Opinion

Patrick Murphy: President Higgins is a wiser man than many people realise

Patrick Murphy

Patrick Murphy

Patrick Murphy is an Irish News columnist and former director of Belfast Institute for Further and Higher Education.

Pope Francis last week described President Michael D Higgins as a 'wise man'.
Pope Francis last week described President Michael D Higgins as a 'wise man'. Pope Francis last week described President Michael D Higgins as a 'wise man'.

It is a sign of an increasingly dysfunctional state when God is asked to help out with its ailing centenary storyline.

As the border’s 100th birthday passes without significant commemoration, it is now clear that one of its main events will be a church service, “to mark the centenary of the partition of Ireland and the formation of Northern Ireland”.

Since every Christian church service involves God, through worship, praise, invocation, intercession and/or devotion, it looks like He will take centre stage in marking the northern state’s centenary. It offers a new meaning to “For God and Ulster” and it will certainly give the birthday a higher profile than it has had up to now.

We do not know who originally proposed a religious service, but it indicates either that God has developed some worryingly unionist tendencies, or that some hidden hand decided to play what we might call, with respect, the God card.

While the event is fronted by the four main churches, it would not be difficult to find the fingerprints of the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) in its planning. The queen’s attendance confirms NIO involvement and, more likely, its stage management of the event.

While the four churches genuinely believed the service could be non-political, it is difficult to see how a religious ceremony to mark a political event can steer clear of political overtones. Since there is no greater political issue in the north than the border, this service will find it hard to avoid political interpretation.

So why bring God into it? The answer lies in how the powerful in society retain their authority by claiming ownership of popular culture and beliefs, including religion, which the powerless accept as normal. In England, for example, the popularity of soccer distracts from an increasingly unequal society. (England gets soccer, we get sectarianism and the Scots have a wonderful way of combining both.)

Religion is often used for social control, whether by the Taliban or the American political right. Even though we are an increasingly secular society, few here will argue against God. His role in marking the north’s centenary was therefore assumed by the NIO to be above criticism, leaving President Higgins roundly condemned for refusing to attend.

On a rising scale of indignation, he was denounced by the DUP, UUP and, at the top of the pile, Alliance. (The middle classes do indignation so much better than the rest of us).

In the South, he received particular criticism from former Taoiseach, John Bruton. (You may remember that as Finance Minister, John accidentally collapsed the government in 1982 when he tried to impose VAT on children’s shoes.). When you come under attack from Mr Bruton, you must be doing something right.

Comment on the president’s decision was framed largely in sectarian terms, claiming that he either insulted unionism and/or supported nationalism. Although his critics (and supporters) recognise that he is above sectarianism, they still offered a sectarian-based analysis and thereby misinterpreted his actions.

A more rational explanation lies in his academic background. He taught social theory, including an explanation of how the powerful use popular beliefs to exercise power. He would have explained how the theory was developed by the Italian communist philosopher, Antonio Gramsci.

Last week in Rome, he visited Gramsci’s grave, presumably paying homage to his teachings. President Higgins appears to be implementing those teachings by refusing to take part, not in the politicisation of a religious event, but in the religious dressing-up of a political event. It is an interesting example of using popular religious belief for political control.

On the same day he visited the grave of the English poet, John Keats, whose verse has a strong religious theme (including the rejection of hypocrisy). The president shows himself to be culturally diverse and politically aware. The following day he met the Pope, who described him as a wise man.

President Higgins is wiser than many in this country realise.