Hearing Other Voices”

Abhaile Aris the Republican ex-prisoners group based in Letterkenny hosted a very successful night of “ Hearing Other Voices” in the County Museum Letterkenny on Thursday night last.

The evening was organised under the auspices of Abhaile Aris PNB programme. The “Process Of Nation Building” programme is based on celebrating Diversity, Building Relationships and Promoting Change within our society.

The programme is an evolution of work commenced by Coiste Na n-larchimi through its political education work under PEACE 1.
It seeks to enable republican ex prisoners to access opportunities to reflect upon, investigate and strategize with key sectors of Irish society North and South, and upon divisions and opportunities for building a nation rooted in a respect for diversity and commitment to justice and peace.

In introducing the speaker for the evening former Apprentice Boy Mr William Temple from the Fountain area of Derry, Abhaile Aris Outreach Worker Gerry Mc Monagle said

“ It gave him great pleasure to welcome William here tonight as part of the PNB programme being run locally by Abhaile Aris.”

"Willie and I both come from working class estates on the Cityside of Derry just half a mile apart.

And yet the context of the conflict on this island has left a much wider political gulf between our respective positions.

Bridging that political gulf with new understandings which are based on mutual respect is a key aspect of the PNB programme”. He went on to say,

“”That his fervent hope is that the new directions and better relationships being built throughout Ireland will point the way towards a future where Catholic, Protestant, Dissenter and the New Irish can all live together on the Island in a spirit of mutual respect and on a foundation of equality”.

William Temple a former president of the Murray Club Apprentice Boys and a member of the Loyal Orders for Fifty years thanked Abhaile Aris for the invite saying it was a pleasure to come to Donegal and give this talk tonight.

William then went on to outline where the Apprentice Boys emanated from and what they were set up in the first instance. He outlined their history up to the present day explaining to his attentive audience that there were 8 parent clubs in total all of the clubs were named after events or people associated with the Siege of Derry in 1688.

He gave a brief outline on the Siege of Derry and on how the siege was lifted after 105 days when ships broke through a boom on the River Foyle at Culmore and brought much needed supplies to the beleaguered residents of the walled City which had swelled from 2,000 to 30,000 during the siege with a third of those within the walled city dying of injuries received or diseases contracted during the 105 day siege.
He also talked about the other Loyal Orders namely the Orange Order and the Black Perceptatory. All of which he said had their own identity and were not linked in any organic way to each other.

At the end of his talk which almost lasted an hour a lively question and answer session followed and all who had attended spoke of their enjoyment and surprise at some of the revelations of the evenings engagement they also praised the good work that is being done by Abhaile Aris through its PNB programme and wished them well in the future.



I would like to welcome you all here tonight especially our guest speaker Mr William Temple. I would also like to thank Judith the museum curator for the opportunity to host this evening in the County Museum.

William I would suggest has shown great leadership and courage by engaging in dialogue with the republican ex prisoner community. Dialogue that I wholly believe will lead to a better understanding of both our cultures and traditions. It will I believe help us respect others and celebrate diversity; it will also help build relationships and promote change within our society.

We’re in an incredible window of opportunity in this part of Ireland at this time.

For the first time since partition, there is the seedbed of a historic alliance between Ulster unionists and Irish republicans in the North. And here in the 26 Counties, there is a momentum building around the good sense and great potential of all-Ireland co-operation, whether in business, community or social development.


Our hope is that tonight’s talk can mark the start of a meaningful conversation between those of you who have attended this function tonight and by doing so have the chance and the responsibility to exploit that incredible window of opportunity.

By starting to lay out the markers for the foundation blocks of the future we’re trying to build together, we can all become involved in the important process of national reconciliation - not just between orange and green – but also between all other sections of civic society.

That means actively involving and encouraging even more community engagement events such as this in the time ahead. It means actively listening to the views and perspectives of others. And it means, above all, replacing the legacy of the past with a viable vision for the future.

No one should be left behind as we draw up the plans for that new future. There is therefore a continuing onus on everyone who leaves here tonight to continue the process of meaningful engagement so that the lesson’s we learned here tonight are translated into action in the time ahead.

I would now ask you to give a big Cead Mile Failte to our speaker for this evening Mr William Temple.