Áine Ryan
A modern-day Michael Davitt is urgently needed to pursue and shame Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, who has failed to even acknowledge the "shocking injustice" of the Government's €3 billion under-spend of European money in the Border-Midlands- Western regions (BMW), according to Western People editor James Laffey.
He was addressing the subject of the significance of the Land League founder at a Michael Davitt centenary conference in Mayo at the weekend.
Keynote speaker Senator Martin Mansergh had earlier observed that the Land War, "through an extraordinary assembling of forces - the Fenians, Irish America, the Land League and the Irish Parliamentary Party", had provided "an encouraging and inspiring precedent for the peace process" with its merging of physical force movements and constitutional politicians.
Donncha O'Connell, dean of law at NUI Galway, said the welcome centenary spotlight on Davitt's "high-minded principles" should embarrass us as a nation. Mr O'Connell challenged a prevailing ideology that increasingly defines politics as an exclusive domain for addressing human rights issues. "Using the courts is viewed as an attempt to by-pass democracy," he argued.
He questioned the dualistic approach or disconnectedness between our national and international legal systems. He proposed more dialogue and "cross- fertilisation", citing the untapped discursive potential of the legal tenets of the Belfast Agreement.
Trinity College lecturer Dr Trevor West explored the "remarkable similarities" between political prisoners Davitt and former UVF leader Gusty Spence, both of whom used incarcerations to deepen their views of history and ultimately reject violence.
Historian Carla King argued that Davitt was a man of his time, essentially a Victorian. She said it would be unfair to try to second- guess his attitude to specific contemporary issues. Instead, she elucidated issues of importance for Davitt that in her view, remained unresolved - social exclusion, democracy and public ownership.
King, whom session chairman and Irish Times journalist Patsy McGarry introduced as "the leading contemporary authority on Davitt, argued that to define him as a Fenian and nationalist was only part of the story, it was significant that many of his contemporaries viewed him as a loose cannon because of his democratic radicalism.
She did, however, acknowledge certain prejudices when asked by his grandson, Robert Davitt, to expand on "the deafening silence [ in his documents] regarding blacks". King said Davitt had swallowed some of the Boers attitudes, but that his use of the term "savages" should be understood as part of the Victorian lexicon.
Other speakers included Irish Times columnist Fionnuala O Connor; Prof Brian Walker of Queen's University; Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins, and Minister for the Environment Dick Roche. The closing address was by Fine Gael leader, Enda Kenny.