Remarks by The Hon. Mr Justice John L. Murray

• Date: 01 January 2020

175

ANNUAL LECTURE 2019

BORDER TARIFFS, BORDER POLLS

OR BORDER MADNESS? IRELAND,

NORTHERN IRELAND AND A

CONSTITUTIONAL CONVERSATION

Remarks by

THE HON. MR JUSTICE JOHN L. MURRAY*

Mr Justice Twomey, fellow speakers, ladies and gentlemen.

Many of you will be familiar with this citation from An Droimeann Donn Dílis:

A dhroimeann donn dílis, a shíoda na mbó,

cá ngabhann tú san oíche is cá mbíonn tú sa ló?

Bímse ‘sna coillte is mo bhuachaill i m’ chomhair

ach d’ág sé siúd mise ag sileadh na ndeor.

Now, that sonorous lament alludes allegorically to a tearful Ireland, personied by

the beautiful brown cow, le abandoned in the forest and neglected by her people.

is brings to mind that the most important word in the title of this seminar is

probably ‘conversation’.

As we face the challenges of Brexit in one form or another and some strident calls

for an immediate poll on the continued existence of the border, I have in mind the

essential need for open conversations among ourselves, within diverse communities

and across those communities rather than addressing one another from entrenched

positions. To approach these issues without such a process would leave us open to

the charge of once again neglecting Ireland and abandoning the path of progress

through conciliation, if not reconciliation.

Since Northern Ireland was created early in the last century as a construct to ensure

a Unionist hegemony in the north-east of this island, Ireland as a whole has been

aected by successive decades of violence and human tragedy touching bere

mothers, fathers, sons and daughters across communities.

* Mr Justice John L. Murray is a retired Irish judge who served as Chief Justice of Ireland from 2004

to 2011, a Judge of the Supreme Court from 1999 to 2015, a Judge of the European Court of Justice

from 1992 to 1999 and as Attorney General of Ireland from August 1982 to December 1982 and

from 1987 to 1991.