Parnell school generates heat in debate on diversity

Yesterday saw a rare day of sunshine over Wicklow's Avondale House, the former home of Charles Stewart Parnell. However, much of the heat was being generated in the buildings a short walk from the imposing house, where the summer school run by the Parnell Society was continuing with another successful year.

"We can't ever know what Parnell would have made of this," said Dr Ivar McGrath, who is enjoying his first year as director of the Parnell Summer School.

"But I do know that he would have found much of it fascinating and fruitful, particularly the round-table discussions. I think that, apart from the people tramping all over his grass, he would have been a big fan."

This year's theme, Continuity and Change in Irish Culture, Society and Politics, has explored how the events of the late 19th and early 20th centuries can have a deep resonance with modern controversies.

Following a keynote address by noted historian Prof Roy Foster, who spoke about the politics of cultural change in the late 20th century, subjects have included the Magdalen laundries, Irish art and the labour movement.

"When I was setting it up in January, I didn't realise that the general election would make that topic so relevant to now," said Dr McGrath. "So a look at the history of the labour movement also became a discussion on its present."

Yesterday, there was a fascinating discussion on the theme of cultural diversity. Dr Susannah Riordan, of University College Dublin (UCD), spoke about notions of diversity in early 20th century Ireland and how much the "cultural nationalism" of that time percolated until recently.

"People tended to think purely in terms of Catholic and Protestant. Travellers have been excluded and others have been overlooked too."

She questioned how much we should trust the literature of the period. "Great writers are not necessarily representative of the cultures that threw them up. In fact, in many ways the greater they are, the less representative they are."

Dr Paul Gallagher, of Trinity College, Dublin, followed. With a grin, he admitted: "Unfortunately I'm one of those people who does have too much interest in literature. And I think it tells us quite a lot." Looking at the writers of the 1920s and 1930s, he suggested they did look at Ireland's cultural diversity in a new way. "These issues are not the sole concern of us as a modern audience. They have engaged writers since the foundation of the State."

A lively discussion followed among the 100 or so present. Via a debate on language, economics and the "near-impossibility" of deciding who would constitute an Irish "native", it was generally agreed there was some optimism for the future of cultural diversity in Ireland. But there was an acknowledgment we are not immune to racism. However, one man summed up the general mood in the room when he announced that "I am living in historic times and proud of it."

In the afternoon, UCD's Prof Donal McCartney delivered an entertaining lecture on the life and times of Parnell, including his family background, alleged lack of humour and what could be read into his horses' names (Home Rule, President and Dictator).

During the politician's lifetime, Prof McCartney said, people were "captivated by Parnell. And what's more it lasted well beyond the grave." Judging by the health of the summer school named after him, that still holds true.