The cross-community base

I was greatly honoured that he should take an interest in my work. Commenting on my Identity of Ulster,[1]published under my own imprint, PretaniPress in 1982. Fréchet was to write:

What an interesting, curious piece of work this is. Generally, if we are told it is not a question of a war of religion in Ulster, we are told about opposition between Catholics, whom people think of as mostly wishing for the unification of the island, and Protestants who want to remain British.

Adamson however, does not militate in favour of the bringing together of two quite distinct communities. He says that their division is artificial, that they are all more or less descendants of pre-Celtic peoples, and in particular of the Cruthin, who were constantly moving backwards and forwards between Ulster and Scotland, where they were called Picts, a fact that did not prevent their homeland becoming the most Gaelic part of Ireland. “British”, as far as he is concerned, takes on a meaning that Ulster people tend to forget. Here are some interesting phrases for comparison. “‘Old British’ was displaced in Ireland by Gaelic just as English displaced Gaelic”; “the people of the Shankill Road speak an English which is almost a literal translation of Gaelic”; “the majority of Scottish Gaelic speakers are Protestants.” In fact the author is especially interested in Protestants, but those Protestants who have worked or are working towards reconciliation (could these even be the United Irishmen of the 1790’s?), for a co-operative movement, for a kind of popular autonomy or self-management. He shows the paradoxical confusion of antagonistic, partly mythical traditions, and is trying to convince people of the fundamental unity of Ulster.[2]

Throughout the eighties, Fréchet continued to follow with great interest my involvement specifically in the creation of several community organisations to promote my ideals of mutual respect, common identity, co-operation and self-help. These included the Farset Steps of Columbanus Project. The idea behind the project was to bring together young people from both sides of the community and allow them to follow in the footsteps of the saint from Bangor in the North of Ireland to Reims and Luxeuil in France, through St Gallen in Switzerland, to Bregenz in Austria, and finally on to Bobbio in Italy. In a country where violence was dividing the people, it was important to point to a shared past. This project became possible thanks in no small measure to the help of my friend Tomás Cardinal Ó Fiaich, whose foreword to the second edition of my book, Bangor Light of the World,[3] in 1987 is testimony to his commitment to the cross-community line we saw as so vital.

The links between the North of Ireland and the continent of Europe came to the fore in another project that emerged around the same period. Following a press conference held on 1^st July 1986 under the auspices of the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Belfast, I proposed a link-up between the twin towers, Helen’s Tower in Clandeboye, Northern Ireland, and the Ulster Tower at Thiepval in northern France with museum complexes near both. This was achieved by the Somme Association[4] which I established in 1990 with the help of my friend, Reverend Dr. Ian Paisley. This association was formed to show the part played by Irishmen of all persuasions in the First World War in France, Belgium and the Dardanelles, supported by an international Friends of the Somme organisation.[5] I also initiated through Farset the concept of twinning Londonderry with La Rochelle[6] and promoting the Musée du Désert in the Protestant community in Ireland. [7]

On January 13^th 1992 René Fréchet wrote to me to ask if he could translate my book, The Ulster People,[8]into French and have it published by the University Press. He had spoken to Paul Brennan, later to become Professor of Irish Studies at the Sorbonne, who was willing to do so. However, Frechet’s tragic death on April 24^th of that year brought the proposed translation and publication to an abrupt end.

It was at exactly this period that I began to become increasingly involved in the promotion of Ulster-Scots with my establishment of the Ulster-Scots Language Society and the Ulster-Scots or Ullans Academy. Although Fréchet had not lived to see these projects develop, I would like to think that my vision for Ulster-Scots, as an integral part of an inclusive culture that stretches across the sectarian divide, would have met with his interest and approval.