Introduction to the Current Affairs Group
When the oh so affable Jerry mentioned his current affairs group for the first time I thought, ‘well, why not?’ Current Affairs is our secret little vice here is Northern Ireland, don’t you think? Like eating chocolate. We know it’s not always good for us but we love it. With our foremost politicians never failing in their ability to let us down, the party game, to continue to promote the language of division and sectarianism, it can all be a frustrating business. And the ones we can identify with, the ones who try and talk the language of consensus, democracy, human rights, normal everyday living, earning a crust, paying taxes, looking after the vulnerable? They have been so continually shoved out of line by the bully boys that we sometimes find it difficult to continue to find hope in their ability to convince.
So why bother going to a current affairs group then? More of, more of………. But then maybe it’s time someone like me, a reasonable, thinking, intelligent woman, maybe it’s time we, you and me, had a voice, an opinion to share. We have all shared a history of division, sectarianism, hatred, violence and worse still, apathy. Did we really let all that happen? Don’t we now deserve somewhere, somewhere safe enough, somewhere positive, somewhere where we could be expressive, creative, productive, somewhere that invites discussion, conversation, reasoning, reflection?
So what do we talk about then in our ‘Current Affairs’ group? Our ‘U3A’ Current Affairs Group? Maybe we’re not so sexy, so current as the Youth Forum or the Young People’s Media Forum or the Women’s Forum or any other forum we know of. But that’s ok. We can handle that. Well for a start it’s not all about ‘Norn Ireland’. Our Jerry, our oh so affable, sent us a list of topics in advance. Great! Bring it on!
Not much time but we came up with a few ideas.
Good year Bad year
The rich The poor
Our Rory David Cameron
The Paralympians Eire
Amazon/Google/Starbucks Real shops
Women in general (Malala, Indian gang rape)
The economy
Happy New Year!
Great of Elaine to record her views of our Current Affairs Group, thanks Elaine. Perhaps an Elaine view but no less valuable for that. In fact this initiative is very valuable with potential of widening our discussions and activities.
ReplyDeleteWe should all be prepared to share our thoughts and there may be enough interesting comment to revisit some of the questions. We might even have a real living on-line debate forum.
Here is a view. Frances Andrade's suicide emphasises how far we have yet to travel in the fair and reasonable treatment of rape. Will we in the West be motivated to do something about it in a similar fashion to how the Indian population have driven political events following their tragic rape event(s)? Are we too blase in the tired and comfortable West?
Jerry Sayers
complacency is a dreadgful thing.
ReplyDelete