Remembering and understanding our past

I recently had the opportunity to host an event at the Embassy in connection with the Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize, which is awarded biannually in memory of Ambassador Ewart-Biggs who was killed in Dublin in 1976. Here is the gist of what I said when the award was presented to Charles Townshend for his book The Republic: the fight for Irish independence, 1918-1923.

There are three reasons why I am glad to be associated with this prize.

First, it allows us to honour the memory of Christopher Ewart-Biggs, a fellow diplomat who was murdered by the IRA as he went about his duties as British Ambassador to Ireland. Although I never met him, and did not join our diplomatic service until two years after his death, I remember him this evening as someone who paid with his life while in the service of his country, seeking as all diplomats to build better ties between their home and host countries.

Second, I am happy to endorse the aims of this prize – to promote reconciliation in Ireland, greater understanding between Britain and Ireland and closer cooperation between us in Europe. These are valuable goals, ones that retain considerable significance today. Indeed, the focus on Europe is arguably more pertinent today than it was when the prize was inaugurated in the late 1970s. In Ireland, we have an enduring interest in the continuation of our 40-year partnership with the UK within the EU.

There have, of course, been great strides in relations between Ireland and the UK in the past 20 years, and the situation in Northern Ireland is clearly vastly improved due to the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. The positive climate in Irish-British relations has facilitated important initiatives such as the Joint Visa Scheme for visitors from China and India which was introduced last year. It has produced an economic dividend of considerable value to both countries. It is also of great importance to the large Irish community in Britain, which is part of the fabric of this country. The Irish in Britain can be found in every walk of British life and are making a huge contribution here.
Despite this positive backdrop, there is still a way to go in Northern Ireland’s journey towards reconciliation between its different traditions. Ireland’s relations with the UK are of such importance that they can never be taken for granted. Continued effort is required so as to ensure that incomprehension and misunderstanding do not create difficulties between us at any time in the future.

Third, this year’s prize is being awarded at a time when there are special opportunities available to us for advancing the cause of reconciliation and improved mutual understanding. I know that not everyone is a fan of centenary commemorations, but I see them as valuable opportunities to reach out and spread knowledge and awareness about the events and eras being commemorated.

The centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, for example, encouraged people in Ireland to think again about Irish involvement in that terrible conflict. There is now greater public awareness in Ireland of how important that conflict was for Ireland, with more than 200,000 combatants and up to 50,000 Irish dead. Prominent Irish involvement in last year's World War 1 centenary commemorations helped bring those aspects of our history, and the overlap between Irish and British history in that period, into focus.

This year, we will participate in Gallipoli commemorations, which will help call attention to the significant Irish involvement there.

In 2016, I hope that the centenary of the Easter Rising and the Battle of the Somme will serve to draw attention outside our shores also to the complexities of our national history.

The Easter Rising was probably the single most important event in 20th century Irish history. Not only did it change the course of Ireland's political development, but it also had a major impact outside of Ireland, not least in Britain. I hope that people in Britain will be encouraged next year to look at our history during that decisive period and to seek to understand its dynamics. It is not a question of asking people outside of Ireland to celebrate the Easter Rising, but rather to reflect on its significance - for Ireland, for the politics of these islands, and indeed for the wider world as the Irish example provided inspiration for freedom struggles in Africa and Asia.

The Easter Rising, which put Ireland on the road to independence, was, I would argue, an important milestone in British history also. The developments that flowed from the Easter Rising fundamentally altered the political and constitutional make-up of these islands. This was, I would say, an important staging post in Britain’s evolution from its Imperial identity in the 19th century into the modern nation State that exists today. I hope that 2016 will see enhanced British interest in, and understanding of, the key developments in Ireland's national story a century ago. This would match the impact of the centenary commemorations of 2014 in Ireland, where they helped change Irish perceptions of the First World War and its impact on our country.

I believe that our 1916 commemorations have the capacity to advance the still-vital goals of the Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize.

Daniel Mulhall is Ireland's Ambassador in London.