looking forward to Easter, I am reminded of the slave who was brought
to our country by Niall of the Nine hostages and who, in time, evangelised
our island home. He lit the paschal fire at Tara for the first time in
Ireland. I am also reminded that ancestors of the people living in South-West
Sweden came here in the 8th and 9th centuries and that , apart from their
legendary plundering, changed our society by founding our first towns
and cities.
Continue to pray for the people of Lund Diocese as they begin their celebrations
and pray that we may grow in fellowship with each other through our shared
Christian faith.
Barbara Y. Fryday
Coming out of the Book Fair during Listowel Writers’
Week in 1986, I was met by a boy in a wheelchair. It was the briefest
of moments, yet it was enough to communicate an impish zest for life that
transcended broken physicality. The boy was Davoren Hanna, a precocious
poet whose work had already won him several awards and made him something
of a literary celebrity. He was in Listowel to collect another award as
winner of a young writers’ competition. The lady pushing
the wheelchair must have been his mother, Brighid. The Movements of the
boy in the wheelchair were like a stop-start ballet of excitement and
interest in everything going on around him.
It was a moment that was to come back to me in all its searing clarity
with news of his death in 1994. Intermittently, in the years between that
moment and Davoren’s passing, some radio or television
programme, or newspaper article, would feature Davoren, or mention him.
Or a literary periodical feature his poetry. But Davoren wasn’t
just a handicapped boy who wrote poetry. He was a wild, free spirit, the
strength of whose personality intermittently broke free of the chains
of severe disability. Many lives were touched by him: his parents, his
helpers, poets, critics, and writers.
Davoren Hanna couldn’t speak and had little control
over his movements. He learned to communicate by using a letter-board
while held on his mother’s lap. Then came the poems
and his extraordinarily precocious use of language. It was a life full
of heartbreak and exhilaration for the Hanna family. His mother, Brighid,
opened ‘the gateway to Davoren’s voice
and personality’. Sitting in his chair, the boy was
inert and almost helpless, but on his mother’s lap,
in front of his letter-board, Davoren was ‘a fierce,
wilful, and insistent presence’.
This is the opening passage from Jack Hanna’s book,
The Friendship Tree:
‘Davoren Hanna was born in great travail, with a broken
arm and fractured collar bone, on 12th March 1975. He died peacefully
in his sleep on 18th July 1994. In between he suffered and achieved depths
and heights beyond the imaginings of most of us. He had no speech and
very little physical movement and control. He had to endure searing frustration
and pain for considerable periods of his life. Yet he had a powerful ‘voice’
through his typed communications and poems. He also had a magnetic charm
and capacity for friendship and was the inspiring centre of a very intense
universe of love and solidarity.’
These are the surprisingly unsentimental words of a father, introducing
the extraordinary life-story of his son. It’s a searing,
honest story, full of tears and laughter. It is an inspiring story. Davoren
had charm. He gave much and needed much from those around him in his short
life. He found depths in people that might otherwise have remained unknown.
And he brought from his father, writer and journalist` Jack Hanna, his
own best work, The Friendship Tree, the life and Poems of Davoren Hanna,
published by New Island Books.
In 1985, Davoren won 2nd prize in the junior section of the Irish Schools
Creative Writing Awards. The following year, he was among the prize-winners
again when he won a major award in the British Spastic Society’s
National Literary Awards. Accompanied by his parents, Davoren was flown
to London for the award ceremony. His fame spread, and ITN came to film
him at work in his Dublin home, and on his jaunts around the city with
his father. Further literary success followed with 2nd prize in a major
competition sponsored by The Observer newspaper. In September 1987, Davoren
won the Christy Brown Award and was received by the Lord Mayor on the
same day Stephen Roche was made Freeman of the City of Dublin for his
magnificent triple success in winning the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia,
and World Championship.
Back in those heady mid-1980’s days, for Davoren as
for the rest of us, no sojourn in Listowel was complete without a visit
to John B. Keane’s pub in Church Street. John B. fixed
Davoren a tiny glass of Guinness with a dash of blackcurrant, and had
a ‘poem-throwing contest’. This is
the poem that John B. ‘threw’:
Welcome, dear Davoren,
Young man without a grouse.
You’ve sweetened my feelings
And brightened my house.
There was a kind of irony at work that Davoren should receive his Christy
Brown Award from the then Lord Mayor, Carmencita Hederman, for later that
same day Stephen Roche was honoured with the Freedom of the City. Roche
was a man at the peak of his physical powers and had swept all before
him en route to cycling valhalla that halcyon summer, whereas Davoren
had to constantly wrestle with severe disability to merely to communicate,
let alone write himself into the pantheon of Irish poets. Davoren’s
achievement in the field of literary endeavour is as truly monumental
as Roche’s triple
victory on the cycling circuits of Europe. In ways, perhaps, it is even
greater.
Davoren Hanna used poetry much of the time as his chosen means of expression.
He used it to tell how he was feeling, or what he thought of the world.
Through his poetry, he explained himself. Through it he reached out to
the world. It became the sounding-board by which the world came to know
him. These four lines from a piece entitled ‘A Prayer
for My Parents’ are pithy and bitter, but free of self-pity:
Lord, life is like a segment of an orange.
The piece I got is dry and full of pips.
Biting it, the bitter fruit sears my tongue
And no sounds issue from my wounded lips.
Davoren had to partake of that bitter segment for every waking moment
of his short life. His was a life of struggle and occasional celebration.
Jack Hanna’s memoir, The Friendship Tree, is a painfully
honest account of life with Davoren. In the Spring of 1990, the boy’s
first book of poetry, Not Common Speech, was published by Dermot Bolger’s
RAVEN ARTS PRESS. It was a great moment for the young poet. His mother,
Brighid, took great delight in his triumph, but the resultant stress from
interviews and public appearances took its toll and there were times when
she wished she could pass on the baton. The advent of a new Macintosh
computer had given her hope that Davoren might be able to master it, and
thus relieve her of the task of holding him forward in her lap so he could
tap the alphabet-board. But learning to use the computer had turned out
to be more difficult than expected.
Like Christy Brown before him, Davoren’s writing could
grate upon the sensibilities; could be abrasive and irreverent. His wit
could bite, and often did. And when one thinks about it, why shouldn’t
it? It was such a Herculean effort for him to communicate, that he couldn’t
waste words, couldn’t always take the ‘scenic
route’. For him, writing poetry and making himself understood
were one and the same. He also wrote a number of little prayers, which
also, as his father put it, ‘managed to combine reverence
with cheeky playfulness’. There was this one, entitled
‘A Soft Little Prayer’:
O God our father quite puissant
grant us little people merry moments.
Show thy almighty splendour
in wondrous moments and light-filled days.
In early 1990, Davoren was in county Kerry with some friends and helpers,
and Jack and Brighid were at their holiday cottage at Mulnimana More,
in county Donegal. Brighid, more than anyone, needed the break. She loved
Donegal and her cottage retreat. But fate had more barbs to fling at the
Hanna family. While Jack was at a neighbour’s house
watching the second half of the Italia 90 World Cup Final on television,
Brighid suffered a massive heart attack and died. She had given so much
for so long and her great heart had given out. Jack and his son found
themselves having to adapt to ‘the strangeness of life
going on’ without her.
Time may not be the great healer it’s often made out
to be: sometimes the best it can be is a good band aid. The RTE documentary,
‘Poised for Flight’ was broadcast
that autumn. There was a poetry reading in Bewley’s
organised by Poetry Ireland. In November, Davoren was named ‘Dubliner
of the Month’ on 98FM radio, and was also presented
with a Rehab Institute ‘People Of The Year’
award in the Burlington Hotel. Clock and calendar moved along. Davoren
received a serious setback to his health, but he rallied and by May and
June of 1994, a renaisance of optimism reigned again. But it wasn’t
to last. Davoren passed away in Cuan Aoibhinn, a single-storey building
at the back of St. Mary’s Hospital, which incorporated
the Centre for Independent Living. He is buried in the new Fingal Cemetery,
just off the Malahide Road. It’s a new cemetery, and
Jack Hanna notes that there are ‘a surprising number
of young people buried there’. Davoren’s
resting-place is marked by a simple wooden cross, made by his father,
and the words ‘Poised For Flight’
are part of his epitaph. By now, the simple wooden cross will have been
replaced by a modest Clare-stone memorial.
Jack Hanna’s book ends with this poem by Davoren, entitled
‘Lines In Time Of Great Happiness’:
Ploughman, you can never know
the pleasure of sea-faring
straddled as you are
across the earth’s brown back.
Were I to sail upon the crest
of happiness surging in my heart
clay thoughts would crumble
and my harrowing tongue be freed.
Jack Hanna’s memoir is something of an emotional rollercoaster.
Poet Brendan Kennelly described it as one of the most incisive and humane
books he had read – a book that would be read by all who ‘hungerr
for an affirmation of that strange and wonderful human ability to turn
suffering into poetry and painful human disability into singing dignity’.
Read it if you can, for it will enrich you.
The Archbishop of Armagh, the Most Rev Dr Robin Eames and the Archbishop
of Dublin, the Most Rev John Neill, have urged the international community
to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Iraq. In a joint statement
the Archbishops said:
"The consequences of the war in Iraq have still to unfold, but already
the desperate humanitarian situation is apparent. Millions of people young
and old alike are facing loss of adequate housing, food, water and medical
care, to say nothing of the trauma caused through injury and the loss
of loved ones.
"A pressing responsibility rests on those who have waged war against
Iraq, involving huge financial resources, to provide comparable resources
immediately in humanitarian aid to the people of Iraq. Furthermore ways
must be found to allow the wider international community to share in this
urgent task.
"As Christians we have a duty to share in this humanitarian undertaking
and to support work taken by non-governmental agencies such as the International
Red Cross and Red Crescent.
"As we rejoice in the hope through the Resurrection of Christ we
would call upon members of the Church of Ireland, and on all our parishes,
to consider making a special collection on Easter day for the Bishops’
Appeal for World Development, and so enable aid to be sent to Iraq in
the most appropriate manner."
