New publication pending on the Guild of Uriel

I have just finished writing a booklet on the Guild of Uriel. It is a fascinating group. They arranged meetings outside the glare of publicity between the different sides of the socio-political-religious divide in Northern Ireland, often getting enemies into the same room at the same time to…dialogue. They invited guest speakers and organizations to meet with them. They didn’t judge anyone. Even when the IRA ceasefire broke down, they kept up their quiet, invaluable work. Some criticized them for talking to the political wing of the IRA – Sinn Fein – but they met them nevertheless, convinced that to resolve conflict you have to talk to everyone. Roy Garland was the inspiration behind the Guild. He is a unionist yet he realized the interconnectedness between everyone in Ireland. He discovered his own roots through an examination of the Anglo-Norman history of his family. The truth is, so often, far more complex than the unionist versus nationalist debate that the conflict was so often conceived as. The booklet is being read now by Roy and by Julitta Clancy, both long-time chairs of the Guild. Julitta is well known for her work in the Meath Peace Group and she was awarded an OBE for her work for peace and reconciliation between the peoples of the two islands that constitute Ireland and Great Britain.