It is almost inconceivable that two groups of people sharing the same religion could harbor so much hatred for each other that far surpassed the savagery witnessed in any other place say Kashmir.

It is almost inconceivable that two groups of people sharing the same religion could harbor so much hatred for each other that far surpassed the savagery witnessed in any other place say Kashmir.

I read this shortly after a recent outburst of the "Troubles" that are a very important element in the politics of Northern Ireland, the republic of Ireland, and Great Britain. Dervla Murphy took a bike hike through Northern Ireland, and tried to isolate whether there was a special quality ot the life there, and whether that would justify the body count. To me, a Canadian and not of British ancestry, it does not seemthat there are insurmountable obstacles to both sides resolving the issues to a point where the two groups in a very small part of the basically English-speaking world can live together. Now-a-days even Quebec separatism is on the wane, so why not this? Yes, it would be convenient to the south and the Roman Catholic church if the entire island of Ireland had only one government. But, the North provides a window into the larger world, with a more tolerant background than either of the two above mentioned industries, Catholicism and the IRA, seems prepared to cope with. Sad that the more tolerant members of the community are trapped behind IRA and Ulster Defence League labels. I'll have to google and see if anyone's blown up Murphy yet. No, though the Wikipedia Article ends in 2011. ( )

A contemporary account of the political and social situation in Northern Ireland as it stood in 1976/77 might be held to be a tad out of date, given the changes there in the last 36 years later. But, you'd probably be hard pressed to find a better account of where 'modern' Northern Ireland has come from. Dervla Murphy peels the lid back on the experiences of ordinary folk on all sort of (the many) sides of the divides, trading on her outsider status (as a citizen of the Irish Republic), her reputation as an author, her fondness of drink at all hours of the day, and - as becomes apparent - considerable chutzpah. And not just ordinary lives - she seems to have been in favour with some very dangerous seeming senior people on all sides who were keen to try to use her to put their views before the public.

For readers of Dervla Murphy who has written about travelling all over the planet on her bicycle, this book is a sort of 'odd one out'. She travels around, Northern Ireland by bicycle it's true - but it is essentially a journey through the labyrinth complexity of sectarian and tribal politics. There are observations about the role of place as well as history in the creation of character and attitudes, but this is no tour guide. You might read this and never get the sense of her restless mobility, her love of places where we'd never think to go - certainly not on a bicycle and as often as not with a small child in tow. But as she explains, to someone coming from the 'South', Northern Ireland is a very exotic destination.

Dervla Murphy gradually reveals, just as the situation was revealed to her, that Northern Ireland is a far more foreign places in many ways than we'd expect. Indeed this is one of the key insights of her book - that we fall into the trap of assuming the character and priorities of the people of Northern Ireland can be elucidated effortlessly from our own experience. After all they look like us and they speak the same language. She makes the case that only a profound understanding of the history and issues that shaped Northern Ireland, and which engage its citizens today, would qualify an 'outsider' to understand the situation there. But she also encounters and recounts experiences which point to dark and insane aspects of human character which not so much 'lurk' beneath, but co-exist alongside otherwise 'perfectly normal' traits of people who do seem no different to ourselves.

If the origins of some of the extremist views held by ordinary folk living in Northern Ireland can be in some ways 'explained', the remaining troubling - and unexplained - thought that Dervla Murphy's book provokes is 'what is it about human character that allows it to the most extreme and dangerous ideas to sit comfortably in the mind of a person who is otherwise compassionate, thoughtful and in most respects a model citizen? And if such contradictions, and frankly madness can infect a whole society, what are the prospects for our own, given the right (wrong) circumstances. Dervla travelled 'just over the border' in writing this book, but in another sense she travels, and takes the reader, on a very long journey indeed. And I might add, you don't have to call upon these philosophical questions to argue that this book is still relevant. The issues playing out in Northern Ireland today are irretrievably bound up in the issues and history that Dervla Murphy ploughed through thirty six years ago. But that all said and done, this is a book for fans of Dervla Murphy, and those with a serious interest in Irish politics and society. The bibliography is excellent. Highly recommended. ( )