David Ervine's Funeral – Urban Parable 2

Here’s another thing it would never have occurred to me to even imagine. Mourners at the funeral included the probable next Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of the Republic of Ireland (the South), the current Taoiseach’s representative and the immediate past Taoiseach, Albert Reynolds, who was a key architect of the early days of the current peace process.

After the cortege had left the Mission (over an hour after the funeral service ended incidentally) the crowd’s began to disperse but there were still hundreds milling around the front of the church. I had finally got away from the inside of the building and was taking in the sights. I looked up the street and spotted Albert walking down the street towards the Mission, as if he was a local.

If you’re not familiar with our conflict here this is almost impossible to describe in any way which would help you understand the significance of it. Suffice to say on any other occasion Albert’s life would be forfeit.

Now, you have to know that I happen to be from the Republic, indeed I lived under Albert’s Fianna Fail government. Having recovered from my jaw-dropping astonishment I grabbed hold of a colleague, also from the Republic, and told him ‘Come on, we’re gonna welcome Albert’. We walked up to him, I took his hand, and thanked him for coming to our patch, and told him what a privilege it was to welcome him. Albert’s an old man now, still vigorous, but aging; all I can say is, he beamed!

We three Irish Southerners, soon joined by a fourth, stood in a British loyalist heartland on the Newtownards Road and Albert entertained us with stories of the peace process and his encounters with Davy Ervine. What a Gospel moment. Then while we were gathered in our ‘green’ huddle, two older women, local residents, came up to Albert, handed him orders of service from the funeral, and asked for his autograph.

There is hope for us, if people can find such generosity in their heart.