The Irish Review, No.15 (Spring 1994), 154pp. [Cork Univ. Press]

Ed. Kevin Barry, Tom Dunne, Edna Longley, Caoimhin Mac Giolla Leith, Clare O’Halloran and Brian Walker

CONTENTS

[Section:] Politics

Edna Longley, ‘A Northern ‘Turn’’, pp.1-13. Delineates the contemporary situation of Northern Ireland’s political life in light of the Downing Street Declaration, 15 December 1993, comparing this ‘turn’ of events to the watershed experienced in East Germany in 1990; traces the position of members of the various political standpoints, such as Gerry Adams and John Hume while offering both the revisionist Northern Irish perspectives and the counter revisionist views of the Republic on this propositional framework; employs the writings of Seamus Heaney, Fionnuala O’Connor, Maurice Goldring and Paddy Devlin to illustrate the diverse political leanings of the inhabitants of Northern Ireland.

Padraig O’Malley, ‘Northern Ireland - A Manageable Conflict?’, pp.14-39. Proffers an indept analysis of the Opsahl Commission report and the conclusions drawn in relation to the Northern Ireland crisis which specified that the crisis was ‘manageable’, that there was little pressure on the various groups to comply with the set agenda and that there was a complete lack of democratic structural government; analyses these conclusive theories relating the impact of demography, class, deprivation and alienation from the political process, on the Northern Ireland people; assuming that this is classed as a small conflict in a larger context, O’Malley believes it will have to get worse before genuine notice will be taken and a greater effort made to resolve the situation.

Andrew J. Wilson, ‘The Conflict between Noraid and the Friends of Irish Freedom. Trends in Modern Irish-American Republicanism 1980-1992’, pp.40-50. Reveals the involvement of American Republicanism in the Northern Irish campaign against the British in the form of NORAID and the Friends of Irish Freedom; outlines the political and social role of both groups in fuelling the crisis; underlines the impact and consequences of the division of ideals and policy between the two groups and the ongoing controversy within NORAID and FIF, ultimately failing to achieve their full potential although by no means halting their active engagement in the campaign.

Richard Kearney and Robin Wilson, submission to the Opsahl Commission, ‘Northern Ireland’s Future as a European Region’, pp.51-69. Debates the current impasse in Northern Ireland, highlighting the way in which the growth in local studies, emphasis on cultural diversity and placement within a European context can aid in resolving the violent conflict; draws comparisons with relative minority group clashes in Croatia and Cyprus where a solution has been successfully implemented; outlines recommendations for the repositioning of a civil society in Northern Ireland with a pluralist, democratic and non-violent society as the objective.

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Patrick J. Roche, ‘Northern Ireland and Irish Nationalism - A Unionist Perspective’, pp.70-78. Delineates the positions of the varying interest groups in the Northern Ireland conflict, criticising the British government policy as well as the Southern government and the Northern Nationalists for building their political structures on the accepted assumption that the unionists will give way to a single nation Ireland; characterises unionism in localised territorial terms, as Ulstermen, as opposed to moral or religious identification; sketches a unionist route forward which involves a reversal of policy in Britain and the Republic, allowing the existing boundaries to remain thus establishing cultural conviviality and equal self-determination; alludes to Clare O’Halloran’s illuminating examination of Republic politics and Arthur Aughey’s indept analysis of unionism.

Virginia Crossman and Dympna McLoughlin, ‘A Peculiar Eclipse: E. Estyn Evans and Irish Studies’, pp.79-96. Throws light on the marginalisation of the works and visions of the Irish geographer, E. Estyn Evans; charts his early life, education, work and lack of political allegiance, preferring to remain outside any political agenda, thereby also being ignored in the academic arena; elucidates his love of the Irish countryside, of place and people and his enormous efforts at recording Irish folk customs, in the establishment of the Ulster Folk Museum in 1963 and in underlining the abyss between the politics of the elite ruling class and the realities of every day life; associates him with other well respected historians such as Braudel at the Sorbonne in Paris and Carl Sauer at Berkeley.

Richard English, ‘‘Cultural Traditions’ and Political Ambiguity’, pp.97-106. Critically analyses the Northern Ireland Cultural Traditions Project, finding it guilty of misplaced liberal assumptions which in the present political climate is unprofessional and irresponsible; faults the incoherent position of the state when claiming a policy of equal legitimacy where the wishes of the majority (Unionist) will prevail but simultaneously vying for a united Ireland; also castigates the perception of cultural diversity as an asset in Northern Ireland where it is quite obviously and very seriously the crux of the political conflict; refers to John McGarry and Brendan O’Leary’s publications, The Politics of Antagonism and The Future of Northern Ireland.

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Medbh McGuckian, Three Poems: ‘To Make Two Bridges Necessary’; ‘The Latissimus Station’; ‘The War Degree’, , pp.107-09.

Ciaran Carson, ‘Stone Hand’, pp.110-11 [poem].

Michael Longley, Two Poems: ‘The Kilt’; ‘Buchenwald’, , pp.112.

Carol Rumens, ‘A Cloud House’ (ded. E. B.), pp.113-15 [poem].

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Colin Graham, ‘Anomalous Theory’, pp.117-23, review of Edward W. Said. Culture and Imperialism (London: Chatto and Windus 1993); David Lloyd, Anomalous States: Irish Writing and the Post-Colonial Moment (Dublin: Lilliput Press 1993). Although praising the skilful prose, indept study and intelligent analysis of Said’s book, Graham ultimately judges the argument and concepts on post-colonial thinking as dated, his theories on Joyce as a European and a colonised writer paradoxical and ambiguous and his own personal affection for the concept of a nation a nostalgic and narrow minded; Laudates Lloyd’s sustained critique of Irish culture, his antithesis to official records of Irish history, his scepticism of critical theory on political identity and his selective use of contemporary critical trajectories.

Tom Garvin, ‘Dialogue for the Deaf’, pp.123-25, review of Andy Pollak (ed.), A Citizens’ Inquiry: The Opsahl Report on Northern Ireland (Dublin: Lilliput Press 1993). Welcomes this good-humoured and reassuring report which covers a broad scope of contemporary thinking in Northern Ireland including the political and social interrelationship between Ireland and Britain as well as the economic inequality and cultural diversity of these neighbours; notes the attention given to the role of the official power structures of the Catholic Church and its significant influence throughout history and present day.

David Wheatley, ‘Everywhere and Nowhere’, pp.125-29, review of Michael Hulse, David Kennedy and David Morley, The New Poetry (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Bloodaxe Books 199). Commends the diligent pluralism of this post-modern anthology however flaws the defensive nature of the radicalism while also noting the inclusion of poor quality poetry.

Leon Litvack, ‘Fiction and Feminist Authority’, pp.129-31, review of Geraldine Meaney (Un)Like Subjects: Women, Theory, Fiction (London: Routledge 1993). Deems Meaney’s book a useful introduction to the evolving social and symbolic function of women during the period from 1965-77, as she concentrates on the nature of women’s writing during that time such as R.D. Laing and Helene Cixous.

Anne Ulry Colman, ‘Too Many Treasures Remain Veiled’, pp.131-33, review of Ann Owens Weekes, Unveiling Treasures: The Attic Guide to the Published Works of Irish Women Literary Writers (Dublin: Attic Press 1993). Annotates this symposium of bibliographical and biographical information on Irish women writers since the eighteenth century as a formidable task, believing Weekes to have spread her project too thin thus failing to adequately deal with the subject; also faulting the absence of poets such as Mary Eva Kelly, Ellen O’Leary and novelists like Alice Dease and Dorothy Conyers.

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Damian Smyth, ‘Dandy Beano Topper’, pp.134-42, review of Dermot Bolger ed., The Picador Book of Contemporary Irish Fiction (London: Picador, [n.d.[); Dermot Bolger, Emily’s Shoes (London: Penguin, [n.d.]); Emma Donoghue, Stir-fry (London: Hamish Hamilton, [n.d.]); Patrick McCabe, The Butcher Boy (London: Picador, [n.d.]); Roddy Doyle, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha (London: Secker and Warburg, [n.d.]); Ronan Bennett, Overthrown by Strangers (London: Penguin, [n.d.]). Records the resistance of Bolger’s collection to a definition of ‘Irishness’ as he places nationalism in an anationalistic context i.e. childhood, sexuality, fashion and the media, and criticises his lack of focus in treating Ireland in either post-nationalist terms or post-colonial terms; Smyth is impressed with Donoghue’s first novel which presents mature, original and imaginative characterisation; Finds the literal subversion of the ‘norms’ in Irish culture and the stability of small mindedness in rural Irish towns, in McCabe’s novel, refreshing; Enjoys the humorous banter in Doyle’s novel, marking the child-like speech patterns, the narration of one-liners, the clichés and the sentimentality, all of which ascribes to the success of this book; Regards Bennett’s novel as the most traditional of these under review although the clinical mode of presentation prevents any realism of reader involvement.

Eve Patten, ‘Dissolving Critical Categories’, pp.142-45, review of Eibhear Walshe ed., Ordinary People Dancing: Essays on Kate O’Brien (Cork: Cork University Press 1993); W. J. McCormack, Dissolute Characters: Irish Literary History through Balzac, Sheridan le Fanu, Yeats and Bowen (Manchester: Univ. Press 1993). Compliments Walshe on her indept biographical study of this inspirational character as she highlights O’Brien’s intellectual and political maturity and her endeavours toward individual freedom of expression and self-determination; Congratulates McCormack on this worthwhile project which is concerned with political and cultural aspects as well as narrative techniques in Victorian Ireland’s literature, alluding to the works of Sheridan Le Fanu, W.B. Yeats and Elizabeth Bowen.

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