New Ireland Group

The New Ireland Group envisions an island which can proudly boast a peaceful, pluralist and multi-cultural society, uniting through dialogue and persuasion to ensure the free expression and civil liberties of all cultures and traditions within a 21st century Ireland. It seeks to challenge poverty, inequality and social injustice both within the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland, and further afield. The influence of the Society of United Irishmen is evident in the significant Presbyterian and Church of Ireland membership of the New Ireland Group, and the all-inclusive, non-sectarian sentiment of the United Irishmen lives on in the wishes of so many on both sides of the border today.

The question for the New Ireland Group now, in the wake of the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement (whose full implementation remains an issue), is how to move forward and continue on the quest pursued by so many Irish people in recent and not-so-recent history: Theobald Wolfe Tone, Thomas Russell, Mary Ann McCracken, Daniel O'Connell, John Martin, Garret Fitzgerald, John Hume. This tradition of embracing equality is alive and well.

Membership and Activity

John Robb, member of the 16th, 17th and 18th Séanad Éireann, was one of the first people to convene in the The Lombard Café in Belfast in 1972 to discuss the New Ireland agenda. At the height of the Troubles, the New Ireland Movement gradually grew island-wide, drawing its membership from liberal Protestants, Roman Catholic Nationalists, and the dissenting tradition alike. In the mould of the Society of United Irishmen, the New Irelanders' vision transcended religion and political allegiances. Their goal has been to promote radical social engagement among people of all religions and of none.

The group organised events in past decades in Northern Ireland where speakers from different parts of Ireland and from different political and social backgrounds present a discussion to the audience. Speakers have included people from other regions of conflict in the world, community groups in Ireland, and Irish people who served with the United Nations. Its members regularly make contributions to the media and presentations to government commissions.

At present, the New Ireland Group have three websites: www.newirelandgroup.com www.nireland.com/group/index.html www.newirelander.weebly.com

Aims

The New Ireland Group seeks attainment of a NEW IRELAND by:

- Creating through dialogue and persuasion a just, caring, non-sectarian and multi-cultural society.

- Requiring legislation so as to establish the framework for a pluralist society that embraces the whole of Ireland, in light of the UN Declaration of Human Rights, European Convention on Human Rights and the provision for human rights manifested in the Belfast Good Friday Agreement.

- Achieving through consensus equitable, progressive and participatory forms of government at all levels.

- Recognising and promoting the right of free expression of all cultures and traditions in Ireland and actively encouraging interaction between them.

- Providing a forum for those who seek political reconciliation in Ireland through the revival of the radical and dissenting traditions in Irish allegiances, as well as encouraging radical social engagement among those of all religious persuasions or none.

- Challenging all opinions and practices that promote sectarian, ethnic or class domination.

- Promoting the development of democracy based on consensus rather than majoritarianism.

Today

Some may see the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement as a form of fulfilment of the non-violent inclusivity that first stirred the hearts of those who met in The Lombard Café in 1972. However, the vision of a just, caring and non-sectarian society has yet to be realised. While this remains the case, the New Ireland Group strives to challenge inequality, sectarianism, and social injustice across the island of Ireland.

The New Ireland Group has an active blog, which welcomes contributions from anyone interested in the development of the New Ireland Group. The blog, which is called New Irelander, can be found here.