Dr. Johnston McMaster
As part of the Donegal 2016 Programme, the Donegal County Library Service is hosting a special conference which will see well renowned Dr. Johnston McMaster explore how best to commemorate events such as the 1916 Rising in Donegal.
This conference will take place later this month and will be facilitated by Dr. Johnston McMaster lecturer and co-ordinator of the Education for Reconciliation programme at Irish School of Ecumenics in Belfast.
Dr. McMaster is also a senior researcher with the ‘Ethical and Shared Remembering’ project at the Junction in Derry/Londonderry'. His doctorate is from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Evanston, USA on Methodist Stewardship in Irish Politics. The research was interdisciplinary including history, theology and politics and critically examined the period from the first Home Rule Bill of 1886 to the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985.
The key theme of the conference is Ethical Remembering & Ethical Dialogue and will address Grieving a Lost Generation: Beyond Denial to Hope; The Ethics of Memory: Commemoration in 2016 and Gendered Perspective on the Rising.
Dr Cathy Higgins will also address the conference and present an interesting perspective on women and the Rising and how the Rising was viewed at the time by literary artists.
“This conference presents us with a great opportunity to look at the past and understand those events better. This year marks the anniversary of both the Easter Rising of 1916 and the Battle of the Somme, both of which happened during World War I. They still have significance on this island, especially how they are remembered and commemorated” stated Helen McNutt, manager of the Europe Direct Information Centre which is hosting this event in association with the County Library.
“Both speakers bring a wealth of information as well as new ways of looking at old problems and provide an ethical framework from which to view these events”.
“This major conference on ‘Ethical Remembering’ hopes to bring together members of different traditions in Donegal. We hope that this will encourage people to recognise and respect their different narratives and perhaps come to a better understanding and tolerance of difference” added Helen McNutt.
The conference, which will be held in the Mount Errigal Hotel, Letterkenny on Wednesday 17 February from 9.30am to 1pm, is free but booking is essential. All bookings should be made by email to [email protected] or by telephone at 074 91 24950.
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