#NorthernIreland2016 Interview Series - Duncan Morrow

Duncan Morrow is an academic and political activist from Belfast with a unique childhood, part spent in Dublin. Here I explore his thoughts on 1916, the Rising and the Somme.

Brian John Spencer: "When did you first learn about the Easter Rising of 1916?" Duncan Morrow:

"At Primary School.   My family moved to Dublin when I was ten where my Dad worked as a chaplain in TCD.  We went to a tiny Protestant National School.  I was in a very small class of 2, and we were largely left on our own to read for parts of the day.  We had a book about Irish History which gave the straight republican narrative where all of history was about beating the Brits and the Rising was the central pint of resurrection."

Emaciate and asphyxiate the moderate with promiscuous lawlessness and naked intimidation

Cartoon by Ian Knox, you can buy prints of his work here

A threatening tweet. A bullet in the post. A firebomb through the window. This is the authoritarianism and censor of the jackboot. Citizens, critics and democrats censored by cudgel-wavers. This is the history of Northern Ireland. Emaciate and asphyxiate the moderate and eradicate reason and debate with the veto of violence.