Bernadette McAliskey: Preaching to the already converted is not new

It sounded more inviting and less formal than a meeting, a conference or an event, so I accepted the invitation to speak with people I already know about something on which they are already well-informed and with most of whom I have already engaged in conversation on the subject several times!

I will elaborate on the subject matter gathering shortly, but it is a gathering of people concerned about the rapid acceleration of climatic changes and their impact on our lives and on future generations. Given the theme, I stopped to ponder how a body would get, for example, to Bellaghy from Enniskillen by public transport if they were minded to join this ecological gathering.

As Fermanagh people will know already, Enniskillen or Omagh will be where any bus going beyond the county or Council boundaries is likely to start from unless you can slot in somewhere along the Clogher Valley, and getting the bus to either place in order to make the connection will add to cost, time, and potential frustration all round.

A quick reconnoitre of the internet– let your fingers do the research – sussing out the Translink and Ulsterbus timetables, I resorted to those AI platforms that do it for you even though they don’t know Bellaghy from Belarus, and then checked the reliability of the information on the bus site running the service. This is how journalism is supposed to work! BBC / ITV/ RTÉ etc. take note!

Anyway, the exercise confirmed what I suspected. Nobody with an alternative option would take the bus. The cheapest and quickest option is the car, two hours travel time at most unless you find yourself more than once in an agitated queue behind a tractor, which is highly likely this time of year.

If you were relying on public transport and wanted to be there for Saturday morning or before the gathering was as good as over, you would need to be starting out the night before and lodging in Cookstown or Magherafelt overnight, or in Belfast if you travelled express to avoid the potholes and tractors of the direct more rural route. There is no train option.

Time was you could have got a train from Enniskillen to Dungannon and changed there for Cookstown for Maghera. Unless the people of Fermanagh get their act into gear, there will be none when the brave new plans for a railway west of the Bann come to fruition.

People don’t give a lot of thought about how people starting from a very different place are to supposed get where you want them to go in the same time frame as it will take you to get there.

But back to the nature and subject matter of the gathering

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Preaching to the already converted is not a new concept. Indeed, given the central position Christianity holds in this part of the world, even those with no religion would appear to be largely still addicted to this method of communication especially when advocating change.

Nonetheless, a more democratic and inclusive ‘gathering’ concept has been gaining popularity over a number of years. It consciously brings people with the same end goal together to better explore the different perspectives and starting points of those engaged in reaching that goal, and what opportunities might arise from that for working better together to get to where all present want to go.

The focus of the Bellaghy weekend gathering is the urgent need for an environmental protection agency ‘with teeth’ and sitting outside and above rather than within the Deptartment of Agriculture.

The environmental deterioration of Lough Neagh is the urgent driver and context for the discussions. Social and cultural activities provide respite for over-stimulated brains and opportunities for more individual conversation. Some of those going along will have already have attended similar recent gatherings organised by Friends of the Earth, (https://friendsoftheearth.uk/northern-ireland) or just last week by the Rights of Nature movement (https://mindfulcommons.org/). Others will be coming from different starting points and priorities. It is good to talk and listen.

The lakes of Fermanagh are not immune to the problems facing the restoration of Lough Neagh. A gathering in Fermanagh would be interesting. It would also provide our city friends east of the Bann River or North of Fermanagh the opportunity to sample the experience of planning a journey by public transport in the rural areas, before resorting to driving there.

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The Environment Minister Andrew Muir has is seeking a meeting with Earl Shaftesbury following the Earl’s recent comments about the ownership of Lough Neagh. As reported by BBC, he indicated he would like to transfer his estate's ownership of Lough Neagh into a charity or community trust model, with rights of nature included but that the proposal “may take time”. This is not news. Mr. Muir was already fully aware of the position, as was the BBC.

This was the Earl’s position, when, with others as a member of (DTNI) Development Trusts Northern Ireland, I met him to discuss the future of the Lough.

Following that meeting and keeping his agent Gwyneth updated on progress, DTNI secured funding from the Department of Agriculture to explore the options for developing an appropriate model. This was done and included a Future Search convening at which all stakeholders were represented and further community of place consultations were held around the Lough. An ‘interim' board was approved and created in order to hold the space until the collapsed Executive reconvened. The chair of that board wrote to Andrew Muir requesting a meeting. Mr Muir declined the request.

The Minister’s announcement might be more closely linked to his report on Lough Neagh due this week and having nothing much to report.

The present Earl had no responsibility for Lough Neagh before 2005, has been as good as his word and might be one of the very few stakeholders currently acting in relatively good faith.