The artistic passions of an unlikely historian

Brian Walker isn't absolutely sure when his love affair with Irish art began. He was certainly collecting as a teenager when he made his greatest acquisition then - a William Conor, for £20. His interest in Irish history is a different matter. This, he can date almost to the day.

Walker was a pupil at the prestigious Campbell College, Belfast, a bastion of the Protestant establishment. By his own account, he learned almost nothing of Irish history there until the arrival of a Presbyterian chaplain, Liam Barbour. This man's passion for Irish history rubbed off on the young Brian Walker, who went on to study Irish history at university.

He got his way and came to TCD via Magee College, Derry. In those days, a Magee-Trinity alliance enabled students to start their degrees in Derry and complete them in Dublin. In Derry, he took part in the early civil rights marches; in Dublin he became a disciple of the legendary professor of history, Dr TW Moody. It was Moody who employed him as a researcher on the New History of Ireland, once his doctorate was complete. "He was," Walker recalls, "an honourable and generous person and a dedicated scholar."

Although he spent 11 years lecturing in politics at QUB, Walker has remained at heart an historian. "In my early years I was fascinated by Ulster politics but, more recently, my interest has changed," he says. "Nowadays, I'm particularly interested in how history is understood and its importance for society today." He discusses this theme in his most recent books, Dancing to History's Tune and Past and Present in History: Identity and Politics in Ire- land. "The longer I study history, the more I believe that perceptions of history should not be allowed to dominate our lives," he stresses.

Walker rejects the view that the problems of Northern Ireland are age-old. Instead, he agrees with President Clinton who regards the past as "history, not destiny". People often pin their faith in traditions which they regard as sacrosanct and unchanging. Close examination, though, can show that traditions do evolve and change. Take the annual Apprentice Boys' march, which is held to commemorate the Siege of Derry in 1688. "One hundred years later, the commemorative celebrations included an ecumenical parade involving the Catholic bishop," he says. "A hundred years after that, although it had become a Protestants-only march, it was largely Derry Protestants who took part. It wasn't until 1922 that it became an event commemorated by Protestants from all over Northern Ireland."

Similarly, in the Republic, the Bodenstown commemorations only became a major event after 1921. For most of the 19th century, Wolfe Tone's grave was ignored, he says. "When it did become a major event, Tone was quoted from selectively. People recalled his advice to break the link with England, but rarely mentioned his call to substitute the term Irishmen for Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter."

Using history selectively is dangerous, Walker says. "One of the most damaging aspects of the belief in an age-old conflict is that it makes it difficult to achieve peace. It creates a sense of fatalism, makes trust between groups very difficult and can even be used to justify violence. A broader view of history makes it easier to deal with some of our problems."

During the 1990s, Walker was appointed first assistant-director and then director of the Institute of Irish Studies, QUB. The institute, which was set up back in 1965, is an interdisciplinary research centre. "We're very concerned with academic research in any field relating to Ireland," Walker explains, "but we're not an ivory tower institution. We're keen to contribute to public discourse on the issues affecting our society - we have a number of people working on contemporary issues - opinion polls on the development of the peace process and research into parading, for example." Research at the institute has gone from strength to strength. In the 1996 Research Assessment Exercise, the institute was awarded one of the highest grades - a five.

Since his arrival at the institute, Walker has worked to beef up its publishing arm. He is well equipped to do so: for more than a decade he ran the Friars Bush Press, a small publishing house, specialising in local Irish history, which he had set up himself. His interest in publishing was sparked by another interest - in early Irish photography. As a postgraduate student in Dublin, Walker had compiled and edited Faces of the Past, a collection of early Ulster photographs and extracts from local writers. This paved the way for a new genre in Irish publishing. Walker went on to produce a series of books of early Irish and Liverpool photographs.

It was Irish Times journalist Conor O'Clery who alerted Walker to a collection of photographs owned by the McKinney family of Sentry Hill, Carnmoney, east Antrim. The collection proved a treasure trove of old documents, photographs and memorabilia, charting the history of an Ulster farming family for over a century. The book which resulted from his association with the McKinney family - Sentry Hill - remains in constant reprint.

In 1999, the director of QUB's Institute of Irish Studies, who is also a former president of Belfast's historic Linenhall Library, was appointed chairman of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. It is, Walker says, an exciting time to be involved in the arts in the North. New theatres and arts centres are coming on stream. The challenge for the Arts Council is to continue supporting traditional arts while encouraging emerging areas - community arts, arts education and access.

This year's Arts Council funding has given a huge boost to community arts. By merging government and Lottery funding, the council believes it will be able to support new and existing areas.

Walker's current research endeavour involves a co-operation with Professor Bob Welch of UU to co-edit a five-volume history on the subject of the Irish book. It's a relatively new area of research, he says, and examines how books were printed, distributed and read from the earliest times. Expect books on "the book" to start appearing in 2003.

Factfile

Education:

1960-65 Campbell College, Belfast. 1966-68: Magee College, Derry. 1968-74: TCD (BA (Mod) history and political science. PhD Ulster Politics in the Late 19th Century).

Family:

married to Evelyn, a librarian. Two children: Katherine aged six, David aged 3.

Interests:

Irish art, architecture and antiques.

Favourite holidays:

Northern Majorca, Rome, Co Fermanagh.

Current reading:

Marianne Elliott's Catholics of Ulster

Brian Kennedy's Paul Henry.