Irish Examiner view: Remember how far we’ve come in dealing with imperial legacies

It may seem far-fetched to suggest a link between yesterday’s announcement detailing €40m Shared Island funding for a North-South research programme and the flight of Afghan security forces ahead of Taliban advances. The Taliban reasserted control as the US and Britain withdrew troops after achieving little or nothing during two decades of hostilities. More than 300 members of Afghan security forces fled to Tajikistan to avoid the day of reckoning, almost inevitable after power changes hands. Those Afghans who might have relied on them for protection have been abandoned.

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It might seem even more far-fetched to suggest a common thread between yesterday’s €40m and the arson attacks on churches in Canada after hundreds of unmarked graves were found at disused Catholic-run residential schools. On Canada Day — last Thursday — Statues of queens Victoria and Elizabeth were toppled in Winnipeg amid growing outrage.

Yet Afghanistan and Canada are, as we are, trying to reconcile the legacy of one kind of imperialism or another with today’s needs and values. It is something to celebrate (and certainly not to take for granted) that we have moved beyond the stage where one group or another has to flee ahead of an advancing threat or where places of worship might be razed by those of a different persuasion. It seems important to remember that as pressure intensifies around various issues, challenging relationships, and the peace, on this small island.

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