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The driving force behind the Ballina Committee, Matt Farrell, a retired businessman and community activist, was on hand in the Downhill Inn to welcome the Portadown guests to Ballina and tell them all about the town’s Salmon Festival and the fun and entertainment that awaited them when they visited Ballina Heritage Day.
Mr Farrell, in a brief address to the guests and their Ballina hosts, recalled how the cross-border initiative began 10 years ago and had blossomed in the intervening years thanks to the work of men like Jim Dickson MBA, Mervyn Carrick and the Rev Stafford Carson, former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ireland.
Said Mr Farrell: “It was at a time when there was very little cross-community interaction, but people came together - Protestant, Catholic and non-believers.
“And it was the people who initiated the peace movement in Northern Ireland – not the politicians – people like Jim and Mervyn and George Savage, former Mayor of Craigavon, who took chances and helped make it possible to have the town twinning that we have today between Ballina and Craigavon.”
Mr Farrell’s own behind-the-scenes work for over 10 years in developing this cross-border inter-community ties was acknowledged by those who spoke on behalf of the Portadown group, recalling how Mr Farrell, in his roles at various times as President of Ballina Chamber of Commerce and Ballina Salmon Festival, had forged cross-border links.
Responding on behalf of the Portadown visitors, the Rev Stafford Carson said he was delighted to be in Ballina and thanked the local people for their warm welcome, friendship and fellowship.
The atmosphere between North and South had changed thanks to the work of men like Mervyn Carrick who had a vision for better days in Northern Ireland and that vision was the inspiration behind the Country Comes to Town Festival that Mervyn had done so much to promote in Craigavon and Portadown, the Rev Carson added.
Friendships
Jim Dickson MBE, Portadown, said it did him good to see friendships here today started by Mervyn, Stafford and Maureen Browne and he thanked the Ballina committee for such a warm welcome.
Bobby Adamson, on behalf of the Ballina host families, spoke about the Ballina group’s visits to the Country Comes to Town Festival in Portadown and the wonderful memories evoked - such as seeing a man from Bonniconlon giving a turf-footing demonstrataion at the Portadown Festival - and the many friendships formed by the participation by Ballina people in that wonderful cross-community and cultural event.
Mr Adamson took the opportunity to welcome newly-instlalled Presbyterian Church Pastor in Ballina, Rev Molly Dietrich, and he commented that she was like "a breath of fresh air in Ballina".
Mervyn Carrick, one of the prime movers behind the initiative, who, as Mayor of Craigavaon, started the Country Comes to Town Festival to try and remove sectarian tensions in Portadown in the late 1990s, recalled the spirit of the initiative and what it meant to him.
Mutual Respect
In a thoughtful address, Mr Carrick said two words came to mind in connection with community relations.
“And that is connection and participation; and if you don’t step out of your comfort zone and make an effort to connect with other people then we will not make progress and that connection has to be – even with those with different views – those with different political beliefs – those with different religious beliefs – those with different cultural beliefs and practices – and if we don’t make the effort to step outside that zone and connect with those people then we will continue to shout at one another across the fence.
"And it has been a delight and an encouragement to us to be associated with Matt and others down here in County Mayo to have been instrumental in breaking down some of those prejudices without sacrificing our own personal principles – that’s most important and that diversity has brought richness – that diversity has developed that mutual respect of one for another – without sacrificing our faith; without sacrificing our culture.
"We have got to learn to live one with another with this mutual respect and with this mutual understanding and come to an arrangement whereby we share with one another the good things of this life that the good Lord has provided for us.
"I must here acknowledge the providential dealings of the Lord even in this community work and I am very much encouraged and enthused.
"Indeed, in speaking with Stafford and with Maureen in those early days about how we could connect with the churches, this then brings me on to my second point about participation – in how we could get the churches to participate in these community activities and bring their experience and bring their knowledge and bring their understanding of working in society to the equation.
"And I was absolutely delighted with the enthusiasm that Stafford and Maureen showed for the suggestion and then that widened out to people like yourself who willingly steped up to the plate and participated with a full heart in the exercise.
"It is with that participation and with that adding value to the seeds that have already been sown that we can develop further – and this can only be the start.
"Lets add value to what we have already created and lets build on that mutual understanding; that mutual trust and that mutual respect - and then we will all be enriched as a result of that and we will all learn to bring a contribution to the table and let others share in what we are doing.
"And there is much that we still have to learn about each other; there’s much that we can still achieve, but the clear objective must be always that Christian perspective of loving your neighbour and learning to live with him, and her, in peace."
Mr Carrick concluded by thanking various Presbyterian churches for their willingness to enter into the spirit of the initiative.
John Raftery, proprietor Downhill Inn, was thanked for generously sponsoring the refreshments.
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