Photo: Cross Border Orchestra of Ireland.
The peace proms involves 6,000 children from schools all over the island, from diverse backgrounds and abilities.
Today’s story is not necessarily a holiday topic unless peace is a holiday topic. … Well, there’s that.
Niall McCracken wrote at the BBC about one longstanding Irish peace initiative.
“The passion of 15-year-old Cara is written all over her face as she takes her handmade violin from its case. She is one of the youngest musicians in the Cross Border Orchestra of Ireland.
“I’m in Dundalk, County Louth, in the Republic of Ireland,” McCracken continues, “to watch her and more than 100 other young musicians rehearse ahead of a series of concerts. Cara, from County Down, plays in the strings section of the orchestra that emerged out of the Northern Ireland peace process.
“It was set up in 1995, a year after republican and loyalist paramilitaries announced ceasefires. This followed more than a quarter of a century of violence in Northern Ireland.
“The key aim was to use music to connect young people from Catholic and Protestant backgrounds on both sides of the Irish border. Almost 30 years on, this remains the central goal of the 140-member orchestra.
“Cara attends a Catholic girls’ grammar school in Ballynahinch and has always loved music.
” ‘I started playing violin and piano when I was young. You have to practise a lot but it’s taught me so much about perseverance,’ she said. … ‘There are still aspects of life in Northern Ireland that can make it difficult to meet people from different backgrounds. … Going to the orchestra has been great because I’ve made friends from all sides of the community, all over the country.’
“The orchestra has also ignited Cara’s love for different types of music. ‘I just wouldn’t have listened to things like Ulster-Scots music, simply because I just wouldn’t have been exposed to it because it wasn’t played where I live. But I love the pipes they use and getting to become immersed in that Ulster-Scots music and culture has given me a whole new perspective.’
“The orchestra combines Ulster-Scots culture, including bagpipes and Lambeg drums, with Irish traditional instruments such as uilleann pipes, the harp, the fiddle and bodhrán (drum). They also have their own take on some of the biggest pop, rock and dance songs in the charts.
“A diverse range of music has been key to the project’s success, according to the orchestra’s founder Sharon Treacy-Dunne.
“She is originally from Hackballscross, a rural village in County Louth in the Republic of Ireland, a few miles south of the border with Northern Ireland.
” ‘Growing up in the 1970s and 80s, and as a young teacher in Dundalk in the early to mid-90s, before the ceasefire and the Good Friday peace agreement, I remember being really worried about what I was seeing,’ she said. … ‘Then in 1994 when we reached this momentous ceasefire, as a teacher I thought I needed to be some sort of role model. The only thing I knew was music.’
“Sharon began writing to schools on both sides of the Irish border about taking part in the orchestra. She said: ‘To be honest it took a while to bring some of the Protestant schools on board, but music was the answer. Once we made it clear that we were also using music that was important to them with instruments such as pipes and Lambeg drums, that was a huge turning point.’ …
“Being part of the orchestra also means young people like Cara had the chance to perform at New York’s famous Carnegie Hall on St Patrick’s Day earlier [in 2022].
” ‘It was unbelievable, I could never have imagined having an opportunity like that, but music just opens up so many doors,’ she said.
“The New York concert was part of a series of events to mark the 25th anniversary of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. The deal brought an end to 30 years of conflict in Northern Ireland, known as the Troubles.”
More at the BBC, here. No paywall. Upcoming events orchestra here.
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