秘密會議

By Christine Mc Cafferty

Shannon and Christine were at an 18th birthday party in Northern Ireland. It was nearly 3 am and time to go home， anyone would think. Instead they were invited to a secret political meeting by a young Irish man named Connor. The area they were visiting was a hotbed of unrest as the Irish fought and even waged war against the British government.1 They wanted Northern Ireland to become part of the Republic of Ireland in the south.

The first thing we did after leaving the birthday party was to pick up chicken burgers； about 20 of them. It seems that even political rebels2 need to eat fast food in the early hours of the morning！ Then we headed off in a car. We were told to lie down in the back. I thought it might be because we were driving through a dangerous area， but when we got there Connor told me that the reason was in fact because he did not want us to see where we were going—for our own sake！ Might we be caught and interrogated3 by the police？ That thought was scary. We arrived at a house on the outskirts of town； it was not a farm but it backed onto a field.4

We entered the house， without knocking， with the burgers. There were about ten young men in the house already. Connor told them not to worry about us girls as we were travellers and on “their” side， and they seemed quite pleased about that. Maybe they thought it was good to have young people from around the world in support of their cause5. They then spoke for hours about various locations， and people， and who would meet where， and who would dismantle6 something， and who would talk to someone， and so it went on. The Irish accent is very strong and we struggled to understand what they said anyhow.

One young man there seemed argumentative and angry， even with these people who were his friends and allies.7 Later Connor told us that the young mans brother had been imprisoned for life for being part of the Irish Republican Army （IRA） 8. Connor told us that he is part of Sinn Féin9 which means “we ourselves”in the old Irish language. These words promote the idea that Ireland should have self-determination， rather than being part of a political union with Great Britain， under Londons Westminster Parliament10. Sinn Féin was linked to the IRA. The IRA was involved in many acts of violence， killings and bombings as they fought for Irish independence.

The conflict and war in Ireland is often described as a war between Protestants and Catholics.11 These are two different Christian institutions or belief systems. Many people therefore imagine that the war was a religious war. But in fact the conflict has nothing to do with religion； their religions are just the way that the two groups have identified culturally， especially in the past. A thousand years ago it was mostly Celtic Irish people who spoke the Gaelic language in Ireland but，12 over the centuries， waves of people came from Scotland and England to settle in Ireland. Between 1534 and 1603， tens of thousands of people were sent by the British government as part of their plan to take over Ireland by populating the country with people who were British subjects.13 By different means they took the land and established settlements or strongholds， such as large farms， many known as plantations，14 and in this way ruled over large areas. Because England and Scotland were Protestant countries， most of these new settlers and landowners were Protestants while the original Irish inhabitants15 remained Catholic. The conflict has nothing to do with religion but rather is about “original ownership” of land.

The way many Irish see the conflict is that their country was stolen from them by England. By the end of the 1600s， the Catholics， despite being 85% of the countrys population， were banned from their own parliament. The Irish parliament was abolished16 in 1801 and Ireland was ruled from London.

For centuries， the Irish had battled and staged17 rebellions in an attempt to free the country. By 1921， after two and a half years of war， they managed to free the whole of the south， at least three quarters of the country.

It was after 5 am before the political meeting ended. The men left in different directions， many of them disappearing on foot through the fields. We felt like we had been part of something important…part of history… It was a little troubling， but exciting at the same time.

We got dropped back at John and his sister Marys farmhouse， where we were staying. Their lovely family didnt mind us coming home so early—late I mean； they just wanted us to have a good time. We told them how we met the man from Sinn Féin. Mary said it was good that we got to learn more about Irish politics. I asked her what her political beliefs were. She said that their family belonged to a political party that wanted an independent Ireland， but peacefully. “I dont believe in violence，” she said， “but I do want to see Ireland united as one.”

Things of course are never simple though and many peoples ancestors came to Ireland many hundreds of years ago. They regard themselves as Irish. Some of them， like the Ulster Scots， fled Scotland to Ireland to escape land clearances by the British in their own country.18 In fact， in some areas of Northern Ireland， the majority of people would choose to remain aligned19 to the UK.

I really enjoyed hearing all the political talk. I loved hearing different views though it was so sad about the tension， even amongst young people. While I understood the IRA cause and supported their desire for independence， I abhorred20 the violence and killing. Despite all this， I decided that I loved Ireland. It is a great country.

We had an early night that night and a fond farewell21 to the Mohan family the next morning. John and Mary， and their parents， were so sad to say goodbye to us. Everywhere we went， we took peoples addresses and promised to visit them once again. The Mohans had been so kind and helpful， and asked us to stay longer. But we were determined to keep moving. We wanted to go south and that very day we did， crossing the border into the Republic of Ireland at a place called Blacklion22. Though you did not have to have your passport stamped， we went up to the office and asked a border guard to please stamp ours.23 The stamp was in the Irish language， not English， and included the word Learga which is the original Irish name for Blacklion. We truly were in Ireland. How exciting it was to cross into what felt like the Promised Land24！

1. 由于愛爾蘭人反對英國政府，甚至發動戰爭，他們所在的北愛爾蘭地區成為了滋生動蕩的溫床。hotbed：某事物的溫床（尤指壞事和暴力活動）；wage： v. 發動，進行（戰爭或斗爭）。

2. rebel： n. 反叛者。

3. interrogate： 審問，盤問。

4. outskirt： 市郊，郊區；back onto： 背朝著，后面和……相鄰。

5. cause：（為之盡力的）目標、事業。

6. dismantle： 廢除，取消。

7. argumentative： 好爭論的，好爭吵的（帶貶義）；ally： n. 支持者，盟友。

8. the Irish Republican Army： 愛爾蘭共和軍（簡稱IRA），是一個謀求愛爾蘭脫離英國而獨立的秘密組織，由于長期通過暴力活動實現其政治訴求，被一些國家視為恐怖組織。

9. Sinn Féin： 新芬黨，北愛爾蘭社會主義政黨，也是IRA的官方政治組織。

10. Westminster Parliament： 指代英國議會。威斯敏斯特宮（Palace of Westminster），又稱議會大廈（Houses of Parliament），是英國議會（包括上議院和下議院）的所在地。

11. Protestant： 新教徒，指不受天主教或東正教控制的其他任何基督教徒；Catholic： 天主教徒。

12. Celtic Irish people： 凱爾特愛爾蘭人，意指現今的愛爾蘭人（Irish）在民族上屬于西歐代表民族凱爾特人（Celt）的后裔；Gaelic： 蓋爾語，一種凱爾特語，尤用于蘇格蘭部分地區和愛爾蘭。

13. 在1534至1603年間，英國政府將成千上萬的英國國民派遣至愛爾蘭定居，作為他們占領愛爾蘭計劃中的一步。populate：（大批地）居住于，生活于……；subject：國民，臣民。

14. settlement： 殖民地，居留地；stronghold： 據點，大本營；plantation： 種植園，大農場。

15. inhabitant： 居民。

16. abolish： 廢除，取消。

17. stage： v. 組織，籌劃。

18. Ulster Scot： 阿爾斯特省的蘇格蘭人，愛爾蘭島北部的阿爾斯特省（Ulster）是大量蘇格蘭人的主要移居地；flee…to： 從（某地）逃離到……；land clearance： 開荒，這里主要指英國人侵占蘇格蘭的土地。

19. align： 與……結盟，支持。

20. abhor： 憎惡，對……深惡痛絕。

21. a fond farewell： 深情的告別。

22. Blacklion： 阿爾斯特省卡文郡的一個小鎮，位于英屬北愛爾蘭和愛爾蘭共和國的邊界區。

23. stamp： 蓋章；border guard： 邊防人員。

24. Promised Land： 應許之地，即迦南之地，上帝許給亞伯拉罕及其后裔繼承的地方。